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Mr. Stephen Setliff, partner and owner of Setliff Law, was appointed General Counsel to the Southeastern Wood Producers Association, Inc. (SWPA) at their October Board of Directors Meeting. Mr. Setliff, who has been active with the SWPA for several years, says the appointment is an opportunity for him to serve as a resource for members on a wide array of legal issues, including business formation, governmental investigations and compliance, labor and employment law, intellectual property, commercial transactions, and of course,…
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If you didn’t see the news recently, the family at the center of the 2009 movie (based on a 2006 bestselling book), “The Blind Side,” has been sued because of a legal maneuver allegedly pulled 20 years ago. The story involves a then-16-year-old impoverished Michael Oher who believed he was being adopted into the wealthy Tuohy family. An adoption creates a parent-child relationship; the lawsuit suggests what really occurred was quite different. Rather than adopting Oher, Leigh Anne and Sean…
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Addressing an employee who has been cleared for duty can be tricky. One of the first issues that must be addressed is how “cleared” are they? An employee who was injured on the job may be declared to be able to return to work “with restrictions.” These restrictions can be minor or major impediments to returning to work. In some situations, the restrictions may completely render them unable to return to work at all (for you). In this situation you…
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MARYLAND – “Yes,” But Not Preferred A landlord may evict a non-paying tenant by initiating a failure to pay rent action in the District Court of the county where the property is located. This procedure, known as “summary ejectment,” is the statutory remedy available to all landlords when a tenant defaults in its payment of rent under a lease. Commercial landlords may also avail themselves of self-help actions to reacquire their property, and there is well-established case law supporting this…
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There exists a fifty-square-mile slice of this great country in which, arguably at least, a quirk of jurisdictional jurisprudence prevents any person from being convicted of any crime. The “Zone of Death,” as it was described by Michigan State University College of Law Professor Brian C. Kalt, lies in the southwestern corner of Yellowstone National Park where it crosses from Wyoming into Idaho. There the lethal legal loophole arises from three intersecting considerations: As the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction…
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Every day we enter into contracts without even realizing it. Whether it is something as simple as buying groceries or downloading software or as complex as buying a business, every transaction involves entering into some sort of a contract. At its simplest, a contract involves one party making an offer, another party accepting the offer, and an exchange of something of value, usually money for a product or service. When drafted well, contracts can be a fundamental tool in business…
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When your business is first starting, and it's just you and maybe your significant other or an old friend from school, you probably aren’t thinking about whether you need Workers’ Compensation coverage. Candidly at that point if it’s just the two of you, you would be safe focusing on getting the business off the ground as workers’ compensation coverage wouldn’t be required. In Virginia, if you have more than two employees, including the owner, you must provide workers’ compensation coverage.…
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The late philosopher Norm MacDonald once observed that while it takes years of training to get a pilot’s license, it only takes a couple of minutes to steal a pilot’s jacket and hat. The doctrine of FAAAA preemption provides another avenue for one to profit by stealing from the airline industry. By “one,” we mean freight shippers and brokers, who are in some jurisdictions able to take advantage of a quirk of federal law to win dismissal of claims arising…
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VIRGINIA – “Yes,” With Limitations A landlord who desires to regain possession of his property from one who is wrongfully in possession, may initiate an action for unlawful detainer in the General District Court of the county where the property is located. Residential landlords are required to file an eviction lawsuit (unlawful detainer) and receive a court order before evicting a tenant; however, commercial landlords have an additional option they may utilize: self-help. Self-help refers to the actions a landlord…
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School is out for summer, and with it, there is a substantial increase in child injury. Nearly one-third of all fatal child injuries occur during June, July, and August. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), each year there are 2.8 million children going to the emergency room for injuries related to a fall. We can all agree that children need to be protected from the various dangers facing them. This article will not cover personal injuries…
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