Friday, June 29, 2007

Trust Misplaced

A partnership in general terms is a legal contract entered into between two or more people in which each commits to furnish capital and labor for a common enterprise.

A partnership creates a fiduciary relationship and a duty for each of the partners to do what is necessary and beneficial for the partnership. It creates a bond whereby an act of a partner binds the partnership.

Unfortunately, sometimes trust can be misplaced. A partner does an act in contradiction with the intent of the partnership. Some even performs acts destructive to the partnership. There are a lot of reasons that fuel a person to betray the trust of the partners. The most obvious reason is greed. Self gain is the prime reason for betraying the partnership. A lot of cases filed in California has to do with claims for damages against the erring partner committed breach of the partnership agreement for one form of consideration or another, often always economic gain.

However, breach of partnership is not only committed directly against the partners. An erring partner may commit any wrongful or illegal act against third parties that could make the partnership accountable directly or indirectly. The wrongful act affects the partnership directly if the erring partner committed an act directly related in pursuance of the partnership’s goals. On the other hand, the wrongful act can indirectly affect the partnership if it is not done in pursuance of the authority vested in the partner by reason of the partnership but tends to affect the partnership.

If you are one of the partners who have been wronged, you can ask for the expulsion of the erring partner if such is in the partnership agreement or if not by votation among the innocent partners. In any case, you can always claim damages against the erring partner for damaged done to the partnership as a result of the breach.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Fight for Your Livelihood

Most of us spend most of our lives working. A lot of us even define themselves by the work that they do. It is usual to see people or employees stay with one employer for many years.

Necessity is usually the factor that keeps an employee tied to his employer, slaving days and sometimes even nights to keep his job security. This is why, you cannot imagine the devastation that an employee suffers if he or she is suddenly left without livelihood for reasons not of his own doing.

Wrongful termination can take many forms. It could be due to sexual harassment or discrimination due to age, race or sex. Others maybe wrongfully terminated by their employers on the ground of retaliation for whistle blowing or even due to pregnancy discrimination.

If you have been wrongfully terminated, you have the right to fight back. All you need to do is seek an expert wrongful termination lawyer like the lawyers of the Mesriani Law Group to champion your case.

If it is proven that you are actually wrongfully terminated by your unjust and iniquitous boss, you may be able to recover compensatory damages, punitive damages, back pay, front pay and costs. Also, if you have been a victim of discrimination, harassment or some form of whistle blowing, you may even recover attorney’s fees.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Sexual Harassment in the Medical Arena

Sexual harassment happens everywhere. The common form of sexual harassment is when an employer or superior in employment sexually harasses a subordinate. In the work place, there are always superiors and a great number of subordinates.

Sexual harassment does not only happen in commercial, industrial or business establishments. This civil wrong or crime can also happen within service provider establishments like hospitals, clinics and other medical facilities.

Sexual harassment cases in these establishments may involve top ranking medical practitioners, from chief doctors, to regular doctors and residents, down to the nurses and nurses’ aids, other non medical staffs and even to patients.

However, a study showed that nurses are the common victims of these sexual harassments in hospitals. The lady nurses are the common targets among the nurses who gets sexually harassed on a daily basis. Surprisingly, even patients are perpetrators of sexual harassment against the nurses.

As you know, there are two types of sexual harassment, you do not need to be a superior of the person harassed to be liable for sexual harassment. For patients or other employees of equal rank to the nurses, sexual harassment can be committed through actions or verbal harassment by maligning or throwing sexist comments to demean the person harassed. The sexual harasser need not be fueled by sexual attraction to the person being sexually harassed. It is enough that the person to whom the acts or words are directed are maligned or harassed and does not accede or find the act or deed to be abhorrent.

If you are a patient in a hospital, you should watch your jokes or innuendos towards nurses. You might find somebody who is firm in his or her conviction and file a case against you for sexual harassment. Remember, nurses and other medical help providers and their assistants are there to help and protect you. The least you can do is be civil and proper otherwise, instead of relieving yourself of your illness, you might find yourself with more headaches and in another forum not with needles and rest beds but with gavels and iron bars.

Business Secrets Protected

If you own a business and you want your employees to keep mum on certain matters or information which you want to be kept secret, you should have a confidentiality agreement which you need your employees to sign to bind them from divulging secret information on matters relative to your business.

The confidentiality agreement can bind your employees not only from disclosing secret information while employed by you. The agreement also encompasses permanent non-disclosure of your secret information, if such is the stipulation present in the non-disclosure agreement.

Aside from binding the employee himself or herself, the non-disclosure agreement can go as far as preventing the employee’s heirs and assigns from disclosing secret information vital to your business.

Unless you have a valid and legal non-disclosure agreement signed by your employee, you may not be able to claim damages against the employee for disclosing your secret information.

A non-disclosure agreement to be valid and enforceable must determine what information are to be taken as secret information and what are not. It would not hold in court if you try to claim damages for a disclosure of information which is not made clear in the first place to the employee whether the information is one in which the non-disclosure agreement applies. Hence, to avoid these problems of having your secret information peddled without you having any rights to claim damages against the perpetrators, it will be to your advantage to secure the services of an expert non-disclosure agreement attorneys.

Seeking the legal services and entrusting the drafting of your non-disclosure agreement to corpoate attorneys is your best defense in keeping your confidential information secret.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Glendale Train Crash, A Messy Accident

If you have already forgotten the Glendale train crash which was reported to be the deadliest incident of train crash in the history of Metrolink located in Los Angeles area, then let me remind you of the devastation and consequent mess of liability claims.

In the Glendale accident of January 26, 2005, eleven lives were taken. Two Metrolink passenger trains and train were involved in the collision. Just try to imagine the horror of double-deck commuter trains colliding with each other carrying hundreds of passengers who are all unaware of the fate that was to come.

What is worse, after the collision, one of the trains overturned and the other caught fire. Aside from broken bones, spinal cord injuries, head injuries and lascerations to different parts of the body, some of the passengers where burned severely by the wreck.

In this accident, who is to blame? Who can those poor people claim against for the deaths of their loved ones, for their medical expenses as a result of treatments, surgeries and future medical treatments? Who can those people sue for damage to their properties, loss of income and more importantly for the pain and suffering that they went through as a result of the accident?

If you will take out Juan Manuel Alvarez from the equation, the person who allegedly left his Jeep Cherokee on the tracks for reason only privy to his own, there are a lot of questions posed as to who could be at fault or liable for the hundreds of injuries. The truth is, depending on the proof, there are product liability issues that can be addressed, train malfunction, and negligence of the operators and management or owners of the commuter trains.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Your Credit Is All You Have

Transactions have since come a long way, from barter trade, to actual exchange of goods for a monetary bill, to what is known now as credit transactions. Business endeavor done through this manner has been considered as one of the most convenient modes of conducting an exchange, and it may also be viewed as the safest, since you will do without the taxing task of bringing cash for an exchange. Well if you concur with the latter, then think again.

With the advent of credit transactions, the ever so innovative mind of man has find its way of creating a loop-hole that would divest the same of its somewhat invulnerable stature. The limitless use of credit cards in transaction over the net, or over mechanical tools has brought about the rise of new acts causing damages to what has been perceived as the safest mode of making an exchange. The information encrypted with every transaction done with the use of your credit card, is being utilized by these cyber villains in order to suffice their own selfish aims.

Hence, the next time you swipe that ever so convenient credit card that you acquired, or the next time you input those ten digit credit card numbers, think again, you maybe opening a whole Pandora of avenues that these criminals may exploit to your ultimate disadvantage.

Rabies Facts

Rabies is almost always fatal to an individual who is not vaccinated for rabies if neurological symptoms have developed as a result of an animal bite.

Rabies comes from a Latin word meaning madness, rage or fury. This is why you see a person afflicted with rabies become irate, mad or in rage like a wild animal so to speak. Rabies is a viral zoonotic disease that causes inflammation of the brain.

Any mammal may become infected with rabies including humans. Dogs and cats provide the greatest risk to humans. These mammals are domesticated and are living among us in our homes. Aside from these two, bats, raccoons, foxes and skunks also pose great risks of infecting humans with rabies.

Rabies is usually present in the blood, nerves and saliva of an infected animal. The common way by which a rabies virus is transmitted is through a bite. Others, however, can be transmitted through mucous membranes.

Among humans, rabies can also be transmitted by one to the other. However, this is rare. Transplant surgery is one of the ways of transmitting rabies from one person to another. Other ways are by bites or kisses.

At present there is no known cure for an individual who is symptomatic of rabies. Right now, prevention is still the best cure.

Rabies was once rare in the United States, but in recent years, there has been a rabies epidemic due to animal transport from the north east to the south east.

Caution is the order of the day when it comes to avoiding rabies infection. Keep away from wild and stray animals and have yourself vaccinated.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Negligence attorneys

As early as there have been health practitioners, medical negligence have occurred from time to time. However, people are not aware of their rights before until now. At present medical negligence claims are becoming more and more frequent as people are becoming aware of their rights.

Contrary to the belief that physicians and surgeons are the only ones who can be sued for medical negligence, it is a fact that any medical or health provider or medical or health facilities can also be sued on such case. Even therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, dentists and even their assistants like the nurses, pharmacist and dental assists could be liable. Hospitals, clinics, pharmacies are also not exempt form lawsuit.

Due to the frequency and number of medical negligence cases being settled and litigated, a number of acts have been determined to constitute such instance, in one form or another. Prescription errors, medication mistakes, wrong prescription of medication , wrong prescription dosage, overdose of medication, reaction to medication, failure to perform appropriate testing, misinterpretation of lab results, failure to review lab results, failure to take preventative measures for heart attack or stoke, unethical treatment, abusive treatment, and patient abuse are just a some of the cases where medical negligence can be established.

However, before trying to claim for damages on injuries or loss that result from medical negligence, be sure that you have been injured as a result of the negligence and more importantly, seek the services of an expert negligence lawyer who can evaluate your case and help you make an informed decision of whether you should pursue your claim.

Medical Negligence Attorneys in California

Medical negligence and malpractice in California is one of the most difficult to pursue. First, it is hard to find any medical professional who will testify against the negligent doctor or medical health provider. Second, the costs of litigating medical negligence claims could easily reach $50,000.00. This does not even guarantee that you would win. Even if you win, the amount of suit will not guarantee that you will get more than the amount of what you paid for to come after the negligent doctor. Last, the litigation process can easily take about three years to complete.

As you can see it is very difficult to pursue and charge doctors of medical malpractice or negligence. What’s more depressing is the fact that you already spent your money to begin with in order to receive the much needed treatments which got you there in the first place. The odds are literally against the patient victim who was not in good health when he came to be evaluated by the doctor. Moreover, instead of becoming well, you were even made worse by the injuries sustained as a result of the negligence of your treating physician.

If you want to have at least a glimmer of a chance in pursuing your medical negligence claim, you need to hire the services of an expert attorney specializing on handling medical negligence or malpractice At least with an expert attorney on your side, you can easily evaluate your case and determine at the onset if your case is worth pursuing considering the above mentioned costs and time it will take to go after the alleged negligent physician.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Tips on Boating in California Waters

Boating is always fun and refreshing. However, you should know that boating is a highly regulated recreational activity in California. So, don’t be alarmed when a law enforcement officer suddenly ask you to lie and inspect your boat for compliance with California boating laws. Remember, as a boat operator, you have the responsibility of ensuring the safety of all passengers and this includes making certain all required safety equipment is onboard the boat and all the necessary documents are always in order.

Even if your water vessel is previously registered in your state, you must still register in California within 120 days of being brought into the state.

The term vessel applies to every description of watercraft used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water, except the following:
• A seaplane on the water.
• A watercraft specifically designed to operate on a permanently fixed course and guided by a mechanical device that restricts the watercraft's movement to the fixed course.
• A floating structure that is designed and built to be used as a stationary waterborne residential dwelling, which, (a) does not have and is not designed to have a mode of power of its own, (b) is dependent for utilities upon a continuous utility linkage to a source originating on shore, and (c) has a permanent, continuous hookup to a shoreside sewage system.
Also, it is mandated by the state of California's laws that any vessel that is used or moored on California waterways, including private lakes, must be registered. However, as with all other licensing rules, there are some exceptions. The following vessels do not have to be registered in California:
• Vessels propelled solely by oars or paddles.
• Non motorized sailboats that are eight feet or less in length.
• A ship’s lifeboat (a dinghy is not a lifeboat).
• Vessels currently and lawfully numbered (registered) by another state that are principally used outside California.
• Vessels brought into California for racing purposes only (exempted only during races and tune-ups).
Additional requirement must be met by commercial vessels of five net tons or more, or 30 feet or more in length. As for these vessels, they must be documented by the U.S. Coast Guard.
Remember the above rules and you will have no problems plowing to the clear California waters.