Solo Lawyers, small businesses and Non-Profits and Inflation

In a recent talk, the CEO of Walmart reminded everyone that Walmart signs contracts for its products months in advance of the products appearing at stores.  He alerted us that Walmart's contract prices are jumping with serious inflation beginning in June of 2011.  He is not guessing; he is seeing the inflationary prices printed on the contracts. What is the solo lawyer, small business or non-profit to do?  It is time to make some guesses and take action.

Fuel costs will drive up the prices of things that are delivered by truck.  Paper, envelopes, and file folders are already spiking. For the small office, should we simply buy an extra box of copy paper or envelopes?


Ink? It is already too high!

Is it time to buy a good scanner and go paperless?  Scan in forms, important papers, orders, decrees and use Dropbox.com to have a free offsite storage?

They grow a lot of coffee in Brazil, but not in Texas.  Tea is grown in India and Indonesia, 12000 miles away. Shipping fuel and trucking fuel are and will continue to drive up prices.  What office can survive without coffee or tea? Time to  buy extra cans of coffee and boxes of tea.

Fuel costs travel is already going up and will continue to do so.  Is it time to get serious about Skype, Gotomeeting, or Anymeeting.com to offer seminars online?  Freeconferencecall.com could save travel expenses.

Of course, it is all guess work, but I remember serious inflation.  We have two or three months to make our guesses and take our chances. Take action! The days of serious inflation are acoming!

Carolyn Elefant (MyShingle.com) has a recording on her website for solo lawyers. When she lists web sites that offer free services for solo lawyers and small law firms, it is amazing.  This old dog learned a few new tricks.

Dropbox.com and box.net are simple storage places for documents on the web.  Simple to use, and simple to retrieve documents, even if away from your computer.

Freeconferencecall.com gives you a telephone number and a PIN, and you make free conference calls.

Wufoo.com allows you to create client comment forms and a host of other forms.

Anymeeting.com, formerly Freebinar, allows one to conduct free seminars, sharing your computer screen with students.

Openoffice.org provides a word processing program.

Godaddy provides and e-mail address with your name, instead of Yahoo or G-mail

FreelanceSwitch.com offers an online calculator to help set fees.

Google Scholar allows legal research (and other kinds of research).

Fastcase  is dedicated to online legal research.

Toggl helps track time.

Freshbooks.com will create your legal billing.

Zoho Projects and Google Apps offer services to help set up and office and get it going.

Most of the services are free, several have a minimal expense, and all offer expanded services for a fee.  None of these programs were invented when I started practicing law, nor even when the firm began to use computers, but they are a part of my life now and are great!

How Long Does it take to get a Divorce?

• If you just moved to Texas, you wait 6 months to establish residency.
• If you just moved to a new county, you wait 90 days to establish residency.
• If you just served papers on your spouse, you wait between 20 and 27 days for your spouse's Answer. The answer day is always Monday morning, but the law has a 7 day variable.  Go figure.
• If you just filed a divorce case, there is a 60 day "cooling off" wait built into the law. 
• If you are in a busy judge's court, there will be a scheduling order, which lists things to be done over a 4 month period ( or so ).
• If you have a Temporary Restraining Order, you have a 14 day wait to get to a hearing.  In other words, getting help on child support and expenses has a 14 day wait.
• If you ask for a trial setting from the Court, there will be a 45 day wait to give the other side proper notice.
• If you want to settle the case, it usually takes a wait of 45 days from the filing of the divorce until the parties are calm enough to talk and settle a case.
• If drugs and children are at issue, there is usually an immediate drug test. The drug test may take custody issues immediately. 
• If children are at issue, there may be a wait for a psychologist's report or a psychiatrist's report in 4 months or so.
• If you are the woman and feel in danger, there is no wait, you go to your nearest, oldest, male relative for a visit.  Modern science provides a miracle cure for spousal abuse cases, the thought of going to see the wife and meeting her unbalanced, shotgun loving Daddy.
• Of course, the most reasonable thing is to hire a lawyer, tell him you want a divorce, and then complain about how slow your lawyer moves the case.  Spend your time recovering, helping children recover, and getting your life back is a better use of time than learning the procedural rules for a divorce.  Only a lawyer could love rules of procedure.  

Oops - Unforeseen Consequences of Criminal Convictions

Punishment: We all  know that committing a crime can result in punishment by fine or jail or prison. It is not as well known that the ability to get work may be lost by a conviction, probation, deferred adjudication or pretrial diversion.

Bad News. The Texas Occupation Code gives licensing bodies wide discretion in denying, suspending, or revoking the license of any person convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor related to the occupation. A list begins with Athletic Trainers, Barbers, Cosmetologists, Interior Designers, Water Well Drillers, County Librarian, Landscape Irrigators, and Fish Farmers. The list of effected occupations is much longer than shown here, and may apply to guilty pleas, deferred adjudications, and pretrial diversions. As you may know, in a pretrial diversion, the District Attorney and Defense Lawyer agree on a course of action, and the parties never even go to the Courtroom. [ Librarians?  Hair Dressers?]

Worse news: Students lose scholarships, are denied scholarships, and lose grants. These bans are in addition to zero tolerance bans by Universities and Colleges in denying admittance or a diplomas on drug convictions.

Bad things can only get worse: For narcotics convictions, the Federal Government imposes a lifetime ban of Food Stamps and other assistance. There is a lifetime ban on federal health care benefits (Medicaid, Medicare, Obamacare). There is a lifetime exclusion from federally funded low income housing.

Never stop the punishment: There are annual surcharges, beginning at the $1,000 level, for persons convicted of driving while intoxicated within the past 3 years. The restrictions on rights may include a ban on gun ownership, registration as a sex offender, and a ban on the use of computers.

Probation:  Most first time offenders are given probation, and if they successfully complete the probation, should have their rights reinstated, to a degree.  This is fraught is dangers, because the specific language is not always there.  A general "be good now" phrase in the discharge is not good enough.  Just ask the guy who was sent to the federal lockup for going on a dove hunt after he successfully completed his probation.

For specific information, Randy T. Leavitt wrote an amazing article for the Texas Advanced Criminal Law Course (2010), [randy@randyleavitt.com.], which is a good starting point for further research.

My wife asked me, "Isn't all this a bit much?"  The answer is yes, but it is very real and a lifelong punishment for the impulsive kid who took a step too far in his youth.

Things to do first in a divorce.

Here is a list of things to do early in the divorce procedures.   The following is not a complete list, it is just some things to think about.

1. Go see your doctor. Divorce is stressful and depressing. Get something to help you sleep. If you have been battered, get it documented by the doctor and his staff.

2. If you feel that you are in danger, go stay with daddy or your oldest male relative. It is amazing how the idea of seeing the grumpy old guy, with a shotgun, calms an abusive husband.

Listen to your feelings. There are warning signs of spousal abuse.

3. Take some photographs inside and outside the residence and all the vehicles. Make copies of all valuable documents like letters, diaries, deeds, car titles, check books, and credit card statements. The Judge already knows what you think of your spouse. The Judge wants to see evidence and these things are evidence. I do not want original documents in my office and I do not know of any lawyer who wants to be responsible for originals. Go to a copy place. Make good copies.

4. MySpace, Facebook, &; Twitter pages are used every day in divorce courts. Even if you marked them private or for friends only. If you have been too opinionated, vulgar, or adventuresome in the social media, ( ahem ) change your ways. If your spouse ( or girlfriend ) has done the same, print some pages for your lawyer. In that regard, remember that e-mails and texts are also commonly put into evidence and shown to the Judge.

5. Drugs: society may accept recreational drug use. A judge concerned about children will only see an easy way to decide custodial rights. Clean up and stay clean.

Being prepared may make the case a lot easier, and that is something you will need.

Economy getting better?

Lee Iacocca says it best, "instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, 'trust me, the economy is getting better..' Better? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned 'Titanic'."

Lee Iacocca also says, "Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?"

Go, Lee, go!

Facebook in 20% of American Divorces

It is being reported today that photographs and statements from Facebook, MySpace, and other social websites are the primary evidence in 20% of matrimonial and custodial court cases. Yes, Yes, Yes. Members routinely put the sexiest photographs on Facebook. Members, who are unhappy, routinely say the ugliest things on Facebook or brag about their adventures. Even if you limit the photographs and text messages to your friends only, the Courts look at printed copies of Facebook and MySpace entries every working day of the week. When your super sexy photograph is shown to the Judge or your brag about smoking grass is shown to the Judge, it may hurt your argument that you are a great mother or a great father.

Since the Facebook statements are "admissions against interest" (confessions), they are not hearsay and come rolling into evidence. Since Facebook photographs show what you actually looked like on the day the picture was taken, they come rolling into evidence.

Putting something too sexy or too adventuresome on Facebook or MySpace is like picking up a cat by the tail. You will learn things you cannot learn any other way.

Texas Legislature & Hiring Illegal Aliens

A Bill has been introduced at the Texas Legislature that would fine or jail any person hiring an illegal alien, except those working in your house or your yard. Your maid and nanny and lawn mowing kid would be okay, but if you hired them to work at someone else's house, you could be arrested. The Bill has not passed, yet.

Houston attorney Harry Tindall asks "why not exclude building janitors, construction workers, waiters, cooks, hospital employees and car wash employees?"

As for me, does my yard include the 6 acres of adjoining farmland? Are illegal alien farm & ranch workers to be despised and lawn boys praised?

Creating exclusions to the rules are nearly always difficult and unwise.

This smacks of a 19th century idea that Mexicans were only good people as maids and gardeners. As Sherlock Holmes would say, "The game is afoot."