Friday 27 July 2018

You might not know these about real estate lawyers

Buying any type of real estate can be something great. However, if you don’t use the right people your dream property might end up in a nightmare.
This is why you should make sure that you know everything that there is to know about real estate lawyers. There are people that don’t even realize that they should have their own set of lawyers in order to purchase real estate. This is why you should make sure that you know everything there is to know about these lawyers.
There is a huge difference between a real estate agent and a real estate attorney
Something that is confusing for so many people, is that they need to hire both a real estate agent and Real Estate Attorney Brooklyn when they are purchasing the property.
Too many people think that you only need to hire the agent because they are doing everything there is to do when purchasing a home. And, that you can make use of their legal team. There is a huge difference, and you need to hire them both. This is if you want to make sure that everything is going according to the law.
Not any attorney has experience as a real estate attorney
If you have a personal attorney on your payroll, it doesn’t mean that you can use him as a real estate lawyer as well. They will not be able to do the same things as an experienced real estate legal team.
There are some things that real estate legal teams should do, that only they know how to do it. And, if you are going to use your normal attorney, you aren’t going to have the right legal assistance. No matter how long you might be doing business with him.
Making use of the agent’s legal team isn’t recommended
Even if the real estate agent is saying that you can make use of their legal team, without paying extra, this isn’t something to consider. This is because they have the agent’s best interest at heart, and not yours.
There is one reason for this. The agent is paying the fees of the Real Estate Attorney Brooklyn and not you. So automatically they are ensuring that the real estate agent’s interests are putting first. You should make sure that you are rather hiring your own legal team. Paying for their services ensure that you have someone in your corner as well.
You need to have legal assistance that has your best interest at heart
As mentioned before, you will need to have your own legal assistance when you are purchasing the property. Someone that can make sure that the contract is legit and that everything is above board.
The only way that you can make sure about that, is if you are hiring a real estate attorney that you are paying. The moment that you aren’t making use of your own legal assistance, you will not know if the purchase contract is in order or not.
This type of legal assistance is necessary when you are buying real estate
There are a couple of things that only legal assistance can do when you are buying real estate. And, if this is the first time that you are purchasing real estate, this might be something that you weren’t aware of. It is so easy for a real estate agent to tell you that you don’t need to have any legal assistance because they already have one for the transaction.
When something as big as the property is sold, both parties should have their own legal assistance. To make sure about the contract that you are going to sign. It doesn’t matter if you are going to buy a home or commercial property. You will need to have your own legal team.
When it comes to Real Estate Lawyer Brooklyn, there are some things that you might not know about them. And, you even might not know the importance of having them when you are purchasing or selling your home. Many people think that because they are making use of a real estate agent, that it includes the services of their legal team. However, this is never the cases, and this can mean that there isn’t someone that has your best interest at heart.

Friday 20 July 2018

Piece of Cake: What’s Behind Supreme Court Opinions?

On June 4, 2018 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the controversial case, Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission. The case concerned a baker, Mr. Jack Phillips, a devout Christian, who in 2012 declined to create a wedding cake for a same-sex wedding on the basis that doing so would require him to express himself artistically in a way that was inconsistent with his religious beliefs. At the time, gay marriage was not legally recognized in Colorado. However, the state had an anti-discrimination act regarding goods and services available to the public. See C.R.S. 24-34-601. The Commission determined that Mr. Phillips violated the anti-discrimination act. On review, the Supreme Court held that the Commission violated the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause by egregiously treating Mr. Phillips’ case with hostility towards his religious beliefs. The Free Exercise Clause requires that states not base regulations and laws on hostility towards a religious belief, but that they remain neutral. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision stating that Mr. Phillips had been “entitled to a neutral decision-maker who would give full and fair consideration to his religious objection as he sought to assert it . . . ” Masterpiece Cakeshop, Ltd. v. Colo. Civil Rights Comm’n, 201 L.Ed.2d 35, 46 (U.S. 2018).


Critical to the effect of this decision on similar future cases is that the Court did not decide for the states the limits and boundaries between anti-discrimination and freedom of speech. Rather, the Court narrowly held that these disputes “must be resolved with tolerance, without undue disrespect to sincere religious beliefs . . . ” while avoiding “subjecting gay persons to indignities when they seek goods and services in an open market.” Id. at 50. In other words, the Supreme Court simply held that state courts must be neutral decision-makers who faithfully uphold the entire Constitution.


Nevertheless, the case was not decided without much disagreement among the nine Supreme Court Justices, despite the final 7-2 decision. With three concurring opinions (one such written and joined by two of the four liberal Justices) and one dissenting opinion, it is no wonder why the case has caused such controversy. What might cause even more shock is that Justice Kennedy, who wrote the majority opinion, also wrote the 2015 landmark decision which legalized gay marriage nationwide. Because of the different opinions, this case becomes an effective model for answering the following questions. How do Supreme Court Justices decide who writes each opinion? Why do they write concurring and dissenting opinions? What precedential value do concurring and dissenting opinions have?

The Majority Opinion is Assigned by the Chief Justice


After oral arguments, the Justices convene in a conference to express how each of them would decide the case; the conference is followed by a vote. Once the votes have been counted, the Chief Justice assigns a Justice in the majority to write the opinion of the Court or does so himself. However, if the Chief Justice is not in the majority, the most senior Justice in the majority has the authority to assign writing the opinion of the court. In Masterpiece Cakeshop, Chief Justice Roberts was a part of the majority and assigned writing the opinion of the court to Justice Kennedy. They were joined by Justices Breyer, Alito, Kagan, and Gorsuch. Often, a Justice in the majority will agree with the outcome of the case, but not with the majority’s reasoning for it. That Justice may write a concurring opinion, which can be joined by other Justices. Here, Justice Kagan filed a concurring opinion in which Justice Breyer joined. Justice Gorsuch filed another concurring opinion, joined by Justice Alito. Justice Thomas wrote an opinion concurring in the judgment, but only concurring in part as to the majority’s rationale. Any Justice who disagrees with the majority judgment can write a separate dissenting opinion. Here Justice Ginsberg, who was joined by Justice Sotomayor, filed a dissenting opinion.

Often, the opinions reference each other, each Justice arguing their reasoning in comparison to another’s. The following sections briefly describe the main points of each opinion and illustrate how the Justices agree and disagree with each other.


Majority Opinion:


Written by J. Kennedy; Joined by JJ. Roberts, Breyer, Alito, Kagan, Gorsuch

“While it is unexceptional that Colorado law can protect gay persons in acquiring products and services on the same terms and conditions as are offered to other members of the public, the law must be applied in a manner that is neutral toward religion.” Id. at 37. The commissioners made hostile comments about Mr. Phillips’ faith, casting doubt on the fairness and impartiality of the Commission’s adjudication of the case. Justice Kennedy compared this case to another where other bakers prevailed before the Commission despite refusing to create a cake for a client (because it depicted anti-gay messages, which the bakers opposed) while being willing to sell other products with a different message to the same customers. The cases are all too similar, he argues, and yet the Commission reached opposite decisions.


Concurrence:


Written by J. Kagan; Joined by J. Breyer

“[A] proper basis for distinguishing the cases was available—in fact, it was obvious.” Id. at 50. The three bakers, Justice Kagan argues, would have denied making the anti-gay cake for any customer, regardless of his religious beliefs. However, Mr. Phillips would have created a wedding cake for an opposite-sex couple, but refused to create one for the same-sex couple. Nevertheless the commission made their decision with hostility and bias.


Concurrence:


Written by J. Gorsuch; Joined by J. Alito
 
Pushing back against the Kagan and Ginsberg opinions, Justice Gorsuch argues that the different bakers’ cases were legally almost identical and should have resulted in the same determinations. He argues that the Commission treated them differently because they deemed Mr. Phillips’ beliefs offensive. The courts should not be deciding what is offensive. “[T]he place of secular officials isn’t to sit in judgment of religious beliefs, but only to protect their free exercise. Just as it is the ‘proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence’ that we protect speech that we hate, it must be the proudest boast of our free exercise jurisprudence that we protect religious beliefs that we find offensive.” Id. at 55.


Concurrence:


Written by J. Thomas; Joined by J. Gorsuch
 
Justice Thomas addresses the freedom of speech argument that Mr. Phillips made. He believes creating a custom wedding cake for a couple is “expressive conduct” and should therefore be protected by the First Amendment. “States cannot punish protected speech because some group finds it offensive, hurtful, stigmatic, unreasonable, or undignified.” Id at 65.


Dissent:

Written by J. Ginsberg; Joined by J. Sotomayor

Justice Ginsberg argues that neither the commissioners’ statements about religion nor the commission’s prior treatment of other bakers amounts to hostility towards religion. The Court’s decision is therefore unjustified. She argues that the other bakers refused to make an offensive cake because of the cake itself, but that Mr. Phillips refused to bake the wedding cake because of their sexual orientation.


Precedential Value of Concurring and Dissenting Opinions


While lower courts must follow the Supreme Court’s majority opinion (under stare decisis), there are times when a concurring opinion, and even a dissenting opinion, can influence future decisions and the development of law. Overtime, the view of the courts might therefore shift drastically.


As for the Masterpiece Cakeshop case, it will take careful consideration by lower courts of the decision as they apply it to similar cases. Courts will need to balance applying the law in a manner that is neutral towards religion while protecting people from discrimination.
 

Friday 13 July 2018

Do you need to hire the best Corporate lawyers? Then read this!

It is important to make sure that if you have a business, or starting your own business, that you have everything you need. And, it normally means that you should make sure that you hire all the right people. This is the only way that you can make sure that your business is going to be successful.

One of the people that you should hire is corporate lawyers. No business can really go without this legal assistance. You might never know when you need legal advice, and then it is going to be too late to start looking for one. It is always best to have one on your payroll. Then, you will have someone that you can phone anytime. The one problems that people have is to choose the right one. You want to make sure that you hire a lawyer that you can trust and rely on. This is why you should make sure that you know these tips on how to hire the best corporate attorneys that you can find.

Doing research is the first thing that you should do

The first thing that you should do, is research. You should do research and find the best corporate lawyer Brooklyn that you can find. And, this isn’t something that you will be able to do without research.

By just hiring the first and best attorney that you find, isn’t really recommended. You will not know if you are going to have a lawyer on your payroll that you can trust and that have the reputation that you can count on. Research different names and find those that have the best reviews and recommendations.

Know the experience that the lawyer has

Different corporate lawyers have different experiences in businesses. You don’t want to hire a lawyer that doesn’t have a clue how your business is working. He won’t be able to give you the right type of advice or service.

This is why you should make sure that the legal advisor that you are going to hire, has experience and knowledge in the business that you have. If not, you should start looking for a new advisor.

His reputation is extremely important

The last thing that you want is to hire a corporate lawyer in Brooklyn that doesn’t have a good reputation. This can lead to paying someone a monthly fee that doesn’t really assist you in any legal matters.

There are different ways that you can make sure about their reputations before you can decide if this is someone that you should consider hiring. Asking around to other businesses about his reputation or reading reviews online will give you a great idea if this is someone with a great reputation that you can use without any problems.

The fees he is asking and services he’s delivering

Before your final decision about hiring a corporate lawyer, you need to make sure about the fee he is asking and the service that he’s delivering. You don’t want to hire someone if you don’t know that he is going to be valuable to the business and assisting you in any legal matters.

You want to have a contract that is stipulating his fee and the services that he is going to deliver for that fee. Then, you will not have any problems along the line with fees that are high and services that he doesn’t really provide.

Don’t wait until it is too late to hire the best lawyer for your business

The last tip is to make sure that you don’t wait until you need a lawyer for your business before you start looking for one. Then, you are going to be desperate and you will not make sure that you are taking your time and hiring the best one you can find.

When it comes to corporate lawyers Brooklyn, you need to make sure that you have one on your payroll. You don’t want to search for one when your business is in trouble. However, you still need to make sure that you are hiring one that you can trust, that you can afford and that have the right amount of experience of your type of business.  Then, you will know for sure that you have hired the best legal assistance that will be valuable for your business.

Resource By : https://www.prlog.org/12718207-do-you-need-to-hire-the-best-corporate-lawyers-then-read-this.html

Thursday 5 July 2018

The complete guide to Intellectual property lawyers

There are a couple of things that a business or large company needs: They need capital, products or services to sell, employees and legal assistance. Without these things, a business doesn’t really have any chance of succeeding. Especially, for a business that is functioning for the first time.


The secret is that you should not hire just any lawyer, you should make sure that you are hiring an intellectual property law that will assist you with property management. But, before you can do this, you need to make sure that you are going to know everything there is to know about these lawyers. This is the complete guide to this legal assistance that you should consider hiring.
What is intellectual property
It doesn’t really matter what type of business you have; your business will own some sort of intellectual property. It can be anything unique that belongs to the business. It can be the name of your business, the logo, the product or service or even your design.
No matter what type of intellectual property you have, you need to make sure that it protected and that no other business can steal your property. And, this is why you need to consider hiring Intellectual property law in Brooklyn to handle this for you.
What type of services can you expect from these lawyers
You need to know what type of services you can expect from the best intellectual property litigation company. This is the only way that you can make sure that you are going to protect all your intellectual property from getting stolen by other companies. This type of company is providing services for:
  • Trademarks
  • Copyright
  • Registered design rights
  • Patents
There isn’t any other way to make sure that you have the right to your intellectual property and that not any other business can get the patent on your stuff. You need to know that these things happen a lot, and then you don’t have any legal reasons why you can take them to court.
Things that can happen when you don’t make use of these lawyers
As mentioned before, there are many negative things that can happen when you don’t make use of Intellectual property lawyers for your intellectual belongings in the business.
Without using this lawyer, you will not be able to protect your business’s belongings. You won’t be able to go to court if another company is stealing your design, your logo, the name of your business, or even your product or services that you have to offer. This can cause you to lose everything. And, it can even mean that you should close your business because the other company can now take you to court for “stealing” their idea. Even if it was your idea.
Finding the right one is essential
You need to make sure that you are going to find the best service for Intellectual property law in Brooklyn. This is another problem that business owners might have. They don’t use the best service, but just hire any service to get it over and done with.
It is extremely important to make sure that you are going to hire the best service that knows every single step in the process of getting a trademark or patent. If the right steps weren’t followed correctly, it can mean that it isn’t legal and you will lose your trademark or patent.
Doing the research, reading reviews and talking to other business owners are really important when you want to make sure that you are hiring the right expert for your business and for protecting your business’s belongings. There is much information online about these lawyers that you can use to find the best one for your business.
It is essential to make sure that you know everything there is to know about Intellectual property lawyers. Especially, if you are planning to start your own business. They are making sure that everything about the business is protected. The design, the logo the products and even the name of your business. Without making use of this professional, you will not be able to protect your business and its belongings. Then your product or even logo might not be unique anymore.