Family Law

Family law consists of statutes and case decisions that govern the legal duties between and among individuals who share a domestic connection. Family law usually involves parties who are related by blood or marriage, but could also affect parties in more distant relationships. Family law in the United States developed within each state. As a result, American family law varies significantly from one state to another. Despite the differences in family legislation and procedure, new trends in family issues, as well as the federal government's desire to create a uniform system of family law, general principles have become increasingly shared in all states and territories.

Most of the cases involving family law arise from the termination of marriage or romantic relationship. Divorce and annulment are part of family law. Dispute on alimony, child custody, visitation and support accompany divorce and annulment. Divorce is a messy proceeding that requires the expertise of attorneys. Divorce is also a complicated law by itself, especially when it comes to the division of property. Laws on property division greatly from one state to another, thus an attorney handling divorce proceedings must not only be knowledgeable on divorce law, but also on property law. Family law also governs the relationship between two individuals before marriage in the drafting of prenuptial agreements. In prenuptial agreements, which are enforced upon divorce, couples can opt out from a state's default rules on property division, but the terms of prenuptial agreements must still adhere to requirements laid out by the state. In addition to defending a spouse in a divorce proceeding, an attorney also has the capability and knowledge to seek out assets that the other spouse may try to hide from the other spouse so that that property cannot be reached by any order directing the division of such assets.

In addition to divorce, one of the most common issues relating to family law is domestic violence, which does not just involve current or former spouses, but also children and other members of the family. Domestic violence is a criminal offense that is punishable by both fines and incarceration. Domestic violence cases also go through the same process as a criminal case, although, because of the intimate nature of the relationship of the parties, the cases are often emotionally draining. Plaintiffs in domestic violence cases need to hire an expert attorney to, not just argue on family law, but also on criminal law.

Another exhausting litigation relating to family law is child custody. In uncontested cases, child custody may go smoothly. Contested child custody cases are battles, with the parties often already distrustful with each other. When child custody cases arise from domestic violence, the battle becomes more wearisome as the aggrieved party would be zealous to win custody of their children and fight for a protective order against the domestic violence abuser. Child custody cases are also emotionally draining especially for children subject to such proceedings as they need to be present in the trial for the court to determine their best interest.

Another difficult case accompanying child custody would be child support. The determination of how much each parent need to contribute to the rearing of the child is lengthy and may require numerous modifications. The bulk of a family law attorney's responsibility in child support cases would be arguing for their clients in modification proceedings.

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Pharmaceutical Law - Legal Information and Resources

Pharmaceutical Law

Pharmaceutical law governs the manufacture, sale, distribution and use of pharmaceutical drugs. Pharmaceutical laws is a combination of different federal legislation, state laws, and court decisions relating to pharmaceutical drugs. Included in the area of pharmaceutical law is intellectual property law in relation to the protection of a pharmaceutical's research, standards, marketing restrictions and drug prescription and distribution.

One of the most important aspect of pharmaceutical law is intellectual property. The development of a new drug or treatment is project that could earn billions. It is for this reason that pharmaceutical companies are zealous in obtaining intellectual property rights of new drugs and treatments. The U.S. Patent Office, together with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, govern the granting of exclusivity rights for all pharmaceutical discoveries, inventions and innovations. The FDA is strict in pursuing companies who are manufacturing or selling pharmaceutical products that have not obtained the proper patent coverage. There is stiff competition in the application for patent rights. This is the reason why pharmaceutical companies have a retinue of pharmaceutical law attorneys doing research and drafting documentation for IP application with the Patent Office and exclusivity application with the FDA. In order to acquire exclusivity in the United States, the applicant must comply with requirements laid out by the FDA and the Patent Office. The FDA and the Patent Office have different requirements for application of patent and exclusivity. To be safe, pharmaceutical companies must obtain the two prior to manufacturing a drug, although an FDA exclusivity can be granted without first obtaining a patent.

The FDA gives a five-year exclusivity period for a new chemical entity, which means no other company can file an Abbreviated New Drug Application for the same NCE. Exclusivity application with the FDA can be costly, and, like pharmaceutical research, exclusivity application research is also thorough. The FDA exclusivity occurs regardless of whether or not the Patent Office has issued a patent. If a patent has already been obtained, the pharmaceutical company still cannot legally use any NCE without first obtaining exclusivity from the FDA. The patent must be listed with the so-called FDA Orange Book in order for the patent to work like an exclusivity. Other companies can challenge the validity of patents or a new drug application. Pharmaceutical law attorneys defend defend companies from these challenges as these acts turn really messy especially because of the millions that might be at stake, in terms of lost revenues and profits. These suits are complicated and are thus best left with expert attorneys.

In addition to intellectual property, product safety and marketing is also another important aspect of pharmaceutical law. The FDA has stringent testing on food and drugs before they can be sold in the market in order to protect consumers. Because drugs have the tendency to be abused or misused, the FDA also regulates the kind of marketing for drugs in order for consumers not to file misleading claims. Other laws are also in place that require immediate recall of products that are considered not safe. Product safety and marketing is a subject in numerous class action lawsuits across the country. These suits often seek multi-million dollars in damages. It is therefore a good idea for pharmaceutical companies to hire lawyers to make sure they are in compliance with product safety and marketing laws and defend them when facing complaints on product safety and marketing.

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Employment Law - Legal Information and Resources

Employment

Employment laws in the United States were rooted as counter measures against labor practices during the industrial revolution. Employment law is a constantly evolving set of laws promulgated to address issues relating to labor and employment. Both the employer and the employee are given rights and obligations under employment laws to ensure that workers are treated fairly, not discriminated upon, and receives benefits and wages that are legally due them. Employment laws are based on a combination of federal and state legislation and rules and court precedents. Federal employment laws are enforced by the Department of Labor.

Many cases involving employment disputes involve "wage and hour" violations. The Fair Labor Standards Act requires standard wages and overtime pay for private and public employees. States are, however, free to enact other laws to provide additional protections to employees. Under federal law, employers are required to pay a minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for workers with health insurance coverage or $8.25 per hour for workers who do not have health insurance coverage. States can approve higher minimum wage and employers in those states must comply with those requirements.

The FLSA also requires employers to pay workers who render services beyond their required number of work hours. The FLSA does not limit the number of hours an employee can work per week, but does require that after 40 hours of work rendered, the employee should be compensated one-and-one-half times his regular pay. In "wage and hour" suits, the plaintiff may allege that he or she was paid below the required minimum wage or that he or she was not paid the overtime pay that was due him or her. The difficult part, on the side of the plaintiff, in suits claiming unpaid overtime pay would be defining what constitutes "overtime" work. Overtime is any work done beyond the regular 40-work hours per week. Numerous cases, however, have been filed seeking court determination of whether specific activities are considered "work" or not, and whether the performance of these activities would entitle workers to overtime pay. Research on case precedent regarding this issue is difficult as rulings vary from state to state. It is thus imperative to require an expert employment law attorney to conduct this extensive research.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against their current employees, former employees, or possible employees based on ethnicity, gender, race, religious, among others. Despite this prohibition, cases arising from employment discrimination remain prevalent. An employment discrimination lawsuit is highly procedural, requiring the plaintiff to fill-up forms and obtain assessment from certain agencies prior to being given the go-signal to pursue an employment discrimination case.

Moreover, another issue arising from employment law would be the interpretation of employment contracts. Most states presume that the relationship between the employer and worker is at will. There are numerous instances, however, when both employer and worker ask a court to interpret their contract. These instances often involve employers terminating their workers following the workers' filing of a compensation claim or filing a whistleblower suit. These illegal terminations are prohibited under the law, but employers are ready to defend their action, thus a plaintiff should hire an employment law attorney to counter employers' arguments.

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International Law - Legal Information and Resources

International Law

International law is composed of rules, customs, treatises between and among nations, and decisions by the International Court of Justice, which impact the legal transactions between nations, their governments, businesses, and organizations. The area of international law is continuously evolving, with nations adapting new rules as new customs and treatises arise. Nations are free to adopt or reject international laws, although there are instances when groups of countries pressure other groups of countries to ratify an international law in order to achieve goals that have universal effect.

The United Nations, and its counterpart court, the International Court of Justice, are the most influential organizations in the world with respect to international law. The United Nations regularly convenes to pass so-called conventions to address transnational issues, such as territorial disputes, human trafficking, human rights violation, environmental issues, and business transactions.

There are two types on international law: public and private. Public international law governs the disputes and transactions between nations, while private international law governs the legal disputes between the citizens of different nations.

While international law is difficult to define as a single body of law, there are three principles that govern: (1) principle of comity, (2) act of state doctrine, and (3) doctrine of sovereign immunity. Under the principle of comity, one of two nations who share common public policy ideas submits to the laws and judicial decrees of the other. Under the Act of State Doctrine, nations around the world agreed to respect the sovereignty of a nation in its own territory and agreed not to interfere with official domestic actions. Under the Doctrine of Sovereign Immunity, nations are immune from suits, unless they waive such immunity.

International law is a complicated set of laws that require the interpretation of expert international law attorneys. One of the issues arising from international law would be its enforceability. In cases of U.N. conventions, there are signatory states but not all signatory states ratify the conventions, which means the signatory states agree to the conventions but do not agree to implement the conventions to their national jurisdiction. In fact, the question of enforceability alone has spawned an area of the law where experts are sought after to answer this very specific question.

In the United States, the enforceability of international law is often highlighted in cases when a foreign national is convicted of a criminal offense, or when an American citizen is convicted of a criminal offense in another country. Depending on the agreement between the United States and the country where the convict is a citizen, there might exist an extradition agreement, which will usually provide that the country of the citizen will have jurisdiction over the convict. There might not exist an extradition agreement, and, because a criminal offense is a matter of national security, the country where the American citizen was convicted would not hand over jurisdiction to the United States. It is thus crucial to employ the assistance of an international law attorney as both municipal and international laws are complicated sets of law that need the interpretation of experts.

Areas of Law