Legal-Ease: Legalities of ‘fake news’

The recent election cycle brought with it the rise of fake news, spread mostly through Facebook. Many people, especially those who may be embarrassed at having spread a fake news story, often wonder why creating fake news is even legal in the first place.

Legal-Ease: Gratitude is never illegal and always helpful

Analyzing a situation with a perspective of gratitude helps us gain peace of mind. In some instances, it also more effectively resolve disputes or puts challenges behind us. Generally, a client is grateful for the work an attorney does, and an attorney is grateful for a client. But gratitude can help individuals get through disputes or legal situations that would normally seem to cause anger or confusion.

Legal-Ease: Co-owning and separating real estate

A “partition” is the specific type of lawsuit designed for splitting up co-owned real estate. But you can avoid this lawsuit by managing co-ownership with a few other options. Creating an LLC, a limited liability company, may not seem like it has much to do with real estate but it will help establish guidelines for multiple owners. A shared ownership agreement can also be used to manage conflict.

Legal-Ease: Farm machinery, roads and inconsistent laws

Ohio law governs vehicles on roadways, including farm machinery. Yet this equipment holds a special place in the law, seeing as many pieces of machinery are larger than normal vehicles and can occupy more space in or across lanes. To understand the liability factors at play, you need examine how the different vehicle laws interact.

Legal-Ease: Levels of legal authority

In the United States thousands of laws are in place that are not created by the government. Federal laws that aren’t passed by Congress are called “regulations.” Regulations have the effect of the law, but they can’t exceed the authority from the Constitution or the laws that are passed by Congress.

In the United States and in Ohio, there are literally thousands of laws that are created by bureaucrats who do not work for Congress, the Ohio General Assembly or any local government.

Legal-Ease: Federal and state courts

Our legal system is made up of many different courts, in which different decisions are made and different cases are heard. Each federal district court and circuit court has its own requirements for attorney admission, including fees, tests and references.

Legal-Ease: Mothers-in-law are mothers, too

Legal disputes between in-laws are unfortunate, but can occur – and if the dispute makes it all the way to the courthouse, odds are that there will ultimately be no winners. But making end-of-life care and other important life decisions in writing now can make things smoother later in life.

Legal-Ease: Judge or jury?

Depending on the charges being argued, court cases are either determined in front of a judge or a jury. While people accused of crimes against society are nearly always entitled to a jury trial, not all decisions are made by juries – judges have a lot of leeway in determining what evidence can be admitted, the interpretation of written documents, and other important decisions.

Legal-Ease: Courts won’t decide internal church issues

The legal system has a very limited relationship when it comes to religious organizations, especially when it comes to their internal processes. For “connective” churches, courts will generally not decide disputes regarding local church government, order, discipline, membership or authority.