Honest Lawyers

When you are trying to find a lawyer either for representation in court or for legal advice, it is very important that you find somebody that has your best interest at heart. There are thousands of lawyers out there, so how do you know which one is going to be right for you? It is not always easy to tell which lawyers are skilled, knowledgeable and dedicated to their work, but there are steps you can take to narrow your search. Here are some Do’s and Don’ts that you should follow when you start your search for a lawyer. Remember, lawyers are available to you to help you with any legal issues you may be involved in. Having the right lawyer could be a life changing factor during your time in court.

DO: Speak to many lawyers before making your decision. The more familiarity you have with the process, the better chance you will have to find the best lawyer in your area. It is very possible that the first lawyer you speak to will be the one that you end up with, but you do not want to miss out on other experienced lawyers just because you did not speak with a variety of legal professionals before making your choice.

DO NOT: Take an acquaintance’s recommendation at their word. Somebody might recommend a lawyer to you without knowing much about them or their practice. Finding respectable lawyers takes some time and research. If you do not put in the required effort, you might get stuck with a lawyer that is only concerned about their payment.

DO: Use the Internet as a guide. There are many review websites on the web that will let you browse through the profiles of thousands of lawyers in a fraction of the time it would take with conventional resources. One these web pages, you will be able to view the specialties, contact information, and location of lawyers in your area. A great thing about a review website is that you can see what previous clients think about a particular lawyer. Seeing other people’s opinions will give you some insight into whether a lawyer is honest and dedicated, and you can find all this out before even speaking a word to or stepping into an office of an attorney.

DO NOT: Deal with lawyers that seem desperate. If a lawyer does their job well, the amount of clientele they receive will reflect that. If you are basically being begged or forced to hire a litigator, or they seem to be charge for things that normally should be free, just stay away.

It might sound as though all the lawyers out there are out to get you, but that is not true. You just want to make sure you have the best legal professionals at your disposal. Having an inexperienced or unskilled lawyer could reflect poorly on you, and that’s the last thing you need.

Illegal Activities

By allowing lawyers to defend us in a court of law, we are putting all of our trust in them. We want our lawyers to do everything in their power to help us succeed, and most of the time they do just that. There are lawyers out there, however, that have another agenda. When a lawyer breaks our trust, it causes us all to lose a little bit of faith in the system. There are many reasons why lawyers might choose a dishonest route. Sometimes they may benefit from their clients not winning their cases, they could be having personal problems, and several others are out there. The point is, even if you are a lawyer, if you break the law you are going to get caught. Here are some of the lawyers that have found that out firsthand, and have faced the music because of their actions.

1. Anne Adams – A New York lawyer, Adams has been banned from appearing as an attorney after facing three drunk driving misdemeanors, trying to fix the outcome of a case, and supposedly taking thousands of dollars from a client. Also, while lawyer Anne Adams’s case was open, security footage showed her and the judge hearing the case go into a car together for ten minutes. What went on inside the car is not certain, but both Adams and the judge resigned shortly after. Lawyers like this should not only have their licenses taken away, they should be placed in jail.

2. Goering G.C. Paderanga – This is a very recent case that actually is from the Phillipines. Paderanga, a lawyer, has been banned from practicing law for a year for falsifying documents. The case was brought before the supreme court by John Christen S. Hegna who was with the Office of the Bar Confidant. All lawyers are required to take an oath before practicing, and the proceedings made it evident that Paderanga had violated that oath. Paderanga faced repercussions for that violation, just as any other lawyer would, and it was made clear that any violations in the future would be much more severe.

3. Todd Genger – This is also a recent case. Although this lawyer did not do anything illegal in a courtroom or while dealing with a case, you would think that lawyers would have more sense than to get caught soliciting minors for sex on the Internet. Not only would a lawyer have seen people get caught doing these disgusting acts, anybody with a television has seen the men trying to have sex with underage girls get tackled by police on camera. For a lawyer of all people to be caught doing something like this is insane.

These three lawyers have been caught just like many others before them. Now they are paying the consequences. A lawyer should be fighting for us and upholding justice, not trying to abuse the system for their personal gains.

Finding the right Physician

A few days ago, while speaking with a prospective recruit over the phone, he mentioned that he would have to forgo a previous arrangement because he had missed one too many doctor’s appointments and if he didn’t go to his next one his physician was going to fire him. You heard me correctly, he was being fired by his physician. I told him to go right ahead, to feel better, and contact me when he knew he would be available.

What sounds like an isolated instance of an irate doctor actually occurs pretty frequently across the country. While the majority of patient-doctor relationships end for relatively non-descript reasons, such as moving, physicians will occasionally decide to drop a patient or two. Whether it’s because of missed appointments, failure to pay, or simply the fact that physicians could use a little time to tend to themselves, it happens.

Since it’s a tad bit difficult to compile a list of reasons physicians drop their patients, I’ve compiled a check list for finding the right physician.

Treat the patient-physician relationship like an intimate relationship.

There are a surprising amount of similarities between the relationship between patients and physicians and that of two lovebirds. Both involve loads of trust, vulnerability, and most obviously, seeing your most private body parts. If you’ve been together for a long time, it’s always difficult to end the relationship, because just like in an intimate relationship, the ideal result is a life-long partnership. Finding new partners and finding new physicians? Both take a little time and a whole lot of baby steps.

Never forget that this is a life-long relationship you are kindling. If you feel it in your gut that they are not the right one for you, keep looking, there are plenty of physicians out there. There’s no need to rush into the wrong relationship.

Meet the family

Never forget that you’re not just looking for physicians. You’re looking for physicians with a staff that will treat you the way you deserve. You may find a physician that seems amazing, but their receptionist is lethargic, their assistants are rude, and the nurse is just plain out mean. Do you really want to deal with them every time you’re at the physician’s? What if you’re feeling desperately ill and need to be squeezed into the weekend schedule at the last minute? Will the receptionist give you the cold shoulder? Just as a day with the in-laws can ruin your weekend, the same applies for your doctor’s staff.

Go with your gut.

Searching for objective information about physicians is highly recommended. Are they recommended by other physicians? Do they specialize in a field that you have a family history of problems in? Does your physician have any disciplinary or malpractice cases against him? These are all important questions, but never forget that it’s perfectly okay to reject physicians simply because there is something about them that makes you feel uneasy.

Physician

No matter what you are going through in your life, there always needs to be time and effort put into maintaining your health. Treating your body well right now will save you from an array of problems in the future. Many citizens are dying from conditions that could have been prevented had they visited their physicians in a timely manner or made some simple changes to their lifestyle. There are many reasons why somebody should visit a physician, even for those of you that think you are invincible or that you won’t need to deal with health issues until you are older. Here are some instances where you should head over to a clinic, no matter what your views on physicians are.

1. Annual checkup – Even if you have never contracted an illness in your life, it is important that you visit a physician for an annual checkup. During this time, physicians will check your blood pressure, reflexes, height, weight, and blood work. For men, prostate exams are recommended every few years, and for women, physicians will perform a mammogram and bone density tests. If there is some irregularities in these simple tests, it might lead to the discovery of a larger problem. Early detection of these problems could be lifesaving. If you are not currently going for annual checkups, find a physician and begin doing so immediately.

2. Questions – If you have any medical questions whatsoever, speaking with a physician is going to be the best course of action. Physicians are there not only to prescribe medications and hit your knee with a mallet. They have plenty of information that they are willing to share with their patients, all you have to do is ask.

3. Irregularities – When something in your body is not functioning the way it should be, a physician should be visited to see what exactly is going on. Physicians may be able to diagnose the problem on their own, or they could refer you to somebody that will be able to help you further. If you know what your problem is already, visiting a physician might net you a referral to the doctor you need. This way, your insurance company can cover the expenses.

4. Specialty physicians – If you have been having problems with your heart, you will likely be speaking with a cardiology physician. If somebody is pregnant, there are many obstetrics physicians they can go to. Most parts of the body and all the organs have their own specialists.

Visiting a physician might seem like a chore, but in the end you are helping yourself. Physicians exist for our benefit, and they have been vital in the elongation of the human lifespan over the past few hundred years. Just this century alone, the lifespan as nearly doubled due to increased physician knowledge and visitation. The research being done by physicians daily is going to keep us healthier and for many years longer.

What Can Attorneys Do for You?

Attorneys serve several functions in the court, legal system, and for their clients. Many people are unfamiliar with the variety of roles that attorneys play, which is unfortunate. There are many things that an attorney can help with that are being missed out on due to ignorance of their services. Of course we have all seen them on television and in movies defending murderers and yelling objection, but what else does an attorney do? Knowing the operations could certainly help you in the future if you ever need assistance in an area that attorneys specialize in. Here are some of the day to day duties that an attorney performs, for those of you out there that may not know.

1. Trial attorney – Just to get it out of the way, these are the attorneys that we are most familiar with. They are shown in popular media regularly, and there are whole television programs dedicated solely to this type of attorney. They will either be prosecuting or defending people that have been accused of a crime, presenting evidence, and building a case for or against them.

2. Advice – Some attorneys charge for legal advice and some do not. It is important to meet with an attorney if you have any problems or questions that you need help from a professional. They will be able to tell you how much trouble you are actually in, what you should be worrying about, and whether you need to actually hire an attorney. Just be sure that you consult with somebody that has a good reputation. Many attorneys will make you believe that you need to pay them for services that you could easily do by yourself.

3. Divorce – Attorneys will be a large help in a divorce. They can make sure that the assets are divided properly, fix any spousal support amounts necessary, and they also deal with custody issues. Many of these topics can be hard for a couple to deal with on their own, and having a divorce attorney help them through it can do a large part in keeping things civil.

4. Bankruptcy – Sometimes, people get into bad situations and end up way over their head. When somebody is faced with crippling debt, bankruptcy attorneys will provide assistance. The attorney will let you know whether you actually need to file for bankruptcy, or just some simple money management can help the problem. Filing for bankruptcy can damage your credit for the next ten years, so it is imperative that you know all of your options before proceeding, and a bankruptcy attorney will be there to provide you with that knowledge.

This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the different types of attorneys out there and what they do. Law can be very complicated at times, so it is great that we have highly educated professionals available to us as our guides.

Attorneys

There is only so much that defense attorneys can do. If they have a client that is guilty of murder and all the evidence points to it, the attorney does not have much recourse. Of course the attorneys could file an appeal to lower the sentence, but there are times that a person is just destined to head over to death row. A defense attorney will take a case such as this in an attempt to exonerate the murderer, and many attorneys have actually made a name for themselves by surprising the world and getting a murderer acquitted on all charges. Here are three of the cases where the defense attorney just could not keep their client out of death row.

1. Lawrence Bittaker – Having troubles with the law several times in the past, Bittaker was finally sentenced to death after he and his accomplice raped and murdered five local girls over a period of five months. He was a fairly intelligent man, having an IQ of 138, but he was diagnosed as a sociopath that could not control his actions. Attorneys could not do much for Bittaker since his accomplice, Roy Norris, told his friend Jimmy Dalton about the murders that they committed. Dalton then went to his own attorney and told him everything he had heard, making it fairly simple for prosecuting attorneys to convict them both.

2. Richard Ramirez – A serial killer that murdered nearly twenty-five people, Ramirez was deeply disturbed since childhood. He became involved with drugs and the occult at a young age. His trial began in 1988, during which Ramirez was overheard telling people that he was going to shoot the prosecuting attorneys with a gun in the courtroom. There were over one hundred witnesses that testified during the case. While his defense attorney did file an appeal, the death sentence was upheld. A subsequent rehearing was asked for by the attorney, but was denied.

3. Oba Chandler – This is a case where the client did not listen to his attorneys, and perhaps paid the price for it. Chandler was accused of murdering a mother and her two daughters while taking them on a cruise in his boat. Attorney advice told Chandler not to testify for himself, but he refused. Despite being told by his attorneys not to, Chandler testified in his own defense that the three murder victims simply stopped him to ask him for directions. There is a reason why people use an attorney, and that reason is they know more than you. Some people just don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.

The attorneys in these cases did what they could for their clients, but there are cases when an attorney just can’t help. A word to the wise, if you are going to commit murder, at least listen to what your attorneys tell you when you are in court. Otherwise the prosecution attorney is going to have a field day.

Break the Law

Laws exist in our society for a reason. If there were no repercussions for our actions, there would be chaos in every town, city, and state. Many of the laws that we need to abide by are just simple guidelines that we should all follow for there to be peace, they are somewhat of  “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” rules. If you follow that saying, you will be alright when it comes to any major law for which there would be major penalties.

There are, however, plenty of laws that the average person does not know as well, and that is why lawyers are available if someone happens to unwittingly break a law. If you are put into a situation where you are facing the long arm of the law, do you know what penalties could be coming your way? Here are some of the main sentences given by a judge to people that have broken laws.

1. Fine – Depending on the law or laws broken, you can end up with a fine as low as twenty dollars, or up to millions of dollars. Fines will look like a great alternative compared to some of the other penalties for breaking the law. Something like a speeding ticket might net you a fine for a few hundred dollars, while many white collar crimes will force the defendant to fork over some hefty amounts of cash, if not worse.

2. Probation – After breaking a law, a judge may allow you to pay a fine, go on probation, or both. While on probation, you will meet with a probation officer on regular intervals so that they can make sure that you are still abiding by all laws and you have not fallen back into your regular patterns. Drug tests may also be administered if the crime committed calls for them. If you break any laws while on probation, the judge will not be so lenient with you next time. Many judges take it as an insult if the mercy they show is thrown back into their face. If you find that you are unable to live within the rules of law, the penalties are much harsher.

3. Community service – This may also be given in conjunction with a fine or probation. Breaking a law can put you on the highway picking up trash with the other people that can’t abide by laws. There are many different types of community service, and usually you will have a say in what type you will be doing.

4. Prison – Break any major laws and you are going to be placed right into prison for years, maybe even life. Thankfully rule of law is there to keep murderers out of society so that they can be rehabilitated.

Any of these can apply to you, depending on the law or laws broken. Just make sure you act accordingly.

Craziest United States Laws

Some of the laws we encounter on a daily basis might seem a bit too harsh, overprotective, or sometimes even wacky. What many people do not realize is that there are laws that still exist today that are hilarious now, and would probably barely make sense even at the time they were passed. Law is supposed to be in our lives to uphold justice and maintain peace, but these laws will make you question the lawmakers’ sanity. Here are six of the craziest laws that either existed in the past, or still exist today.

1. Dogs – There was a law passed in 1919 in the state of Michigan saying that dogs may not be killed using a high altitude decompression chamber. This really makes you wonder how many people were actually engaging in this act if the government felt the need to pass this law to put a cease to it.
2. Bullet proof – A 1983 New Jersey law has made it clear that anyone that commits a crime (whether it is burglary, rape, or even murder), may not be wearing a bullet proof vest while doing so. Thank goodness that we have laws like this to keep us safe. If it weren’t for the vest law, people might still be committing murder today.

3. Family values – In Mississippi, there was a law passed in 1964 that said anybody that has two illegitimate children may have to serve thirty days in jail or pay a fine. This is an especially useful law because the best thing for an already illegitimate child is to take their parents away. Did anybody actually think these laws through?

4. Bathrooms – A law in Oregon has made it illegal to place containers filled with fecal matter on the side of any highway. It’s about time this law was passed. You Oregonians are going to have to store those containers in your trunk like everybody else.

5. Adultery – Anyone that commits adultery in the state of West Virginia will be fined no less than twenty dollars according to an old law. It may have been repealed due to the number of complaints received claiming that twenty dollars was double what they paid in the first place.

6. Fun and Games – It is illegal for anyone under the age of eighteen to play on a pinball machine in the state of South Carolina. These types of laws are especially great because of the shorter lines. Plus, how many pinball games can a kid play on their allowance anyway?

These laws are absolutely ridiculous, even if you try to put them into context. Would a bullet proof vest law really keep people from committing crimes? It would be surprising if there was even one less crime committed at any point in history because of that specific piece of legislation. A purpose that these laws do serve, however, is keeping us all laughing years later.

Doctor

We see doctors on screen all the time, whether it is a television show, movie, or documentary. Many fictional doctors have become a major part of popular culture, even though every line coming from their mouth has been scripted, along with every situation they are put in. An interesting trend has started in the past few years where real doctors are also reaching this celebrity status as well. They make television appearances regularly and have embraced their fame to educate the general public about their health. Here are a few doctors that have made the leap from the hospital to the public eye.

1. Doctor Oz – After making frequent appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show for a number of years, viewers liked Doctor Mehmet Oz so much that he was recently given his own talk show. Doctor Oz uses his show to raise awareness about several health issues, since he himself is a cardiothoracic surgeon, but also brings other doctors of different specialties to deal with other issues. He has also been featured on television programs such as Larry King Live, and has had a show of his own previously on the Discovery Health channel. Doctor Mehmet Oz is of Turkish descent, and has both Turkish and American citizenship.

2. Doctor Phil – Another Oprah Winfrey Show alum, Phil McGraw has a PhD in clinical psychology. Doctor Phil appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to help audience members and viewers with any problems they had and gained a large following. Soon, Doctor Phil was also given his own talk show where he offers his advice to guests and the audience. Throughout his career, he has sold weight loss products, been a part of several spin-off shows, and his fair share of controversies. Many fellow doctors and medical therapists have been critical of Mcgraw’s approach to therapy, and the main criticisms have been that it is simplistic and ineffective. He believes that he is not like other doctors and that he has a very unique style.

3. Doctor Drew – David Drew Pinsky has been on a number of television and radio shows throughout his career. He is a board certified internist and a specialist in the field of addiction medicine. Doctor Drew has hosted shows such as Loveline, Celebrity Rehab, and Sex…With Mom and Dad. He began his career while still in medical school answering questions about medicine on the radio. Doctor Drew has been helping teenagers and adults alike by honestly answering questions about sex in radio and television shows like Loveline, and also general health questions in Strictly Dr. Drew. Unlike with the other two doctors on this list, Doctor Drew has not elicited condemnation or criticism from other doctors.

All of the medical professionals listed here have had some positive effects on society, whether other people in the medical field feel the same way or not. It is always a good thing when awareness of health issues is increased.