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Legal Herald - THE LAW AND YOU

Legal Herald - September 2006

10 Signs You Need A New Lawyer...

September 29th 2006 06:19
Everyone knows there are good lawyers and bad lawyers. But how do you really know if you are getting your money's worth?

Let's just say if your lawyer displays any of the following signs, it's high time you hired someone else...

These were all obtained from GetAmused.com

Heineken Beer, photo by mindweb
www.morguefile.com
1. He places a large "No Refunds" sign on the defense table.


2. He tells you that his last good case was a Heineken.

3. He picks the jury by playing "duck-duck-goose."

4. Every couple of minutes he yells, "I call Jack Daniel's to the stand!" and proceeds to drink a shot.

5. Just before he says "Your Honor," he makes those little quotation marks in the air with his fingers.

6. Whenever his objection is overruled, he tells the judge, "Whatever."

7. He giggles every time he hears the word "briefs." or Penal Code.

8. He tries to cheer you up by saying how great you look in orange.

9. He claims staring at your cleavage is a necessary part of the "discovery" process.

10. When the prosecutors see who your lawyer is, they high-five each other.



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Sex Witch Free From Jail

September 27th 2006 07:11
MATURE CONTENT
   


Singer On Genocide Charges

September 25th 2006 04:11
52-year-old Simon Bikindi is a well-known Rwandan singer and composer. In fact, he is one of the country’s most famous figures and right now, he is facing the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on a number of charges regarding crimes against humanity in the early 90’s. These include conspiring to commit genocide, the public incitement of genocide, murder and persecution.

For those who may be slightly unsure of the term, under international law, genocide is defined as any act committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part an ethnic, racial or religious group. This might include killing members of the group, causing serious physical or mental harm to them or deliberately imposing conditions on the group calculated to bring about its destruction.

1994 was a particularly horrific year for the people of Rwanda. Approximately 800,000 people were massacred by extremist militia, for being an ethnic “Tutsi” or moderate “Hutu”. The killings spanned over a period of 100 days and became one of the most large-scale acts of genocide and human atrocities in history.

Rwandan Genocide- odies at a massacre site
Rwandan Genocide - bodies at a massacre site*


So how did a popular singer get caught up in all of this? Bikindi, born an extremist Hutu, is accused of inciting genocide at the time through the lyrics of his popular music. The prosecution alleges that Bikindi’s music, which flooded mainstream Rwandan culture, encouraged youths and others to join Interahamwe militia who were responsible for carrying out a significant number of the 1994 killings.

Further, it is alleged that Bikindi not only participated in the killings himself but was also involved in the recruitment and training of militia.

Meanwhile, Bikindi’s lawyers say that he denies all charges against him. In fact, they have taken it a step further and say that the charges violate his fundamental right to freedom of speech.

So where is that fine line between expressing an opinion and inciting ethnic hatred? When is it ok to sing about hating a particular race of people? When is it ok to encourage others to kill? Is it time to expand the scope of culpability during times of war?


*the image used in this post is a work of the US Federal Government and is in the public domain.
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Trade Practices Act - What is it?

September 21st 2006 13:02
The Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) is an act of the Australian Parliament. It applies throughout Australia but there are equivalent Fair Trading Acts in each state. It is an important piece of legislation because it provides for the protection of all consumers and keeps corporations in line. So what exactly is it all about?

Here’s a summary of the key sections of the law:

[ Click here to read more ]
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Big Brother - The Answer To Street Crime?

September 20th 2006 08:27
Vandals, trespassers, litter bugs, public drunkards and all those who are thinking about mugging a little old lady – think again. There’s a new man in town and he’s making sure that anyone misbehaving on his streets is dealt with accordingly.

The locals have affectionately named him Big Brother. He’s the voice behind seven closed-circuit television cameras installed on the streets of Middlesbrough, England and linked to the local police station. Not only is he watching 24 hours a day, but also if he sees anyone getting up to no good, he’ll tell them off!

[ Click here to read more ]
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A Lawyer Walks Into A Bar

September 19th 2006 14:35
Pig, photograph by doctor bob
www.morguefile.com


A lawyer walks into a bar with a Pug under his arm.
[ Click here to read more ]
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The Skinny Model Ban

September 18th 2006 10:37
Model, photograph by jesus
A Catwalk Model, from www.morguefile.com


On the 2nd of August 2006, at approximately 9pm, Luisel Ramos stepped off a runway in Montevideo. She was a 22-year-old Uruguayan beauty who was slowly making her mark on the South American modeling front. But this was the last time she would parade down the catwalk, ever.
[ Click here to read more ]
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New Citizenship Laws - A White Australia?

September 15th 2006 07:27
Prime Minister John Howard has recently announced a plan to toughen citizenship laws in Australia. Before becoming eligible for citizenship, it is proposed that migrants will have to do the following:

1. Live in Australia for at least 4 years.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Whitney Houston Files For Divorce

September 14th 2006 03:21
What was that? Can you hear it? Listen…

It’s the sound of people everywhere breathing a 14-year sigh of relief. The tumultuous marriage between Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown will soon be over.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Top 10 Fictional Lawyers

September 13th 2006 03:40
All over the world, lawyers are hated for their greedy, debaucherous ways. In fact, after telemarketers and used car salesmen, lawyers are definitely up there on the list of people we’d most like to punch.

But on TV it’s a different story. Those in the legal profession are given the most incredible personalities. Sometimes glamorous. Often hilarious And if you’re lucky, they might even have morals.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Sean John Combs will no longer be known as Diddy in Britain. A London-based record producer who also goes by the same name has filed a lawsuit against the American rapper, producer and tycoon for unfair competition saying that Combs’ use of the name has caused confusion in the country.

It seems that Richard Dearlove has established himself as Diddy throughout Great Britain for some time now. When Combs started using the moniker last year, people assumed a connection between the British and American Diddys. In fact, things started getting a little suspicious when British Diddy started receiving hundreds of daily emails from Puerto Rican girls requesting they appear in his music videos.

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Tom Cruise Bill

September 11th 2006 09:14
Tom Cruise in Sunnyvale, CA
Tom Cruise in Sunnyvale 2006, photo by Kevin Ballard*


At first people mumbled that he was a bit different. Then the word weird started getting thrown around. These days, not a news report, magazine article or South Park episode goes by without the words Tom Cruise and kooky appearing in the same sentence.
[ Click here to read more ]
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Paris Hilton Arrested

September 8th 2006 06:19
Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton at a press conference for GoYellow.de in Munich, 2005*


Paris Hilton was recently arrested after LA cops spotted her driving erratically on the roads. She failed the sobriety test at the time which showed a blood alcohol reading of 0.08.
[ Click here to read more ]
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Bali Nine Death Penalties Confirmed

September 6th 2006 06:08
In April 2005, 9 Aussies were arrested in Denpasar, Bali for attempting to smuggle approximately $4 million worth of heroin into Australia. Until recently, two of them were facing the death penalty. These were the so-called “ringleaders” of the operation, 25-year-old Myuran Sukumaran and 22-year-old Andrew Chan. The others were initially all sentenced to life imprisonment for drug trafficking. But today everything has changed.

It has now been confirmed that four more members of the Bali Nine will face death by firing squad. How did this happen?

[ Click here to read more ]
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Puppy Gets Restraining Order

September 5th 2006 06:23
Restraining Orders are court orders that prevent one party from carrying on a particular activity. If that party fails to comply, he or she may face a number of legal consequences such as prison time and fine payments.

We often hear about A-listers getting restraining orders against stalkers and survivors of domestic violence obtaining protection from their abusive partners. But did you know that animals may be granted restraining orders too?

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Underwear Thief

September 4th 2006 11:33
photograph by xenia, www.morguefile.com



[ Click here to read more ]
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