The Internet and the Law The Internet is a two edged sword when it comes to the law. On the one hand, I am often pleasantly surprised to learn how much knowledge a current or potential client has received from the many hours they have surfed the Internet. On the other hand, much of that knowledge is not relevant to their issue, raises expectations of their case beyond what the facts of their case would deliver in a court of law, and often has no relevancy to the laws ofPennsylvania, where I practice and where ...
A “hot button” topic these days is whether a worker is an independent contractor or an employee. This topic arises both in work and tax arenas, and is not a simple issue. In the work arena the issue often arises when someone applies for unemployment compensation benefits. In Pennsylvania someone who is an independent contractor is not eligible for unemployment compensation benefits, and is considered self-employed. Pennsylvania Courts use a two-part test to make this distinction. It is: (1) whether the worker was free from control and direction in the performance of the work; and (2) whether the business is one ...
DEBUNKING COMPLAINTS AGAINST LAWYERS Follow me at my official Blog Site, Toughlawyerlady for this and all of my blog posts! I frequently receive calls from potential clients complaining about other lawyers who represent them, have represented them, or they have called to represent them. Below are some of my favorite call topics, and my responses to them. Comment: “I have called or e mailed many lawyers and no one but you have returned my calls or e mails.” Response: A lawyer does not want to talk to someone who is fishing around for free advice, and calls 15-20 lawyers or more in the ...
Follow me at my official Blog Site, Toughlawyerlady for this and all of blog posts! A hot issue currently is an employee’s ability to keep their job when they have to take time off due to an illness or disability and the duty of an employer to accommodate them while maintaining a productive workplace. Although the Americans with Disability Act (“Act”) has been in effect for some years, its provisions became muddled and diminished through various court decisions. As a result of the confusion, and what many people considered to be a deliberate attempt to undermine the spirit of ...
Faye has started her new Blog: ToughLawyerLady! Check it out here.
Pennsylvania is one of the states which adheres to the “employee at-will” doctrine. This means that employees can be terminated for nearly any reason, but it also means that employees can leave their employment for almost any reason. Most employees are not impressed when they learn that they can leave their jobs for any reason, as most of them want to keep them. However, there have been times in our country’s history when that was not the case, such as in the days of slavery or indentured servitude, or when employees owed so much to a company that they couldn’t ...
By: Faye Riva Cohen, Esquire Many potential clients who contact me assume that anyone who leaves a job for any reason is automatically entitled to receive unemployment compensation benefits. That is far from reality. Unemployment compensation benefits are administered by each state, and the state in which one has worked, rather than the state in which one lives, makes a determination of entitlement to benefits, based on that state’s laws. I have been a seminar organizer and presenter for unemployment compensation issues in Pennsylvania, and this Firm has handled hundreds of matters dealing with all facets of unemployment compensation. Unemployment compensation ...
PENNY WISE AND POUND FOOLISH By: Faye Riva Cohen, Esquire We all know that the phrase “penny wise and pound foolish” refers to people who do things to save money, but end up spending much more because they did not do a simple cost/benefit analysis. I receive many calls weekly from potential clients who, regardless of how much they earn, automatically say they cannot afford a modest retainer to proceed with their case. Others want a “guarantee” that the amount they pay for a retainer will gain them the results they want. I note that when ...
