Indiana Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

What do you mean when you say the company was sold?  If the company was a corporation or other independent entity (e.g. an llc) and what was "sold" was just equity in the company (e.g. shares of a corporation), the company still exists, it is just owend by different people, and your contract, which I assume was with the company, continues regardless of who owns the company.  If yoiu have a contract with IBM, the contract remains in forcee regardless of who owns the shares of IBM.  If, however, you mean that the assets of the company were sold to another owner, that could be a different story.  In that case, the original contracting party may or may not have the rightt to assign the contract to another person or entity, depending on what the contract provides.... Read More

You don't indicate whether this was a civil or criminal case, but I'm not sure that matters.  You also don't indicate what the video was, i.e. whether it was something which is required to be kept confidential, such as video of a medical procedure.  In general, there is no reason why evidence in a litigaiton cannot be viewed by the public.  If there is evidence that one party believes should be kept confidential, that party would ask the court to seal it.  If the evidence is not required to be kept confidential, and there is no court order sealing it, there is generally no reason why it can't be viewed by anyone.... Read More

Under the circumstances that you describe under which you will continue working for the employer that sponsored you for the EB-1B green card, your taking on additional part-time paid employment is fine. You have an EAD allowing you to take on employment which is not confined to your present sponsorship which EAD may soon be superseded by the green card that you will receive since your adjustment of status application has been approved. Under either situation, the additional employment would be allowed. In green card situations based upon employment, USCIS would mainly be concerned at naturalization whether the applicant had an intention to work with the sponsoring employer when the green card was given. In your situation, that would not appear to be a concern as you state that you will continue to work for your employer. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

If you are married or getting married to a US citizen, and you entered the country legally, you still can be sponsored even though you are out of status. That is the general rule but there are exceptions. Your your best steps would be to retain counsel to handle the case from start to finish.... Read More

Assuming that there is no provision in the contract giving the venue the right to cancel, you are right in theory (except that it is unlikely that the contract is with the owners rather than the business that your daughter contracted with, which is likely a corporation or llc; except in rare instances, the owners would not personally be obligated).  However, as a practical matter, while your daughter might be entitled to money damages for the breach (i.e. the extra amount it would cost her to book a comparable place), it is  unlikely that she could get a court to compel the venue to perform the contract (as opposed to compensating her for the money damages she would suffer from the breach), especially in the short time before the event.  More practically, you don't want to have the wedding in a place which doesn't want to hold it, and doesn't care about any repeat business.  There are likey to be problems which ruin the wedding, either through the venue's not caring, or even deliberately.  You don't want to be in a situation on your daughter's wedding where not enough servers have showed up, or there is no liquor at the bar, or there's no place for the band to set up, etc etc. ... Read More

Generally, one cannot be fired for a discriminatory purpose. However, discrimination has a very specific legal definition. I recommend you review the types of discrimination and determine if any applies to you. Here is a link to the types of discrimnaiton that are not allowed in employment. https://www.eeoc.gov/discrimination-type If you find that your situation falls into one of these types, you should consider contacting the EEOC or hiring an attorney near you right away. Dan... Read More

You state that the company is incorporated.  Why then would any of the owners be responsible for any of its outstanding bills?  Have any of you signed personal guarantees?  As long as you operated the corporation properly, for example not commingling corporate money with personal, not paying personal expenses from coprorate funds, etc., the shareholders are not generally liable for the corporation's debts.  If, however, the debtrs you write about are among the few statutory exceptions to this rule, or that the corporation was not operated properly allowing personal liability of itss hareholders, you can't, at this point, protect yourself from the obligation (absent filing bankruptcy), you can only sue the third shareholder for his share of the obligation.... Read More

I am not an Indiana attorney but a good place to look for adoption resources is the National Council for Adoption. There you can find specialists who can help you. Also look at resources at your local social services agencies. Because everyone is on board, your brother and sister will have to be approved by the appropriate state agency. Best of luck to you. ... Read More

You could theoretically be held in contempt and arrested, but that is very unlikely.  The bigger problem is that you may lose your case on default and have a judgment entered against you for the full amount of the claim.  That judgment can be enforced against you by garnishing your wages, auctioning your assets, etc.... Read More

What you're describing is called discovery, and every jurisdicton allows the parties to seeek information from each other through the discovery processes used in that jurisdiction, including pre-trial depositions, document requests, and interrogatories.  Check the rules of procedure for the court your are in.  Assuming that you have not passed the deadline for using these procedures, you can use any one or more of them to determine what evidence your adversary plans to use.... Read More

Only immediate relatives can adjust status to obtain green cards after legal entry into the USA. Siblings are not considered immediate relatives but are subject to a family based quota category. Currently, the waiting time for a visa in this category (US citizen sibling sponsoring foreign national sibling) is taking more than 10 years. Your sister should depart back to Brazil so that she doesnt accrue unlawful presence when her stay expires. Good luck!... Read More

Wills must be witnessed in a formal ceremony conducted by a notary.  The number of witnesses required varies from state to state.  They should also attach the state's self-proving affidavit, signed, witnessed and notarized. The problem with most self-written and many internet wills is that you don't know what you don't know and can easily omit something required to avoid the will defaulting to an heirship (which is more expensive and may not pass things the way you want) or something your executor will find useful or necessary (such as access to your online accounts) or something which will preserve benefits for a disabled beneficiary, etc.  ... Read More

Unless the POA specifically allows the agent to appoint a successor agent, no. If your father's dementia is advanced, it may be wise to seek guardianship of him before you are unable to act.  You may want to talk with a local elder lawyer.  You can find one on the website of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (www.naela.org).... Read More

If your mother has legal capacity to grant a financial and a medical power of attorney but she is unable to afford an attorney, contact legal aid or volunteer legal services in this area.  Financial powers of attorney must be notarized.  A notary cannot notarize without a government issued ID bearing a photograph and signature.... Read More

As to whether you can acquire a firearm legally, you should check the state laws of Indiana. If it says that a person like you can possess a firearm, then you should be able to do so. I am not aware of anything dealing with immigration which bars a person under DACA from lawfully possessing a firearm. The immigration laws concerning firearms only have sections on penalties for individuals who violate firearms laws. Due to the limitations of the Lawyers.com Forums, Alan Lee & Arthur Lee, Esqs.’ (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

You can put it in your will, but I don't think it would be very effective. first of all, the disclsoure is likely to be made befoe the will is read.  Second, the person disclosing (for example, the medical examiner) will probably not be aware of the will.  Third, how do you enforce it?  It might be possible to have an enforcement mechanism against those inheriting, for example you get the house unless you disclose my ccause of death, but there would be no penalty for anyone who was not receiving anything under the will, and even if it wsa someon who inherited, enforcing it would require someone an interest to sue the discloser, and it might be very difficult to prove who did it. ... Read More