Long Form (multi topic, hourly/full show)

a.  3rd party visitation with minor child:  Mary says her son and daughter-in-law are divorcing, the daughter-in-law has custody of the two darling little grandkids and will only allow Mary minimal visitation with them.  Mary hires a lawyer to intervene in the divorce case on her behalf and she seeks a formal visitation order for Mary to see the Grandkids more frequently.   What happens at court?  Why is this surprisingly difficult to achieve?

b.  2 separate slip-and-fall cases decided recently.  One injured person's claim survives and will move on to trial.  The other one gets thrown out early on in the case.  What are the differences?  What can we learn from them that we can use if any of us has a fall and a serious injury?

a.  3rd party visitation with minor child:  Mary says her son and daughter-in-law are divorcing, the daughter-in-law has custody of the two darling little grandkids and will only allow Mary minimal visitation with them.  Mary hires a lawyer to intervene in the divorce case on her behalf and she seeks a formal visitation order for Mary to see the Grandkids more frequently.   What happens at court?  Why is this surprisingly difficult to achieve?
b.  2 separate slip-and-fall cases decided recently.  One injured person's claim survives and will move on to trial.  The other one gets thrown out early on in the case.  What are the differences?  What can we learn from them that we can use if any of us has a fall and a serious injury?

Attorney John Matulis answers your legal questions on WTIC's Law Talk

Law Talk

Law Talk 5-11-24

(Continued from last week):  Nina injures her hand badly when the handle on the door of her stove pulls off.  The landlord says:  "it's your own fault!"  We discuss what happened at court, and why.  spoiler alert: landlord doesn't get off the hook, but Nina doesn't get all that she's asking for , either...) Jose, a contractor, rebuilt a defective deck on a home so that the owners could complete the sale of the home.  He was promised he'd be paid out of the proceeds from the sale, and in fact,  money in the amount of his bill was placed in escrow with the sellers' attorney.  But she never paid him.  He had to sue her.  We went over what happened at court, and why.  Spoiler alert:  people who dislike attorneys are going to enjoy hearing what the Court did to resolve the matter.

listener calls:  A woman called about getting her roofing contractor to come back and deal with the leaks in the brand-new roof.  Immediately after her call, a guy called, said he was a Building Official, and made a couple of additional recommendations to help her. Also a lady drove her car into a police cruiser.  Then she had the nerve to sue the cop and the Town, claiming the collision was the cop's fault.  Pretty nervy, huh?  We went over what happened at Court, and why.  You might be surprised...

(Continued from last week):  Nina injures her hand badly when the handle on the door of her stove pulls off.  The landlord says:  "it's your own fault!"  We discuss what happened at court, and why.  spoiler alert: landlord doesn't get off the hook, but Nina doesn't get all that she's asking for , either...) Jose, a contractor, rebuilt a defective deck on a home so that the owners could complete the sale of the home.  He was promised he'd be paid out of the proceeds from the sale, and in fact,  money in the amount of his bill was placed in escrow with the sellers' attorney.  But she never paid him.  He had to sue her.  We went over what happened at court, and why.  Spoiler alert:  people who dislike attorneys are going to enjoy hearing what the Court did to resolve the matter.
listener calls:  A woman called about getting her roofing contractor to come back and deal with the leaks in the brand-new roof.  Immediately after her call, a guy called, said he was a Building Official, and made a couple of additional recommendations to help her. Also a lady drove her car into a police cruiser.  Then she had the nerve to sue the cop and the Town, claiming the collision was the cop's fault.  Pretty nervy, huh?  We went over what happened at Court, and why.  You might be surprised...

Law Talk 5-18-24

 Usury:  i.e., lending money privately at an illegally high interest rate:  a recent case with very unusual facts.  the Judge found a way to do "what was right," despite the particular law in place.  and the case held several lessons for folks who lend or borrow money from "friends.".   Non-Compete Agreements:  now that the Federal Trade Commission is outlawing the enforcement of most of them, we discussed how they'll affect employees – and the employers who may rely upon them.  The lawsuits challenging the rule started literally within hours of the rule being announced by the FTC. Calls:  One guy with a complex fact pattern and a question whether his "friend" could sue him for sending the friend's lawyer a link to an old, unflattering news article about the "friend." Then another call from a guy now living in New Hampshire (but who says he listened for years and continues to do so) who wanted listeners to know that the non-profit Lawyer Referral Service helped him out extremely well  and he was most pleased. 

Usury:  i.e., lending money privately at an illegally high interest rate:  a recent case with very unusual facts.  the Judge found a way to do "what was right," despite the particular law in place.  and the case held several lessons for folks who lend or borrow money from "friends.".   Non-Compete Agreements:  now that the Federal Trade Commission is outlawing the enforcement of most of them, we discussed how they'll affect employees – and the employers who may rely upon them.  The lawsuits challenging the rule started literally within hours of the rule being announced by the FTC. Calls:  One guy with a complex fact pattern and a question whether his "friend" could sue him for sending the friend's lawyer a link to an old, unflattering news article about the "friend." Then another call from a guy now living in New Hampshire (but who says he listened for years and continues to do so) who wanted listeners to know that the non-profit Lawyer Referral Service helped him out extremely well  and he was most pleased.

Law Talk 4-27-24

The T word:  "Trespass".  Matthew got hurt sledding on private property.  does he have a claim against the property owner?  You might be surprised...
Another "A" word:  "Assault" (as in civil assault, not criminal):  We hear about it all the time.  But can there be an assault if there was no actual physical contact between the parties?  Another example where the law is different from the common perception...

The T word:  "Trespass".  Matthew got hurt sledding on private property.  does he have a claim against the property owner?  You might be surprised... Another "A" word:  "Assault" (as in civil assault, not criminal):  We hear about it all the time.  But can there be an assault if there was no actual physical contact between the parties?  Another example where the law is different from the common perception...

Law Talk 5-11-24

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