The practice of family law can be fulfilling and profitable if you ensure that your clients pay you. If you are paid for your work, your practice will be successful and you will be happy; if you are not paid for your services, you will abhor family law.
As circumstances change, matrimonial practitioners must review the law in certain areas to see if those laws need to be amended to keep pace with changing times. For example, the onset of AIDS has created almost a new class of terminally ill people. These people who are involved in divorce cases may find themselves in a legal conundrum when it comes to term life insurance benefits. Traditionally, under prior law in some states, only cash surrender value was deemed property. See, e.g., In re Marriage of Mullins, 121 Ill.App.3d 86, 458 N.E.2d 1360 (Ill. 4th Dist. 1984). Historically, term policies, therefore, had no value in divorce proceedings. Those cases, however, may be distinguishable where the insured was not terminally ill, and the proceeds therefore become much less speculative.
On Dec. 16, President George W. Bush signed the "can spam" legislation passed earlier in the month by Congress. The legislation provides for jail time and hefty fines for serious violators and calls for the creation of a "do not spam" registry.
If you are seeking information about adequate warning labels, go to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Web site (www.fda.gov) and type in "adequate warning labels." Information will appear in milliseconds, covering everything from correspondence with manufacturers to FDA Public Health Advisories and sections from the Federal Register.
An annual survey of General Counsel
November 18, 2003: In a decision sure to affect other states, the Massachusetts Judicial Supreme Court has ruled that banning gay and lesbian marriages is unconstitutional.
A complete listing of all cases discussed in this issue.
Test your knowledge of the law!
The realm of protected activity has been expanded by the New York Legislature to include the display of the American flag by an employee on that employee's person or in his/her workstation.
Your ethics questions answered by the expert.
