Solicitors in Birmingham

Solicitors in Birmingham Are Waiting to Become Your Perfect Advocate!

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Whether we’re talking about Birmingham or another area of the UK, one thing is clear: there are just times in life where you need an advocate. You need someone to stand by your side when you’re in the court system, and you can’t get your friends to do it. They really don’t have the expertise to manage their way through the system, and they won’t help you when you really need them most.

Solicitors in Birmingham, on the other hand, are going to be there for you when you really need them to help you sort out a legal matter. You might think that you can just go with a do it yourself kit that you found online when it comes to certain legal problems, but you are definitely mistaken. The truth is that while you can use these kits sometimes, you will need to still make sure that you have expertise on your side. Forms can only get the task at hand done — it can’t tell you what the outcome will be, nor can it actually guide you through things that might not be apparent. Solicitors in Birmingham are going to be able to tell you what you’re missing and what you need to figure it out in order to move to the next step.

If you’re being taken to court by another party, this is definitely the time where you want to get an advocate on your side. Sure, it might cost you a bit of money, but you have to think about the costs of not getting a solicitor. If you choose not to have anyone in court representing you, then you are choosing to basically not have any idea of what the laws really are. If one party has a lawyer and the other party doesn’t, you’re going to find yourself being actually outgunned rather easily. The other party has made sure that their solicitor has an idea of what’s going on, and you can bet that solicitor has made sure that they are using every last drop of their legal experience against your case.

It doesn’t have to be that way. You might be worried, concerned, or even downright frightened at the idea of being in court. Instead of trying to represent yourself, you need to turn to a legal professional that can be there for you through the entire process. Injury cases are some of the best for solicitors, because it means that they get to help someone get exactly what they deserve.

The time is right to go in for an initial consultation, so don’t delay!

legal trouble

The Purpose of a Good Process Server

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No one really wants to get into legal trouble, and no one really wants to find themselves having to deal with a legal battle that could stretch on for a lot of time. However, there are just times in life where you need to serve someone papers and start the legal process.

A good process server is invaluable for these moments, because they’re going to be able to really make sure that they take care of just about anything and everything that you have to serve someone to begin the court proceedings.

The type of process server you pick is definitely important. There are going to be times where you will need to make sure that you have a great server that can locate your target party quickly and make sure that there is a secure chain of custody from start to finish. A licensed process server knows how to deliver documents in a way where their delivery and/or refusal will actually hold up in court.

Unfortunately, we do live in a DIY society where the purpose and role of a process server definitely gets ignored. You don’t want to be one of those people that thinks that a process server is a waste of money. If you’re trying to go after someone for a significant amount of money, then you’re going to really need a process server to take care of things for you. The only alternative would be to try to serve them yourself, which is not good at all. For starters, you need neutrality in something like a court case. If there’s any bias found, it could really weaken your case when you really could have had a good victory.

Is the job of a process server dangerous? Well, that just depends on the situation. If you’re serving papers on a corporation…probably not. However, if there’s any worry or risk of a violent confrontation, the server is trained to work with law enforcement to get things done. In addition, you should also remember that some process servers are actually law enforcement officers themselves.

So it’s up to you to figure out not only whether or not you need a process server, but where to get one. Many towns and cities alike have great listings to look at online, so don’t feel like all hope is lost!

Verbal Agreement

Thinking about a Verbal Agreement – Don’t!

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One of the most shocking trends is the assumption that what’s said in private between two parties is automatically upheld in court. You need to make absolutely sure that you’re focusing on actually getting as much in writing as you possibly can.

Unfortunately when it comes to legal matters, people think that written agreements are either a waste of time (because they could possibly be overturned in court on legal technicalities) or that they take too much time to generate. In addition, some worry that introducing a written agreement means that they will lose whatever deal matters to them.

If the other party is hesitant to put a good deal in writing, it’s a sign that the deal in question is probably too good to be actually true. So it’s really up to you to make sure that you are protecting your rights at all costs. No one in the world is going to care more about your rights than you do. You just need to make sure that you have a few things in line in order to make your written agreements the best around.

First and foremost, you’re going to want to make sure that you are really noting the dates. When it comes time to defend an agreement, the dates are really what matter. You want to make sure that you note when the agreement was started, when the agreement is supposed to end, and any other dates in between.

For example, let’s say that you are a self-employed worker that’s supposed to complete a work for hire project. You need to ensure that you have the date of the agreement, as well as the date that you are supposed to have the work turned in. In addition, you also want to make sure that you have the date that the other party is supposed to pay you, along with a list of accepted payment methods. You will need to have late fees spelled out. These are the basics of a good working contract. Any rights that are supposed to be held by you, released by you, or automatically held by the buyer are equally important. If you don’t do this, then you’re going to be in a world of trouble later down the road. The more ambiguity that’s hiding in your contract, the more possibility lurks that you could have the agreement turned into the seller’s favor.

So it’s really in your favor to ensure that you are making things as airtight as possible. In the case of serious money — life changing money — an attorney really does need to be involved. We’re all in favor of DIY contracts and other legal issues being taken up in a layman’s hand, but the reality is that unless you’re a lawyer you might not see around every corner the way they would. When the amounts in question can make or break your financial blueprint, it’s really in your best interest to think about getting outside help.

However, the tips in this guide should help you with a wide variety of smaller contracts, so it’s not like you can’t get things done on your own. Just know when you need to get outside help, and it’s never a bad thing to have a notary as a 3rd party witness when things are being signed. They can attest to the agreement being entered to by both parties, which can really pay off in the long run.

Now is the perfect time to tie together your legal and financial blueprints for a life beyond your imagination — what are you waiting for?

Correspondence Templates

Save Time By Creating Your Own Correspondence Templates!

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Anytime you walk into a legal matter, one thing that you can count on is paperwork. It doesn’t matter what you’re going up against — if you want to have any hope of getting the matter taken care of, you will need to either get a lawyer or invest in a good set of correspondence templates.

Now, you might feel a little afraid to create yourself a set of correspondence templates, but the truth is that it’s really not that hard to pull off. If you’re really looking to speed up the time of your responses, then having a template that you can simply customize is definitely a good thing.

There are really two different paths that you can employ, and they each have their own merits. The first path is to completely create everything yourself, from scratch. This can take more time, but it gives you the ability to make your correspondence sound personal. Sometimes when it comes down to negotiating with everyday people and small business owners, this is a much better approach than simply demanding, or sending over what is obviously a form letter. On the other hand, it can take more time because you have to think about the legal aspect of what you’re sending. If you had to take things into small claims court or even before a larger court of law, those correspondence pieces will form the backbone of your case. That means that if there’s anything that’s been left out, you could end up losing what might have otherwise been a slam dunk case.

The other path is also straightforward — it’s going with a set of correspondence templates that were already created for you. Even though you give up some of your personalization choices, you also get the backing of someone that has a lot more expertise than you do in legal matters. Now, this could be a lawyer, a paralegal, or even a mediator. It just depends on who is creating the correspondence. This will be a path that costs money, so keep that in mind as you budget how much you’ll need to spend in order to take care of the legal issue in question.

You can actually shop for templates online, where the site will tell you who created them. This is a point where you want to make sure that the person actually has experience before you just assume that they’ll be able to take on anything that you throw at them in the template world.

Now, you can actually fuse the two together and contract someone to create a unique set of templates for you, but you’re talking about a path that’s going to be a lot more expensive than if you just settled for the do it yourself route.

Overall, things are never as bad as we think they are. If you find yourself needing to take care of a legal problem, then it’s up to you to look into anything and everything that’s going to save you time. Correspondence templates, once created or purchased, will be in your library for a long time, which means that they’re truly a great investment!

Being Sued By the Credit Card Companies

What to Do After Being Sued By the Credit Card Companies

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You Got Served is the title of a comedy movie that’s definitely considered “old school” by today’s standards, but the phrase “You got served!” also has a chilling effect when applied to the world of law and order. Indeed, if you’ve just been served a court summons by a process server or a sheriff, then you will have a lot of decisions ahead of you.

For example, what happens when you’ve been notified that you’re being sued by the credit card companies? It’s something that no one wants to really deal with. Of course, if you had the money to pay back your debts then it wouldn’t have come to this point. However, life moves in unexpected and often uncertain ways, so you can’t beat yourself up because you didn’t manage to get things handled in the way that you might expect.

Thankfully, there are a few more things that you can do to keep the damage to a minimum. It might seem scary to go against a major corporation or even just a collection agency, but you can overcome and keep your life from falling apart. It’s just a matter of staying focused.

First and foremost, you need to read the summons that you were given. This is the part where a lot of people made their biggest mistake. You don’t want to ignore the summons. You don’t want to just dismiss it, saying to yourself that it doesn’t really matter anyway. Trust us; it definitely matters whether or not you respond to that summons. The clock is ticking the moment that you’ve been served, and if you take too long to answer you will have a default judgment entered in the plaintiff’s favor.

So what you will need to do from here is to make sure that you file what’s called an answer. If you really want to maximize your results, you’ll hire an attorney to at least give you advice on how to proceed. Unfortunately, when you don’t have the money for an attorney, it can feel hopeless. However, there are free legal aid resources to help you. Of course, these are based on income restrictions. If you don’t qualify for that type of legal assistance, then you can actually file an answer on your own. You will need to respond to each claim listed in the complaint against you. Most of the time, you will want to have them prove that you owe the balance that they’re requested the court force you to pay.

The docket number needs to be on your answer, and you will want to have it filed with the clerk’s office immediately.

Now, if the company does have the right amount, you will want to make sure that you negotiate a payment plan that makes sense for your situation. At this point, the credit card company just wants their money. If they can skip over the court costs and time wasted, they will. A judgment can take years to collect, and there are numerous judgments that have been left unpaid.

If the court rules in favor of the collection agency or credit card company, then you will have to pay the debt, plus any other fees presented from the court case. This can be costly, and failure to pay will affect your credit score, as well as running the risk of wage garnishment and even asset seizure.

Remember that collection agencies will use this lawsuit tool as a scare tactic into making you pay them. If you can work things out before it gets to this point, then they will definitely be a lot more reasonable.

Prepare a Will

Should You Hire a Lawyer to Prepare a Will?

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Generally speaking, no one really wants to think about the day that they’ll die, but the truth is that sooner or later, your family is going to need you to think about it. After all, it’s really all about protecting them and making sure that they have more than what they need to survive if something were to happen to you.

If you’re like most people, you’ve already worked hard in life and gotten a few assets that take care of your family currently. Do you really want to look back and realize in horror that if you were to die right now, your government would have more say in who gets your assets than you would? A will can protect you and your heirs from this fate, but the truth that a lot of people don’t talk about is the fact that you could run into some complications.

Think back to all of the celebrity disputes that you hear about on the news. Could a strong will have spared those people those disputes in court? They are not only messy, but they tend to tear a family apart right at their most vulnerable time.

You might not believe it at first, but the truth is that hiring a lawyer is honestly the best way to make sure that you are protecting your asses at all costs. A good lawyer will be able to prepare your will in such a way that there is no doubt about who gets what from your estate.

However, there are a few things that go into a will, and you will need to make sure that you let your lawyer know about these things.

For instance, you will need to make sure that you appoint an executor. This is the person that is going to actually enforce the will. Naturally, this should be someone that you actually trust with the intimate details of your life — after all, you won’t be here to make sure that they do a good job. Don’t forget to list who should be the alternate executor just in case the original one doesn’t want to do the job, or can’t do the job.

You will need to set up a guardian for any young children that you have, as well as an alternate guardian. Don’t forget the power of attorney for property that you have, because you will need to have someone that can get your property sold or transferred to the right person (that you specify, of course).

Not all decisions about a will have to do with you being deceased. For example, you can assign in a will who you want to be able to make medical decisions on your behalf in case you’re no longer able to make those decisions. This is a lifesaver when there are conflicting views within a family — do you really want relatives that don’t believe in what you believe to make decisions about your medical care? If the answer is no, then you really need to make sure that a trusted person is listed here. It’s called a Power of Attorney for Personal Care in most cases. One of the decisions that immediately come to mind is the subject of life support and whether or not to keep someone on it. Another issue is when you fall into a coma — who gets to speak on your behalf when you’re not able to do so?

Overall, should you really hire a lawyer to prepare your will? If you really want to make sure that things are done properly, then the answer is definitely yes — why not get started today?

Power of Attorney

Be Careful Who You Grant Power of Attorney To!

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Do you really know what it means to grant someone power of attorney? If you don’t, that’s perfectly fine. Let’s start with the original definition and expand outward, shall we? Great!

You see, a power of attorney is merely a document that gives someone (or even a group of people, if you really want them to have that type of control) the ability to act on your behalf, supposedly for your best interests. The person doesn’t even have to be an attorney, merely someone that you trust to make property, financial, and other types of legal decisions on your behalf.

Now, you might think that this would be harmless thing. After all, anyone that you trust enough to grant power of attorney would never abuse it, right?

Wrong. The truth is that a lot of people have been burned by having their attorney-in-fact (the person with the POA powers) make bad decisions. It’s something that causes a lot of grief, and that’s why it’s so important to really understand what a power of attorney means in a realistic sense.

When you give someone POA, you’re giving them a lot of control to make just about any type of legal decision on your behalf that they want. You’re trusting that they will do the right thing, but the sad part is that you really don’t have any guarantee. If you’re incapacitated and you cannot articulate your desires, you have to trust the person with POA will make the right decision. Yet there have been numerous examples where this hasn’t happened. If you don’t want a piece of property sold but the POA person gains something from selling it, you can believe that there is a danger of that property being sold — without any clear punishment for disregarding your personal wishes. It’s all about what’s in writing, which leads us to our next point — you can make sure that you stay protected even when giving POA.

The type of POA most people go with is called a durable power of attorney, which means that it stays in effect until you yank it back or you pass away. This is the most dangerous type of POA because it puts no type of limit on what the assigned person can do and what they can’t do. Trying to limit someone after they’ve gotten this type of power is very difficult. This means that you will want to go with something nondurable, which means that it has a special list of abilities and nothing more.

Let’s cover that one more time: a nondurable power of attorney gives your specified person specified powers and a specific purpose to use it with. If you’re trying to only get someone to handle your financial affairs while you’re outside the country and you have a set date where such powers expire, then a nondurable POA is what you want. You don’t want to go with a durable POA, as this means that the person handling your financials can continue to do so long after you’ve finished with that shiny international vacation!

Another thing that you can build into your POA is accountability. In its raw form, the standard POA doesn’t require any type of accounting. You can improve this simply by including the clause, and letting the other person know as well. Generally speaking, when people realize that you’re monitoring them, they are a lot less likely to push the envelope and cause financial and legal damage.

Overall, having a POA is a good thing to have, as long as you understand the true meaning of such a thing. Pay close attention to the considerations in this guide, and you’ll be just fine!

law-school-expiriance

Setting Goals for Law School Is Critical!

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A lot of newcomers to the world of law school write me for advice, and I definitely appreciate the feedback. These questions help me really reflect on my own law school experience, and it causes me to come up with some good advice for you from every angle.

One of the first questions that people ask me is what is the one thing that has made it so easy for me to stay at the top of my class. I’ll tell you without even charging you anything for the answer: it’s the fact that I set goals.

You have to understand that I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer, that I knew I was going to law school the way some girls know that they want to be married and start a family. I knew that I wanted to do it, and so I’ve never let anyone keep me from that goal.

However, I wasn’t stupid — I knew that “go to law school and do well” isn’t a very specific goal, and it’s certainly not one that I could track. So I started thinking bout all of the different things that I could do in order to really make sure that I stayed on track.

Setting goals in law school is absolutely critical. Why? Well, it’s the reason I say all the time: law school is a winner-takes-all system. If you don’t strive for the top, you won’t get it. And you won’t have a chance at the top legal jobs if you don’t work on getting the best all around grades possible in law school. It’s sad to think that grades and performance matter so much, but if you really can’t handle that — you need to find a new career track. Law school is only the beginning — everyone is competing with you through every stage of your law career. If you aren’t competing for the top spots in law school, then they’re competing for the partner track. It’s really all about being the best, and I thrive on that type of environment.

So if you do too, here are a few tips on setting goals:

First and foremost, you really don’t want to try to have Rome built in a day. Break down your goals into steps and you will prosper. This might mean thinking about each and every thing that you have to do from a value standpoint. “Is what I’m about to do valuable? Will it help me reach the greater goal I want to achieve?” If you can’t answer those questions in a meaningful way, then you really don’t need to do the activity.

Next, you will want to become ruthless with your time. I hate to be cruel, but law school really isn’t the time for heavy socialization. There’s a lot of work to be done, and you will need to make sure that socialization doesn’t take over your life. It’s far too tempting to think that you’re networking, but you might just be wasting time. There re ways to network effectively, but they don’t always mean going out to clubs and bars. You might want to wait until you’re sober to really schmooze properly.

Finally, you will need to pace yourself and notice when you’re actually progressing. You don’t want to just think that you won’t be able to get things done simply because you think that you aren’t moving forward. Take a moment and celebrate the little victories, and you’ll have enough energy to stick it out until the big victories come through. It’s really only a matter of time anyway before you get what you want, so don’t be afraid to dig down deep and reach for all of your law school goals!

land an internship

Landing an Internship While in Law School

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One of the best things that you can do as a law student is look beyond the books. I know that’s hard to think about when it seems like the amount of homework just won’t quit, but there are other experiences in law school that you really need to collect. If you get too much into your studies, you will miss the opportunity to land an internship while you’re in school. Now, you might think that an internship really isn’t a big deal, but it is on many levels.

Let’s start with the most obvious — you need to get actual experience in the real world before you can feel comfortable going after the big jobs. In addition, law school is expensive and many internships are actually paid. This means that you will be able to make a little bit of money before school starts up again, which can help you get that textbook or even that shiny new laptop that you were thinking about picking up.

There are other hidden benefits of going for an internship. One of the biggest benefits around is the power of networking. You will be exposing yourself to dozens of people during your internship that could all be helpful in getting a job. When you really care about doing a good job, you never know who will speak well of you, or who will offer you another opportunity. There is also room for a little freelance work on the side, if you have enough discipline. Even though you will not be a licensed attorney at law, there are plenty of legal jobs that you can do on the side while you go to law school. There is something powerful about making connections, but you don’t want to fall in to the trap of classifying your connections before you’ve really had a chance to make them work. Every connection at this point matters, so don’t think that you get to really think about it in terms of who is important and who isn’t important. You will need to value every connection you have at this stage. That dorky receptionist that seems to always be on your case just might have a family member that could use some clerk help next summer, too. Read more »

Depression in Law School

Coping with Depression in Law School

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Where does depression hurt? All jokes about commercials aside, depression hurts law students everywhere. People form all walks of life go through moments of depression, and law student really are no different. If you’re in law school and starting to feel the sharp pangs of depression, don’t worry — you are not alone. In fact, you’re actually in good — albeit silent — company. There are a lot of law student struggling with depression as they try to get used to a new world that will demand more of them than they could have ever imagined.

I say this a lot on this blog, but the truth is that law school is definitely a winner take all system. You don’t want to walk into law school thinking that you will be able to just skate by and still get a top paying law firm job. It just doesn’t happen that way. When people realize this, they become depressed at the level of work necessary to be the best.

Of course, there are plenty of law blogs that say that your efforts are always going to be rewarded — I strongly disagree, and I challenge other law students to step up and admit that it really does take giving your absolute best in order to get anywhere. The students that have the best grades and the best overall package are the ones that are going to look forward to a six figure salary at the end of the whole ordeal. The ones that focused more on partying and making friends are not going to make it out with that type of cash. The truth hurts, but you have to know this going in so that you plan your attack better. Read more »

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