Legal Law

Fifty fun Halloween facts

1. Halloween is celebrated on October 31, which is the last day of the Celtic calendar.
2. The custom of Halloween has evolved from the ancient Celtic belief that the border between this world and “the Otherworld” becomes thinner in All-Hallows-Eve. People wore costumes to disguise themselves and avoid harm.
3. The day after Halloween is called All Saints’ Day. Christians dedicate this day to all those saints who do not have a special day of their own.
4. All saints is another way of saying all saints. All-Hallows-Eve means the night before All Saints’ Day.
5. The first evidence for the use of the word Halloween comes from Scotland in the early 16th century. It was All-Hallows-Eve slang.
6. The colors orange and black represent Halloween because orange is the color of pumpkins (and fall) and black is associated with death.
7. The tradition of carving a pumpkin started in the UK. They were carved out of All Hallows Eve and left on the door step to ward off evil spirits.
8. The original Jack o ‘lanterns were carved from a Swede or a turnip.
9. Jack o ‘lanterns were named for the phenomenon of a strange light flickering over bogs.
10. Carving pumpkins into elaborately decorated lanterns dates back thousands of years in Africa. They were intentionally brought to the New World through a prehistoric migration through Asia.
11. A record was set for the largest number of lanterns lit simultaneously on October 21, 2006, when 30,128 lanterns were lit simultaneously on Boston Common.
12. The largest Halloween pumpkin in the world was carved from the largest pumpkin in the world (at the time) on October 31, 2005 in North Cambria, Pennsylvania, United States by Scott Cully. The pumpkin weighed 1,469 pounds (666.33 kg),
13. Today, the record for the largest pumpkin in the world is held by Nick and Kristy Harp, whose pumpkin weighed 1,725 ​​pounds (782.45 kg).
14. Trick-or-treating is the Halloween custom where costumed children go door to door asking for candy with the question “Trick or treat?” The “trick” is a threat (usually idle) to harm homeowners or their property if they are not given a prize.
15. Many people believe that trick or treating developed out of the Middle Ages custom of giving freshly baked soul cakes to children who went door to door on All Hallows’ Eve offering prayers.
16. Each soul cake eaten was believed to represent a soul released from purgatory.
17. In Sweden, children dress up as witches and go trick-or-treating on Holy Thursday (the Thursday before Easter).
18. In northern Germany, Norway and southern Denmark, children dress up and go trick-or-treating on New Year’s Eve in a tradition called “Rummelpott”.
19. In Scotland, children are only supposed to get treats if they perform tricks for the homes they go to. This usually takes the form of singing a song or reciting a funny poem.
20. For several years (in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), Halloween in the United States became synonymous with vandalism.
21. In 1912, Boy Scout clubs and other community organizations came together to promote a safe Halloween celebration. The school posters at this time called for a “healthy Halloween.”
22. In an effort to prevent damage to their property, homeowners began offering candy to children if they promised not to “joke.”
23. By the late 1930s, trick or treating had become widespread.
24. Research conducted by the National Confectioners Association of America in 2005 revealed that 80% of adults and 93% of children went trick-or-treating on Halloween.
25. The first screen representation of Trick or Treating was in the Disney cartoon, “Trick or Treating.” In this cartoon, Huey, Duey, and Louie try to trick their uncle, Donald Duck, into giving them candy.
26. In 1964, a New York housewife, upset about Halloween, began distributing packages of inedible objects to children she believed were too old to ask for candy. The packages contained items such as steel wool, dog biscuits, and ant buttons (which were clearly labeled with the word “poison”). Although no one was injured, she was prosecuted and pleaded guilty to endangering the children.
27. In 1970, the New York Times ran an article claiming that “those Halloween treats kids pick up this weekend on their ‘trick or treating’ rounds can bring them more horror than happiness.” Provided examples of possible manipulations. The examples were speculative, but led to a wave of fear.
28. In the 1980s, parents in the US and Canada fear trick-or-treating children could eat compromised candy peaked. In 1985, an ABC News / Washington Post poll found that 60% of parents feared their children would be injured or killed due to Halloween candy sabotage.
29. Other than one incident – actually a premeditated act of murder by the parent of a trick or treat – there have been no recorded incidents of malicious and deliberate handling of candy during Halloween.
30. In 1970, a 5-year-old boy from the Detroit area found and ate heroin that his uncle had hidden. The boy died after a four-day coma. The family tried to protect the uncle by claiming that the drug had been sprayed on the boy’s Halloween candy.
31. In 2008, candies with embedded metal shavings and metal sheets were found. The treat was Pokemon Valentine’s Day lollipops bought from a Dollar General store in Polk County, Florida. The candy was found to have been manufactured in China with faulty equipment.
32. In the United States, Halloween represents 25% of candy sales for the year.
33. In the United States, nearly $ 2 billion is spent each year on Halloween candy.
34. Candy corn is the most popular Halloween candy.
35. Sweet corn was created by the American company Wunderlee Candy in the 1880s.
36. Snickers bars are the most popular treats sold on Halloween.
37. Snickers bars were created in 1930 by the Mars family. They named it after their family horse.
38. Research by the US National Retail Federation found that in 2005, 53% of Americans purchased a Halloween costume, spending an average of $ 38.
39. The first mass-produced Halloween costumes appeared in the 1930s in the United States.
40. Originally, Halloween costumes were terrifying characters like vampires, ghosts, skeletons, witches, and devils.
41. Today’s Halloween costumes are often inspired by science fiction, television, movies, cartoons, and pop culture.
42. According to the National Retail Federation of America, the most popular Halloween costume themes for adults are, in order: witch, pirate, vampire, cat, and clown.
43. In 2009, the most popular Halloween character for adults and children was Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson died on June 25, 2009.
44. In 1966, the Batman television series was so popular that a fabric company issued costume patterns.
45. Apple bobbing is a traditional Halloween game. The game is played by filling a tub or large basin with water and putting apples in the water. Because apples are less dense than water, they will float. Then the players try to catch one with their teeth.
46. ​​Apple bobbing is becoming less popular, possibly because more and more people consider it unhealthy.
47. It is said that girls who place the apple they wiggled under the pillows dream of their future lover.
48. On February 19, 2008, New Yorker Ashrita Furman cut 33 apples in one minute to set a world record.
49. Agatha Christie’s mystery novel “Hallowe’en Party” is about a girl who drowns in a tub of apples.
50. New York City is home to the largest Halloween celebration in the United States, known as The Village Halloween Parade. The night parade attracts more than two million spectators and participants.

Legal Law

Central bank chicanery and us revenue units

“Unfortunately, no one can know what the Matrix is. You have to see for yourself.” ~ Morpheus in the movie, The Matrix

The Oxford English Dictionary defines “tricks” as “legal deceptions, falsehoods, abuse of legal forms; the use of subterfuge and deceit in debate or action; subtleties, sophistry, deceit”. You don’t have to read beyond the “legal tricks” to understand the impact central banks overlook on us revenue units. But perhaps most worrying is where central banks seem to be heading.

A quick review of the role of central banking with respect to the currency informs us that one global monetary system dominates and controls all other systems in the world. Like the 800 pound gorilla in the living room, this fact becomes impossible to ignore once you see it.

Just as it is impossible to fully understand planet Earth without realizing the role of the solar system that contains it, it is also impossible to fully understand money separated from the monetary system.

The global monetary system is a network of 17 central banks around the world, of which the Federal Reserve Bank is the US Central banks are the only banks capable of issuing currency (a private product by the we pay), issued through a “fractional bank reserve”, loaned and repaid with interest. This formula, called “multiply expansion,” in the Federal Reserve brochure, Modern mechanics of money, multiplies the profits for the architects of the system and their cronies.

Currency flows from the government level to commercial and local banks when a country’s government borrows money from its central bank. When a business repays a business loan plus interest (also known as debt service), it passes bank loan charges to its customers as increases in the price of goods and services. Over time, what started out as “simple” interest turns into “compound” interest, which, in turn, increases prices at an increasingly rapid rate.

As a result, we income units must work harder and pay more for the same basic goods and services that people in the 1950s and 1960s paid much less for. This exponential rise in the cost of living has become glaringly obvious in the real estate and insurance industries.

Once in power more it takes power to continue to exist.

The 2008 economic crisis put the Fed to the test. It used the desperate measure of pouring trillions of newly issued money into a struggling monetary system through a series of quantitative easing (QE) to “stimulate” the economy as well as its position of power. His monetary strategy led most Americans happily down the yellow brick road of the appearance of recovery and wealth.

However, like the Wizard of Oz, appearances are often deceptive. In reality, the excess of newly issued currency contributed to a deeper devaluation of the dollar (it is now worth less than 3 cents). Going forward, the Fed would have to keep up with what the QEs had started. To continue to ensure liquidity in the market, increasing amounts of currency should be injected into the system.

Here it is where it gets interesting. By all accounts, to keep liquidity on course, the Fed’s tactics have moved to aggressively buy public assets, corporate stocks, and “toxic” real estate, contributing to the double-digit surge in the stock market. The increasingly drastic measures provide a type of expansion that puts the economy at risk of being swallowed up entirely by the financial sector. Think: higher concentration of power.

This is why:

“So central banks have a problem here, now they are ‘forced’ to buy assets to avoid market downturns, but one should ask ‘who will they eventually sell to?’ The answer, of course, is ‘no one’ because no one is old enough to take these assets off their books. “ Bill Holter, central banks will destroy their own currency by doing what they do … creating currency and credit. From here, the faster they run, the faster the bogeyman catches them, April 22, 2017

The Fed has the legal authority to buy assets endlessly, which can then drive up prices that virtually no one can beat. Higher costs of living due to higher inflation do not translate into a recovered economy, contrary to popular opinion, and especially for most Americans without assets.

As long as someone receives a paycheck, they seem to care little about the system that produces it., an entrenched system that owns and controls the ability to create an endless supply of money (new credit). Also, if central banks decide to transition to blockchain technology, as discussed in my recent February and April blogs, it would not be a decentralized application, as Bitcoin is. Instead, blockchain technology would simply enhance the already centralized central banking system.

With each successive economic recession, the Federal Reserve doubles down to minimize the economic impact on society. Minimizing the economic impact amounts to the Fed taking more and more control of the situation to maintain its power and in an attempt to counter the ongoing exponential loss of value in all fiat currency. The role of the central bank is like a snowball that gets bigger as it rolls down the hill; I wonder if anyone sees what I see.

“Only the little secrets need to be protected. The big ones are kept secret by public disbelief.” ~ Marshall McLuhan, author

Legal Law

The cost of not having higher education

If you’ve considered going to school for a college degree, then you’ve considered tuition costs, textbook fees, and travel expenses. People also turn to online education to broaden and broaden their career options. Online classes eliminate textbooks and travel costs and offer an inexpensive solution to increasing tuition for traditional education. While it is true that quality online degree programs and degree programs are not free, they are affordable, especially when you consider the cost of not having a higher education.

Obtaining a higher education has a direct effect on your career. In fact, statistics show that the higher the level of education, the greater the amount of income a person will receive, showing that continuing education beyond the high school level is the best way to maintain a career and achieve financial success.

Higher education is vital to remain competitive in the job market. According to “The Knowledge Book” published by Merrill Lynch, 50 percent of employee skills become obsolete in three to five years. In India, nine out of 10 employees in an international workplace survey said they feared their current skills would be out of date within five years. On the company side, the cost of replacing lost talent averages 150 percent of an individual’s salary (Australia Mercer Survey at Work). This makes a strong case for companies and employees to invest in higher education to improve and upgrade skill sets. Getting certified allows you to retrain to ensure you can keep the job you have or easily transfer to another position. Taking online courses is a quick and affordable way to earn a certificate that confirms you have the skills to meet the demands of an ever-changing industry.

Credentials are everything. Think about it. Would you go to a dentist who only has a high school diploma framed on the wall? Would you hire an attorney who dropped out of college before gaining full legal experience? You feel more comfortable paying someone more money when you trust that they know what they are doing and have the education and certification to back it up. To convince employers and clients that you have the skills to get the job done, certifications and degree programs are the way to go.

The higher wages generated by higher education are not new. In the early 1900s, education was scarce and only a minority of adults had a high school diploma. Working life was dictated by the supply of labor and the demand for skilled workers; formal education was not necessary to get the job done. As society has continued to evolve, the annual earnings of workers increased with education. In the 1970s, when technological change began to take place, the corporate world favored a more educated working population and began to compensate handsomely to attract educated employees. In 1975, full-time workers with higher education earned 1.5 times the annual salary of workers with a high school diploma. And, in 1999, this proportion had risen to 1.8.

Statistics show that getting a higher education and certification is the best way to get the experience you need to pursue a more lucrative career.

Legal Law

What Makes Phoenix Law School Unique?

Phoenix Law School is a relatively new law school that opened just over half a dozen years ago. It has recently been accredited by the American Bar Association and accepts thousands of aspiring law students each year. While this school is not yet on the list of America’s Top 100 Law Schools, it is nonetheless an established institution that offers a high-quality law course. There is a good student to staff ratio and the school provides financial aid for those who could not otherwise study law.

What Makes Phoenix Law School Unique?

Introduction to Phoenix Law School

This law school is not the only law school in Arizona. Two other educational institutions, the University of Arizona and Arizona State University, also offer law courses. However, Phoenix Law School is the only private law school in the state. Additionally, it is the only law school that offers part-time and evening degree programs. These programs make it possible for people who maintain a job or care for a family to study law and pass the bar exam.

The cost of tuition to study at this school is much lower than it would be to study prestigious law in Arizona or another state. It has been estimated that a person who enrolls at Phoenix Law School for a full-time course can expect to spend around $ 64,000. This fee includes not only tuition, but also books, accommodation, food, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses. Part-time students can expect to spend a little over $ 56,000 on these same expenses.

Looking for a job

There is a misconception that students who graduate from Phoenix Law will have a hard time getting a job. The reason given for this is that Phoenix Law is not a top-tier university. However, as noted above, this law school is accredited by the American Bar Association. This means that a bachelor’s or master’s degree from this educational institution will allow one to get a job in the public or private sector.

Those who are considering studying law must realize that starting a career in law involves more than just obtaining a diploma. In some areas, the market is quite saturated; one will have to move to a new city or work hard to develop their practice. Many potential employers are not as interested in the origin of the diploma as in the experience, history and work ethic.

Phoenix School of Law is an accredited educational institution that offers a quality education for those seeking a law degree. This institution allows part-time students and provides financial aid, allowing the majority of people from all backgrounds to study. While Phoenix Law is not a top-tier law school, it has earned recognition for its diverse program, 97% pass rate, and 88% graduate employment rate. All in all, this relatively newcomer in the field of law has done a good job of providing a quality education to his students.

Legal Law

Have sports teams in any city won all four major league championships in one year?

The simplest answer is no. No city has hosted the current owner of the Vince Lombardi Trophy (National Football League), the Larry O’Brien / Walter A. Brown Trophy (National Basketball Association), the World Series Trophy (Major League Baseball) and the Stanley Cup (National Hockey League) in the same year. The closest a city has gotten so far is 1988 when the Raiders, Lakers and Dodgers brought championships to Los Angeles. Another six times, a city has hosted two out of four champions:

  • 1956: New York Giants (NFL) and New York Yankees (MLB)
  • 1971: Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
  • 1976: Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) and Pittsburgh Pirates (MLB)
  • 1999: Dallas Cowboys (NFL) and Dallas Stars (NHL)
  • 2001: Denver Broncos (NFL) and Colorado Avalanche (NHL)
  • 2002: Los Angeles Lakers (NBA) and Anaheim Angels (MLB)
  • 2004: New England Patriots (NFL) and Boston Red Sox (MLB)

Scholars of sports history, however, are aware that these four trophies have not always represented “the” big leagues. Consider the missing major competing leagues, such as the pre-merger American Football League or the World Hockey Association. Also, the NBA was not always the top basketball league, and other leagues have a good claim to be “the” top basketball league at various times. Finally, we should at least consider the Canadian Football League champions considering the number of NHL teams from that country.

Expanding the definition in this way adds relatively few cities to our list. In the late 1920s, three of the four major league champions were from New York: the Giants, Yankees, and Brooklyn Celtics in 1927, and the Yankees, Rangers, and Brooklyn Celtics in 1928. The Brooklyn Celtics played in American Basketball League, at a time when the NBA didn’t exist yet.

Other cities of two champions that consider these major leagues in competition and missing are:

  • 1930: Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Montreal AAA (CFL)
  • 1932: Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
  • 1942: Toronto Maple Leafs (NFL) and Toronto RCAF Hurricanes (CFL)
  • 1944: Montreal Canadiens (NHL) and Toronto HMCS Donnacona
  • 1947: Chicago Cardinals (NFL) and Chicago American Gears (NBL)
  • 1947: Toronto Maple Leafs (NHL) and Toronto Argonauts (CFL)
  • 1948: Cleveland Indians (MLB) and Cleveland Browns (AAFC)
  • 1977: Montreal Canadiens (MHL) and Montreal Alouettes (CFL)
  • 1987: Edmonton Oilers (NHL) and Edmonton Eskimos (CFL)
    Notes:

    • The Toronto RCAF Hurricanes and Montreal HMCS Donnacona were soccer teams from various bases in the military that competed for the Gray Cup during World War II.
    • The Chicago American Gears were in the National Basketball League. The NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1949 to form the current NBA.
    • The Cleveland Browns began their history in the All-America Football Conference. The AAFC competed with the NFL for four years. In 1949, the AAFC partially merged with the NFL, the Cleveland Browns winning the NFL championship the following year.

So while no city has completed what could be a “GrandSlam” of major league team sports, New York (twice) and Los Angeles (once) were close.

Legal Law

Why You Should Have a Corporate Lawyer on Staff

Corporations and small businesses are places of expertise in their own industries. Business executives are highly specialized professionals whose main focus is the efficient and profitable management of their businesses. These professionals must be able to dedicate their time and energy to that purpose, not to worry about big and small legal issues for their companies. If you are managing a corporation or small business, you should seriously consider hiring an in-house attorney to help you navigate the legal issues. Below are some of the reasons why you should hire a dedicated attorney who is familiar with your business.

Contracts and other commercial agreements

Whatever your business, chances are good that you will routinely enter and execute contracts with a variety of parties. Typical corporate contracts include sales contracts, leases (real estate and otherwise), supply agreements, and association or corporate structure documents. The consequences can be serious if one of these agreements contains an unfavorable or unenforceable provision. While your business staff can be skilled negotiators, an attorney can review these documents to help protect your business from litigation or other negative effects of unenforceable contracts.

The HR Minefield

Employment law is a complex area of ​​law with radically different requirements for different types of companies and employees. A general attorney can help you and your human resources staff with common legal issues related to employee leave, benefits, and hiring practices.

Normative compliance

Depending on the nature of your business, it may be subject to various regulatory requirements at the local, state, and federal levels. Examples include securities regulation, environmental regulation, campaign finance / political regulation, and intellectual property filings. Since regulatory violations can result in substantial fines, it is important to keep abreast of these ever-changing rules. An attorney can help you identify the relevant requirements and complete any necessary government filings or reports.

Fiscal advice

Your tax liability and liability depends in part on the corporate structure of your company. While you should use a certified accountant for tax preparation, an attorney can assist you with planning and tax advice to help minimize your overall tax burden. An attorney can even help you structure your business up front in a way that reduces tax liability.

Litigation and crisis management

While the other examples have primarily dealt with “chronic” legal issues, having an attorney on staff can also help you with “serious” legal issues, such as civil or criminal litigation or government investigations. In addition to writing pleadings, an attorney can help you with settlement negotiations.

Since these legal matters can be time consuming, having an attorney on staff ensures that your business devotes proper attention to legal obligations while your business professionals remain focused on the business itself. You can hire an outside attorney from a firm who has experience in each of these areas, or you can hire an in-house attorney as an employee of the company itself. Whichever option you choose, you can be sure that a trained attorney will minimize your business liability and ultimately save your business money in the long run.

Legal Law

Is the Valcambi 50 gram Gold CombiBar a smart investment?

Tea CombiBar Gold bar is a bullion product manufactured by Valcambi Suisse that is 50 gram in size, marked in fifty – 1 gram rectangles that can be easily broken and used for an emergency payment system in difficult times.

Gold CombiBars are minted in a similar size to a credit card for the express purpose that they will fit in your wallet and can be easily carried with you on the go or simply throughout your day.

The first question What might come to your mind is, “Is CombiBar a scam?” I can assure you that it is not. This gold bullion product is offered by reputable precious metal dealers, minted by a reputable company, and will pass a trial test if required. In fact, they come with an authentic test card.

Each 1 gram gold rectangle in the Valcambi CombiBar is inscribed with its content and fineness, which is .9999 fine gold. To determine the current value of a 1 gram piece of a 50 gram gold CombiBar, simply divide the price of one ounce of gold by 31.1035; not exactly, but close enough.

The next question what you can logically follow is: “Do I really need a Valcambi CombiBar Gold payment system? Will things really get that bad?” Well, the obvious answer to that is “I sure hope not.”

However, there are two things (at least) against us.

One, it’s history. Fiat currencies never last. The US dollar is a fiat currency, no longer backed by anything other than an ever wavering “full faith and credit” of the US government. Since the Federal Reserve Act of 1913, the dollar has lost 92% of its purchasing power.

Two, it is current events. Since the current financial crisis began several years ago, US government debt has exploded in what are now uncharted waters. Much of this appears to have been simply to save powerful bank interests. And while attribution to this quote seems difficult, it seems correct that a democracy can only exist until the majority discover that they can vote generously from the public treasury.

All over the world we see collapsing economies, massive unrest, and governments taking desperate measures to control their citizens with restrictions on cash transactions, the movement of funds across borders, and on gold itself.

Simply put, if you don’t have Gold before you need it, you may not be able to get it.

Do enough people understand real money like gold and silver?

This is a good question. Mark Dines a few years ago couldn’t sell a $ 1,200 Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coin for $ 50, then $ 25, and finally couldn’t give it away to people passing by.

However, as more diners make the news for offering 1964 menu prices for 1964 coins and gas stations sell gasoline for ten cents a gallon if paid with a pre-1965 penny, people are getting the hang of it. message.

And it could be that even though the MOST don’t get it, those who have the resources you need to acquire will be the ones who DO get it.

Even the BitCoin phenomenon is raising awareness about some of the issues. Also note how the government of Germany has now started the assault on BitCoin to be followed soon by other governments, including that of the United States.

Fiat currencies do not like competition at all, much less “real money” or something that illustrates the weakness of the fiat currency.

The bottom line on the 50 gram gold Valcambi CombiBar.

Whether or not you need to break the little 1 gram CombiBar Gold bars out of the set to make payments, the physical property of Gold is still perfectly good. The premium is only one to two percent higher than a sovereign gold coin such as a buffalo or an eagle.

Think of your 50 gram CombiBar gold bars as fire insurance for your home – you hope you’ll never need it, but if you do need it, after the fire starts, it’s too late to buy it.

Legal Law

Em-Dash use and location: scoring for fiction writers

In case you’re unfamiliar with this favorite of fiction writers, the em-dash, which is often written with two hyphens side by side, is used to highlight information in parentheses, as I did in this sentence, or to indicate an interrupt:

What? Mommy is writing. No, you can’t eat more ice cream.

The electronic script also indicates a change or interruption in the character’s thinking or speech, like my previous interruption. Another excessive use of punctuation by authors is ellipsis dots (three dots in a row), often “used to suggest broken or fragmented speech accompanied by confusion or insecurity” (Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, p. .457). Hyphens in em differ from ellipsis points in that they indicate “interruptions or abrupt changes in thought” (ibid.).

Does your writing suffer a lot from these text linkers? Careful authors often use them in place of a comma which would have been a comma splice, joining two independent clauses. How to solve the loss or excessive use?

It takes a step away from work. Open “search”, (CTRL + F in Word) write an electronic script (keyboard shortcut ^ +) and use “highlight” to turn them to dark blue, an erased square in the text.

Do this and then read the individual sentences that used to be hyphenated but now have a dark spot. You can leave any paired em dash around information in parentheses or any that ends a sentence with an interrupted thought or quote.

For others: How would you rate it if you couldn’t use your favorite long dash? Are they two complete and separate sentences? Why not break them? Would a comma suffice (remember to check for dependent vs. independent clauses – this could lead to comma splices)? How about a semicolon?

Tricky bugger, the semicolon. If it’s dialogue, better avoid them; but used correctly in narrative, they take the place of a conjunction to join two independent clauses. You can also use them before a conjunction to activate an independent clause that has internal punctuation, as I did in the previous sentence.

The same erasure technique can also be used for ellipsis points. Remember, special punctuation marks lose their effectiveness when overused.

Happy wedding!

Legal Law

Virtual divorce consultations for mediation and other family law matters may be the future

Whether in our personal or social life, or in our business life, many of us do not adapt to the use of new types of technology or services until it is necessary. Often times some new problem or issue must arise, or a change in circumstances that forces our hands, often for the better, to try something new.

In the case of something like the coronavirus pandemic, companies of all stripes quickly began to do just that, testing video conferencing and online meeting software and services that they had otherwise been ignoring. This includes attorneys, who began offering virtual attorney consultations and conferences, including family law attorneys dealing with divorce, child support, child custody, and similar matters. The good news is that businesses and customers alike have found deals so convenient and are likely to be here to stay for both the short term and the long term.

Such virtual divorce attorney meetings began out of necessity. Many attorneys were unable to meet their clients in face-to-face meetings due to policies the states issued, including a variety of closings, shelter-in-place orders and stay-at-home mandates. All of this combined with ongoing social distancing measures as well, not to mention the issue of many courthouses across the country temporarily closing or offering greatly reduced services during the pandemic.

Therefore, many divorce law firms changed their offerings to allow virtual meetings with clients. What both attorneys and clients found, of course, is that virtual consultation with family law attorneys is quite convenient for everyone. Many of the same issues that can be handled with a meeting in a shared physical space can be discussed and classified through direct online interactions.

Divorce mediation services can be one area in particular that is still widely used for virtual meetings. This brings the two parties together without needing to be in the same room together, and likely further reduces stress while offering a platform for communication and engagement.

Of course, when it comes to family law attorneys, being able to look at your clients to better understand and empathize with them, and gain their trust, is essential. Therefore, the success that is seen now would not be possible without the added video component, rather than handling matters strictly through phone calls or even online chat services.

Maintaining secure communications is also key for all types of businesses, but particularly for divorce attorneys meeting with their clients. There is a need to maintain strict privacy and confidentiality protocols and therefore it is important that the right tools and vendors are used, rather than those with known vulnerabilities in that regard.

As long as it’s handled correctly, in the years to come you can expect the trend for virtual family law attorney meetings and consultations to continue to rise and become more prominent. Of course, even when you do not need to meet with someone in person, you must ensure that the attorney you are meeting with is virtually an experienced and licensed professional in your particular state and locality.

Legal Law

Law School: Avoid Expository Writing in Law School Essay Exams

In law school, as well as in law practice, you will have many opportunities to demonstrate your skills in many types of writing. One type of writing that you will need to use from time to time is expository writing. Expository writing is a rhetorical mode of writing in which the author’s purpose is to inform, explain, describe, or define his subject to the reader.

However, when answering the law school writing test questions, you are asked to demonstrate a different type of writing. Exams are opportunities to show your professor your legal problem solving skills by identifying problems, establishing concise rules to be used to solve problems, and then applying your analytical talents to reason and reach conclusions. That requires a deviation from expository writing.

As an example, to prove a claim for negligence, a plaintiff must provide evidence of several elements, one of which is the existence of a “duty” on the part of the defendant to act with reasonable care in relation to the plaintiff. The following is unnecessary in an essay answer:

“Duty” can serve as a touchstone when it comes to understanding the essence of the concept of negligence. The notion of duty seems to be a universal cornerstone in legal systems around the world. In civilized societies, all human action conforms to the law, which the members of each society must obey. The duty may be bound by law or by contract. When imposed by law, a duty is an obligation that requires the actor to conform to a certain standard of conduct to protect others against unreasonable risks. The word “duty” is used throughout the Reaffirmation of Grievances to denote the fact that the actor must behave in a particular way; If you do not do so, you run the risk of being subject to liability vis-à-vis another to whom the duty is owed for any damage suffered by said other, of which the conduct of that actor is a real and proximate cause.

From an essay writing point of view (outside of law school), this can be a good paragraph. Including it in an expository writing could be helpful. Although introductory explanations, historical justifications, moral discussions, and transitional paragraphs tend to round out good collegiate expository writing, these are not hallmarks of good law school essay exam writing.