New television show - Suits

I really like the new television show - SUITS!



However, it is totally unrealistic -- which is why I probably like it.



Like last week, the judge said he was starting a jury trial the next day!  LOL!  A jury trial takes months to get on the docket in Harris County, Texas.  There is no way that a case would be the next day.  Plus, to get a jury "seated" and for a jury to get started the next day would be impossible.  There is a process of picking a jury that normally takes at least one day - usually more.  Of course, this is television and everything is super fast.



Plus, the guy with no law degree has not been caught!  (I've been known to check the background of my opposing counsel.)  Things like -- Where is his bar number?  Where did he rank when he took the bar?  No one would think to check that he's a licensed attorney?  These things a public knowledge & on the web. 



The guy pretending to be a lawyer is committing a felony so when he gets caught it's going to be jail for him. 

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not expect me to personally reply to posts!

If you post a reply to this blog -- I cannot reply to you! 



Therefore, do not expect a reply if you post a question to my blogs!



Blogger does not have anyway for me to reply to you!  Additionally, I do not want to answer your personal questions in this open forum. (I'm sure that you do not want me to do this either -- if you think about it. Plus, most of you do not give me enough information for me to even attempt to answer questions!)



Also, if you read my blogs, I am no longer offering free consultations or litigating family law cases.  My practice is now 100% mediation based.



If you want an attorney for litigation or any area of family law -- this includes name changes, please contact PATRICIA BUSHMAN at 713-807-9405 or ROSE CARDENAS.



The voice mail on my office phone clearly states that I am not accepting litigated cases.  I'm trying to return all telephone calls.  However, often people's voice mail messages are not clear and I'm unable to return their telephone calls.  If I'm unable to understand a person's voice mail message then I cannot return a telephone call.  I do attempt to return all telephone calls within 48 hours IF I can understand the message.  Many times all I receive is a "garbled" message -- I'm sure that you think that you leave a perfectly clear message but your "background" noise (kids, music, wind noise) totally blocks your voice out. 



I've asked my web guy to revise my website to reflect the change in my practice.  Unfortuantely, he's not made the changes I've asked.  Hopefully, he will get it done soon. 



If you don't want to use Pat or Rose -- I recommend looking on http://www.lawguru.com/ or http://www.avvo.com/  -- ignore avvo.com's rating system -- it can be manipulated -- many good lawyers don't "claim" their listing or keep their listing updated so their points drop.



If you need a pro bono aka "free" lawyer then call HOUSTON VOLUNTEER LAWYERS at 713-228-0732.  However, you need to be prepared for a long wait since they have overwhelmed by requests for help & they don't have enough volunteer attorneys. 

Charged with a crime in Texas? You have to have the mens rea!

In Texas, a person that is charged with committing a crime needs to have had the intention of committing the crime that he/she has been charged with. The operative word is mens rea. Many times however, prosecutors and defense attorneys forget this very important element.

Mens Rea- Latin word. This is the defendant's guilty state of mind, as an element in proving the crime with which defendant is charged. Our defense lawyers always argue this point to a jury.

Our legal system was created so that no one innocent person is convicted; however, this is not the case. Too much drama in the court rooms, media influence, and inefficient assistant of counsel makes it possible for the innocent to be convicted. Judges that allow prosecutors too much lead way has always been detrimental for the legal system and for the accused.

Let us bring back the fundamental principles of justice and let the cases be decided on facts not on drama. Once a person gets a day in court, if acquitted, that person needs to be left alone by the media and every one else.

I am not accepting litigated cases

Due to a death in my family, I am no longer accepting litigated cases.



I am no longer offering free consultations or offering $2/minute consultations.



I have also decided to stop offering the Do It Yourself Legal Kits.  After offering the DIY kits for over the past 10 years, I found that people just did not want to pay for them.  People would rather pay for the "Legal Zoom-type kits" being sold on the internet, radio and television and then want me to "fix" their crummy forms and complain about being "ripped off". I tired of arguing with people & I don't have the time or energy to "fix" garbage.  It's easier to start fresh rather than to fix "junk". 



I have decided to only to family law mediations. 



In the spring of 2011, I took an elder law mediation training, so I will also offer elder law mediation for families that need that sort of assistance.  With the aging US population, I believe, that elder law mediation will be growing in popularity. 

Do not post a comment & expect me to answer you!

Please do not post a comment and expect me to answer you on this blog!



You must send me an email directly!



Also, please be advised that I am no longer accepting contested cases & am no longer offering consultations.  I have decided to focus my practice on mediation only.



I am referring all cases to PATRICIA BUSHMAN at 713-807-9405 or ROSE CARDENAS at 832-419-4110.  Both are excellent attorneys.  Pat is cheaper and will go to counties farther than most attornies in the Houston area.    Rose is more hands on and speaks Spanish & she will go to Ft. Bend county too.  Their styles are very different. 

Liberty County Prosecutor Arrested This Week But Kept On the Job as DA in Cleveland Gang Rape Case of 11 Year Old Girl by 19 Defendants

Liberty County is in the national spotlight this summer as the place where 19 defendants (ranging in age from midteens to almost 30 years) have been charged with the gang rape of an 11 year old girl in Cleveland, Texas, mobile home - some of which was caught on video.

It's a case that is dividing the Cleveland community as well as the child's family, as the girl has been removed from her parents' care and placed in Texas foster care for the time being.

Prosecutor in Cleveland Gang Rape Case Is Arrested

Needless to say, this Cleveland Gang Rape case is important from many different perspectives and its prosecution - you would think - would be the cream of the crop putting on the best case that the State of Texas can assert. Right?

Think again. This week, one of the prosecutors on that Cleveland Gang Rape case was arrested and is facing charges as a defendant of (1) Tampering With a Witness, (2) Terroristic Threats and (3) Deadly Conduct.

That's right: the state's attorney has been accused of three pretty serious crimes while he's assigned to the big Gang Rape case. (That's his mugshot at the top.)

Liberty County Assistant District Attorney Joe Warren surrendered to the Liberty County Sheriff's Office last week, and was quickly released on a personal recognizance bond by the local judge. The Sheriff's Office is refusing to comment on the case so far, and little is known for sure about the events that led to the ADA's arrest.

It is known that the Sheriff's Office is the authority handling the investigation -- not a grand jury, not the Texas Rangers or the FBI -- and that Liberty County District Attorney Mike Little has told the media this is strange -- the ADA's case is getting special treatment (it's legal for the Sheriff's Office to run the ball in the investigation, this usually doesn't happen, though).

Joe Warren is still on the job, too: despite being a state district attorney who has been arrested on allegations of committing these crimes he has not been removed from his position and presumably is at work today (as this post is being typed), working on the Cleveland Gang Rape case.

Reports are ADA Threatened to Shoot Pit Bulls that Entered His Backyard and Killed His Pet

So what happened? There are some media reports out there and they are reporting that ADA Warren had a pet dog (a boxer-mix) who were killed by his neighbor's pit bulls after the pit bulls dug a hole under the fence to gain access into Warren's back yard so they could attack his pets.

Warren responded, according to these reports, by threatening his neighbor that he would shoot the pit bulls in order to protect his pets. Apparently, the neighbor called the cops and filed a complaint.

Charging Interest in the Absence of a Contract Term for Interest

The best practice for businesses supplying goods and services on credit is to include a contractual provision regarding interest. However, a creditor can charge interest if there is no contract provision regarding interest. Under Texas law, this is called legal interest. Legal interest does not begin to accrue until 30 days after the debt was originally due, and it accrues at a rate of six percent a year. The legal interest rate of six percent per year is simple interest. That is, the interest accrued each year is not compounded by adding it to the principal balance before computing the interest due in each subsequent year. This interest rate is actually “read into the agreement” and becomes the maximum rate that may be charged.

A lender must be careful not to charge in excess of six percent in the absence of a contract provision to do so. Charging a higher rate of interest may result in penalties for usury. Unilateral charging of interest by the lender, even with advance notice, is not enough to establish an agreement to pay interest at a rate greater than the legal rate of six percent.

If a lender charges more than twice the amount allowed by law, or 12 percent, he or she may be subject to penalties under Texas law. These penalties include forfeiture of the principal amount of the loan, reimbursement of any amounts paid by the debtor that was subject to the usurious interest rate, and three times the amount of usurious interest charged, even if the interest was never collected. The lender may also have to pay the debtor’s attorney fees.

Blog prepared by Chris Patterson.

Blog reviewed and posted by Sarah F. Berry.
http://www.carylippincott.com/Attorney_SarahBerry.php