Kentucky Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

The United States has a law against polygamy – no one would be allowed to come to the US to engage in a polygamous marriage. Neither would someone who advocated it be admissible. 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 Answer

If your father becomes a US citizen and files a petition for you before the age of 21, you would be eligible to adjust status to permanent residence as the immediate relative of a US citizen. Failing that, you would only be adjustable if you are entitled to the benefits of §245 (i) under which your father would have had a labor certification application or immigrant visa petition filed by April 30, 2001, and be physically present in the States on December 21, 2000. However, even in that scenario, your case would fall under the F-11 category as the adult son of a US citizen and you would have to wait for that quota to clear before you could file for adjustment of status. That category has a 8-9-year backlog for people born in most countries of the world. I note that with 245(i) benefits, your father could sponsor you under the F-2B category as the unmarried adult son of a permanent resident and the waiting time would be approximately 7-8 years.  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 Answer

Have you obtained an off-work disability note from your doctor and had the note sent to the insurance company? You have the legal obligation to provide proof of your medical and off-work status to the insurance company.  Many insurance companies obtain medical relases and treatment histories from injured workers and collect the information. However, since you are the one making the claim, you have the primary obligation to establish the claim. You may wish to by-pass the employer and call the insurance company directly.  If your employer willnot give you the contact information, then you can get that information by calling the Department of Workers Claims in Frankfort.... Read Answer

This sounds like a question of fact as to whether Vehicle 2 is liable and a potential uninsured motorist claim. Going on the premise that Vehicle 1 is long gone, then the issue is whether the driver Vehicle 2 negligently failed to control his/her vehicle.  From what you have described, you are likely looking at needing to file a lawsuit and letting a Jury decide.  Hopefully there are photos of the property damge caused by the alleged collision between Vehicle 1 & 2.  The reason for being able to prove the initial collision is that if you have uninsured motorist coverage, then your policy may require objective proof of the collision to qualify the accident as one involving an uninsured motorist.  Hit & run is considered an uninsured motorist event. IMO, you are looking at litigation to collect anything substantial, and that is only if the Jury buys your version of the accident.... Read Answer

The answer is "maybe." The key is the written fee agreement between you and your attorney.  For example, some fee agreements specify that the attorney is not obligated to advance funds to pursue a case.  Also, some fee agreements allow an attorney to withdraw if, upon further evaluation, the attorney does not believe that that the case is meritoripus.  There may be other terms in a fee agreement that may act as escape clauses. However, an attorney cannot bail on a case if the withdrawal would unreasonably prejudice a client's ability to continue on with the case.  For example, an attorney cannot withdraw if the case is set for trial and the trial date is so soon as prevent the client from getting a new attorney.  If a lawsuit has been filed, then the lawyer has to file a motion with the Court and set a hearing with the client present to discuss why the attorney wants to withdraw. In most instances, the Court will let the attorney out of the case and grant a reasonable continuance for the client to obtain new counsel. Pleas note that there is no legal or ethical obligation for an attorney to take on a case or advance money to pursue a case. So, depending on the circumstances and what has transpired, you "might" have a malpractice claim and you "might" also be able to file an ethics complaint -- with the Kentucky Bar Association -- against the attorney.... Read Answer

You are not bound by the alleged admission of fault.  This becomes a credibility issue where your statement would be evaluated based upon the totality of the attendant circumstances.  A jury would be instructed accordingly and could elect to believe or not believe you. If you have not already done so, then you need to sit down with a personnal injury lawyer to review your case and your options.  Note that Kentucky has a 1 year statute of limitation for your described claim.... Read Answer

You can contact the plantiff's lawyer, but I would strongly advise against it.  You have nothing to gain.  The chances that you will convince the other side to drop the suit are miniscule.  You'll only be giving them a head's up about your defense.  Work through your own lawyer.... Read Answer

Technically "no." However, the issue is proving the deduction took place.  If you are dealing only with a property damage issue and your car is a total loss, then the insurance company will make a property damage settlement based upon "fair market value." Your idea of fair market value and the insurance company's idea of fair market value may likely be different.  Your option is to sue the other driver for the damage and then incur the cost of having an appraiser look at and value the car.  The cost to litigate "fair market value" may well exceed the benefit of doing so.... Read Answer

It will be a difficult case. Without reviewing your husband's criminal record in full, I cannot divide a definitive answer but his immigrant visa petition for you will likely face scrutiny. His conviction may bar him from petitioning for you under the Adam Walsh Act. There is a waiver available but there is not enough information to assess whether the waiver could be sought in this case. I would encourage you and your significant other consult an attorney to get a better picture of The matter.... Read Answer

Kentucky rules for lost wages and return to work are fairly severe and anti-worker: Your employer does not have to hold your job for you. Your employer does not have to provide light duty work. If you are restricted to light duty, the insurance company does not have to pay for lost wages. Kentucky is an employment-at-will state which means that you can quit or be fired at any time for any legal reason or for no reason at all.  Giving notice does not obligate anyone to anything. In my opinion, based upon the circumstances you have described, you do not have a viable lost wage claim. You may be entitled to other benefits or compensation under your claim.... Read Answer

Your father may have a claim; you do not.  Your father can claim that he was fraudulently induced to enter into the contract with Directtv, but he will have an uphill battle to avoid the provisions of the written contract.  Unless you are your father's legal guardian or conservator, or he has given you a power of attorney, you can't sue for him, and even in those cases, your father is going to have to testify, as he has personal knowledge of the relevant facts (e.g. who said what to who, what he understood, why the person he spoke to should have known that he didn't understand the transaction, etc.) and you do not.  I think that you may get further going through consumer advocacy channels than in court (e.g. try to get a consumer reporter interested, complain to the better business bureau, etc.), as Directtv may fear the bad publicity if word of this spreads, but you can do both.... Read Answer

Hello and thank you for using LawQA for your legal questions. I do not think the insurance company will know how much you drive her vehicle unless one of you provides that information to them. Keep in mind that in some counties of Kentucky the county attorneys are prosecuting non-owners of vehicles for failure to maintain insurance, even though the Supreme Court of Kentucky has opined that such charges are unconstitutional. If she keeps the vehicle insured then you will likely not have this problem but if you are ever charged with non-owner operator failure to maintain insurance.... Read Answer

As you certainly know, a written Bill of Sale is the best.  However, the recorded call will likely be adequate for a civil proceeding. If your insurance was still in effect for the car at the time of the accident, then you need to make sure that you notify your company. .    ... Read Answer

2% is a fairly minimal rating.  For 2% alone, $9500 is pretty good. However, the insurance company also wants your future medical care settle.  The question is whether you still have residual problems and whether you are still under care. I recommend having a heart-to-heart with your orthopaedist as to your prognosis.  Based upon what your doctor tells you, you can then make a reasonable decision on settlement.... Read Answer

I cannot help you. I can try to point you in the right direction. What you describe appears to be potential violations of 42 USC 1983 and 42 USC 1985.  These are the Federal laws that address violations of civil rights under color of state law by individuals and conspiracies -- direct or indirect -- by state officials to violate civil rights. This is a very specialized type of case and only a few lawyers handle these cases.  You can contact a large city bar association for referrals or perhaps civil rights group like the ACLU.... Read Answer

At this point, there is a dispute in your claim that likely needs to be resolved by a Judge. You will need to file a formal claim with the Department of Workers' Claims (DWC) in Frankfort consisting of a Form 101, 104, 105, 106, and a 107 from each of your doctors along with all of your medical records. The DWC will assign a Judge and then the Judge will eventually have a Benefit Review Conference to meet with everyone.  In the interim, the claim will be process as a civil action with discovery occurring.... Read Answer

The general rule is that persons holding J-2 status are not allowed to work in this country unless they have employment authorization from U.S.C.I.S. Your situation presents a twist as you are the owner of a small company overseas and propose to provide services to a U. S. company while you are here and invoice it for your services before you obtain the EAD. In my opinion, what you are proposing sounds like unauthorized employment as you will be rendering work for a U. S. company even as you interpose your overseas company as a buffer. This would especially be more apparent if you worked on site for the U. S. company. In the event that you work from home, that might lessen any chance of problems that you might have with the Department of Homeland Security , especially if the U. S. company pays your company or you in Europe for your services and you are not paid directly in the U. S. through your invoice. 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 Answer