The Impact of a Claim of Lien on Property Owners and General Contractors in North Carolina

UN experts on Friday voiced concern over ongoing judicial proceedings against Thai human rights defender Pimsiri Petchnamrob, urging the Thai government to drop all charges against her and other human rights defenders involved in pro-democracy protests. The experts also urged authorities to revise and repeal lèse-majesté laws, as they restrict freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. The experts reiterated their previous call to amend and abolish the laws for creating an atmosphere of fear and self-censorship. They stated, “Public figures, including the highest political authorities, are legitimately subject to criticism,” emphasizing that the state must protect civil society and human rights without criminalising their work. Pimsiri Petchnamrob is a prominent Thai human rights activist and equality advocate. She was charged on 10 counts, including insulting the monarch, inciting insurrection, and illegal assemblies, in 2021, stemming from a speech…

You Can Only Bite Your Colleagues So Many Times: Summer associate fired for repeatedly biting her co-workers. Not making this up. A Few Good Blondes: This Legally Blonde x A Few Good Men mashup is the video you didn’t know you needed. Looking Back, The Bar Exam Was A Wreck: It looked that way back then too! This Firm Must Not Know About The Streisand Effect: You should definitely go read the thing they don’t want you to see. MAGA Desperate To Prove LITERAL ALIEN Isn’t An Illegal Immigrant: Hard to argue with folks that haven’t done the reading. The post Keep Your Mouth To Yourself — See Also appeared first on Above the Law.

Spousal maintenance can be a contentious issue in some Washington divorces.  In Washington, a court may order spousal maintenance in a divorce case in the amount and for the amount of time “as the court deems just,” after it considers the relevant factors. RCW 26.09.090 sets forth a non-exhaustive list of factors, including the financial of the party who is requesting maintenance; how long it would take them to obtain education or training to find appropriate employment; their standard of living while married; the length of the marriage; their physical and emotional condition, age, and financial obligations; and the other party’s ability to meet their own financial obligations. In a recent unpublished case, a former wife appealed an order awarding the husband spousal maintenance after he alleged he was medically unable to work. The parties got married in September 2015 and the wife filed for divorce in July 2022.  They settled the property division,…

Defendants in criminal cases typically have four options for resolving their case if the charges are not dismissed: Plea negotiation, where the defendant agrees to plead guilty (or no contest) to one or more charges in exchange for a concession from the prosecution. Plead guilty/no contest with an agreed-upon disposition (outcome). Plead guilty/no contest without an agreed-upon disposition. The State and the defense present arguments for the appropriate sentence, which the court will decide upon. Proceed to a trial, where a judge or jury will decide guilt or innocence and, if convicted, a sentence will be imposed. In Maine, a fifth option is deferred disposition. Let’s take a look at what this is, who it may be available to, and how it works in practice across the state. Call 207-571-8146 or contact us online to schedule a consult with one of our highly skilled criminal defense & OUI lawyers, serving Southern Maine, today. …

For most legal marketing professionals, the AI era has seen growing budgets, according to a new report by the Legal Marketing Association and Above the Law.  When adjusting for inflation, 54% of respondents to the 2025 Legal Marketing Decision-Makers Survey report “slightly” or “significantly” increased budgets in recent years, while only 14% say their budgets have slightly or significantly decreased.  A number of respondents noted that their marketing department is often at the “forefront of new technology and innovation that impact the legal industry,” according to the report, since they’re “able to identify the technologies that will best work to make their firm successful.”  The 2025 Legal Marketing Decision-Makers Survey draws on data from nearly 100 top legal marketing and business development professionals, who weigh in on everything from technology best practices to specific advice for…

2nd Circuit decision upholding New York’s gun liability law is ‘massive victory,’ state AG says

Law360 (July 10, 2025, 5:41 PM EDT) — The Second Circuit refused to upend part of a lower court’s ruling that former Morgan Stanley financial advisers’ deferred compensation fell within the reach of federal benefits law, saying the financial firm couldn’t clear the high bar necessary to undo the decision. In an order issued Wednesday, a unanimous three-judge panel denied Morgan Stanley’s petition for a writ of mandamus to nullify part of U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe’s November 2023 decision finding, in part, that the deferred compensation plans were subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Morgan Stanley argued Judge Gardephe didn’t need to find the plans were subject to ERISA when he granted the company’s motion to compel individual arbitration of the proposed class action. In doing so, the company said, the district court undermined the company’s right to arbitrate because its defenses rely on the…

Join me with guests Laurice Rutledge Lambert and Jennifer Whitton, founders of Aligned Health Law. Discover their unique journey from Biglaw to founding a boutique health law firm. Explore their mission-driven approach and the challenges they face in healthcare regulation. Perfect for aspiring entrepreneurs and legal enthusiasts Highlights Jennifer’s journey: from international relations to law. Laurice’s shift from medicine ambitions to health law. Misconceptions about lawyers and real pathway insights. Importance of persistence in career focus. Jennifer’s mentor-driven transition to actual healthcare law. Challenges and implications of starting their own firm. Biglaw vs. entrepreneurship: Laurice’s turning point. Values-driven alignment in forming their firm. Organic growth and values attract talent. Overcoming misconceptions about small firms lacking sophistication. Team strength and client faith as major successes.…

Many people start their own law firms because they want to enjoy the freedom and flexibility afforded by self-employment.  Indeed, self-employment can be extremely rewarding and can permit lawyers to practice law the way they want to without the hassle of having a law firm boss.  Although attorneys may not think about long-term career consequences associated with opening a practice, starting a firm can have negative career consequences that lawyers should consider. Difficulty Leaving It is difficult to close a law practice and accept other career opportunities once a lawyer opens up a law firm.  If a lawyer handles litigation matters, they cannot be discharged from those matters without court approval.  This can be time-intensive, and some courts take every excuse they can to keep lawyers assigned to cases.  Even if a lawyer handles non-litigation matters, it might be difficult for the lawyer to withdraw from a representation in the middle of a…

KJK attorneys Kyle Stroup and Alex Jones were recently featured in a CBS17 segment titled “Navigating Social Media in Today’s Job Climate.” The attorneys offered legal insight into what happens when social media posts resurface and cause reputational harm, as well as potential legal remedies available to those affected. As part of the firm’s Internet Defamation & Content Removal practice, Kyle and Alex regularly advise individuals and businesses facing high-stakes online threats, from harmful social media posts to reputational damage that impacts careers and hiring decisions. “The internet is both permanent and pervasive,” Jones said. “While there are mechanisms to remove or suppress online content, they are not foolproof—once something is published, it can be copied, archived, or redistributed beyond the original platform.” Stroup added that legal issues often arise when personal content overlaps with professional…

A major chemical manufacturer has agreed to pay $27 million to settle a nearly decade-long lawsuit over water contamination in Hoosick Falls, New York. The settlement was announced just as the case was headed to trial in federal court, bringing the total recovery in the class action lawsuit to more than $90 million since it was filed in 2016. The contamination case involves perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a harmful "forever chemical" that contaminated the village's drinking water supply. Located northwest of Albany, Hoosick Falls residents filed the lawsuit after their water became contaminated with PFOA from a local Teflon fabric coating facility. The settlement must still be approved by a federal judge and includes an additional $6 million for medical monitoring programs for exposed residents. You can read more about this case in the original news report. Common Causes of Water Contamination Cases Water contamination incidents can occur for various…

Bottom Line Up Front: Ambulance chasing by Texas car accident lawyers is illegal and violates professional ethics rules, but accident victims still need quality legal representation. Understanding the difference between legitimate attorney outreach and prohibited solicitation helps protect your rights while ensuring you get proper legal help. When you’ve been injured in a Texas car accident, the last thing you want to deal with is aggressive attorney solicitation. Yet many accident victims find themselves contacted by lawyers shortly after their crash, raising important questions about what’s legal, what’s ethical, and how to protect yourself while still getting the legal help you need. What Constitutes Ambulance Chasing in Texas Ambulance chasing refers to the prohibited practice where personal injury attorneys or their representatives directly solicit accident victims, typically within days of a crash. Under Texas law and the Texas Disciplinary Rules of…

As a way of expressing discontent, some people may choose to engage in malicious mischief, which generally refers to things like graffiti, vandalism, or other forms of damaging or defacing property. But anyone who’s tempted to take this route could face some unpleasant consequences for their actions.  Defining Malicious Mischief Malicious mischief includes a range of activities, all of which must be performed with malice. In other words, it must occur intentionally, not accidentally. It could be graffiti, damaging mailboxes, throwing rocks through windows, or any other form of damaging public or private property. It could also include damaging or tampering with a vehicle,  signs, or other property belonging to someone else. What Constitutes Graffiti? Most have seen examples of graffiti as spray paintings across bridges, walls, and so forth. While these are, indeed, graffiti, the legal definition of graffiti is much more expansive, and includes: Markings of any…

In one of the most significant legislative changes to Social Security in decades, the Social Security Fairness Act of 2025 has officially repealed two long-standing and often criticized provisions: the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Offset (GPO). You can read the SSA’s official announcement at the SSA Newsroom. WEP and GPO have historically reduced benefits for public-sector workers who contributed to pension systems not covered by Social Security, such as CalSTRS, CalPERS, or local police and fire department pension plans. These rules affected many Californians, including teachers, city employees, and law enforcement officers, by slashing their SSDI or survivor benefits, even when they had paid into the Social Security system. With this repeal, millions of retirees and disability recipients across the U.S. are seeing restored or increased monthly benefits. The reform is especially impactful in California, where the overlap between public…

Rebecca Stone (University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - School of Law) has posted A Democratic Conception of Consumer Contracts (15 HBLR 93 (2025)) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: I sketch and briefly evaluate two standard ways of conceptualizing the problem that is posed by consumer contracts and defend a third view, which is based on my democratic conception of contract. According to the first, the power asymmetry between sellers and consumers means that we should not view consumer contracts as genuine contracts but rather as illegitimate exercises of private law-making by sellers for their consumers. According to the second, which broadly aligns with the approach of the Restatement of Consumer Contracts, consumer contracts are genuine contracts but of a procedurally defective kind. On the view I defend, the essence of the problem is not the compromised assent of consumers, but rather the tendency of sellers to set terms without regard for consumers’…

This week, Mirit Eyal (Alabama; Google Scholar) reviews a new work by Michael D. Guttentag (Loyola-L.A), The New Law and Inequality Scholarship, 105 B. U. L. Rev. 897 (2025). In recent decades, both legal and economic scholarship have largely converged on the view that redistribution can be pursued through the...

Think of the things that law school prepared you for: logical reasoning, research, analysis, writing, perhaps even courtroom presentation. What […] The post How Kollect Helps Law Firms Get Paid Faster and Smarter appeared first on Lawyerist. Industry, Sponsored Posts, Accounting Billing and Finance

As legal departments push for more value from their outside counsel relationships, many are considering the use of flat-fee access arrangements for ongoing Advice & Counsel work. These monthly fees provide flexibility, predictability, better communication with the law firm, and often reduced legal spend. Drawing on our combined experience in Legal Operations strategy and legal pricing transformation, we’ve demonstrated how scope-based pricing models are helping legal teams transition from reactive support to proactive partnerships. Why Hourly-Based Models Fall Short The typical hourly fee structure for A&C support is often an open checkbook. and does not promote efficiency. What’s included in the open matter (e.g., Agency charges, pre-litigation)?  What are service level expectations? What is done in-house vs. Outside Counsel?  Without well-defined scope or service levels, these arrangements can leave both clients and firms guessing…