If you’ve had your TV on during the daytime lately, you’ve probably seen an advertisement for Sokolove Law. There you are, watching your Judge Judy, when on comes a commercial telling you that you may be entitled to a share of billions of dollars to compensate you for an injury you didn’t know you had. The “paid non-attorney spokesperson” implores you to call Sokolove Law if you or a loved one has been injured. So who is Sokolove Law? More importantly, should I call them? The ads are ...
What Is GINA?
The Genetic Information Nondisclosure Act of 1998 (“GINA”) deals with the use of genetic information in insurance and employment. Prior to GINA, there was a fear that, as doctors make increasing use of a patient’s genetic information in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, insurers and employers would make increasing use of such information for less legitimate reasons. The concern was that an insurer might learn that you have a genetic predisposition to cancer, for example, and on that ...
Can A Salaried Employee Get Overtime?
There a misconception that employees who are paid salary never have to be paid overtime. This is NOT true! The issue is complicated, but here’s some information for figuring out whether you are entitled to overtime, or whether you need to pay your employees overtime. The payment of wages and issues like overtime are governed by a federal law, the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, known as FLSA. FLSA governs the federal minimum wage, employment of youth, and overtime pay. In order ...
Intellectual Property: Who Owns It?
Businesses often hire people to create work that is considered intellectual property under the Copyright Act. Examples include logos, books, newspaper articles, and (crucially in today’s environment) software code and website content. In a traditional employer/employee relationship, the rights to intellectual property created within the scope of the employment belong to the employer. However, companies are frequently hiring independent contractors to perform this work. Many start-ups, ...
Non-Compete Agreements
A non-compete agreement is an agreement typically used in an employment relationship, where the employee agrees that he or she will not “compete” against the employer, often even after the employment relationship ends. Such agreements are becoming more common and are now used in a wide variety of fields, as are their cousins: the non-disclosure/confidentiality agreement and the non-solicitation agreement. What are these agreements and are they legally binding? In Idaho, non-compete ...
Do I Really Need A Will?
Following up on my last post, I get a lot of questions about whether people really need wills. The short answer is, of course, it depends! The purpose of a will is simply to announce (in a legally-binding way) your intentions for what should happen to your property and who should care for your minor children after your death. So if you have no kids, no spouse, and no property, then you probably don’t need a will. But once you are married, or have kids, or start to own property (like ...
Living Wills, Powers Of Attorney, And You
For many people, especially young adults, the thought of getting a will is a foreign concept. Many people assume they don’t need one unless they are rich, have kids, etc. I will leave the subject of a will for another post, but I want to make the case that everyone, including young adults, need to have a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care. A what what with a what what? A living will (which confusingly has nothing to do with a “will”) is simply a document in ...
What Kind Of Lawyer Are You?
I get asked this question almost every day. Most lawyers have a quick, buzz-word answer: “family law,” “criminal,” “medical malpractice defense,” “corporate.” I don’t. My answer is that I’m a problem-solving attorney who strongly resists being pigeonholed. According to Merriam-Webster, a “pigeonhole” is a “neat category which usually fails to reflect actual complexities.” That’s my objection – real life and my clients’ real problems are far too complex to be stuck in a neat ...
Backyard Fire Pit Worries
I was talking to a friend today about her concern over her choice of paving materials for a new patio/fire pit she’s building in her backyard. (She recently bought her first house, and she’s got big plans!) She’s thinking cobblestones, but she’s worried about the surface being uneven, causing chairs to be unstable on the patio. So I figured I would write about liability issues for property owners. Idaho law establishes three categories of visitor to your land. An “invitee” is someone ...
Repo A Pet?
I recently attended a continuing legal education seminar on animal law. I hadn’t previously thought of all the crazy issues that can arise with animals. For example, did you ever think of the repo man coming to repo a pet? It can happen — loans to purchase pets can be secured by a lien on that pet. Or what happens when your cat runs away and gets “adopted” by a new family who doesn’t want to give him back? Do you need to sue to get that pet back? Did you give up your right to the pet ...
