Law and Daily Life - FindLaw Life, Family and Workplace Law Blog

Law & Daily Life - The FindLaw Life, Family and Workplace Law Blog


Top 5 Neighbor Disputes and How to Resolve Them

Love thy neighbor? It may be more like "love thy neighbor dispute." According to a new FindLaw.com survey, 42% of Americans say they've been involved in a dispute with their neighbors.

While most neighborly arguments don't turn into Hatfield v. McCoy-type feuds, they can still be difficult to deal with. Some can even land you in court.

So what are the Top 5 types of neighbor disputes, and what are the best ways to resolve them?

Twitter disclaimers are not magical mithral chainmail for your tweets. Even with such disclaimers, you can still get fired for "your own" salacious opinions in tweet form.

NYU professor Geoffrey Miller almost learned this the hard way after tweeting that "obese PhD applicants" wouldn't finish their dissertations if they lacked the "willpower to stop eating carbs," reports Forbes.

Although Miller did some quick damage control and saved his job, we aren't all college professors. Many employees are putting themselves at risk under the false protection of their Twitter disclaimer.

Ariz. Voter 'Citizenship' Law Struck Down

An Arizona voter law requiring proof of citizenship has been struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In a 7-2 vote, justices ruled Monday that Proposition 200, an Arizona voter-registration provision enacted in 2004, was pre-empted by federal law -- namely, the 1993 National Voter Registration Act.

The Arizona law required voters to prove their citizenship by providing documentation, The New York Times reports. But that went far beyond what the federal law requires, the Court explained.

E-cigarettes are selling like inhalable hotcakes since their approval in the United States, but these "safe" cigarettes still face challenges from state and federal laws.

These nicotine-vapor devices are currently regulated similar to other tobacco products, but there are some hot legal differences.

Here are five legal issues affecting e-cigarettes:

How Job Loss Can Affect Child Support

When you lose your job, your child support order doesn't just go away. You still owe the unpaid amount in arrears, which can't be discharged in bankruptcy and usually can't be reduced retroactively.

But the court can modify your support obligation when you experience a change in your financial situation.

If you are unable to pay the current child support amount due to job loss, you may be able to secure a child support modification, which is a particular type of court order.

What Is a FISA Court?

With NSA surveillance all over the news, you may be wondering: What is FISA?

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) regulates the government's conduct of intelligence surveillance inside the United States. The law generally requires the government to seek warrants before surveilling "agents of a foreign power" engaged in espionage or terrorism. In practice, it grants the government wide surveillance authority.

Below is a general overview about what FISA is and what the FISA court does.

For Flag Day, 5 Laws You May Not Know

You may not know this, but today is a holiday. That's right: Happy Flag Day! June 14th commemorates the adoption of our national flag.

On this day back in 1777, a resolution of the Second Continental Congress selected an early version of Old Glory as our official U.S. flag. Since then, lawmakers have added more stars -- and unfurled dozens of federal flag laws.

Flag laws? That's right, this country does not take those lovely stars and stripes lightly. So in celebration of Flag Day, here are five flag laws that you may not know about:

Deadbeat Dad With 22 Kids Sued Over Child Support

The reigning king of deadbeat dads, a Tennessee man who's fathered 22 children is being sued for child support -- a lot of it.

Orlando Shaw, 33, admits to having 22 kids by 14 different women. Like an informal class action lawsuit, the 14 women have taken Shaw to court for tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid child support over the years, but to no avail.

Shaw's reaction to the ordeal suggests he subscribes to the "Don't hate the player, hate the game" worldview.

Top 5 Legal Tips for New Dads

Being a new dad isn't easy, but keeping a few legal tips in mind can help make life easier for you, your little one, and your growing family.

With Father's Day just around the corner, and summer being the peak time for births, there will definitely be many an occasion to celebrate all the new dads out there, and their beautiful babies, of course.

So while new dads may be overwhelmed trying to figure out the whole diaper situation, they should also be aware of some potential legal pitfalls of fatherhood that can get beyond messy, if they aren't too careful. Here are our Top 5 legal tips for new dads:

E-signatures, or electronic signatures, are replacing their pen-and-paper cousins as a new form of legally valid marks on agreements.

What are the laws governing these e-signatures, and are they always just as good as a written one?