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 ON/JTS: Contest winners and rules are at the end. Here is your trivia question for this week: What is the name and position of the patch.com guest I had on family law radio on Saturday, July 28, 2012?  Your answer can be found by listening here:  http://www.internetradiopros.com/familylaw/. You have to listen to the beginning of the show to get the answer. Consider this scenario: You have developed a chicken restaurant that uses a secret blend of spices. You also have a business model on how your restaurant is run and it has been very successful so far. In fact, in your opinion, none …

CONTEST ON/JTS: Contest winners and rules are at the end. Check out the podcast of the Honorable Judge Jack Day’s interview on Family Law Radio (familyradio411.com) under “shows” for an in-depth conversation related to this article. Let’s bluntly dive into what is perhaps the most important part of being a family law attorney or someone going through a family law related dispute: The Children!  I do not have a lot of great legal citations or logical deductions in this article. I am simply presenting what most people already know and what most people in family law conflicts forget. Please read…

Contest update: (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.   …

Contest update: Our winner from last week’s question is Patti C. She has asked us to donate to the West Pasco Pregnancy Center. The answer was the late Federal Bankruptcy Judge Paskay. The number of entries tripled from any previous contest! 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 …

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 update:  We had a winner last week and the donation will be made.  I will make a post on each site on the winner and the nonprofit.  My email is just experiencing “technical difficulties” at this time. Please note that we send out donations on the first day and 15th day of the month, so sometimes donations are a couple weeks behind. 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…

Contest update: Our winner last week is Melanie P. who has asked us to donate to Upper Pinellas Pregnancy Support Services. 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 …

Contest update: Our winner last week was Mr. Saturn. He has asked us to donate to Metropolitan Ministries http://www.metromin.org/. The answer was Steve Stamkos who set an NHL all-time record with five overtime goals.  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@…

Contest Update: Congratulations to Tim M. for getting last week’s trivia question correct.  The donation will be made to the Pasco PACE Center for Girls.  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 hidden the 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 …

As most of you know, I like to have fun with articles at times when appropriate.  At the end of this week, the Super Bowl champion for 2011-12 will be crowned.  While you are watching Tom Brady throw for 400 yards or being sacked six times by the very aggressive defensive line of the New York Giants, listen closely to some of the terms and phrases used during the course of the game.They are remarkably similar to legalese. I wonder what attorney has the privilege of writing the National Football League Rule Book available for download? To enjoy the Super Bowl properly, the most important thing…

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 …

  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.”  …

We have all been on at least one side of the noise dial: We are at a stoplight and there is a significant amount of noise. For those creating the sound, they perhaps call it “sound enlightenment” or a gracious display of giving music to the world. For others, it is simply called noise pollution.  For “sound enlightenment” readers, someone may have told you to turn it down, and you then showed them your fondness of the kingdom of Animal, phylum of Chordata, and the Class of Aves (scientific classification for birds in general) with non-verbal finger gestures. For those that consider loud …

You are an employer. You have are interviewing a potential employee. You find information on a social media site that the employee does drugs, posts about parties every night, posts pictures that are not conducive to the image your company wants to have, or hates some people of a race not of that employee’s race.  You are an employer. You find out on a social media site that a long time and loyal employee hates his or her job, has been skipping out of work early, is spending time on your clock on social media sites, or is saying negative things about your company or other employees. You are …

With Thanksgiving over, Black Friday chaos done, and the holiday season in full effect, it seemed appropriate to discuss what a gift is.  We all know the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas” and the use of the term “my true love gave to me.” Notably, in the Twelve Days of Christmas, no one ever gave a fruitcake. There is actually another part of the song that says, “On another day of Christmas, my true love RE-GIFTED to me, a fruitcake I would never eat. “ There is a reason for that. Let’s explore why. I have never actually eaten a fruitcake. I know that I get at least one at Thanksgiving …