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Have a legal question on any area of law? Ask one of the experts at ALLEXPERTS.com. Philip L. Franckel, Esq. is a personal injury expert at ALLEXPERTS.com.
Legal Fees, Tax Issues, Loans To Clients & Ethics
Questions to ask when hiring a lawyer
Contingent Legal Fees Explained
by Georgia Civil
Justice Foundation
Client's rights and attorney responsibilities - a PDF
document showing an example statement provided by FindLaw.com.
Are all
contingent fee agreements the same? Computation
of Expenses in Contingent Fee Agreements -
Note that lawyers in some states like NY, must deduct expenses from the gross
settlement and compute the fee percentage from the net settlement amount.
Is
your settlement taxable or tax exempt?
What's in your release?
Settlements
and jury verdict awards for emotional distress may be taxable and lost
income is taxable. I have always stated in my client's release that
the settlement is for physical personal injuries and non-economic losses
only. If your release is silent on these issues, the IRS will make the
decisions. Before taking your case to verdict, be aware that the jury will
allocate your award for each type of damage, without consideration of taxes.
Tax code and
rules with regard to injuries and settlements
Maximizing the
settlement money the advantages and disadvantages of structured settlements
Litigating to
avoid taxation of personal injury damages - the CPA Journal
lawsuit awards and settlements audit guide - the CPA Journa
Contingent Attorneys’ Fees: The Income Tax Dilemmal
Guide to
income tax reporting for personal injury settlement awards - from the
state of Colorado dated 1997.
Tax
Issues and Contingent Fee Awards -
Were you awarded legal fees?
Taxing Punitive
Damages for Physical Injury or Sickness
Tax issues involving structured settlements
Should Personal Injury Awards be Taxed? - a student paper. Loans
to Clients and Repayment of Expenses -
(NYS Bar Association
Committee on Professional Ethics) Question: May a lawyer refer a client to a financial institution that will lend the
client money for living expenses, where the repayment of the loan is contingent
on the successful resolution of the client’s claim for personal
injuries? This answer also has a good explanation why a client must repay
litigation expenses to his/her lawyer. Ethics
Opinions Regarding Non-Recourse Funding -
A list of opinions in most
states concerning money provided to plaintiffs in personal injury cases.
Free Legal Forms for Consumers
- from LawSmart (forms are not recommended by HURT911®)
Freedom of Information Kit
-
Instructions and form letters for a FOIA request.
NYS Notary
License Application & Info
All You Need To Know
About Mediation But...
NAM
- National Arbitration & Mediation - NAM
is a global dispute resolution provider offering a cost-effective alternative to
expensive and time-consuming litigation. The Company has a network of more than
1,500 retired judges and practicing specialists to provide arbitration and
mediation services in every major city around the world.
Mediate.com is a meeting place for people
dealing with conflict. You will find over 700
Articles and
Discussions to increase
your knowledge about mediation and conflict resolution.
American Arbitration
Association (AAA)
American Arbitration
Association (AAA) SUM/UM and No-Fault Arbitration Demand forms for all
states.
Subject
Guide by Internet Legal Research Compass - brings together a wide variety of
legal information in a number of subject areas. For the areas covered, you may
find: A research summary (including subject search links to the Villanova online
card catalog), quicklinks to top sites, in-depth subject links, fee databases of
interest, and new and notable sites in that field.
'Lectric Law Library - lots of legal
research with some humor.
NationalLawLibrary - Affordable legal
research. You can pay by the search, as little as $2.95.
Statutes
of Limitations For All States - scroll down to the bottom of the page
for a chart.
Wrongful Death Caps For
All States - obtained from the Association of Trial Lawyers of America
Is
your state a No-Fault state?
Rupp's Insurance Glossary - Search
for legal and insurance definitions. Rupp's Insurance & Risk Management
Glossary is the insurance industry's authoritative standard and a must for
every insurance, business and legal library.
Free legal research at LexisOne
Research
all kinds of stuff at LexisOne
All the
Codes
& Statutes in one place at LexisOne
Statutes
and other Resources for all States - at FindlawLaw
Statutes
in all States - Legal Information Institute Cornell Law School
The Virtual Chase
® - A Research Site for Legal Professionals
Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure - Cornell Law School
Federal Rules
of Evidence - Cornell Law School
Code of Federal Regulations
- Cornell Law School
Federal Cases & Code/Fed
Regulations
Federal Rulemaking
- the federal judiciary's web site on the federal rules of practice, procedure,
and evidence.
Biographical Data on Federal Judges - Find biographical information on judges of U.S.
District Courts, U.S. Circuit Courts, U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the Supreme Court, going back to 1789.
University Law Review Project - "virtual
law library" - full-text search and retrieval of dozens of leading law journals.
Administrative Codes and Registers
- hypertext links, organized by state, to bulletins, journals, registers,
and codes.
Shepards
citation - to see if a case is still good law (must pay a fee per case
or become a subscriber)
Basic Legal
Citation - by Peter W. Martin, Cornell Law School.
FindLaw Internet Legal Resources -
provides links to legal organizations, consultants and experts, U.S. Federal
government Resources, cases and codes, state law resources, news.
The Health Law Resource
- for those interested in health care law. Primarily intended as a resource
for health care practitioners, professionals or anyone interested in learning
more about the dynamic field of health care law, and more specifically, the
regulatory and transactional aspects of health care law practice.
ATLAExchange
- For ATLA members only. The
Exchange provides services critical to trial practice, including:
A network of colleagues ready to share knowledge and experience. Access to other members' successful complaints, memos, briefs,
depositions, and other documents (many of which are often unpublished and unavailable from any other source), giving members
a starting point for case acceptance and/or trial preparation. Timely "hot topic" information and awareness of areas for practice
and client development.
DepoConnect - The world's largest on-line deposition bank exclusively for
plaintiff lawyers.
The National Crime Victim Bar Association
Medical &
Legal Briefs - at the Chemical Injury Information Network
How much is your case
worth? Find a Jury Verdict Reporter for your state at NASJVP
The National Association of State Jury Verdict Publishers.
Verdict Search.com
- National Law Journal
Mobile
Scanner & Radar-Detector Laws in the US By
Todd L. Sherman/KB4MHH
Federal
Guidelines for Drunk Driving, Car Crashes, Train Accidents, Etc.- The
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s "Desk
Book" for police officers contains federal guidelines on everything
from field sobriety testing, breath machines and traffic stops to highway
engineering and railroad grade crossing safety. It could potentially be used as
evidence as to whether proper standards were met.
Social Security Disability Law
- information on cases including news, regulations, forms and guides to specific
disabilities.
Uniform State Laws - www.nccusl.org
/ www.law.upenn.edu/bll/ulc/ulc.htm
- These sites provide information on the National Conference of Commissioners on
Uniform State Laws, including the full text of all uniform laws and their
current legislative status.
Federal Courts
Supreme
Court Cases - Historic The Federal Court Locator
- access information related to the federal judiciary, including slip opinions,
provided by the Villanova
Internet Legal Research Compass.
Courts.Net - access to trial-level courts.
Law Library Resource
Xchange - Federal and State court rules, forms and dockets. A
wealth of information.
PACER - electronic access to
U.S. District, Bankruptcy, and Appellate court records.
The Law Engine - provides links
to Federal Courts, Federal and State Law, Federal Cases, law libraries,
newspapers, general libraries, dictionaries, attorney directories, legal
associations.
State Courts
The
State Court Locator - is a service provided by
Villanova University School of Law.
Law Library Resource
Xchange - Federal and State court rules, forms and dockets. A
wealth of information.
Find
a Personal Injury Attorney at
HURT911®
NYC Sidewalk & Crosswalk
Defects - Since 1982, Big Apple Pothole & Sidewalk Protection Committee
has provided New York City with the legally required written notice of sidewalk,
curb and crosswalk defects in the five boroughs of New York. Thorough
and professional searches save attorneys countless hours in preparing their
clients' cases. Attorneys using Big Apple's services are provided (usually
within 48 hours) with accurate information, two clear and legible maps and
our assistance down the road should you need it. Big Apple is able
to support its findings by testifying in court.
NYS
Secretary of State Corporation & Business Entity Database
NYS Dept. of Motor
Vehicles - Forms
How
to Open a NYS DMV Dial In Account - Search DMV
records to obtain instantaneous displays from DMV's major files via your PC and
modem.
NYS Law Resources -
at Findlaw.com
AAA NYS
SUM/UM Arbitration Demand form
AAA
NYS No-Fault Insurance Arbitration Demand Form
NYS
Government Information Locator Service
General Guidance to the Families
of the Victims of a Disaster - This document was provided to the families of
victims of the crash of TWA Flight 800 in July 1996 by a team of lawyers from
the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.
Free Newsletters for Lawyers:
Insurance Coverage Pointers; Health Law Pointers; & Employment Law
Pointers.
Check
to see if your lawyer is registered in NYS
New
York Decisions of Interest Tai
Tran v. New Rochelle Hospital Medical Center - Court of Appeals - Ruling
that surveillance films
NYS Courts - Home page.
NYS
Courts Future Appearance System - Check for future court appearances
for your case or law office. Available free for the public. NYS
State Court Holidays - Click here if you need to know if the court is
closed.
New
York State Unified Court System - Court Rules
Kings
County Clerk - all kinds of information.
New
York State Unified Court System OnLine Decision - Text Search
New
York State Unified Court System OnLine Decision - Index # Search
NYCourts - six-month archive of decisions
from NYS Court of Appeals, four Appellate Divisions and the Supreme Court.
Access Court Calendar Official Court and Judges' Rules, Judicial Biographies,
Court Jurisdiction & History, and Phone Directories.
Search the New
York Slip Opinion Service - recently released State court decisions that
have not yet been edited for publication in the Official Reports.
Appellate
Division Second Department Forms
NYS Court Information
for Non-Lawyers
Medical Malpractice
News - Summaries of Recent Medical Research for Medical Malpractice Lawyers
and Non Lawyers.
Personal Injury News
- Summaries of Recent Medical Research for Personal Injury Lawyers and Non
Lawyers.
Brain Injury:
Proving a Lifetime Disability
Dr. Witherspoon Chief of
Staff - An interesting assortment of articles reviewing medical malpractice
cases. Spanish Medical Translations
- Translations of medical and pharmaceutical materials between Spanish and
English languages by medical doctors, registered nurses and other professionals.
Practical Medical Malpractice
Litigation Information - The 'Lectric Law Library
Find
a Personal Injury Attorney at
HURT911®
Wrongful
Termination of Employment
A good explanation of what is and what is not wrongful termination.
Find
a Personal Injury Attorney at
HURT911®
American Association for Justice (formerly ATLA) National Lawyers Guild is a membership of progressive civil rights attorneys.
Washington Legal Foundation International
Trade Commission Trial Lawyers Association (ITCTLA)
Practicing Law Institute (PLI) is a non-profit continuing legal education organization chartered by the Regents of the University of the State of New York. American Association of Law Libraries National Association of Legal Assistants National Court Reporters Association National Federation of Paralegal Associations
State Trial Lawyer Associations (Personal Injury Bar Associations)
CLICK ON AN INVESTIGATION CATEGORY:
The
pretrieve - Public record search engine. ixquick
- The World's Most Powerful Meta Search Engine. Accepts complex searches,
integrates results well, eliminate duplicates, and offer additional features
such as intelligent ranking or clustering by subjects within your search
results. Results displayed can come from Yahoo!, LookSmart, AOL, and MSN, among
other major SE's.
Search Systems - Find someone who has a license. Over 13,277 Free
Searchable Public Record Databases! NetSpy Internet Intelligence Resources - Access thousands of free databases. Need to serve a corporation? Find a Corporate Agent for service of process in all 50 states. Registry of Former Federal Investigators - Experts from every federal agency available on any forensic subject.
NYPD Abbreviations - some of these may apply to your police department. Federal and Industry Standards - Products liability and other lawyers can find information on federal and industry standards at the American National Standards Institute site. Freedom of Information Kit - Instructions and form letters for a FOIA request. US & International Military & Intelligence Agency Access Sabre - Find airline trip information if you know a last name & reservation code Find a Flight - Track a flight by Airline name and Flight number, or by city & arrival/departure times. Flight Tracker - Track a flight by airline and flight number. See a graphical picture with flight info.
IP Address Reverse Search - (ARIN) American Registry for Internet Numbers Find out the geographical location of an IP Address - Geobytes American Databank - the premier online provider of public records including criminal, civil, domestic, bankruptcy, and traffic cases. Political Donation Search - Use the location search on any address to find those who live near that address who have made presidential campaign contributions. You can also search for any person by name. Cell Phone Text Message Address - Find the URL address for common US and Canadian cell phone providers with instructions on how to send an SMS text message to a cell phone.
Time - Cities at a glance, worldwide Time - Worldwide Time Zone Converter - Worldwide
US Time - Official current US Time in all US time zones including US possessions. UM Weather - Hundreds of weather sites, Forecasts, maps and more. How to Obtain Official Climate Data also: ncdc.order@noaa.gov Help: Tom Ross or Neil Lott 828-271-4499 or 828-271-4996
USGS National Mapping Information Geographic Nameserver - MIT Find information on a location in the US. Find out what county a city is in. US Census Bureau - Find information on a location in the US Find Info on a County - National Association of Counties. Find out the geographical location of an IP (Internet Protocol) Address - Geobytes
Satellite Photography - terraserver.com Satellite Photography - GlobeXplorer.com
Product defects:
NYS: see AERIAL-NY below.
Find your state's Motor Vehicle Department State by State Listing of Department of Public Safety/Motor Vehicles Offices
Doctor Finder/Information - to find a doctor whose name you know. Board Certified Physician Search Medical Group Finder/Information Hospital Finder/Information - to find a hospital whose name you know. Hospital Web - to find a hospital's web site. Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations - The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 19,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, the Joint Commission is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. This is a good source for investigations involving medical malpractice. License, Background Info & Disciplinary Actions concerning doctors in several states 20,125 Questionable Doctors Disciplined by State & Federal Governments (Publication for sale) New York State Department of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct - professional misconduct by licensed physicians, physician assistants, or specialist assistants. Disciplinary Actions - New York State Department of Education Office of the Professions - All professions: Certified Social Work - Chiropractic - Dentistry - Nursing - Occupational Therapy - Pharmacy - Podiatry - Psychology - Professional Engineering - Respiratory Therapy - Veterinary Medicine License Verifications - New York State Department of Education Office of the Professions - All professions. New York State Physician Profile
State Departments of Insurance - Find the Department of Insurance for any state.
Links to Insurance Company Web Sites
Minimum Insurance Levels in every state. See also Links to Insurance Coverages & Companies at HURT911®
People Locators: (Tip: Try all people searches, since names may show up on only one of the many directories) Free People Locators for Public Access FOR ATTORNEYS & INSURANCE COMPANIES ONLY (be sure to see our Public Access links also):
SearchAmerica - Another good people finder which is inexpensive to use (for permissive users).
NameBase - Citations to names of individuals and groups involving: assassinations, organized crime, scandals, Wall Street, transnational corporations, foreign policy, media establishments, political elites from the Right and Left, Cold War history and intelligence. ZabaSearch - Find addresses, telephone numbers, ages and variations of the name of a person. You do not have to enter a state. Find a telephone number & address - You do not have to enter a state.
Search Systems - Find someone who has a license. Over 13,277 Free
Searchable Public Record Databases! InfoBel - A list of of directories of over 400 white and yellow page directories online from nearly 200 countries worldwide. WorldPages.com - Find a person anywhere in the US Find an email address - Switchboard.com Find an email address - Mesa Your Meta Email Search Agent Last Known Email - Veripost - change of email address register. Search for a Person - 411.com includes reverse telephone lookup PhoneNumbers.net - Search international telephone directories. WhoWhere - Search international telephone directories. Teldir.com - International telephone directories on the web. Telephone Prefix Locator - Have a phone number? Find out where it's located. Reverse Directory by Telephone Number or Address - Provides several locators. Be sure to try all, since a name may show in only one of the locators. Area Code Listing, by State/Country Area Codes in a State - Scroll down for a list of states with it's area codes. Area Code Reverse Directory & Cross Reference Address Verification - Given a valid U.S. postal address, this server attempts to rewrite the address in the proper format along with the ZIP+4 code. If it is successful, you can retrieve a Postscript or a GIF file of the address for printing, with a barcode. How can I decipher a barcode? Zip Code Look Up & Address Information Zip Code Cross Reference Directory Post Office Locator showing address, tel # & fax # of a post office for a particular address. pretrieve - Public record search engine. Classmates.com - Find any of more than 25 million who are listed here with 80,000-100,000 added each day. Find the date of birth of a person - obtained from public records. It found my date of birth. Quite amazing! Social Security Number Search & Verification - Enter the first 3 digits of a Social Security Number to search the state of issuance. Will also indicate if the Social Security Number is not valid.
Social
Security Death Index - at Ancestry.com
Social
Security Death Index - at RootsWeb.com
Cemetery Records - Free
search for more than 2 million records from over 4,000 cemeteries worldwide.
Searchable by surname or by specific cemeteries. Military Records - usually requires a fee.
Selective Service Numbers -
The Selective Service System is able to provide information from records kept on
men currently registered with Selective Service, as well as on men who were
registrants as far back as World War I. Selective Service System offers online search for
registrations of men born on or after January 1, 1960.usually
US Patent Database
- Type a name in the Search Term box & click on Submit Query to find someone who has a patent.
US
Trademark Search - Type a name in the Search Term box & click on Submit
Query to find someone who has a trademark.
ABA Attorney Locator - to
find an attorney whose name you know. Double click your back button to get
back here.
Doctor
Finder/Information - to
find a doctor whose name you know.
Directory
& Search Engine of the World's Embassies & Consulates
NY Investigator's Home Page
- A resource for attorneys and investigators. Just click on "NY
Investigators Hot List" for a lot of good links for your investigation. This
site is hosted by CURRY & ASSOCIATES, L.L.C., tel.: 516-674-6181.
FRANCKEL & ASSOCIATES has chosen CURRY & ASSOCIATES, L.L.C.
for all it's investigative services.
NYS
Secretary of State Corporation & Business Entity Database
Nassau County
Police Radio 10 Codes & Aux. PD Radio Codes - I wouldn't have posted it for security
reasons, but it's already out there.
NYS
Government Information Locator Service
NYS Prison Inmate Population
Search
TrustMyDoctor
- Definitions of Professional Misconduct & State Disciplinary Actions
New
York State Department of Health Office of Professional Medical Conduct -
professional misconduct by licensed physicians, physician assistants, or
specialist assistants.
License
Verifications - New
York State Department of Education Office of the Professions - All
professions. New
York State Department of Education Office of the Professions - Disciplinary
Actions - Certified Social Work - Chiropractic - Dentistry - Nursing -
Occupational Therapy - Pharmacy - Podiatry - Psychology - Professional
Engineering - Respiratory Therapy - Veterinary Medicine Search
All NYS Non-Professional Licensees NYC
Residential Building Violations - Access information about residential
buildings in the City of New York including violations of the City's Housing
Maintenance Code and the State's Multiple Dwelling Law as well as contact
information based on the last valid building registration form.
INSURANCE-NY
NYS Insurance Company Web
Site Locator
Directory of Insurance Companies
Regulated in NYS
DMV Insurance
Codes and Company Contacts
NYS Dept. of Motor
Vehicles - Forms How
to Open a NYS DMV Dial In Account - Search DMV
records to obtain instantaneous displays from DMV's major files via your PC and
modem (for attorneys and other authorized users).
Aerial Photography
-
The Pilot Shop.
Aero-Graphics (Aerial Photography) 631-589-6045 Tom Rohan
Need to blow up the intersection
in your aerial photograph? Call Atlantic
Blueprint
NYC, Nassau & Suffolk. If you have a large exhibit blow up of an
aerial photograph showing a relatively small intersection with a large
surrounding area which you do not need, from your aerial exhibit, they can blow
up only the intersection or area you need.
The Federal Web Locator - Links to every area of the Federal Government! FedWorld - More searchable government databases. National Conference of State Legislatures - Links to the legislature's web sites. National Association of State Information Resource Executives - Index to state materials ranging from state government home pages to information on tourism. habornet.com - Links to: State Constitutions, U.S. Constitution, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Bill of Rights. State Resources for Your State Legislative Resources - Many links to track legislative news.
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