Criminals need not bear the responsibility for their crimes alone when the real money is in Hollywood.

Criminals need not bear the responsibility for their crimes alone when the real money is in Hollywood. 1996, the family of Patsy Ann Byers sued Oliver Stone, Warner Brother, and others involved in the making and distribution of the movie Natural Born Killers for an unspecified amount. They claimed that the movie caused Sarah Edmondson […]

If you can’t sue the system, sue yourself.

If you can’t sue the system, sue yourself. 1995, Robert Lee Brock sued himself for $5 million. He claimed that he had violated his own civil rights and religious beliefs by allowing himself to get drunk and commit crimes which landed him in the Indian Creek Correctional Center in Virginia, serving a 23 year sentence […]

Inventory List

Inventory List My mom is a barber.  She hears all of the town gossip of Franklin, Ohio.  There isn’t usually much going on in Franklin, but recently, a client told her the following story:  This couple came home from work one day and their grill was gone off their deck.  They assumed that their grill had been […]

Legal Overhead Costs

A few weeks ago, I met with another attorney that asked me to join her firm.  This firm was an expense sharing firm which meant that I had two options.  I could join as a partner, which would mean that I would have one flat monthly expense rate for everything the firm provided to me, or I […]

Spousal Support in Ohio

Spousal Support in Ohio: One of the least guiding “guidelines” in Ohio is the Ohio Spousal Support Guidelines.  This statute gives Ohioans “factors” that Ohio Courts consider when determining whether spousal support will be granted and if so, how much.  The factors the courts consider are the following: Quoting Ohio Revised Code § 3105.18. – […]

Risks and Benefits of Separating before filing for Divorce

I don’t know if I have said this before (in written form, of course) but if I have, I am going to say it again: Americans are ready to start spending money again.  I know that the stock market says otherwise, but I can tell the economy is recovering because people are finally pursuing divorce again.  […]

National “Make a Will” Month

Recently, I have had many clients contact me about making a will; more so than in any other month.  I knew that it was National “Make a Will” month but I did not think that anyone else knew that.  Even if they did, I didn’t think that “n…

Attorney-Client Relationship

Attorney-clients relationships can be complicated.  It has been said that you aren’t an experienced attorney until you have fired at least one client.  If that is true then I am officially an experienced attorney.  There are generally only two reasons that would prompt me to fire a client.  Either 1) there is a conflict, in […]

Living Trusts as an Estate Planning tool

A living trust is a trust that is funded with assets which can be amended and/or revoked by the settlor (creator).  A living trust can be used to handle financial affairs while alive and dispose of property after death.  As an attorney, many clients have shown an interest in living trusts because of the fact […]

Credit Repair

If you have ever made a large purchase with a boyfriend or girlfriend, you probably know what a nightmare it can turn out to be.  It is an even bigger hassle if the big purchase is a house and the other party doesn’t contribute to the payments after the breakup.  If you would like to […]

Transfer on Death and Probate

I got into probate practice on accident.  It all started when I worked for my previous employer as a law clerk (after I had taken the bar but before I had received my results).  Our firm had received a telephone call from a client/investor.  Our client had an investment property and the person staying in […]

Life Insurance and Divorce

Recently, I was contacted by two insurance agents regarding life insurance.  Both insurance agents had similar questions regarding life insurance and divorce.  First, they wanted to know whether courts require child support obligors to obtain and hold life insurance policies for the benefit of the children, in the event that the obligor passes away.  Basically, the […]

The Memory of Memorial Day

Like most american families, I have close family members that have served in the military.  Specifically, my grandfather served in the Army when he was in his 20s.  I was lucky enough to have a great-grandmother (my grandfather’s mother) who lived until 2002, she died only a few days before my 18th birthday.  My grandmother used […]

Why Probate?

I have never met a law student that left law school thinking, “I want to be a probate attorney!”  It just doesn’t happen.  Mainly because many other practice areas catch our eye before we even get to that subject in school but also because it just isn’t a “sexy” subject. I got pulled into probate […]

The best compliment we could receive is a referral to a friend or family member

There have been many instances where a client has retained me to fix something that their prior attorney didn’t do right the first time; or even worst, they were their own attorney and they didn’t do it right the first time.  If there is one piece of advice I would give all of my potential […]