As a landlord, you are rightfully concerned about any accidents or injuries that may occur on your property. Slips and falls in particular can be common, especially in slick, snowy or icy weather conditions. Staying on top of regular maintenance, cleanup, shoveling, salting and snow blowing is key when you own or manage a property. After all, you are generally liable for slips and falls that result in injury if they happen due to your negligence.

Not all slip and fall cases automatically mean the landlord is to blame. If you are a landlord and have faced a similar situation, there are ways you can defend yourself against these types of accidents.

Continue reading How Landlords Can Defend Slip and Fall Accidents

Most people already know plagiarism is not a good thing: it’s an ethical infraction and a violation of a student’s honor code. If caught plagiarizing, students can be punished by the school, get an F on a paper or face some other kind of internal penalty. You may already know that, which is why so many students use sites like Copyscape to check their work before submitting.

However, besides a slap on the wrist from your educational institution, are there actually legal consequences attached to plagiarism – specifically when it comes to college students?

Continue reading Plagarism in College Writing

In general, when someone passes away, the probate process is cut and dried. The probate court will appoint a personal representative to administer the estate, who will then pay off the estate’s debts and taxes, distributing the remaining assets to all beneficiaries. However, it doesn’t always work out that smoothly.

Continue reading Finding Missing Heirs in Probate Cases

While American citizens have the right to life, liberty, and property sans unreasonable government interference, under certain conditions the government can take property with or without permission. The term “eminent domain” refers to its power to take private land for public use under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Continue reading Eminent Domain & Your Rights

Data breaches make headlines when they occur on a large scale. Think Target stores or Equifax. But virtually any business that relies upon and stores data is at risk of being hacked. Few companies are immune to the threat of cybercrime, as increasingly sophisticated criminals turn up the heat to seek out data that does not belong to them.  

Continue reading Cyber Liability...

The company holiday party is a beloved tradition on the American business scene. But, unless you want to wake up on Christmas morning with a lawsuit waiting under the tree, how you plan, organize and conduct your office party must take into consideration these seven important criteria.

Continue reading Avoiding Litigation at Your Holiday Party...

If you’re a landlord, you know all too well how difficult some tenants can be. Whether they consistently fail to pay rent on time (or at all!), they’re messy to the point of safety violations or they fail to heed noise regulations, sometimes you have no choice but to start eviction proceedings. You’ve likely given them plenty of notices and warnings, but if they ignore them, what’s a landlord to do? There is a legal process in place that you must follow in order to stay within the confines of the law.

Continue reading Evicting a Problem Tenant...

Remember the 1990s, when minimum wage was just five bucks an hour? Or, go back further to the early 1970s when it was just a buck and a half. It’s come a long way in Rhode Island, keeping pace with the cost of living and increasing through the years to rest (at least for the time being) at $10.10 per hour. It will increase another 40 cents on Jan. 1, 2019 to $10.50. The push is on to have the Rhode Island minimum wage raised to $15 by 2022. The tipped wage is at $3.89 right now.

Continue reading Minimum Wage Laws in RI & MA..

If you will pardon the pun, DUI laws in Rhode Island are pretty stiff. Taking a hard stance against drunk driving and driving under the influence of drugs, the state has implemented stringent laws and penalties based on age and blood alcohol content (BAC) levels. First off, any driver who is caught behind the wheel with a BAC of 0.08% or higher can be charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI).

Continue reading DUI Laws in Rhode Island..

Most laws people can really get behind – no speeding, no drinking while intoxicated, no violence towards another, no stealing, no looting…the list goes on and on. This doesn’t mean people don’t still break them, but they’re understandable laws created to keep order and public decency.

But other laws just leave you scratching your head. We’ve found some strange but true laws from all over the country we thought you’d like to hear about.

Continue reading Strange (But True) Laws..

No longer just for professional drivers and law enforcement, dash cams are becoming the norm in many personal vehicles. Due to the pervasive nature of video in today’s society, you can assume everything is being recorded. While some may say this is an invasion of privacy, others take it as the perfect opportunity to catch injustice.

As a vehicle owner and driver, you may take it upon yourself to equip your car with devices that will exonerate you should something questionable take place.

Continue reading Should You Have a Dashcam?...

The rise in popularity of Airbnb has brought more choice, diversity and price points into the equation for people who love to travel. You can host your home or you can book someone else’s. It’s an idea that has revolutionized the travel and lodging industry. But, like other pioneers of industry, there are legal complications that can - and do - arise.

Continue reading Legal Issues for Airbnb...