Maryland Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Your best case scenario appears to be no problems with the labor certification application and having an approved I-140 by the time that the six years runs out on your H-1B status. In that case, your company can file for an extension of the H-1B while you are in the US. The chances on that depend upon the labor certification application description and requirements, how the recruitment process goes, and the financial viability of your company – all of which cannot be foretold without knowing all of the facts now and when your company begins the process. The worst case scenario is that your labor certification application is denied and your avenue is closed. In less dire circumstances in which there is an audit which delays labor certification approval until after your six years is up, you can either attempt to remain in the US on another nonimmigrant status or go out of the US and work for the same employer or another employer until you have an approved I-140 petition, at which point your employer can file a H-1B petition extension for you, which if approved, would allow you to return to the US. 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

In theory, the personal representative of the Ex's estate can make a claim to any property owned (or joinly owned property) by him on the date of his death.  However, it is possible that you could make the claim that he abandoned his interest in the properoty or otherwise work out an agreement with the personal representivie.  All this is assuming that the personal representative is aware that the propeorty exists and that the deceased has some ownership interest in the shed.... Read More

Most lawyer, including myself, can handle a simple will and the other paperwork you discribed.  However, you should still ask an attorney you are considering handling these tasks if they are knowledgeable in these fields and you should also let them know what type of property you own, what you wnat done with that property and who your possible heris may be.... Read More

There is no adding together of the income and assets of you and your cosponsor unless your cosponsor is also a household member. Otherwise, your I-864 and his/her I-864 are considered separately. In looking at your cosponsor’s income, the adjudicator generally looks to see whether the affidavit of support is credible and the number of dependents that the cosponsor is supporting along with any others that he or she has sponsored in the past and is still legally obligated to render support to if the immigrant later receives means tested public benefits. Looking at the poverty guidelines, income of $50,170 is sufficient to support seven individuals including the cosponsor. 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

Probably not.  First, if you look at your contract, you will probably find a limitation of liability provision, something along hte lines of the maximum liaiblity to which the storage facility can be subject is a refund of your storage fee.  These clauses are generally enforceable (at least in NY, it might be different in Maryland) absent gross negligence or recklessness.  I don't thinik that cutting the wrong key rises to the level of gross negligence or recklessness, but that is debatable. Also, the general rule is that parties who breach a contract are not liabile for consequential damages unless thery had reason to know that their breach would likely lead to those consequences.  The damages your describiing - additional costs incurred not directly from the breach (like the cost of a new lock, for example) but arising out of the particular circumstances of your case, are consequential and in my opinion (again arguable) are not reasonably foreseeable.   Bottom line is that i don't think you'd succeed in holding the storage facility liable for all of your damages (especially if there is a limitation of liability provision in your contract), but it might be a shot worth taking; at the least, they might offer something to settle and avoid the costs of litigation and the bad publicity.... Read More

Your mother (assuming she had no living spouse) had the right to give or leave her property to whomever she wished if she was competent.  Thus, to overturn the gift she made to your brother, you would have to file a lawsuit claiming either than she was not competent at the time of the gift, or that she was under the undue influence of your brother at the tiime.  If you can prove either of these things, you may be able to overturn the gift, but that doesn't mean that you would necesssarily get 50%, it would depend on the provisions of her will, or of the last will she made while still competent.  If, for example, that will provided that all the money would go to charity, that's what would happen.  If there was no will, than the assets that were gifted to your brother would be divided according tot the laws of intestacy.  I don't know aht they are in Maryland, but you are probably correct that, if there was no surviving spouse, and no surviving parents or siblings (parents or siblings might make a difference, but probably not) the assets would be split evenly between the surviving children.... Read More

You need a lawyer to file an Application for Determination of Heirship and Issuance of Letters of Administration, showing that you and your siblings are the heirs (if your mother or any stepmother is no longer with us) and giving you authority over all your father's property.  You can then sue your aunt for conversion (converting your father's property to hers), though, hopefully, you can work this out without a lawsuit.  Your local Dispute Resolution Center may help for a nominal fee.... Read More

Yes.  If the at fault driver is not a co-employee, you can sue him for pain and suffering.  This is called a third party claim.  These cliams can be complicated because there is some overlap with the worker's compensation claim.  I would strongly recomend that you talk to a lawyer. The firstu consultation is always free.  ... Read More

Your parking lot accident had nothing to do with criminality, and so is not required to be reported on form I-485. The form on item 25 only asks whether a person has ever been arrested, cited, charged, or detained for any reason by any law enforcement official including but not limited to any US immigration official or any official of the US Armed Forces or US Coast Guard. 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

Bassed on the facts in your email, it appears that you would probably have the option of suing in either state (check your contract to make sure that it doesn't have a choice of forum provision, or an arbitration provision) so sue in the one which you think is most favrable/convenient  to you and/or least favorable/convenient to your adversary.  Better though, hire a litigation attorney and let him/her advise you on issues like this.... Read More

You can always sue anyone for anything, but the question will be whether the manager was acting withihn the scope of his employment when he punched your son.  If so, his employer (which may or may not be the restaurant chain; it could be the individual restaurant) would be liable to your son for any damages caused by its employee's wrongful conduct (assuming that a judge/jury agrees that the manager's conduct was not justified).  If the manager was not an employee of the chain, your son would have a much more difficult time holding the chain responsible for the manager's actions, although it is still possible that the chain could have had something to do with the manager's hiring or training which was arguably improper and contributed to causing the incident.... Read More