District of Columbia Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Your new employer would need to file a Form I-129 on your behalf. You could not begin employment with the new employer until the petition is approved by USCIS. You will need to establish eligibility for an O-1 visa as if applying for the first time. You and your employer should consider working with an attorney to make sure the process is completed properly. ... Read More

Unfortunately tourists are not allowed to work in the US. Sorry. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More

I beleive that you will first have to domesticate the judgment in D.C., that is get the judgment recognized in D.C.  If the judgment was on the merits after a full opportunity to litigate, that should be a simple process.  If the judgment was entered on default, however, it will be more complicated.  You will have to start a lawsuit in D.C. and show that the PA. court had jurisdiction over the judgment debtor.... Read More

I believe that you will have to prove that the owner of the land where the tree was located had notice that there was an issue with the tree and that it was foreseeable to fall and damage something.  If the tree belongs to the National Park Service you will need to formally put that federal government agency on notice of a claim including timely filing a Form 95 within two years of the incident. If in fact this incident was an act of god and unforeseeable, then unfortunately you may be without any recourse against anyone to get compensated.  Good luck with this matter.... Read More

In the situation in which you describe having requested an extension and not receiving a decision before the date requested has passed, it is a good idea to file an additional I-539 asking for a further period of extension and documenting the reasons for the request. The question of whether someone can stay after the requested date has passed without doing anything further is murky, but the better practice is to request the further extension if you intend to stay. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

When you changed the contract before signing, and sent it to your prospective landlord, you made a counteroffer (the initial contract proposal was an offer.)  The question is whether the landlord accepted your counteroffer, which he/she/it could have done by signing the amended contract.  Even if the landlord did not countersign, if the parties continued to act as if they had a contract (e.g. you continued to pay rent, the landlord continued to allow you to occupy the space and kept supplying heat, etc.), there is a good chance that a Court will find that a contract was formed. ... Read More

It is not clear as to which insurance company has paid your medical bills (e.g. you auto insurance company or your health insurance company).  It is also is not clear which insurance company you believe your lawyer should be contacting (e.g. the at fault driver's insurance company, your auto insurance company, your health insurance company).... Read More

If you were married under common law in any of the US States, the D.C. retirement office might be required to recognize it under the Full Faith and Credit clause of the Constitution, the same way that many Courts have now ruled that same sex unions performed in states which recognize them as valid must be afforded full faith and credit by other states, even if those states don't allow gay marriages.  However, I don't believe that there are any states which have common law marriages any more, although I suppose that if you established such a common law marriage many  years ago, when they were recognized in some states, you might still have a claim.  Also, the pension contract may define allowed beneficiaries or spouses to exclude common law spouses, which would not be a matter of Constitutional law, but rather the interpretation of a private contract.... Read More

A person can be indicted up until the end of the statute of limitations. However depending on the kind of case indictment usually occurs between 3 and 10 months from the time of arrest. Much of the time, the prosecutor tries to drag the case out so people commit more crimes and potentially do things which could make their case worse.... Read More

If the liability property damage coverage is not enough to cover your property damage related losses, then you might be able to obtain additional compensation from your own auto insurance company under the UM/UIM property damage coverage.  Speak with your own auto insurance company before signing any release for the insurance company of the at fault driver.  Good luck with this matter.... Read More

To take away your husband's naturalization would require U.S.C.I.S. to prove that his misrepresentation was material. In looking at the fact situation that you present, you believe that his misrepresentation was not material because he got his green card through his mom who won the DV lottery. You also state that your husband did not disclose his previous marriage on his green card application. Kindly note that a dependent child who immigrates under a parent must be both under the age of 21 and unmarried. You have not said whether your husband was divorced at the time that he immigrated to this country. Even if he was, a question to be explored would be whether the divorce was bona fide or only done for the purpose of allowing him to emigrate with his mother to the States. These are factors that you and your husband should consider. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.... Read More

It is up to you as to whether you wish to maintain F-1 status or just go through your husband's petition with the attendant I 765 employment authorization. The favorable factor of keeping F-1 status is that you may be able to use it as a backup in the event that anything goes wrong with your marriage case. Without it, you would be wholly dependent on your adjustment of status application to keep you legally in the country.Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee, Esq.'s (the "Firm") participation in responding to questions posted herein does not constitute legal advice, nor legal representation of the person or entity posting a question. No Attorney/Client relationship is or shall be construed to be created hereby. The information provided herein by the Firm is general, and requires that the poster obtain specific legal advice from an attorney. The poster shall not rely upon the information provided herein as legal advice nor as the basis for making any decisions of legal consequence.  ... Read More