Legal Information

The best source for objective legal information on the web is located at the Cornell Law School Legal Information Institute website.  Additional links on this page give you access to attorneys and legal information from Web sites on the Internet. The following is a brief synopsis of popular legal topics important to you.

Adoption Law - Adoption law is largely state law. The parent-child relationship established by adoption, however, may have direct consequences in areas of Federal law affected by family status such as Social Security. All 50 states have statutes governing adoption as defined under the Uniform Adoption Act.  The code defines the process by which a legal parent-child relationship is created between individuals without biological relation. In some states, doctrines of "equitable adoption" allow courts to recognize adoptions when not all statutory procedures have been carried out.

Bankruptcy Law - Bankruptcy law provides for the development of a plan that allows a debtor, who is unable to pay his creditors, to resolve his debts through the division of his assets among his creditors. This supervised division also allows the interests of all creditors to be treated with some measure of equality. Certain bankruptcy proceedings allow a debtor to stay in business and use revenue generated to resolve his or her debts. An additional purpose of bankruptcy law is to allow certain debtors to free themselves of the financial obligations they have accumulated, after their assets are distributed, even if their debts have not been paid in full.

Class Action Law - A class action is a procedural device that permits one or more plaintiffs to file and prosecute a lawsuit on behalf of a larger group the class members who have suffered the same wrong at the hands of the defendant but who are too numerous for the court to adequately manage the lawsuit if each class member were required to be joined as named plaintiffs.  This is, of course, an overly simplistic summary, but it provides a point of reference from which a deeper analysis may begin.

Contract Law - Contracts are promises that the law will enforce. The law provides remedies if a promise is breached or recognizes the performance of a promise as a duty. Contracts arise when a duty does or may come into existence, because of a promise made by one of the parties. To be legally binding as a contract, a promise must be exchanged for adequate consideration. Adequate consideration is a benefit or detriment which a party receives which reasonably and fairly induces them to make the promise/contract.

Criminal Law - Criminal law involves prosecution by the government of a person for an act that has been classified as a crime.  Civil cases, on the other hand, involve individuals and organizations seeking to resolve legal disputes. In a criminal case, the state, through a prosecutor, initiates the suit, while in a civil case the victim brings the suit. Persons convicted of a crime may be incarcerated, fined, or both. However, persons found liable in a civil case may only have to give up property or pay money, but are not incarcerated.  A "crime" is any act or omission (of an act) in violation of a public law forbidding or commanding it. Though there are some common law crimes, most crimes in the United States are established by local, state, and federal governments. Criminal laws vary significantly from state to state.  Crimes include both felonies (more serious offenses, like murder or rape) and misdemeanors (less serious offenses, like petty theft or jaywalking). Felonies are crimes punishable by imprisonment of a year or more, while misdemeanors are crimes punishable by less than a year.

Divorce Law - There are two types of divorce-- absolute and limited. An absolute divorce, (also called a "divorce a vinculo matrimonii" is a judicial termination of a marriage based on marital misconduct or other statutory cause arising after the marriage ceremony. As a result of an absolute divorce both parties' status becomes single again.  Several jurisdictions' statutes authorize limited divorces.  The consequences of limited divorces vary from state to state. Typically, a limited divorce is commonly referred to as a separation decree; the right to cohabitation is terminated but the marriage is undissolved and the status of the parties is not altered.

Estate Planning - An estate is the total property, real and personal, owned by an individual prior to distribution through a trust or will. Real property is real estate and personal property includes everything else, for example cars, household items, and bank accounts. Estate planning distributes the real and personal property to an individual's heirs.  Estate planning is the process by which an individual or family arranges the transfer of assets in anticipation of death. An estate plan aims to preserve the maximum amount of wealth possible for the intended beneficiaries and flexibility for the individual prior to death. A major concern for drafters of estate plans is federal and state tax law.  Wills and trusts are common ways in which individuals dispose of their wealth.

Income Tax - In 1913, the sixteenth amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified. It empowered Congress to tax "incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration." The Internal Revenue Code is today embodied as Title 26 of the United States Code and is a lineal descendant of the income tax act passed in 1913, following ratification of the Sixteenth Amendment. While some states do not have an income tax (Nevada), all residents and all citizens of the United States are subject to the federal income tax.  The funds collected are essential for the shaping and preservation of a free market economy.

Landlord - Tenant Law - Landlord-tenant law governs the rental of commercial and residential property. It is composed primarily of state statutory and common law.  The basis of the legal relationship between a landlord and tenant is grounded in both contract and property law. The tenant has a property interest in the land (historically a non-freehold estate) for a given period of time. The length of the tenancy may be for a given period of time, for an indefinite period of time, (e.g., renewable/cancelable on a month to month basis), terminable at any time by either party (at will), or at sufferance if the agreement has been terminated and the tenant refuses to leave (holds over).

Mortgage Law - A mortgage involves the transfer of an interest in land as security for a loan or other obligation. It is the most common method of financing real estate transactions. The mortgagor is the party transferring the interest in land. The mortgage, usually a financial institution, is the provider of the loan or other interest given in exchange for the security interest. Normally, a mortgage is paid in installments that include both interest and a payment on the principle amount that was borrowed. Failure to make payments results in the foreclosure of the mortgage. Foreclosure allows the mortgagee to declare that the entire mortgage debt is due and must be paid immediately. This is accomplished through an acceleration clause in the mortgage. Failure to pay the mortgage debt once foreclosure of the land occurs leads to seizure of the security interest and its sale to pay for any remaining mortgage debt. The foreclosure process depends on state law and the terms of the mortgage. The most common processes are court proceedings (judicial foreclosure) or grants of power to the mortgagee to sell the property (power of sale foreclosure). Many states regulate clauses and allow late payments to avoid foreclosure.

Securities Law - Securities regulations focus mainly on the market for common stocks. Both federal and state laws regulate securities. Federal securities laws are generally administrated by the Security and Exchange Commission which was established by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The first of the federal securities laws enacted was the Federal Securities Act of 1933, which regulates the public offering and sale of securities in interstate commerce. The 1933 Act prohibits the offer or sale of a security not registered with the Securities Exchange Commission and requires the disclosure of certain information to the prospective security's purchaser.  The objective of the 1933 Act's registration requirements is to enable a purchaser to make a reasoned decision based on reliable information.

Tort Law - Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit.  These wrongs result in an injury or harm constituting the basis for a claim by the injured party.  While some torts are also crimes punishable with imprisonment, the primary aim of tort law is to provide relief for the damages incurred and deter others from committing the same harms.  The injured person may sue for an injunction to prevent the continuation of the tortuous conduct or for monetary damages.  Among the types of damages the injured party may recover are: loss of earnings capacity, pain and suffering, and reasonable medical expenses.  They include both present and future expected losses.

Workers Compensation Law - Workers' Compensation laws are designed to ensure that employees who are injured or disabled on the job are provided with fixed monetary awards, eliminating the need for litigation. These laws also provide benefits for dependents of those workers who are killed because of work-related accidents or illnesses. Some laws also protect employers and fellow workers by limiting the amount an injured employee can recover from an employer and by eliminating the liability of co-workers in most accidents. State Workers Compensation statutes establish this framework for most employment. Federal statutes are limited to federal employees or those workers employed in some significant aspect of interstate commerce.