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1500 questions
13
votes
1 answer
What award can an unpaid independent contractor expect? What are the legal incentives to pay contractors?
I (Washington State, USA) worked, under contract, for an LLC (Los Angeles, California, USA) and never received payment. I was considered an independent contractor; contract specifies Californian jurisdiction. I have limited legal counsel and…
user2206636
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13
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4 answers
A witness (former gov't agent) knows top secret USA information. Can a court compel them to reveal the informaton?
A former US federal government employee knows information that was classified as top secret by the federal government. This information is relevant to a case. They were called to testify before the court. This person is not a defendant.
I believe…
Mindwin Remember Monica
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13
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1 answer
What standard of evidence is used for a subpoena of documents in a criminal case? How does it compare to probable cause?
A Website I use received subpoenas from the US Department of Justice for data related to certain specified usernames. What standard of evidence must that subpoena have met and how does it compare to the probable cause required for a search warrant?
moonman239
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13
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1 answer
What is the idea behind German courts having both professional judges and lay judges?
In this wiki, it is mentioned that in trial courts there are both professional judges and lay judges involved. What is the basis behind this set up?
Clemens Bartholdy
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13
votes
2 answers
What options are there for executor when no close family member is available?
What alternatives exist for finding and appointing an executor for one's will/estate for a person with no close family or qualified friend? Are there pros and cons?
AA040371
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13
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6 answers
Is it legal to use force against a person who is illegally trying to disconnect a hospital patient's life support with intent to kill the patient?
Alice is visiting Bob, who is on life support in a hospital, when Mallory comes into the room and tries to disconnect Bob's life support with intent to kill Bob. Is Alice allowed to use force against Mallory to protect Bob? There is no euthanasia…
Someone
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13
votes
2 answers
How does copyrights work for mobile/web applications?
If a mobile/web developer creates an application like Uber, then sells it to a company, and the company also wants the copyrights for the application, what happens if after few months another company comes to developer and asks for a new similar…
best_of_man
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13
votes
3 answers
Are there potential legal considerations in the U.S. when two people work from the same home and use the same internet connection?
Consider the following scenario:
Person A is employed by a large company and has the usual "everything you do while employed by us is owned by us" in their employment contract.
Person B is self-employed and creates intellectual property (here let's…
confused-by-it-all
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13
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6 answers
Can someone be prosecuted for something that was legal when they did it?
This sounds similar to this question, which keeps being used in AI and web search queries:
What if I did something that was a crime, but has now become legal?
Can someone be prosecuted for something that was legal when they did it?
user1867437
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votes
3 answers
In Ratatouille, did Linguini have a legally legitimate reason to fire Skinner?
In Ratatouille, when Linguini took over Gusteau's by proving he inherited the restaurant, Skinner seemingly lost his job. Was there legal precedent for Skinner to lose his job; would Skinner hiding the fact that Linguini was Gusteau's son be…
yolo
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13
votes
2 answers
If a witness asks for their lawyer during a trial, how is it handled?
A criminal trial is going on. Andy the Attorney asks Walter the Witness some questions. After a while, Walter realizes he's been an idiot, and says he wants his Lawyer Larry.
How does the court proceed? Do they set up a second trial with Walter and…
chausies
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13
votes
1 answer
Why are trials on "Law & Order" in the New York Supreme Court?
On the TV show "Law & Order", when they cut to the trial it's usually accompanied by a chiron (along with the trademark "dun-dun" sound) saying something like "New York State Supreme Court, Part 7". Is this an accurate representation of where trials…
Barmar
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13
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3 answers
Employee acting illegally on direction from management
I thought of this when reading the Meta case regarding negative testing.
Say a state has a law regarding data-retention of log files for banks.
A manager instructs an employee to wipe drive of logs. The employee is knowledgeable enough to know that…
paulj
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Does a tenured professor whose salary was set to 0 have a case for constructive dismissal?
See https://www.ams.org/journals/notices/202302/rnoti-p196.pdf?adat=February%202023
The head of the Purdue math department set a tenured professor’s salary to 0. This seems very strange to me and I have two questions.
First, does this violate…
user48703
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13
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4 answers
Someone gave me an elephant. Isn’t this illegal?
Hypothetical:
Someone gave me an elephant and told me not to give it away or sell it.
I don’t have the capability to take care of this thing. Heck, I don’t have any license or permit for elephants. I’m not a zookeeper or anything.
Isn’t it illegal…
moonman239
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