It is no secret that the way we communicate and interact with each other has been permanently changed as a result of the advent of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, & Twitter. Recent statistics indicate that Facebook now has more than 300 million active users – a number that grows by more than 250,000 every day. It seems that almost everyone, including many businesses, use social media to create new relationships and strengthen or re-discover existing ones. While the benefits of these social networking sites are obvious, the potential pitfalls may not be. You might recall a story that received some attention back in July concerning the incoming chief of MI6, Britain’s international spy agency. In that case, the spy chief’s wife posted personal details about their family, vacations plans, and residence on her open Facebook page. While the British Foreign Secretary tried to downplay the significance of the disclosure it was obvious that the leak was more than just an embarrassment for the government. Though I don’t expect that any of us will be divulging state secrets on our Facebook pages, the information we do post can have unintended consequences months and even years later. Remember, the information you post on these sites can float around in cyberspace in perpetuity.

As a trial lawyer, I have seen many cases adversely impacted by the information innocently posted on social networking sites. Savvy defense lawyers, investigators, and insurance adjusters are routinely scouring these sites to obtain information that can damage or, in some cases, destroy your injury claim. For example, comments such as “Wow, my back really hurts after that tennis game” or “Spent last night horsing around with the kids and now my neck is killing me” can and will be used against you in your personal injury case. Even vacation photos that you post can be used to argue to a jury that you aren’t really injured.

My advice is to not post any information on Facebook that you wouldn’t want your employer, your parents, or a jury to see at a later date. If you have a pending case or claim, it is best to take down your site until the case is over with. Do not assume that by setting your page to private you are protecting yourself and preventing uninvited guests from accessing your posts. Insurance companies and defense attorneys have many ways, some ethical and some not, of obtaining this information. Remember, as Benjamin Franklin famously said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

If you have any questions regarding setting a social networking policy, or would like a free consultation about your personal injury claim, please feel free to contact me, Andrew Weinstein of the Weinstein Law Firm • (954) 757-7500.

Recently the Florida Supreme Court issued a new Opinion limiting the type of information lawyers can include on their websites. Beginning in June 2010 law firm websites may no longer include testimonials, laudatory statements, and information about past results. While some changes to the current rules were necessary, with the proliferation of advertising it will now be more difficult for prospective clients to determine whether the lawyer they intend to hire has the experience necessary to handle their case. There are however many additional ways to obtain that information. The first and most obvious way it to simply ask the lawyer, over the phone or at the initial meeting, to tell you what qualifies them to represent you. Any lawyer worth hiring will welcome this question though, surprisingly, it is one that few clients choose to ask. Ask the attorney how many cases similar to yours they have handled in the past. Ask if they will litigate your case to conclusion if necessary and find out how many jury trials they have personally handled. Ask if they intend to associate with other lawyers or refer your case out if the matter is not able to be resolved before a lawsuit is filed. You should also search the internet to see if you can find additional information about the lawyer you intend to hire. Websites such as www.avvo.com , www.martindale.com, and www.floridabar.org are excellent resources as they provide useful information to help you decide which lawyer to retain. The bottom line is, the more educated you are about the lawyer you choose, the more likely you are to be happy with your choice.

The Coral Springs-based, Weinstein Law Firm was established by managing partner and civil justice attorney, Andrew Weinstein more than 10 years ago. The firm represents individuals and families injured in automobile and premises liability accidents, as well as those harmed by dangerous and defective products throughout the State of Florida. In addition, the firm represents Florida health care professionals in a wide range of legal issues, which include Personal Injury Protection (PIP) and insurance claims. More information can be found at www.weinstein-law.com or by calling (954) 757-7500.

Askinglaw, a legal question and answer website, is excited to announce that on March 1st, 2010, the 5,000th legal question was posted on the site. Law questions asked ranged from areas of law including:

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Law costs draftsmen deal with costs in every sector of law both litigated and non litigated.

The main job of a law costs draftsmen is to settle the cost of a law case. They provide that vital link that can not only lead to a satisfactory recovery of legal costs as efficiently as possible, but can also release the lawyer to concentrate of servicing their clients without distractions. A law costs draftsman will also optimise the costs of a case ensuring the best possible outcome.

Law costs draftsmen deal with costs in every sector of law and have the best systems in place for the recovery of legal costs – the legal costs drafting service that moves cases to completion as quickly and efficiently as possible. Saving time means much less stress and hassle and also means costs saving.

A law costs draftsman recover Claimants’ Costs or Part 20 Claimants’ Costs (additional costs) on non litigated matters and litigated matters. When representing a client, a law costs draftsman will assess the case, offer advice, drafts the schedule of costs, negotiate the costs, prepare the necessary bills and costs, prepare court forms and draft replies. As you can see, there are a number of components relating to costs and without the use of a drafting service, these costs are often not tracked and optimised as well as they could be. A professional law cost draftsman who specialises in this sector of legal services is invaluable.

Legal cost negotiators can also offer the following:
Advice and assistance on RTA Predictable Fee Cases
Drafting interim Bills
Drafting Schedules of Costs for:
Allocation questionnaires
Listing questionnaires
Infant Approval Hearings
Application hearings
Consideration and Drafting of Points of Dispute
Telephone and / or email Question and Answer Service
Seminars presented by our best Law Cost Draftsman

When looking for a law cost drafting service, check the firm has the latest computer software relating to drafting and preparation of bills and costs. This ensures the firm consistently produces a quality service through every aspect of the case.

However, no matter how good systems and computers are, the most important ingredient is the law costs draftsman. Reliable, professional and dedicated law costs draftsmen operating as a team provide clients with a quality, reliable service.

So to conclude, the assistance of a law costs draftsman gives the solicitor and their client the peace of mind that all costs are fully layed out, that the costs are controlled and that the best possible practices are in place for the case.

Brain injuries range from mild to severe, and affect approximately 1.5 million people in the United States annually. Whether mild or severe, there is usually still a sudden dependence on others for care, disruption in daily life, and increased emotional distress for the victim and their family. Brain injury cases are often complicated and require an attorney who specializes in the area of brain injuries. Make sure to have a good attorney on your side.
The medical community classifies brain injuries into two categories. Acquired brain injuries are usually due to certain medical conditions such as strokes. The other category is traumatic brain injuries. These are usually caused from some form of blow to the head or actually penetration into the brain from a physical assault, vehicle accident, or sports injury.
In the United States, someone suffers a traumatic brain injury about every 15 seconds. Approximately 100,000 children sustain a brain injury annually. Out of one million people that enter the hospital for a brain injury every year, approximately 270,000 are classified as moderate to severe. Brain injuries are one of the leading causes of death in people under the age of 45. Roadway accidents cause about 50% of all brain injuries. Slip and falls are the culprit of brain injuries in people over the age of 75.
Brain injuries often occur due to the negligence of others. If this can be proven, the victim is entitled to compensation under personal injury laws. Not only is the victim compensated, but in severe cases, the families are often compensated as well. Families are given compensation when their lifestyles have been dramatically changed by the victim’s injuries.
Related Legal Site: The Law Offices of Abrahamson & Uiterwyk. Serving clients in Tampa, FL.

Discrimination is a part of everyday life and in a personal aspect it is unavoidable. However, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 helps to eliminate it as much as possible in the workplace. Discrimination against Race, Gender, and Religion is against the law and Title VII enforces protecting workers from discrimination.
What The Government Is Doing
Our government has set forth laws that forbid employers from basing their hiring decisions on a person’s characteristics. Such laws include the Equal Pay Act, Fair Labor Standards Act, and Civil Rights Act. This also applies to how an employee is treated versus co-workers of different characteristics. There are also varying state and county laws that further protect employees and job applicants from discrimination.
How To Know You Are Being Discriminated Against
Many people overlook or do not even notice when there is discrimination in the workplace. Some examples of this situation include:
• You make less in pay or receive less in benefits as someone who is of a different gender, race, or religion. If your job titles are different then this may not be discriminatory. If you do the same amount of work and have the same position as the person receiving more than you, then this would be discrimination.
• If you are fired from a position for no valid reason. If you were fired even though you have performed all job duties correctly and in a timely manner, this would be a violation of your rights. The same is true if you have shown a higher level of performance than co-workers who are of a different race, gender, or religion.
• If an employer asks an employee of a different gender to perform sexual favors in order to keep or further their position in the company.
• Another employee is being favored for bonuses, promotions, etc. although you perform as well or better than they do.
• The company is providing benefits at different levels for the same job position but different employee characteristics.
• Your employer or co-workers have expressed how they feel about a certain characteristic, and have used these feelings as a basis for hiring and promoting employees in the company.
Although there are many laws prohibiting any type of discrimination in the workplace, it is still happening on a daily basis. There are many laws that are lowering the occurrence of this situation and employers as well as employees should know the rights and regulations of workplace practices.

Additional Legal Source: Shavitz Law Group, P.A. Serving all of Florida

The IRS is widely known throughout the nation for many reasons, one of the most prominent reasons being the fact that they can audit your taxes at any given time. It is important when the IRS decides to send an agent to audit your taxes that you are prepared and know what to expect. Many tax payers view the IRS as if they are a threat. However, the IRS has been put in place to help the overall nation from illegal or corrupt practices.
What Are The Taxpayers Rights?
Many people just assume that when the returns are submitted for an audit that they had done something wrong or made a calculated error. While this may hold true in some circumstances, not all returns submitted have any errors. It is important for the IRS agent to treat each individual equally as to not discriminate. By law the tax payer has rights during an audit, some of these rights include:
• The right to privacy and confidentiality regarding their taxes.
• The right to be treated in a courteous and professional manner by the agent.
• The right to be informed as to why the agent is requesting information, what they will do with that information, and what are the consequences of not providing this information.
• The right to be represented, either by oneself or an authorized representative.
• The right to appeal any disagreement, both before the courts and/or within the IRS.
How Does The IRS Choose Their Audits?
How did my return get chosen? That is one of the most common questions asked when he tax payers return has been chosen for audit. Many people are under the impression that the IRS chooses tax payers who have made a critical error in their tax return. However, there are a variety of methods used to select a taxpayer for an audit. Some of these methods include:
• Computer Scoring – some tax returns are chosen for audit on a computer scoring basis. This is done through a program that gives each individual return a numeric score. One part of the program looks for changes based on past IRS experiences with similar tax returns. Another part of the program reads the tax return based on the possibility for unreported income. After the computer program has selected the highest scoring returns, and IRS agent will screen these returns to select them for audit based on which ones presumably need review.

• Large Corporations — the IRS tends to audit multiple large corporate returns on an annual basis due to the fact there is a higher chance of error.

• Potential participants in abusive tax avoidance transactions — the IRS selects certain returns based on information they have obtained through the efforts of identifying taxpayers who promote or participate in abusive tax avoidance transactions.

• Information matching — multiple returns that are selected for audit has been selected due to the fact that the forms W-2 or the form 1099 do not match the income reported on the tax return.

• Related examinations — returns may also be chosen for audit if they have been associated with issues or transactions with other taxpayers, such as business partners, who have also been selected to have their returns audited.

Related Legal Site: Thorn Law Group. Serving clients nationwide and in Washington DC.

In the United States there have been drastic changes in the laws and procedures involved with divorce over the last 4 decades. Understanding divorce law is not easy, but understanding the legal parts of these changes may help. Many of the changes that have been made over this time period have considerably altered the application process for divorce and how the divorce affects the parents and children. When applying for divorce or a legal serration the best advice most lawyers give is learning some of the basics beforehand.
Who Is At Fault?
As with many other laws, each state varies on rules and procedures. Depending on the state, there can be wide variations in how the divorce process such as division of assets and children is done. Before the 70’s divorce was widely considered a social blunder and was looked down upon by the standards of society. Thus, many people avoided divorce at all costs. Understanding divorce laws also means you need to have an understanding of how a person is found guilty in the divorce.
Each of the 50 states usually grants divorce on the foundation of marital fault such as adultery, mental or physical abuse, or some other type of wrong done by the person at fault. The courts usually award a loser and winner based on which person was guilty of any misconduct. If it was the husband that was the guilty part, he would be required to give a majority of the assets to the wife and lose custody of any children involved, and vice versa. Before the 70’s however, the innocent spouse would be rewarded by staying true their vows and the guilty spouse would be penalized for the misconduct.
Basics
While understanding everything involved with divorce law can be an obstacle, the basics of divorce law are much easier to grasp. After 1970 laws have been passed by many states to have a no-fault divorce. Now divorce is the ending of a marriage that is not obligated to be a result of wrong doing by either spouse. There are no guilty or innocent verdicts and there does not have to be a form of marital wrong doing in order for the divorce to happen. It is possible to get a divorce simply because each part is not happy in their marriage.
An important factor involved with divorce law is a prenuptial agreement. A prenuptial agreement is defined as a contractual agreement created before the marriage ever begins. It handles situations such as division of the assets if a divorce were to happen. Simply put, the agreement states that the man and woman both agree upon how any assets will be divided after the divorce. This helps protect the other spouse from taking a majority of the assets when the marriage ends. A majority of the situations involving a prenuptial agreement occur when one spouse has a significant sum in assets and the other does not, this protects the wealthier spouse.
Additional Legal Tools: Visit the law offices of Elan Wurtzel for more information on divorce.

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