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In this article, you will learn about both the Arbitration and Trial stages of a lawsuit.

Arbitration
In Pennsylvania, if the Plaintiff is seeking money damages of less than $50,000, the lawsuit proceeds to mandatory arbitration rather than directly to a trial in front of a judge or a jury. The procedure involved in an arbitration is similar to that of a trial. However, instead of a judge or jury deciding the case, the ruling is made by a panel of three local attorneys. If either party is dissatisfied with the arbitrators’ ruling, an appeal can be filed which results in a brand new trial in front of a judge or jury.

Trial
Both appeals from arbitrations and cases seeking more than $50,000 result in trials. Depending on the preference of the parties, the trial can take place in front of a judge or jury. There are generally six phases of a jury trial: (1) Jury Selection; (2) Opening Statements; (3) Testimony and Evidence; (4) Closing Arguments; (5) Jury Charge; and (6) Verdict.

In a jury trial, the first phase of the trial begins with Jury Selection. A pool of jurors (usually about 50) is led into the courtroom and each juror has a number, from 1 to 50. Then, the attorneys for both parties ask the jurors questions to determine whether they know any of the parties, attorneys, or witnesses or whether they have had any experiences or have strong feelings on certain issues which would not allow them to be unbiased and impartial. Once the questioning is complete, each attorney can ask that certain jurors be stricken from the jury pool due to some disclosed bias or prejudice. After the judge rules on the “for cause” challenges, each party can also strike a set number of other jurors (usually around 4) who they think would likely favor the other side. These are called “peremptory strikes.” Once the strikes are complete, the first 12 remaining jurors constitute the jury panel for the trial.

After Jury Selection, Opening Statements are presented to the jury. The Plaintiff’s Opening Statement is intended to give the jurors a “roadmap” of the trial to describe to the jury what the Plaintiff intends to prove. Normally, the facts of the case are outlined and the witnesses and important evidence are discussed. Argument is not permitted in the Opening Statement. The Defendant can decide to give an Opening Statement or defer the statement until after Plaintiff presents its testimony and evidence.

After Opening Statements, the parties present their Testimony and Evidence. The Plaintiff goes first by calling witnesses and offering exhibits into evidence. Each witness may be cross-examined by the Defense. Next, the Defendant may call witnesses and introduce evidence to support its defenses. Thereafter, the Plaintiff may present witnesses or evidence in rebuttal to the Defendant’s case.

Once all testimony is complete, the attorneys deliver Closing Arguments. During the Closing Arguments, the attorneys are able to argue why the facts and applicable law should lead to a verdict in their favor. Plaintiff goes first. After Plaintiff’s Closing Argument, the Defendant presents its closing. Finally, after the Defendant’s closing, Plaintiff’s attorney usually presents a brief rebuttal argument.

After Closing Arguments, the judge must give the Jury Charge. In the charge, the judge explains to the jury all of the law applicable to the case so that the jury can reach a proper verdict. The Jury Verdict itself marks the conclusion of the trial.

In the case of a trial in front of a judge only (a bench trial), the procedure is the same except that there is no jury selection, jury charge or jury verdict. Usually, the judge will take additional time to consider the evidence and prepare a written decision rather than announce the decision immediately after trial.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

Parents usually feel responsible when their children do bad things - a sense of shortcoming or failure when children make bad choices or carelessly cause harm to another. However, whether parents can be held legally liable for the acts of their children is not commonly known. The answer, not surprisingly, is sometimes “yes” and sometimes “no.”

General Rule
The general rule is that the mere relationship of parent and child does not impose any legal liability on the parent for the bad acts or carelessness of the child. Instead, parents can be held liable only where the child is acting as an agent of the parent (that is, acting under the authority or the direction of the parent) or some negligence (carelessness) of the parent made the bad act possible.

Regarding liability as an agent, some examples would include harm resulting from a car accident caused by the negligence of a child when the child was running an errand at the direction of a parent or a parent encouraging a child to physically attack another person.

Parents can also be held liable for their own negligence which contributes to a child causing injury to another. Examples of that type of behavior would be a parent serving a child alcohol and then permitting the child to drive a car, or a parent failing to properly supervise a child in a store, which leads to the child damaging fragile merchandise.

So, the general rule is that the child must have been acting on behalf of the parent or the parent must have made the harm possible through the parent’s own negligence in order for the parent to be held legally liable for harm caused by a child.

Statutory Liability
Parents can also be held liable for certain bad acts of their children under a statute titled “Liability for Tortious Acts of Children.” That statute provides that any parent whose child is found liable or adjudged guilty by a court of a willful act resulting in personal injuries or property damages shall be held liable to the person who suffers the injury.

The statute applies to willful (intentional) acts of children, such as violence or vandalism. If those types of intentional acts are committed, a parent can be held financially responsible up to certain dollar limits, despite having no prior knowledge, involvement or opportunity to prevent the harm.

The limits of liability are $1,000 for injuries suffered by any one person as a result of one act or a continuous series of acts and the total sum of $2,500, regardless of the number of persons who suffer injury as a result of one act or a continuous series of acts. Accordingly, if a child violently attacks and hurts another child, the parents of the attacking child can be held liable for up to $1,000 of damages. Also, if a child commits a series of continuous acts of vandalism, such as damaging several houses one night, that child’s parents could be held liable for $1,000 of damages for each person harmed and a total of $2,500 for the whole vandalism spree, regardless of the amount of damages or number of people affected.

Although the general rule is that parents are not held liable for the acts of their children, there are certain situations in which parents will be held responsible for the bad acts of their offspring.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

Hopefully, you have been fortunate enough to avoid having to pursue or defend a lawsuit and will not have to do so in the future. However, in the event that you do find yourself entangled in civil litigation, the following is a brief description of the process which consists of five phases: Pleadings, Discovery, Motion for Summary Judgment, Arbitration and Trial. This article will cover the pleadings, discovery and summary judgment motions phases of a lawsuit.

Pleadings
The Pleadings stage is the beginning of a lawsuit. Once the parties decide that a dispute cannot be resolved and court intervention is required, the injured party, or Plaintiff, files a Complaint with the court. A Complaint is the written document starting the lawsuit and it sets forth the Plaintiff’s dispute with the other party, the Defendant. The Complaint also describes what the Plaintiff seeks to recover in the lawsuit. Once the Complaint is filed and served upon the Defendant, the Defendant is required to respond to the allegations and set forth any defenses in an Answer. Thereafter, the Plaintiff files a Reply to the defenses contained in the Answer. Then, the Pleadings stage is over.

Discovery
After the pleadings stage, the parties may engage in Discovery in order to prepare for arbitration or trial. The purpose of Discovery is to allow each party to learn about the other party’s case such as what witnesses will be called to testify and what each will say. In addition, each party can ask the other what documents or other evidence will be used in the lawsuit. In Discovery, each party can send written questions to the other side (Interrogatories) and ask that the other party provide copies of relevant documents (Requests for Production). Each party can also take the Deposition of the other party, which is an interview under oath regarding the subject matter of the case. Other witnesses can be subpoenaed for Depositions and either party can issue Subpoenas for relevant documents from people other than the other party. If properly done, the Discovery process ensures that there will be no surprises at the arbitration or trial.

Summary Judgment Motions
After completion of the Pleadings and Discovery phases, one party may feel so confident in the strength of his or her case that he or she will feel that a trial is not necessary. In such a case, that party will ask the judge to decide in his or her favor before trial by granting Summary Judgment. The procedure involves the party filing a Summary Judgment Motion explaining why he or she feels so strongly about the evidence and asking for a judgment without a trial. Then, the other party must file a response explaining that there is evidence supporting his or her case and a trial is necessary. If the Summary Judgment Motion is granted, judgment is entered and the case is over. If the Motion is denied, the case proceeds to arbitration or trial.

Once the Pleadings, Discovery and Summary Judgment Motion phases are complete, the lawsuit is ready to go to arbitration or trial.

Tim Rayne is the author of numerous publications on Personal Injury Law and is a graduate of the Temple University Beasley School of Law’s Master’s in Trial Advocacy Program. Tim can be reached at http://www.macelree.com/traynelaw.

Starting an LLC in Texas is a smart move for most business owners. A Texas limited liability company is one of the best creations of the Texas legislature. It provides business owners with a solid layer of protection from limited liability and the most tax choices of any other legal entity.

The Texas LLC is About Limiting Liability

First and foremost, the main reason for starting an LLC in Texas is to allow you to start a business without exposing yourself to substantial risk of loss for engaging in such a rewarding endeavor.

Without a limited liability legal entity, you could operate your business as a sole proprietorship but you would be exposing everything you own to risk of loss. Everything means everything- your home, cars, hard earned personal savings, jewelry, and anything else you own.

The Texas limited liability company provides a fundamental layer of protection between owners of a business and the business obligations and liabilities. While this is such a great thing or small business, this layer of protection does have some limitations. But having it is greatly preferred to not having any insulation from business related liability and lawsuits.

Tax Choices

The tax choices you receive when starting a Texas LLC is the second reason why the Texas limited liability company is popular among small business owners. The IRS passed the popular Check the Box regulations in 1997 which allows the business to decide for itself how it wants to be taxed.

After those tax regulations were passed, a limited liability company can now receive limited liability and allow its members to manage the business while at the same time qualifying for a single layer of pass through taxation for federal income tax purposes.

In addition, for those businesses which prefer corporation taxation, a Texas limited liability company can elect C corporation or S corporation taxation if it chooses and still get the simplicity and flexibility of a Texas LLC without the formalities of a corporation under state law.

Please note that in Texas there is no state income tax but the business entity may be subject to a franchise tax. You can visit the Texas Comptroller office for more details on this tax.

Professionalism

An official Texas legal entity exudes an official and professional business to the public. After all, the owners of the business took the effort to start a Texas LLC by complying with the state laws and completing the organization process.

In the world today where anyone can come up with a business name and call themselves a business, having an LLC as your business entity goes a long way in differentiating your business and reducing the risk in the eyes of your customer that you are not a serious or trustworthy business.

Requirement for Starting an LLC in Texas

The overall Texas requirements are still straightforward and given the number of Texas limited liability companies formed each year, many, many business owners are taking advantage of the benefits.

The most challenging part of starting an LLC in Texas is coming up with a name that is available for use in Texas. This is challenging for two reasons. First, there are many names already being used in Texas. Second, the Texas state agency that determines name matters is very strict about allowing a name that is too similar to another name.

For example, Texas is famous for the two name rule. If your LLC name has two words that are identical to two words in another Texas legal entity name, it cannot generally be used even though there might be an added third word. For example, the name Lawn Doctor Houston, LLC cannot be used if there is already being used any of the following names: Lawn Doctor, The Fastest Lawn Doctor, or Lawn Doctor and Nurse.

For a FREE Texas LLC Name Search or to Learn More about
Starting an LLC in Texas, visit
www.TexasBusinessFormation.com

After you select a personal injury lawyer to represent you, it is always a good idea to sit down with them to make sure that they will be a good fit for both you and your case. First thing that you need to realize is that you first appointment should be more like a consultation. You can the lawyer should be well dressed and be on time for your appointment. You need to be very polite and courteous to the lawyer. You need to try really hard to impress the lawyer, keep in mind that they can choose not to represent you and your case as quick as you can choose to not have them represent you.

You should next focus on allowing the lawyer to get to know you as a person, not just an accident victim. Give him or her sufficient background information and info about your personal and professional life. You can also tell them a little about your family if you feel comfortable doing so.

When you first sit down, don’t get right to the facts about your case, although this might be very tempting. If at all possible, let the lawyer guide the discussion. They know exactly what they are looking for in terms of facts and things they need to know about the case to determine if it will be a good case. In order to help the conversation, be prepared with the right notes, documents, questionnaires, and your own list of questions that you wish to know. This will help the meeting go much smoother.

Depending on how prepared you are in your first meeting with your personal injury lawyer, your lawyer might be able to give you some advice on how you should proceed with your case. Many times, time is of the essence. Most of the time, this happens when businesses are involved. If this is the case, you need to file a response within a few days. When you walk out of your first meeting with your lawyer, you should walk out of the meeting feeling confident that you have selected a good representative and know where this case is going to go in the next few weeks.

If the lawyer that you met with is planning on taking your case, you should be informed before you leave the initial meeting, what he will be charging you for his services. Your lawyer should take quite a bit of time to explain everything you do regarding the charges that you will incur for this case. You might also be required to pay a deposit up front, however, most lawyers do not do this.

Whatever you do, you need to make sure that you find out exactly what will happen next. You should also make sure to follow through with the assignments that have been assigned to you. Each of these things will help your first visit with your personal injury lawyer go more smoothly and help you get your feet on the ground with your case.

Bart Icles recommends that you visit his site, Philadelphia Personal Injury Lawyer Guide for more information. He has done a lot of research on how to find a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer and has provided this information for your education.

Are you a small business owner? You need to know this!

Immigration recently announced that a revised Employment Eligibility Verification Form I-9 is required. The legislation went into effect in July of 2008, and the new Form I-9 has significant changes.

Employers must use the amended Form I-9 (Rev. 06/16/08) for all employees hired on or after June 16, 2008. Employers who fail to use the new form after that date may be subject to penalties by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). No previous editions will be accepted. Note, employers only need to complete the new version of Form I-9 for new employees. They do not need to complete new forms for existing employees. However, they must use the new I-9 Form when their employees require re-verification.

This is all part of ICE’s new aggressive workplace enforcement strategy, which has included a huge upsurge in workplace raids by ICE in response to growing political pressure. They are aggressively enforcing laws that are already on the books, which prohibit an employer from knowingly employing an unauthorized alien.

Consequently, employers need to get ready now, so that they will be prepared when Immigration knocks on the door. Here are seven secrets to surviving an Immigration Audit:

#1 Do an Internal I-9 Audit Now. Don’t wait for Immigration to raid your workplace or to send you a letter demanding to inspect your I-9 Forms within 72 hours to first review them. Do it now. Compare your payroll with your I-9 forms and make sure that you have an I-9 Form for all employees. Make sure that they all have been filled out correctly and completely and that you have started to use the new revised I-9 Form (Rev. (06/16/08).

#2 Centralize the I-9 Process. Train 1 or 2 employees in the technical process of filling out I-9 forms. Then have them always be in charge of completing the I-9s, instead of random supervisors, who may or may not be familiar with the process.

#3 Do Not Put the I-9s in the Employee’s Personnel file. Keep the I-9 forms in a separate file. You don’t want to have to turn over your employee’s personnel files to Immigration, since they contain privileged information. (You can put a copy of the I-9 in the employee’s personnel file, if you want, but keep the originals separate.)

#4 Always Examine the Original Documents - Not Copies. It is critical that you examine the original document, “green card”, drivers license or social security card, not a copy. Make sure that you are using the revised list of approved documents, effective June 16, 2008.

#5 Copy the Front and Back of All Documents that were Examined, and Attach to the I-9. Although employers are not legally required to make a photocopy of the documents that they examined, doing so, demonstrates the employer’s good faith, and if questioned, the employer can point to what documents they relied upon, even if they ultimately prove to be fraudulent.

#6 Establish a Written Policy that Fraud in the Employment Application Process, Will be Grounds for Termination. By doing so, the employer will clearly have the right to terminate an employee if it later discovers that he submitted fraudulent documents to obtain employment.

#7 If you Receive a Social Security Mismatch Letter, Contact Your Attorney First, Before Responding. The Social Security Administration is sending thousands of Social Security Mismatch Letters to Employers, informing them that there is a “mismatch” in the names and social security numbers of some of the employer’s employees. Although a Federal Court Judge has issued a preliminary injunction preventing ICE from sending letters together with the SSA, there may be serious legal consequences for the employer. Therefore, immediately contact experienced legal counsel before responding.

Eli Kantor is an attorney in private practice in Beverly Hills, CA representing employers in all aspects of labor, employment and immigration law. For more information contact Eli at (310) 274-8216 or visit his websites: Sexual Harassment Prevention and Beverly Hills Immigration Law.