Ask DrewDevil your legal questions

[Pudge714]

Define semantics.

[ItalianFX]

Are smoking ban violations considered crimes or infractions and how do we categorize them?

Help me to prove my professor wrong. Thanks.

[DrewDevil]

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Double Ds,

If an undercover cop pretends to be a lawyer and someone unknowingly hire him and tell him their secrets, is the "client-lawyer privilege" still exists? I got the example from a movie but am curious for an answer. My thinking is that the undercover cop can go to jail for pretending to be a lawyer [is this true?] but he get to testify against the person as a witness.

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Hmm, I don't know about this. My gut instinct is that there is no privilege if there is no lawyer, but that there's a pretty good claim of entrapment that the defense could argue.

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Another question. I go eat at a restaurant. I get food poisoning which I know for sure is from the restaurant. Can I sue?

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Absolutely, but you have to prove damages (hospital bills, lots wages, etc.)

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On the other hand, as a restaurant owner, what can I do to protect myself from getting sued in case my foods cause people to get fat or get sick or both? I know this question sounds ridiculous but curiosity got the best of me.

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I hope we're not coming to the point where fatties can sue restaurants for making them fat, but I'd never rule anything out.

The truth is you can't absolutely prevent yourself from getting sued, but you can maximize your chances of winning if you are sued. Obey health codes and take precautions to ensure that your employees don't contaminate the food, etc.

[DrewDevil]

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You really, really, absolutely should buy title insurance OR have an experienced real estate attorney review the title documents and try to get an opinion letter from the atty stating that there are no title defects.

Of course, (a) that might cost you more than $1,000, and (b) most attys would probably decline to give an opinion and tell you to buy title insurance.

Why do you say you have till tomorrow? Have you not closed yet?

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Well I mean I have a real estate attorney reviewing the title documents as we speak, and he did actually find a missing [can't remember the term but whatever proves the mortgage was paid off] from 1983 but he's supposed to be clearing that up prior to closing. I know he will not give me any kind of opinion though. It all comes down to whether we want to accept the risk I guess. It just seems so overpriced to me, considering the likelihood of needing it.

No - we close on Monday, but they are supposed to give me the final costs on Friday, which means I need to decide whether or not to take the $780 title insurance policy by EOB tomorrow.

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I'm not good at EV calculations, so maybe one of the math guys can take this one.

[tommo]

If I want to start an online service that also requires that people have an account on my site what are the legal issues I should be worried about and what kind of lawyer/people do I need to see?

Accounts may have more than $50k in them, we may have many users.

We may have many users and users would want to be able to deposit and withdraw easily.

[UnlikelyNinja]

What do you think about federal jurisdiction-stripping statutes? Do you think there are any limits on their scope?

[NT!]

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3. my parents have been renting the same apartment for almost 15 years. they put $1500 down as a security deposit and last month's rent. by law this is supposed to go into an interest-bearing account. if this hasn't happened, can they sue after the fact to get what the money would have earned? or is it best to let it be so long as they get their deposit back in full?

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i was under the impression that the security deposit into an interest bearing account thing was a relatively new law (but maybe i was getting screwed by my old landlord). it varies by state.

i probably wouldn't bother if it was for a year's worth of interest, but if we're talking about 15 years, that should roughly double their money, that's probably worth pursuing.

[DrewDevil]

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Are smoking ban violations considered crimes or infractions and how do we categorize them?

Help me to prove my professor wrong. Thanks.

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It depends on whether it's a violation of a city ordinance or of a criminal law that is codified in the state's criminal statutes. If it's not a criminal violation, then it's an infraction, or maybe a ticket.

[RyanT]

What legal consequences could there be if I posted pictures of an ex-gf in a forum or somewhere on the Internet and she stumbled upon them? Some pictures were sent to me via e-mail by her and some are taken myself with my cell phone, if that matters.

I'm sure I know what everyone else's reply is going to be, but I'm interested in DrewDevil's reply. I always thought I could get in trouble for doing something like this, but maybe I'm an idiot?

[DrewDevil]

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Define semantics.

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Semantics is the art and science of implausibly arguing that Barry Bonds never used steroids.