Global Law Guide

Legal documentation refers to formally written documentation which is legally binding and usually attributed to the writer. The document is represent enforceable legally, contractual obligation, a right, and acts as the evidence of the contract, the obligation or the legal act. Legal documents include certificated, bonds, deeds, will, an Act of the Legislature or any other authorized jurisdiction, executive orders, court writ, constitutions etc. These legal documents are usually issued under seal although in some countries this has been waived. Apart from the legal seal, authentication of legal document may be done by use of special paper, watermarks, and stamps. The purpose of this is to make a legal document easily verifiable and difficult to counterfeit or change since the content of such documents may have very far reaching effects. Imagine altering a will, a University degree, a court writ or a title deed of someone’s property. The effect will not only be to the persons affected but to the credibility of the other documents issued by the issuing authority.

Legal Seal

A seal involves placing wax seal with the mark of the issuing authority or a paper seal with the mark of the issuing authority. When a document is issued under seal, it waives the requirement of consideration under the law of contract. Consideration under the law of contract refers to the obligation of each party to a contract, for example, when you purchase a car, your consideration would be the amount you pay for the same while the consideration of the seller would be the car itself, therefore there is a valid contract. If you were to draw a contract of sale and omit the amount of money to be paid to the seller, and the seller transfers the motor vehicle to you, then the contract of sale would be null though you would keep the car as a gift and have no legal obligation. Continue Reading »

A parent is launching a personal injury claim for £100,000 after her young child was struck by a rolling pin which fell from a third floor shop window. Personal injury solicitors have been employed by the family for not only the child’s injuries but the distress caused to the family.

The youngster, just 20 months old at the time of the incident fractured her skull under the weight of the falling rolling pin when the incident took place in 2008, and Boots have already been fined £6,500 for the incident by Dundee Sheriff Courts, but the victim’s mother will now seek personal damages for her daughter’s injuries, after the chain admitted breaches of their health and safety regulations.

The sum of £100,000 is for the personal injury of the girl and the distress and alarm suffered by the parent, who is counted as a secondary victim in the compensation claim.

Separate claims are also being launched by the child’s grandparents, to the sum of £20,000 each. They have alleged to have suffered a variety of mental symptoms as a result of the incident, having both been present at the time of the incident.

Having admitted liability for the accident, Boots will pay compensation for the injuries of the child but have contested the secondary claims, as being too remote. They maintain that they are not liable for the emotional reactions of secondary victims of the incident.

Mother and grandfather had entered the store during the time of the incident, while grandmother had remained outside with the infant. It was at this time that the child was struck on the head by the falling rolling pin. A CT scan carried out at a nearby hospital revealed that the child had suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding.

Cohabiting couples have been dealt a blow after it was revealed that there would be no changes to the cohabitation laws during the current parliament.

Jonathan Djanogly, under-secretary of state for the Ministry of Justice, has confirmed that there are no immediate plans to update the current legislation which covers the rights of cohabiting couples.

Family Law Solicitors have long claimed that change is urgently needed to the cohabiting legislation, which they argue is far too complex and in their current form.

Those who support reform for cohabiting rights say that restructuring the legislation would reduce costs for the government as it would free up time spent in courts, and would also prove less stressful for the cohabiting couples themselves.

The Law Commission first recommended reform of cohabiting rights in 2007, but none of its recommendations were considered or introduced by the previous parliament.

Among the changes proposed by the Law Commission included giving cohabiting couples who have been living together for five years the same rights as married couples.

Those who have been cohabiting for two years would be entitled to inheritance rights, while couples with children would receive inheritance rights automatically if either partner died without a will, regardless of how long they have been cohabiting for.

John Wotton, president of the Law Society, said: “Cohabitants should have scope for financial redress in the event of a relationship breakdown. This area of law is in need of reform to provide a more rational and structured system.”

Patent Wars spreading through UK, US and Europe

The US has just begun a patent war regarding software. It has been an anticipated war given the issues that have cropped up legally in recent years. It was announced in the second to last week of August 2011 that the European Union would also start to involve itself in the patent wars. They have urged the UK to avoid software patents and the UK government has already come up with a plan that will impose them.

So, what is the deal with regards software patents and why would the EU want to stop the UK from moving forward? Europe is considered a unitary patent, in which unlimited software patents could result. Software patents are a dangerous item to developers because it could mean a monopoly on software ideas. As an example, Google estimates there are about 250,000 patents for the smartphone. These patent ideas keep springing up, but it causes a host of legal issues when someone has a similar idea and a patent for it leading to many companys searching for legal advice .

The consequences are already severe in the US. Multinational companies are asking for the software patents to be spread throughout the world. In 2005, the European parliament took a look at the software patents. They amended a directive to reject that decision. However, they have just undone that directive. Legally the jargon is quite complicated; however, what it meant was pure software ideas could not be patented. It is partially due to the layer of ideas that it takes for software to be created. A lot of software is based on a pure idea that is built and changed in order to make the software different. This is why the pure idea could not be patented legally.

Now all of this might change. It could create a situation in which the base idea is patented and someone would have to pay to use the base idea in order to create their own software that is slightly different.

The unitary patent idea would make it so that no one country could accept a patent on its own. In other words, the other countries would also have the use of that patent in order to make improvements on software. It would extend the patents for use. Though the concept is rather confusing there is a reason for the change of idea regarding software patents. It all comes down to making software available around the world and making technology readily available. It is also so that patent funds can be obtained on a global basis for software. Continue Reading »

Employment contracts are often used to be in compliance with labor laws. The contacts attribute to responsibilities and rights between the parties involved and make room for bargaining. The contract assigns responsibility and rights to the employee and employer.

Employment contracts put emphasis on relationships of social subordination and economic dependency. The contract ties the employee(s) and employer(s) to these assigned responsibility and rights.  Most employment contracts contain the terms and conditions set by the company.

Employers are required by Federal Law to demonstrate honest guidelines, rules, etc, without discriminating against others. These written agreements include compensation information, responsibilities, medical leave, vacations, bonuses, wages, stock options, benefits, and more. Once an employee signs the contract it binds the employee and employers.

The employer is obligated to specify in the agreement the duration of employee-worker arrangements. The contract is some situations must give authority to employee of IP (Intellectual Property), and offer dispute mechanisms. In other words, if an employee is using a company vehicle, the rules and regulations must be outlined in the contract.

The agreement should also include termination policy or provisions, and must include confidentiality for post employment, as well as clauses for non-solicitation and non-compete. Many larger companies use employment contracts, but small businesses may use them too. Regardless, the contracts must provide the employee legible and tangible descriptions, details of requirements, rights, clauses, etc. Continue Reading »

In July 2008 the Management Team at Eagle House Care Home were increasingly finding employment law and health & safety issues were becoming a minefield, and it was progressively more difficult to stay on top of current legislation as well as ensuring policies were in-line with inspection requirements.

The Management team needed to understand the correct procedures and solutions for addressing issues such as; flexible working hours, disciplinary matters, training for hoisting equipment and managing infection control.

Eagle House Care Home decided they would enlist a specialised outsourced solution for employment law and health & safety compliance and appointed Citation, who have extensive experience of working with Care Homes as well as working with other Care Plus & Complete Care (UK) Homes.

Upon becoming a client of Citation, Eagle House Care Home was granted immediate access to the health & safety and employment law helpline providing Management with instant peace of mind and expert advice 24/7. Eagle House Care Home underwent two detailed site inspections.

One consisted of an in-depth consultation with the Management team to assess their current contracts of employment as well as identifying particular problem areas they wanted to address. From this bespoke contracts of employment were drafted as well as an employee handbook. Access to Citmanager® allowed individual staff personnel records to be set up online rather than continue to use paper based records.

An in-depth health & safety inspection of the Care Home followed and a detailed inspection report was produced outlining specific priorities observed during the inspection along with the corrective action that was necessary to ensure the company complies with current legislation.

Management systems were installed and training was provided on how to use the online system, Ciassess® to complete risk assessments online. Every member of staff at Eagle House Care Home was supplied with an individual copy of the
employee handbook detailing all agreed policies and legal requirements.

The inspection and installation process provided Eagle House Care Home with the assurance not only that they have the most up-to-date documentation but that they have correct tools, procedures and resource to demonstrate necessary legal requirements for an Inspection.

Mandy Quintance, Manager at Eagle House Care Home commented “There is a professional approach from Citation and having somebody to advise on the legalities of employment related issues has been invaluable. The online systems have made CQC Inspections less daunting as we know we have the necessary documentation to hand removing the hassle from us.” Citation continues to work with Eagle House Care Home providing ongoing advice, annual inspections and timely updates and look forward to supporting them over the coming years.

Pre-paid legal service providers are required to provide either a written
agreement of the services provided in their plans, or at least a written
communication concerning the services covered, together with the fees to
be charged for services not covered in the written agreement of membership.

However, most people gloss over terms and conditions and just sign the
agreement assuming they are covered for most legal services. This usually
gives rise to frequent complaints about the service, fee disputes and
complaints about attorneys.

Generally, if you have any complaint with your service, you should first
address any such complaint with your service provider. Contact them to get
information regarding their in-house complaint process and settlement of
disputes. If you are unsatisfied, then it helps to know who regulates your
kind of legal insurance.

Your states Department of consumer affairs licenses and regulates all
pre-paid legal plans. Prepaid legal service companies are required to
register with the department prior to commencing business and appoint a
sales representative. Further regulation can be provided by your local bar
association.

After being told no for the last 200 years, the House of Representatives have okayed a bill that would allow a House of Representatives position to be created for the residents of the District of Columbia. This is a complete shock to some, who analyze the situation and state that technically the District of Columbia is not a state and has no right to a representative in the house.

Along with adding a member of the house for the D.C. area, Utah has been given a fourth seat. Now the bill is passed along to the Senate to have a final approval but with the District of Columbia not being a true state, many are expecting the bill to be squashed. Some may not have realized but 200 years ago it was determined that the District of Columbia would be banned from a seat in the House since it was not a state.

Utah was declined an additional seat in the house after falling shy of the required residents to acquire a fourth seat after the last census. However, since they are in the process of adding additional seats and Utah is so very close to the requirements it is expected that by the next election they should have the required number of residents to justify the additional seat.

This is a major milestone in the House of Representatives, which has sat at 435 seats since 1960; it has been over 45 years since additional seats were added to the house. Opponents of the new bill have all been quick to point out that while it’s wonderful that the House is looking to grow, the Constitution clearly states that the members of the House are chosen by the people of the states, which since the District of Columbia is not a state, causes a major snafu in the plans of the Democratic majority House.

The House is slated to keep the 437 seats even after the 2010 census, which is when Utah is slated to be expanding to a 4th district. While this is the first time this measure has actually passed the House, it is not the first time it has been discussed, nor debated. Back in 1978, it was mentioned that the District of Columbia should be given a vote in the House of Representatives; however, the amendment was discarded after it was unable to be ratified by a quorum three-fourth majority of the states.

Once again, the measure was attempted in 1993; however, this attempt was focused around moving the District of Columbia into statehood and transforming the District into a full-fledged state of the United States. This proposal was also rejected, so this is a major victory that has been attempted several times previously. Whether it will pass through the Senate, and ultimately receive legal effect, is still left to be determined.

Many have argued that the District should be allowed a seat in the House, since the residents of the District pay taxes and fight in the wars of this country just like residents of any other state. The debate and battle rages on, and it will be a rather interesting experience to see if the District is able to win their bid to a permanent seat in the House.

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Over 100 million Americans are signed up for pre-paid legal services. Also
called legal insurance, these plans are similar to those provided by Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and cover the legal needs of the member,
spouse and any dependent children.

In a prepaid legal service plan, the customer pays a fixed monthly
subscription fee of up to $25 for the services of pre-selected lawyers.
The most basic plans provide advice and consultation by telephone. Plan
members receive a few hours of free office consultation with their assigned
attorney. They may also include review and advice on simple legal documents,
preparation, drafting or an update of a simple will. Phone calls and letters
can be written on behalf of members, a service helpful for credit problems
and consumer protection.
More comprehensive plans cover clients personal legal needs ranging from
services that require more time and effort on the part of your attorney,
such as contracts, wills and deeds, to legal representation in negotiations
and courts cases related to family matters, bankruptcy and real estate
issues.

A prepaid legal plan is a scheme based on the payment in advance of a set
fee to defray the cost of providing future legal services to the members
enrolled in the scheme. They vary in cost, scope of legal coverage provided
and how the legal services are provided. We will look at the different
types of pre-paid legal plans available in the United States and how to
enrol into them

An individual pre-paid legal plan is readily accessible to the general
public. There are two types of individual plans: access and comprehensive.
An access pre-paid legal plan is the most basic plan. It is designed to
give easy access to lawyer and a set of simple legal services for a low
cost. Basic services furnished include unlimited toll-free phone access to
your attorney for consultation and advice, letters written by the lawyer on
your behalf, brief office consultation and the drafting or review of simple
legal documents.

Complex legal issues not covered will be subject to an hourly or flat rate
negotiatable with your provider

The comprehensive plan goes beyond basic legal services, to offer more
complex and comprehensive coverage for a premium in cost. Generally, all
the benefits of an access plan are provided at no cost to you, plus a
broader range of services like drafting complicated legal documents,
negotiations with adverse parties, legal representation in court cases such
as divorce and child custody. They also cover all the costs involved in a
legal litigation. Comprehensive plans typically start at $300 per year and
are most beneficial to middle-class families.

A group legal plan is typically sponsored by an organization as a fringe
benefit to its members. The lawyer or law firm contracted provides free or
low-cost legal coverage to all members of the sponsoring organization.
Employers, labour unions and even universities are now increasingly
offering group legal plans to enhance the value of their benefits package
and reduce the cost of administrative burden. Law firms are contracted to
provide participating members telephone and office consultation for their
most frequently needed legal matters. These typically include: Preparation
of wills and trusts, document preparation and review, debt and real estate
matters and family law.

Additional legal coverage can be contracted according to a fee schedule
negotiable between the plan sponsor and provider, and publicised to
participating members.

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