CONTEST ON: Read below for a link to official rules. This week Debbie T was chosen and asked us to donate to: Humane Society of Pinellas. We will have all past donations out next week and be current by this time next week. Congratulations! You are starting a new business and you want to know what type of business entity you want to establish. Do you want a corporation, a limited liability company, a professional association, a partnership, or be a sole proprietor?  Here are three questions to take to your attorney AND your accountant. 1.  DO I NEED TO HAVE A LEGALLY ORGANIZED BUSINESS TO …

CONTEST ON/JTS: There was no winner last week. Official rules and the trivia question are at the end. There is a great commercial from a certain quilted bathroom tissue company that uses the slogan, “let’s get real about what happens in the bathroom.” Rather than using bathroom tissue to clean up kitchen messes or some random blue liquid that somehow always appears on the countertops of commercial stars, the company gets to the point and talks about what bathroom tissue is really used for.   The same realistic approach to reporting has been on the largest sports stations during the Olympics …

Contest update: Our winner for the past two weeks is Kathy C.  She has asked us to donate to the Bishop Animal Shelter. We will be making two donations to the Bishop Animal Shelter on her behalf.  CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here).  JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out the hidden trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons, and make sure your nonprofit is legitimate. Remember, send the answer to jts@simonslawfirm.com, subject line …

CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here).  JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in this article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. In short, figure out the hidden trivia question, send an email with the answer to JT Simons, and make sure your nonprofit is legitimate. Remember, send the answer to jts@simonslawfirm.com, subject line CONTEST ENTRY, and give me as much information as you can about the nonprofit you want the donation to go to. I need to verify it. I need your first name and the first letter of your last name. …

Here are three questions you may have failed to consider before you signed a contract. The contract could be any type of contract: cell phone, business purchase, professional services, real estate listing contract, and so forth. Before we get started, let’s start again with the: PROLOGUE Contracts are designed for one purpose in my mind: to place in writing your contractual responsibilities, rights, and waivers in case your agreement is broken. If you sign a 1-year lease or a 30-year mortgage, and you pay on time every month, no one really cares what the contract says. If you get a credit …

THE QUESTION:  Patch.com asked me an interesting question: Is a parent liable for a child’s prank? My perfect legal is answer is…wait for it…it depends. Let me rephrase the question slightly. Is a parent liable if a child does something that, had the child been an adult, the child would be liable for? I have researched a lot of cases on this subject, and I think the fact pattern in the case of Snow v. Nelson is the most interesting. For lawyers, the case originated at the appellate level as Snow v. Nelson, 450 So. 2d 269 (Fla. 3d DCA 1984). The Third DCA certified the question of whether and …

We are going to start a new series this week that will probably run every other week. The theme is the “top three questions you didn’t ask.” This week we will concentrate on the top three questions you should ask before hiring an attorney.  Future articles will concentrate on certain aspects of a case such as trial or certain areas of practice such as family law, contracts or mortgage foreclosure. The intent is to provide you with the tools to find the perfect attorney for you.  There are a lot of good attorneys. However, not all attorneys are good for you. Before we get to the questions that…

Seeking an injunction to protect you from domestic violence or receiving a petition accusing you of domestic violence is a serious matter. But, before we get started, you should know about a contest I'll be running it each my columns that can win money for your favorite charity: CONTEST ON/JTS CHARITY EVENT: JT Simons, P.A., is holding a contest for you to figure out the hidden trivia question in an article. If you win, JT Simons, P.A., will donate $25 to charity. When you see at the start of an article the following: CONTEST ON/JTS (official rules here) In short, figure out the answer to the…

Knowledge of your legal options is power. That is the fundamental point of my articles. If you are the victim of a crime, in most circumstances, the criminal court is not your only option. Let’s continue our goal to empower you with knowledge.  There are four usual types of courts under State law: Criminal courts, Civil courts, Dependency courts, and Appellate courts. There are other courts, tribunals, administrative proceedings, and of course the Federal court system as well.   Criminal courts handle criminal matters. Civil courts handle small claims cases, general litigation such as …

The physical repossession of a car is much easier than an eviction or a foreclosure.  In most finance agreements or lease agreements, the lending company has the right to repossess your vehicle if you miss your monthly payments.  We all know someone that has had a car repossessed. The towing company finds the vehicle somewhere and next thing you know, your car is gone. They may have found your car at your house, at the mall, at work, or tracked it with the GPS device that some dealerships place on your vehicle without your knowledge. Most people that have a car repossessed are not surprised. …

Florida’s alimony laws (also called spousal support) are evolving at a very rapid pace. There are currently two bills pending before the Florida Legislature that will once again change how a court awards alimony, the amount awarded, and the duration of the payments. The House version, HB 549, has already passed, and the Senate version, SB 748, is making progress.  Whether good or bad, it appears to me that a majority of the changes are intended to protect the person paying alimony and make it harder for the person receiving alimony. Also, a majority of the changes are for long-term marriages…

A significant part of my practice is to represent clients in hotly contested divorces. A contested divorce is financially beneficial to my practice. I would be lying if I said that I don’t reap a certain financial benefit by a divorcing couple that simply cannot get along at any stage of the divorce process. Some divorce attorneys (but honestly not most) actually encourage conflict to make sure the billable hours remain.  I am a divorced father of two wonderful children. Believe it or not, my ex-wife and I still get along almost all of the time. When we disagree, we are able to figure things …

Being a landlord is a tough business. Beyond the late payments and perhaps the constant maintenance, there are the problems when a tenant decides to stop paying rent and “squats” in the house until you do something.  I believe that the landlord/tenant laws for residential leases are pro-tenant. If the landlord’s “ducks” are all in a row, then the landlord can get the eviction. If a duck falls out of line, then the landlord may have to start over. Before we get into the analysis of residential landlord/tenant laws and processes, I feel obligated to say roughly where the idea for this article …

We have all seen it: You are driving down the street and see a young child climbing around the back seat of a car without a seat belt. My first reaction is always, “What are those parents thinking. LOCK THAT KID UP!” Who knows what happens in the back of minivans with more room to move around. When I researched this article, I was dumbfounded on the lack of any bite to truly enforce child restraint responsibilities. The child restraint laws in Florida are short and to the point. Section 316.613, Florida Statutes, states in part, “For children aged through 3 years, such restraint device must …

I know the rule around the water-cooler: Don’t talk about religion, sports, or politics. I am going to break all three rules.  Here is the link to the case that is the subject of this article:  Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. EEOC, released on Jan. 11, 2012.  Constitutional lawyers will agree or disagree on its meaning and application. I will say that the Court’s opinion has a great discussion on the history of the First Amendment and why it became such a cornerstone of our country.   First, let me outline the rough facts of the case before the United States Supreme …

Every single person that has minor children pays child support. Whether you are happily married, separated, divorced, or the parent of a child born without a marriage in place, you pay child support. Every time you buy food, toys, or pay the rent/mortgage, you are paying child support. The gas you spend to send your children to soccer practice or to the doctor’s office is supporting the children. When I took my children to see “Dolphin Tale” and when I take them to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (www.seewinter.com) that is supporting my children. However, society views the term “child support…

I have scoured the Internet and found some interesting personalities that have legal education backgrounds. I am careful to put in the term “legal education” rather than legal “experience” so as to eliminate such classic personalities such as Barry Bonds, Larry Flynt and Sean Hannity.  I am not a famous lawyer like Harvey Levin (TMZ, People’s Court, etc), Nancy Grace (Dancing with the Stars and some other shows), or Robert Kardashian (O.J. Simpson’s Attorney) so I did not have an opportunity to interview these personalities to confirm the accuracy of the information.   Most of this …

Various people have various reasons for choosing to do or not doing certain actions including whether they choose to drive under the influence of alcohol.  Some people choose not to drink and drive because of its moral implications. Some choose not drive after drinking because they are terrified of hurting themselves or others. Others choose to drive unimpaired because of the legal implications. Most probably choose not to drive after drinking for all of the above. Since my article usually gets published on Monday mornings (Tuesday mornings in some areas), I thought I would take the …

I have a huge confession to make: I absolutely love court reality television shows!  This is no secret to my staff, friends and certainly not my wife. I found out the other day that I am not alone. I was reading a 2004 Trial Lawyer’s magazine at a mediation the other day and it said that attorneys are one the biggest consumers of television lawyer shows from dramas to reality shows. I know I should cite my source, but I simply did not write it down. It is in a mediation room in Orlando on the first floor under a phone and very dusty.  My favorite court show by far is “The People’s Court.”  …

One of my favorite targets for my stories is my own father. He is the antithesis of an attorney.  He never listens to a single thing I say. He will call me for legal advice. I will give him legal advice for free. He will then tell me that I am absolutely wrong and hang up on me. He is also getting older and his eyes are getting worse. He has trouble reading a menu and refuses to use glasses. Recently he gave me an envelope where there was a picture of him running a red light in a left-hand turn somewhere that I choose to keep anonymous. Attached was a ticket for $158.00 unless he contested …