Frankly, my personal feelings towards them are arrogant, pompous jerks who make way too much money than they deserve and because, regardless of what the constitution says about innocent until proven guilty which I wish we could change, they defend these low life scum or the earth individuals and help them get away with whatever crime they committed for all the wrong reasons! Do you agree or have similar feelings towards them or are you indifferent about the way defense attorneys/lawyers are?

It sounds like you’ve been a victim, in which case your feelings are certainly understandable and warranted. The fact that such feelings are so understandable is why victims don’t make these decisions, they are quite naturally apt to want to punish whoever is caught, without being able to adequately weigh their actual guilt or innocence.

The system we have is an adversarial one for a reason: it protects the innocent. Our founding fathers made a judgment, ratified by the States in the Constitution, that it is better to release the guilty than convict the innocent. I agree with that decision. Both are tragedies, but if we are going to have an imperfect system (and every system is imperfect), I want to be as sure as possible that I won’t go to jail for something I didn’t do and I would think you would want the same for yourself and your loved ones. In order to get that, some guilty people will also go free.

Defense attorneys are an important part of that system. Their job is to ensure that each client receives a zealous defense. Without that, the innocent would be in jeopardy of conviction for crimes they didn’t commit (it happens anyway, and more often than you’d expect). The fact that they do their jobs allows us all to be safer from errors in the system.

Does that mean that they are all noble ideologues? Certainly not. While the vast majority make very little money (prosecutors are not well paid either, but usually better than public defenders who handle most cases, about on par with typical private defense attorneys who don’t make a ton either), some certainly take in a pretty penny to pull whatever tricks are available for wealthy defendants. And while most defense lawyers follow their ethical obligations, there are certainly some who don’t. They can lose their law licenses and be personally fined for that, by the way, if you’re aware of attorney misconduct, report it to the State Bar Association in your State.

San Diego County has over 10,000 San Diego County attorneys or San Diego County lawyers registered with the State Bar of California. Some popular cities within San Diego County where San Diego County attorneys may be practicing law are Alpine, Bonita, Bonsall, Borrego Springs, Boulevard, Camp Pendleton, Campo, Cardiff by the Sea, Carlsbad, Chula Vista, Coronado Del Mar, Descanso, Dulzura, El Cajon, Encinitas, Escondido, Fallbrook, Imperial Beach, Jacumba, Jamul, Julian, La Jolla, La Mesa, Lakeside, Lemon Grove, Leucadia, Lincoln Acres, Mount Laguna, National City, Oceanside, Pacific Beach, Pala, Palomar Mountain, Pauma Valley, Pine Valley, Potrero, Poway, Rainbow, Ramona, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Santa Fe, San Diego, San Luis Rey, San Marcos, San Onofre, San Ysidro, Santa Ysabel, Santee, Solana Beach, Spring Valley, Tecate, Valley Center, Vista, Warner Springs, and others. With so many attorneys practicing law in San Diego County California, how do you find the right San Diego County divorce attorney or San Diego County divorce lawyer who can help you with your particular divorce case and/or child custody case?

First, an experienced San Diego County divorce attorney or San Diego County divorce lawyer should have experience and legal expertise in the field of family law. Family law covers a variety of topics such as divorce or dissolution of marriage, paternity, domestic partnerships, child custody and visitation, domestic violence, restraining orders, spousal support, child support, guardianship, adoptions, community property, division of property, and more. Some San Diego County divorce attorneys may specialize or have more experience than others in specific areas of family law. For example, some San Diego County attorneys are certified by the State Bar of California or an organization accredited by the State Bar of California as a specialist in the field of family law. Currently, San Diego County has approximately 150 Certified Family Law Specialists (CFLS) registered with the State Bar of California. These San Diego County attorney’s have made efforts to become State Bar certified in the field of family law.

In other words, of over 10,000 San Diego County attorneys in California, approximately 150 are Certified Family Law Specialists (CFLS). However, just because a San Diego County attorney is not a Certified Family Law Specialist does not mean he/she is not qualified and/or experienced to handle a San Diego County family law, divorce and/or child custody case. In fact, there are many well-qualified San Diego County attorneys or San Diego County lawyers who do not hold State Bar certifications. If you are searching for a San Diego County divorce attorney or San Diego County divorce lawyer and you do not know what to look for or where to begin, narrowing down your search to only those who practice family law in San Diego County may be a good place to begin.

Further, an experienced San Diego County divorce attorney or San Diego County divorce lawyer should have success representing clients on child custody and divorce cases in San Diego County. He/she will likely be familiar with the judges, processes, and procedures in the San Diego County family court which an attorney outside of San Diego County may not have. However, just because an attorney or lawyer is not located in San Diego County California does not mean he/she is not qualified and/or experienced to represent you on a family law, divorce, or child custody case in San Diego County. Ultimately, if you have a child custody and/or divorce case in San Diego County, you will want to investigate any prospective attorney’s background and experience and choose the right divorce attorney or divorce lawyer you believe can help you with your case and legal need.

© 2007 Child Custody Coach

Child Custody Coach supplies information, online materials, and coaching services to parents in the field of child custody, namely, divorce, child custody and visitation, child custody evaluations, 730 evaluations, parenting, and all issues related to child custody and divorce. “How to Win Child Custody – Proven Strategies that can Win You Custody and Save You Thousands in Attorney Cost!” is a unique child custody strategy guide written by The Custody Coach and made available by Child Custody Coach in an easy to read, understand, and apply E-Book format. Custody Match is an online consumer and family law attorney matching service to help you in your search for the right attorney for your divorce or child custody case. Custody Match can help you find the right family law attorney, divorce lawyer, or child custody attorney in your area.

Steven Carlson
http://www.articlesbase.com/divorce-articles/san-diego-divorce-attorney-95816.html

There are two types of fees that a borrower is charged when obtaining financing: loan initialization fees and loan duration fees. Loan initialization fees are the fees that are charged at the time the loan is initialized. These fees include lender fees and closing costs. Most of the borrower’s initialization fees can be paid by the seller or sometimes wrapped into the loan amount.

This will decrease the amount of money the borrower is required to bring to the table at close. If you are going to write up an offer that requires the seller to pay for your closing, it is important that you first check with your lender to make sure that the loan program you are planning to use will allow the seller to pay those fees. Investors will often offer more for a property by the amount of his lender fees and closing costs if he is going to require the seller to pay for them. It would be a large loss of equity if the borrower offered more and the lender didn’t allow the seller to pay these fees.

Lender fees include the following:

Origination Points: Origination points are used to pay the loan officer that the borrower initiates the loan through. 1 point = 1percent.

Discount Points: Discount points are the prepayment of interest in order to get a lower interest rate. If the borrower pays extra points up front for the loan, lenders are willing to decrease the amount of interest that they will charge. The borrower benefits from this in the long run as the savings from the lower interest charged surpass the up-front cost of the discount points. It would not be wise to pay discount points for a short-hold property.

Underwriting/Processing Fee: An underwriting or processing fee pays the underwriter or processor for evaluating all the borrower’s financial documents and making the final decision on whether or not the borrower qualifies for the loan.

Credit Report Fee: When a lender pulls a credit report, it costs them approximately $18 to do so. They will often pad the cost and charge you more for it. Keep this in mind when you review your good faith estimate so you can negotiate the price down if you are being overcharged.

Appraisal Fee: Appraisal fees vary depending on how many units are in the property being appraised. It is a good idea to be familiar with the market appraisal fee for your type of property.

Garbage Fees: Garbage fees are the loan officer’s unnecessary charges to the borrower. They are another way for the loan officer to increase his profit from the transaction and disguise it with another name. For example, if you see a processing fee and an underwriting fee, you are paying twice for the same thing. Many loan officers are paid a premium for their services through over charging uninformed borrowers. The best way to avoid these garbage fees is by collecting Good Faith Estimates from at least three lenders. You can use them as leverage when trying to negotiate the fees down.

Hidden Fees: The most common garbage fee charged by a loan officer is often not even known by the borrower. This fee is an increase in your interest rate in order for the loan officer to receive a larger commission.

Closing costs include the following:

Title Fees: Title companies make sure that the seller is delivering “good title” to the buyer. This means that there are no liens or other encumbrances on the property other than what the buyer is already aware of and agrees to take the property subject to. A title company or attorney’s office is usually the place where settlement occurs. Settlement is when the documents that execute the financing and the purchase and sell of a property are signed.

Escrow Fees: An escrow company plays the middle man in the transfer of certain funds. For example, the borrower sends his monthly mortgage payment, including taxes and insurance, to the escrow company who in turn sends a portion of it on to the mortgage company and the remaining portion is held in an escrow account until the property’s tax and insurance are due.

Loan Duration Fees: These are fees a borrower may be charged during the term of the loan. These fees include interest, late fees, prepayment penalties, mortgage insurance, etc.

Prepayment Penalty: Avoid obtaining a loan that charges a prepayment penalty if you can help it. A prepayment penalty is what it sounds like. It is when the lender has the right to charge you a penalty for making extra payments to the principal or if you pay off the entire loan early. These types of loans can make it really hard on an owner if he decides to sell during the prepayment penalty period. The proceeds of the sale would be used to pay the penalty. Lenders use these prepayment clauses in their loans to ensure that they will make a certain profit from issuing the loan whether or not the loan is in place for its entire term.

Private Mortgage Insurance: One way a borrower can obtain a mortgage loan with a lower down payment is under a private mortgage insurance (PMI) program. Because the loan-to-value ratio is higher than for other conventional loans, the lender requires additional security to minimize its risk. The borrower purchases insurance from a private mortgage insurance company as additional security to insure the lender against borrower default. The cost of this insurance is typically added to the borrower’s monthly mortgage payments.

Loan Amount or LTV:

LTV stands for loan-to-value. LTV is the ratio of the amount of debt to value of the property. Debt is the amount of the loan, and the value of the property is the sale price or the appraised value, whichever is less on a new purchase. For example, if a property is bought for $100,000 and the buyer gets financing for $80,000 then the LTV is 80 percent.

LTV = L divided by V

L = loan amount

V = property value

If the appraisal is greater than the purchase price, a lender will typically require that the property be owned by the borrower for at least one year before the lender will use the appraised value over the purchase price in determining the LTV. However, a no-seasoned refinance loan program becomes available on occasion. No seasoned means the borrower has owned the property for less than a year. With this program, the lender will use the appraised value even though the owner has had the property for less than a year. LTV affects the amount of down payment a borrower must come to close with. If a borrower qualifies for a loan with an 80 percent LTV, he will have to find another way to pay for the other 20 percent. By using one loan with an 80 percent LTV and a second loan with a 20 percent LTV, you are able to obtain a total of 100 percent LTV. Not all first loans will allow you to use a second loan in place of a down payment. If you plan on using a second loan for your down, you want to let your lender know so that he will be sure to find a first loan that will permit it.

Conventional loans are available with LTVs up to 95 percent for any one loan. Keep in mind that any one loan with an LTV above 80 percent subjects the borrower to private mortgage insurance payments. There are other factors that affect the possible LTV: whether the borrower plans to occupy the property or not, his credit score, if he will be proving his income or using a stated income program, how many units the property has and if the mortgage is a purchase loan or a refinance. All of these factors need to be disclosed to your lender in order for him to provide you with accurate counsel on what type of loan program he can offer you.

The reality is that with real estate you can be successful in many different ways, shapes and forms. The best success in real estate will come to you by matching strategy with your strengths and desired outcome. From there, you can hit to ground running towards the success you so deserve.

Paul Pratt
http://www.articlesbase.com/affiliate-programs-articles/maximizing-profits-by-minimizing-expenses-57190.html

There are already a good number of attorneys general all throughout America that are going to be filing a law suit against the health care bill.

What are your thoughts of what’s going to happen?

The Dems are on the cusps of winning – for the moment. At best it can be described as a Pyrrhic Victory that will end up – not only being a fiscal nightmare – but will also fracture the country and create a division. This health care insurance reform bill should be challenged in the courts as it tramples states’ rights and forces Americans to buy health insurance. The law suits will be filed and will probably go to the Supreme Court. Obama may regret his derision of them during his SOTU address.

When looking at legal job postings, I see a lot of posts for paralegals. Some of the salaries are more than associate attorneys I know are making. Some are even more than senior lawyers I know make at small law firms, and definitely more than a lot of solo attorney I know.

Why is this? Are paralegals becoming more valuable than attorneys to some companies? Do you think this profession will continue to grow and evolve? Will they become more valuable and make more money?

Also I am talking "real" paralegal positions here, not legal assistant jobs or legal secretaries.

Super experienced paralegals in some specialized fields (IP is the big one, although there are others) could be more valuable than beginning attorneys and thus earn more, especially in the small firm environment. Solo practitioners are a whole separate deal as they usually set their own rates and a large percentage of their earnings is going towards office space, etc.

Specialized paralegals will probably continue to be valuable because they cost the client less money and are usually paid less. A good, experienced paralegal can handle a fair amount of work that would otherwise be given to a first or second year associate and the billable hour charge will be less than half that for the attorney. Both the client and the firm win.

Do you find that you have an inquisitive mind and a knack for details? If so, then a career as an insurance fraud investigator may be just what you are looking for.

Many people seem to have a knack for hunting out the truth in situations that make them the perfect fit for this type of a career. In order to get a career in this field, you will need to know where to look for training and what type of skills you need to be successful. In this article, I will explain those training and skills.

Some people in insurance fraud investigation love the fact that they get to work on both criminal and civil investigations. So you can be sure that there is always something exciting going on. If you work independently, then you can work with various companies that may be dealing with fraud charges or you can work with attorneys on their individual cases. Either way, you will need to be prepared to be called to give depositions as well as appearing in some court cases.

The skills you will need for this line of work involve such things as having a careful eye for detail. You will also need good people skills. This is because you will have to deal with people in awkward situations and you need to be able to stay focused and on task while you investigate them.

You will need to be well educated on the regulations and laws that govern insurance fraud. You will need to be confident when dealing with such delicate matters and you may have to actually serve subpoenas, which can be challenging at times.

A lot of people that consider this line of work have done some sort of investigating work at one point or another in their life. Perhaps they were an officer of the law or they may have been in the armed forces. Sometimes private investigators love to get into this line of work.

While there are no direct classes that you need to take for training, there are a many certifications that you can get which can be very beneficial in preparing you for this type of career. You may want to consider taking classes in college that pertain to criminal justice as well as criminal law. These types of classes can help to prepare you for your career and will give you an edge when applying for work.

You should work on your interviewing skills as well as reporting your findings. It is very important that you are very detailed and organized so that you can keep impeccable records. Without this, your investigation may not hold up in the court of law.

If you are considering becoming an Insurance Fraud Investigator, then you may want to do more investigation of this career on the internet. There are websites that go into more detail about this profession. This can help get you pointed in the right direction so that you can be sure to get the classes and training that will benefit you the most.

Note: You are free to reprint or republish this article. The only condition is that the Resource Box should be included and the links are clickable.

Kenneth Echie
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/the-training-and-skills-you-need-to-become-an-insurance-fraud-investigator-674375.html

You need to have a clear idea of where you are in foreclosure in order to understand how you can stop foreclosure. All foreclosure procedures are different because all banks are different and all states have different laws that govern the foreclosure process. So where are you and how do you get to where you want to be?

When did you get the foreclosure notice from your bank? Take a look at these documents and see when they are dated. That will tell you when your foreclosure procedure began. My foreclosure notice came from my bank’s attorneys.

When did you get the foreclosure documents from the courts? Shortly after the bank sends you the foreclosure notice, they will file papers with the court. You will get copies of these that tell you exactly when your foreclosure was filed with the court. These documents are vital and the dates on them are very important. Every state has a different foreclosure timeline and that is what determines how long you have to save your home. As soon as your bank’s lawyers file papers with the court, the clock is ticking and you have a very limited timeframe in which to stop foreclosure on your home. In order to know exactly where you are at in your foreclosure procedure, you need to have these documents and you need to know exactly what date they were filed.

What is your state’s foreclosure timeline? Find out how long the timeframe is from when your bank’s attorneys file the foreclosure paperwork until the sale date of your home. Like I said, every state is different so you have to understand what the foreclosure procedure is for your state. It could be anywhere from a couple of months to up to a year. It all just depends on the state. Do whatever you need to do to find this information.

So now you know all of this and you know where you are at in your state’s foreclosure timeline. How do you get to where you want to be? As with most things in life, it is always good to have a plan. Even if it is a very brief plan. Part of that plan definitely needs to include talking to your bank. You will not stop foreclosure unless you talk to them. Create your own “getting out of foreclosure” timeline. Every foreclosure procedure can be stopped, you just have to know how you are going to do it.

Jill Borash
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/where-are-you-in-your-foreclosure-procedure-724159.html

I hope the economic downturn is not beating you up too badly. Obviously it’s taking its toll on several sectors of the economy, one of which is car dealers.

I would hope that car dealers will fight their way out of the downturn with ethical and honest sales and service, and undoubtedly some will. However, there will be those that will not, and will turn instead down the dark path of deceiving consumers. To prevent against these dealers and these deceptions, we offer the advice and insight as found on my blog and in several articles I have written for many publications.

One area of car dealer fraud that we continue to see quite a bit of involves fraud in car leases. Even with the credit crunch, dealers are still able to arrange for financing for car leases, and car leases are frequently more expensive for consumers, although they appear as less expensive on the surface.

The classic lease fraud is the “bait and switch,” where a consumer goes to a dealer to buy a car and believes he is buying a car, but is instead switched into a lease. Sometimes dealers will tell consumers that they need to sign up for a lease “for a short time” to let interest rates come down, or some other malarky, and promise to change the deal to a purchase deal “in a few weeks.” When the consumer returns “in a few weeks,” the salesperson who negotiated the lease with him is nowhere to be found and no one at the dealer has any interest in changing the consumer into the promised purchase transaction.

There are various reasons why dealers would prefer to put you into a lease as opposed to a purchase. For one thing, dealers often get larger incentive bonuses from the leasing companies to put consumers into a lease, so dealers frequently make more money from the lenders on leases. Same with the manufacturers: depending on what is going on with vehicle inventory, manufacturers will often give dealers incentives to put consumers into leases instead of purchases. Finally, lease contracts are confusing, permitting dealers to throw more curveballs into the lease which result in higher hidden fees and payments by the consumer.

Currently, as of today, GM sales are off by over 40% and Ford sales are off by over 30%. I do not know the current status of Chrysler sales, but it’s probably similar. GM and Ford are in a position where they, and their dealers, will do just about anything to move vehicles off the lot. As stated above, there are truthfully quite a few dealers who will respond to the current pressures with honest ways and means of promoting vehicle sales, but there are also those that will respond dishonestly.

I do have a few tips if you are concerned about being switched into a vehicle lease, or if you are confused as to whether you will be paying more for a lease than for a purchase. Here are a few tips and pointers:

1. Remember that, with a lease, you are not buying the car. You are borrowing it, or renting it, for a longer period of time, and a lease deal actually has much in common with renting a car. There are often hidden fees at lease end which can make a seemingly less-expensive lease actually cost you more. There are hidden fees for excess mileage and wear and tear to the vehicle. If you know you drive 25,000 miles a year, then your lease should reflect that you drive 25,000 miles a year. If you lease a vehicle with a lease allowance of 15,000 miles a year, you would be penalized severely at lease end for the additional 10,000 miles a year.

2. It would be virtually impossible to describe all of the ways in which a lease can be more expensive than a purchase. First and foremost, you are buying nothing other than the use of the vehicle for a period of time within certain mileage limits, nothing more. You are not buying any ownership interest in the vehicle. Right then and there, a lease is usually more expensive because you have no trade-in at lease end. Many consumers are confused because they believe they can trade in a lease at lease end and receive credit, as if they owned the vehicle. This is not true.

3. At lease end, if you have any outstanding obligation on the lease (mileage penalty, condition penalty, unpaid lease payments), these are often rolled into your next vehicle purchase or lease. Watch your contract carefully to make sure that you get a fair deal on your next purchase or lease.

4. I recommend to all of my clients that they not sign anything on the spot at the dealership. Take the lease or purchase contract home and digest it overnight. Discuss it with a friend or a spouse. Go over it more than once. If consumers took this step alone and nothing more, they would likely avoid much of the fraud and monkey business at dealers because they would not be signing documents in a pressurized situation, after having been worn down by hours at the dealership.

If you, or your friends, have any further questions on leases and the potential for lease frauds, please do not hesitate to contact us. And, if you have been cheated on a lease, please consider us for your attorneys to resolve the situation.

Robert F. Brennan, Esq.
http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/anatomy-of-vehicle-lease-fraud-714135.html

The $1 Billion dollars that Congress gave to compensate the 9/11 cleanup and rescue workers has now for the first time ever been reduced to lower than the started balance. Before the economic crisis, the funds earnings in the stock market covered the expensive administrative and lawyer fees that have cost the fund $172 million dollars in 2004 alone. However, now that the economy and stock market has taken a turn for the worse, the WTC captive fund is being depleted by administrative and lawyer fees instead of what is intended to do, aid the 9/11 workers. So far a mere $320,000 has been paid out to injured workers, which is not much to say the least. The fact of the matter is that Congress started the fund so that injured workers could get the necessary treatment and for their loss of wages. Thousands of workers developed respiratory problems from working in the rough conditions and developed further complications since the event occurred. The workers injuries are just going to get worse as they have to defer quality treatment because they simply cannot afford it.

The WTC Captive Fund, governed by officials appointed by Mayor Bloomberg, need to reassess the way they are managing the fund. It seems that they only people that are getting paid are the administrative and lawyers from the funds governing side, not to the injured workers. In order to ramify the situation congress needs to start regulating the core of the fund and figure out why the goal of the fund is not being achieved.

My name is Irv Kaplan, and I am the writer of WTC Captive Fund. I have found it more necessary to speak out about the depleting of the fund given by Congress to the injured 9/11 workers. Previously the fund’s management was able to pay attorneys and administration from the funds earnings on the stock market. However we all know what has happened to the economy as our 401K’s and retirement funds have taken a big hit. The rules apply with the WTC Fund, no longer is it earning what it once was on the stock market; therefore the administrative and attorney’s fees are being directly withdrawn from the fund. As this is happening, we are still not getting where with the over 10,000 claims from injured WTC workers.

The fund’s money is going to the lawyers and administrative but what are they doing for you? Enough is enough, and I think I can speak for all of you in saying that we demand progress. In these trying times a passive approach is not going to get the media talking. We must show congress, the media, and the rest of the world that injured 9/11 workers are still suffering and are evening developing further problems from the work conditions at the 9/11 site.

Kaplan
http://www.articlesbase.com/news-and-society-articles/wtc-captive-fund-looses-7-million-due-to-the-economic-crisis-701992.html

Report of the Attorney General for the Year Ending ..

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