Financial Litigation

Financial litigation law governs the court process of resolving disputes relating to financial and money transactions. These disputes involve banks, credit card companies, brokerage firms, private equity funds, and insurance companies. Financial litigation is a combination of civil, criminal and administrative law that arises from financial transactions. Financial litigation is composed of both federal and state laws, administrative regulations and court decisions.

The federal government enacted several laws for banks and financial institutions to comply with certain standards as banking and finance are two of the highly regulated industries in the country due to the nature of the products and services they provide. Banking and finance transactions deal with sensitive matters, and, as such they are protected by law, like the Bank Secrecy Act and Truth in Lending Act. Other federal financial legislation include Dodd-Frank Act, Consumer Protection Act, and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. In addition to the federal government, there are other agencies who have oversight on specific financial transaction, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission towards the registration of public companies and disclosure of stock trading. Financial litigation law touches on a broad spectrum of issues such as securities law, corporate law, consumer law, and bankruptcy law.

Among the most common financial litigations are actions challenging a company's transaction, which transaction may have caused a change in the trading price of stocks, insider trading, and securities trading fraud. Aside from the company, officers and directors are routinely named defendants in derivative actions. Financial litigators represent either the client or the company these cases. Clients often choose to sue companies through a class action as the anticipated pay-out in class actions are higher compared to individual suits. In addition, the costs of pursuing a class action is also shared among the class members, while the costs of pursuing an individual action is shouldered only by the plaintiff. Moreover, there is strength in numbers that's why victims of securities fraud or insider trading choose to sue as a class.

Financial litigation is a complex dispute that will touch on intertwining laws. It will not just touch on the complicated web of federal and state laws and regulations, but also often encroach on international laws regarding financial transactions. Financial transactions are also sophisticated transactions, which means these transactions involve legalese that takes experts to un-weave. Because the monetary value of financial disputes are often high, parties tend to litigate in order to either recover the money lost or refuse to pay the money lost. In addition, violations of banking and finance rules and regulations are met with steep punishment. These types of litigation are also often highly publicized, so being charged with any violation of banking or finance law could severely affect the reputation and future business prospects of companies, and their officers and directors. In addition, settlements arising from financial litigation have the possibility of draining a company's resources.

It is for these reasons that companies have a retinue of financial litigators to defend them in cases of banking and finance law violations. Financial litigators are not just skilled in defending companies, they are also knowledgeable in matters of regulation, enforcement, and transactions.

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Juvenile Law - Legal Information and Resources

Juvenile Law

Juvenile law governs the treatment of under-age who committed crimes. Under the law, a juvenile delinquent is someone under 18 years old who committed a crime or who violated rules. Juvenile delinquent is used interchangeably with youth offenders or delinquent minors. Juvenile minors, as they are often also called, have their own courts and are not treated the same way as adult criminal offenders due to the fact that minors need more guidance and care from the state.

Application of juvenile law vary on a state to state basis. The main precept is that the state is obligated to provide care and protection for the children within the state under the doctrine of parens patriae. Most, but not all, states have a juvenile code that brings together all rules and regulations governing the treatment, custody, and supervision of minor offenders. The federal government enacted the Juvenile Delinquency Prevention and Control Act of 1968 to address the increasing incidences of minors committing crimes and the negative effects on minors when placed in mainstream correctional facilities. The federal legislation provides guidelines that should be complied with by the states in their application of their own sets of juvenile laws.

To be considered a juvenile delinquent also varies from state to state. State juvenile codes differ in their definitions of what are considered juvenile delinquent acts. In some states, mere disobedience from parents is considered a juvenile delinquent act. In other states, school truancy and curfew violations are considered juvenile delinquent acts. In all cases, drinking alcohol is a juvenile delinquent act.

Due to the age and, often times, the level of maturity of, the minor offender, cases dealing with juvenile delinquents are delicate and sensitive. Hearings on juvenile delinquency cases are done in a confidential manner in order to protect the child. Courts also do not conduct the hearings like a typical criminal trial where the accused is subjected to thorough examination and cross examination. In juvenile delinquency cases, child specialists such as psychiatrists and counselors are employed to help adjudicate the cases with the goal of rehabilitation, rather than punishment. Juvenile delinquents are afforded the same, if not, more rights than adults who are accused of committing crimes. For most juvenile delinquent acts, the penalty would be paying a fine, community service or counseling.

The minor can also be sent to home confinement, to a foster group or to a special juvenile detention centers. Minors are provided separate facilities and are aided with social workers and probation officers whose goal is to help the juvenile avoid a life of crime. In rare juvenile delinquency cases, such as when the minor commits murder, the accused is sent to adult prisons, although they are still given separate facilities by virtue of their age. States have not agreed as to a uniform age when minors should be held responsible for their criminal behavior.

Being charged with delinquent acts is not easy especially for minors who, most often, do not know an inch of the law. They are vulnerable to abuses of the legal system if not represented by expert juvenile law attorneys.

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