Legal Case Study

“An engineer dies and reports to the Pearly Gates. Saint Peter checks his dossier and says, “You’re an engineer; you’re in the wrong place.”
So the engineer reports to the Gates of Hell and is welcomed. Soon, the engineer becomes rather dissatisfied with the level of comfort in Hell; he begins to design and build improvements. Shortly thereafter, Hell has air conditioning, flush toilets, and escalators. Needless to say, the engineer is a pretty popular guy.
One day, God calls Satan and says with a sneer, “So, how are things in Hell?”
Satan replies, “Hey, things are going great. We’ve got air conditioning, flush toilets, and escalators. And, there’s no telling what this engineer is going to come up with next.”
“What! You’ve got an engineer? That’s a mistake – he should never have been sent to Hell… send him to me.”
“Not a chance! I like having an engineer on the staff, and I’m keeping him!”
God insists, “Send him back or I’ll sue.”
Satan laughs uproariously and answers, “Yeah, right. And where are you going to get a lawyer?”
Well, it’s maybe one of the ways to avoid a lawsuit. The things are not much different over there. So, don’t make mistakes till you are still here.

Is it possible? The Professional Engineering Practice Act requires all licensees to at all times recognize that their primary obligation is to protect the life, health, property and welfare of the public. Certainly a broad obligation. Professional engineers are experts in their field. But even in your best work there is the potential for error. And as you know, for many engineering projects, a small mistake can have serious consequences. There are various ways a professional engineer may be exposed to a lawsuit. The legal cases against engineers may sound in Negligence or tort law; Contract law; Statutory violation, etc.

America faces an explosion of lethal cases involving legal drugs, usually highly addictive painkillers.
If the doctor prescribes a medication, but a patient takes the medication, without realizing that the prescription amount is lethal and  dies, who is responsible for his death?
If the doctor gives a patient injection before he dies, is the doctor responsible for his death?
If there were some other medical conditions leading to the death, is the doctor stil responsible?
Dr. Conrad Murray was presumably the last person to ever see Michael Jackson alive.
He was presumably unsuccessfully performing CPR on Michael Jackson when the ambulance arrived.

A friend of mine, a young student teacher, who was excited about “nourishing young minds”, “making difference” and other noble ideas in her profession, started her first in the 5th Grade by setting classroom rules. Suddenly, she was interrupted by one of the students who blurted out:

“Do you know that we can sue you?”
“You can not sue me without reason”, she replied.
“Yes, we can if we don’t like you. And you can not do anything to stop us. You’d better be nice to us.”

She tried to make it all sound like a joke and continued her lesson. But her Principal didn’t find it funny. He gave her a long list of Don’ts which made her reconsider her decision to become a teacher:

• Don’t touch students unless it’s an emergency.

• Don’t hug them. Don’t even pat them on the shoulder as a gesture of approval.

• Don’t put an arm around a crying child.

“I, personally, keep an arm’s distance, if I can”, the Principal shared.

• Be careful how you touch students when breaking up fights.

(And my friend remembered seeing a substitute teacher who was breaking up a fight and desperately appealing to passing-by teachers: “Do you see it? I am holding his arm because he is trying to hit and hurt another student?” She looked miserable, and my friend felt sorry for her: Will students appreciate you as a teacher after such moments?)

• Never stay alone with a student. Have a witness.

• Document any conversations with a student, which are not a part of your Lesson Plan.

• Document any conversation with parents.

• Be careful not to offend a student, even accidentally.

(Maybe, we are reading an instruction: “Living and Traveling in War Zones”?)
But the reality is that teachers are scared to even apply discipline in the classroom because students frequently sue teachers that show the least bit of spine. Instead of trying to achieve academic improvement, teachers are pathetically trying to please and entertain students.
School districts are so fearful of litigation that they no longer have the backbone to stand up to parents or students who are often flat wrong. Every day we read about somebody suing school districts or individual teachers. The claims range from trip-and-fall negligence suits to harassment to disputes over educational services.

• A mother sued a school district for $1.75 million alleging that teachers dressed up as witches scared her child.

• A fifth-grade girl sued her school for sexual harassment after administrators failed to stop a 10-year-old boy from continually teasing her.

• A college student sued a university because he received a B-minus.

Teaching WAS a great, glorious job. But now teachers feel on their own. And they have to defend themselves over what they see as perfectly reasonable actions.

The worst part of success is trying to
find someone who is happy for you.
BETTE MIDLER

It seems that not a day goes by without some news regarding new or pending lawsuits.
Hollywood’s leading movie studios have sued RealNetworks over its RealDVD software, arguing that the software’s ability to copy DVDs to a hard disk violates the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
In May, RealNetworks Sued Everyone Back.

June 25, 2009: UBS Suing Everyone Who Leaves Them
Everyone is suing Google and YouTube, MySpace and LiveUniverse, etc., etc.
As the business giants grow, rivals envy their growing imoney. Suing these days is only about making money. Why wouldn’t you go after everyone you possibly could if it might result in a nice fat settlement, possibly even out of court. There are plenty of businesses around that simply wouldn’t exist if they couldn’t sue everyone for something.

We are stuck in this cycle of lawsuits, counter lawsuits and counter-counter lawsuits.

How do Americans get away with suing everybody?
Has our country gone mad?
No, just incredibly money hungry.
Think of the beautiful world that will emerge when everyone sues for money.  Problems and poverty will vanish because we’ll all be busy counting our jury awards.  Everyone will be rich and happy, and envy will be permanently dethroned. Isn’t justice wonderful?

Pop star Michael Jackson has died in Los Angeles, aged 50.
“The singer had been dogged by controversy and money trouble in recent years, becoming a virtual recluse.”

Texan billionaire Sir (Knight) Allen Stanford has pleaded not guilty to fraud, conspiracy and obstruction.
“The billionaire arrived at court in handcuffs and chains, after spending the week since he handed himself in to FBI agents at a detention centre.”

…the higher you climb…
the harder you fall

and the harder you try
the louder they cry…

Like Mt. Everest, it gets scarier the higher you climb.
So is it worth it? The more you achieve, the more vulnerable you make yourself, the more power you give your rivals, enemies and even your friends to hurt you.

You climb your career ladder. You are becoming stronger, richer, and more famous. As you climb higher you emerge from other trees in the forest. You’ve won your place on the top. What happens if you lose then? Will you get sick? Will you get in prison? Will you die? Will you ever recover? Is it worth it?

For many people the answer is yes. Or course it’s worth it, they would say. The higher you climb it gives you better view and better possibilities. You never really reach the top. The challenge is in the journey.
It’s what makes us alive. To live means taking risks. If we don’t, we might as well be dead.

If you are just starting to climb your ladder, harness up before you climb up!  The higher you climb, the tighter you hold! And remember, the higher you climb, the higher you get unless…. (Go to the beginning of the story.)

(Instruction for Lawyers)

Increasing demands on wild plaintiffs by commercial lawyers has caused widespread overfishing.. “Clients farming” offers an alternative solution to the increasing market demand for plaintiffs and defendants.

“Clients farming” is the principal form of legal system while other methods may fall under malpractice. It involves raising clients commercially in businesses or other enclosures, usually for food for lawyers. A facility that releases juvenile clients into the wild for recreational fishing on them or to supplement a species’ natural numbers is generally referred to as a “clients hatchery”. The most important species of clients raised by “clients farms” are, in order, big companies, corporations, Internet businesses, small businesses and other fools.

(Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fish_farming )

IT’S TIME STOCK YOUR POND!

People who know Brad Greenspan and the story around LiveUniverse, MySpace and video sharing sites would understand this little poem.

The House That Brad Built
(By Mother Goose)

This is MySpace
that Brad Greenspan built.

This is Intermix Media,
A parent of social network MySpace.com,
Who sold MySpace on the cheap,
As Brad Greenspan said.

This is the Intermix board
Who knew that MySpace.com
Was worth significantly more
Than News Corp. paid.
As Brad Greenspan said.

These are  Intermix shareholders
Who sued Intermix over the deal,
Because they didn’t know
What the revenue of MySpace was,
As Brad Greenspan said.

This is LiveUniverse
Online entertainment network,
Founded in 2005
And lead by Brad Greenspan,
The founder of MySpace
As Brad Greenspan said.

This is Brad Greenspan
Who filed a lawsuit in Federal Court
Thru his LiveUniverse Inc.
Against News Corp’s MySpace
For blocking Live Universe videos from MySpace profiles,
As Brad Greenspan said.

This is LiveUniverse Inc.
Who lost appeal in antitrust case
Over MySpace sale.
And Brad Greenspan’s lawsuits
May be coming to end
As Mass Media says.

This is Viacom (VIA),
The rival of News Corp.,
Who missed out on grabbing MySpace
Four years ago.
But could get a second chance..
Mass Media says.

This is LiveUniverse Inc.
Who owes me money
For managing a website,
Like many other people
For many other websites.
And here is the list:

LiveVideo
lyricsdownload.com
AllTheLyrics.com
bigoo.ws
completealbumlyrics.com
dumpalink.com
Blinkyou
MySpacePimper
Vidilife.com
Wallpaperbase
liveplace.com
Yikers
MeeVee
Pageflakes
Revver
glumbert.com
Peerflix
LyricsAndSongs.com
Flurl
Jangl
Mojoflix
BestCrazyVideos
Gkko
PopCritics.com
TheVideoSpace
Ezprezzo
Lemonzoo
Yourfilehost
Uniquepeek
And others
That Brad Greenspan operates.

This is the money $$$$$$$$$
That people who sued LiveUniverse
And won the cases
Are trying to collect….
But nobody knows
What Brad Greenspan said
This time…

Below are some absurd laws that are (or were until recently) in effect in different states. Please do not rely on my blog as a reference for your lawsuit.

Alabama Dumb Laws:

* In Jasper, it is illegal for a husband to beat his wife with a stick larger in diameter than his thumb.
* It is illegal to wear a fake mustache that causes laughter in church.
* It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.
* It is illegal to play Dominos on Sunday.
* Putting salt on a railroad track may be punishable by death.

Alaska Dumb Laws:

* In Fairbanks, it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.
* While it is legal to shoot bears, waking sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

Arizona Dumb Laws:

* In Tucson, it is illegal for women to wear pants.
* In Globe, it is illegal to play cards in the street with a Native American.
* In Glendale, it is illegal to drive a car in reverse.
* In Nogales, it is illegal to wear suspenders.

Arkansas Dumb Laws:

* A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.
* In Fayetteville, it is illegal to kill “any living creature”.
* Flirtation between men and women on the streets of Little Rock may result in a 30-Day jail term.

California Dumb Laws:

* Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.
* Women may not drive in a house coat.
* In Pacific Groove, “molesting” butterflies can result in a $500 fine.
* It is illegal to set a mousetrap without a hunting license.
* In San Francisco, it is illegal to wipe one’s car with used underwear.
* It is a misdemeanor to shoot at any kind of game from a moving vehicle, unless the target is a whale.

Colorado Dumb Law:

* In Logan County, it is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep.

Connecticut Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to dispose used razor blades.
* In New Britain, the speed limit for fire trucks is 25 m.p.h. even when going to a fire.
* In Hartford, it is illegal for a man to kiss his wife on Sunday.

Delaware Dumb Law:

* It is illegal to fly over any body of water, unless one is carrying sufficient supplies of food and drink.

Florida Dumb Laws:

* If an elephant is left tied to a parking meter, the parking fee has to be paid just as it would for a vehicle.
* In Miami, it is illegal for a man to wear any kind of strapless gown.
* Unmarried women who parachute on Sundays may be jailed.
* When having sex, only the missionary position is legal.
* In Sarasota, it is illegal to sing while wearing a bathing suit.

Georgia Dumb Laws:

* While Georgia operates its own lottery, it “protects” its citizens by making it illegal to promote a private lottery.
* Members of the state assembly cannot be ticketed for speeding while the state assembly is in session.
* Donkeys may not be kept in bathtubs.
* No one may carry an ice cream cone in their back pocket on Sunday.

Hawaii Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to appear in public wearing only swimming trunks.
* It is illegal to own a mongoose without a permit.

Idaho Dumb Law:

* You may not fish on a camel’s back.

Illinois Dumb Laws:

* In Chicago, it is illegal to take a French poodle to the opera.
* According to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is “American”.

Indiana Dumb Laws:

* Monkeys are forbidden to smoke cigarettes in South Bend.
* It is illegal for a liquor store to sell cold soft drinks.

Iowa Dumb Laws:

* State law forbids any establishment from charging admission to see a one-armed piano player.
* In Fort Madison, firemen are required to practice for 15 minutes before attending a fire.

Kansas Dumb Law:

* Prohibits shooting rabbits from a motorboat.

Kentucky Dumb Law:

* It is illegal to remarry the same man four times.

Louisiana Dumb Laws:

* In New Orleans, fire trucks are required by law to stop at all red lights.
* It is considered “simple assault” to bite someone in New Orleans; it is “aggravated assault” if the biter has false teeth.
* It is against the law to gargle in public.
* It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.

Maine Dumb Law:

* In Waterville, it is illegal to blow one’s nose in public.

Maryland Dumb Laws:

* In Halethorpe, it is illegal to kiss for more than one second.

Massachusetts Dumb Laws:

* In Salem, even married couples are forbidden from sleeping in the nude in rented rooms.
* It is illegal to wear a goatee without a license.
* In Boston, it is illegal to take a bath unless one has been ordered by a physician to do so.
* In 1659, the state outlawed Christmas.

Michigan Dumb Laws:

* In Clawson, it is legal for a farmer to “sleep with his pigs, cows, horses, goats, and chickens.”
* A state law stipulates that a woman’s hair legally belongs to her husband.
* In Detroit, it is illegal to make love in a car unless it is parked on your property.
* You may not swear in front of women and children in the state of Michigan.
* In Port Huron, the speed limit for ambulances in 20 m.p.h.
* Under state law, dentists are officially classified as “mechanics.”

Minnesota Dumb Laws:

* Women may face up to 30 days in jail if they impersonate Santa Claus.
* In Minneapolis, double-parkers can be put on a chain gang.
* Every man in Brainerd is required by law to grow a beard.
* It’s illegal to tease skunks.

Mississippi Dumb Laws:

* In Truro, a would-be groom must “prove himself manly” prior to marriage by hunting and killing either six blackbirds or three crows.

Missouri Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to have oral sex.
* Single men between the ages of twenty-one and fifty must pay an annual tax of one dollar (enacted 1820).

Montana Dumb Laws:

* Prostitution is considered a “crime against the family”.
* It is a felony for a wife to open her husband’s mail.
* It is illegal for married women to go fishing alone on Sundays, and illegal for unmarried women to fish alone at all.
* It is illegal for a man and a woman to have sex in any other position other than missionary style.
* Seven or more indians are considered a raiding or war party and it is legal to shoot them.

Nebraska Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal for bar owners to sell beer unless they are simultaneously brewing a kettle of soup.

Nevada Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to drive a camel on the highway.
* It’s still “legal” to hang someone for shooting your dog on your property.

New Hampshire Dumb Laws:

* You cannot sell the clothes you are wearing to pay off a gambling debt.
* It is illegal to pick seaweed up off of the beach.
* Any cattle that crosses state roads must be fitted with a device to gather its feces.
* On Sundays citizens may not relieve themselves while looking up.

New Jersey Dumb Laws:

* Spray paint may not be sold without a posted sign warning juveliles of the penalty for creating graffiti.
* It is illegal to wear a bullet-proof vest while committing a murder.
* It is against the law for a man to knit during the fishing season.

New Mexico Dumb Laws:

* It’s forbidden for a female to appear unshaven in public.
* Hunting is prohibited in Mountain View Cemetery.

New York Dumb Laws:

* A fine of $25 can be levied for flirting. This old law specifically prohibits men from turning around on any city street and looking “at a woman in that way.” A second conviction for a crime of this magnitude calls for the violating male to be forced to wear a “pair of horse-blinders” wherever and whenever he goes outside for a stroll.
* It is against the law to throw a ball at someone’s head for fun.
* A license must be purchased before hanging clothes on a clothesline.
* The penalty for jumping off a building is death.

North Dakota Dumb Laws:

* Beer and pretzels can’t be served at the same time in any bar or restaurant.
* It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep with your shoes on.

Ohio Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday.
* It is illegal to get a fish drunk.

Pennsylvania Dumb Law:

* A person is not eligible to become Governor if he/she has participated in a duel.

Texas Dumb Laws:

* It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing.
* It is illegal to drive without windshield wipers. You don’t need a windshield, but you must have the wipers.
* It is illegal for one to shoot a buffalo from the second story of a hotel.
* It is illegal to milk another person’s cow.
* A recently passed anticrime law requires criminals to give their victims 24 hours notice, either orally or in writing, and to explain the nature of the crime to be committed.
* The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.

Wisconsin Dumb Laws:

* You must manually flush all urinals in a building.
* Butter substitutes are not allowed to be served in state prisons.

I am not giving Advice. I don’t know all you circumstances. I am not an expert on legal or business matters. I have received much bad or useless advice in my life. I was sometimes blamed for giving bad advice and never thanked for giving some good pieces of advice.

We can learn from other people. But each of us is a unique person.
The best way to learn something is by listening to their stories and making your own mind.

Each person and each business have different background and priorities. Even while accepting the best advice which is based on somebody’s experience, we should be careful. It is not our experience. And we don’t know what the person offering the advice has learned from this experience.

My friend followed the advice of his colleague to start a new business by buying goods in China and selling them on eBay. His colleague practiced this kind of activity for a while, and his advice was based on his own experience. My friend bought 200 of the best models of Flat Irons & Hair Straighteners from one of the companies he had found on the Internet and started selling them on eBay. It turned out  very profitable. Just like his colleague said. His happiness lasted for a few days till flat irons and hair straighteners started coming back with informal and formal complains. THEY DIDN’T WORK. They were counterfeits. To crown it all, he got a letter from eBay blaming him for illegal business and threatening with a lawsuit. Was his colleague to blame for it? Or my friend himself, who started this risky business without studying all the pros and cons first?

Many of our problems start with assumptions. We get a bit of information and assume we know all the facts. We assume that our partners like our plans but they don’t and eventually we have to deal with the crisis in our business relationships. We assume that we are in charge of the situation. But we are not. And if we are not in charge, somebody else is. We assume that our lawyer knows our situation better than we do. But he doesn’t. We assume he knows all the answers.

Stop assuming. Start asking questions. Ask questions right from the start and listen to the answers. Questions help clarify the situation. Questions put people on spot. Questions demand answers, and answers require logical conclusions. Ask the questions and find out the truth. Asking questions gives you time to think. Ask questions of others and of yourself. It will keep you from assuming.