New York Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

Currently, E-2 spouses are not required to apply for employment authorization as that is given pursuant to status under the code E-2S. We have heard of situations in which some consulates are still giving the designation of E-2D, and CBP sometimes does not make the correction at the port of entry. In such case, your wife would have to contact USCIS for the correction. I note that some E-2 spouses choose to apply for an EAD just to have a document which clearly spells out that the individual has employment authorization. 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 could file a child support case against him, and when the hearing judge is requested by your ex to do a paternity exam, all of you will have to take a DNA test. Once it is determined that he is not the father of the child, your child support request will be denied. He would probably make a motion to amend the birth certificate to remove his name from it based on the paternity test. ... Read More

The most crucial step is to secure your WiFi network. Even if you're no longer with that cable company, anyone with the information in the installer contract could potentially access your network. The cable company's installer sharing your WiFi information with others is a serious breach of privacy. Contact the cable company's customer service: Explain the situation and file a formal complaint about the installer's actions. Ask for the company to investigate the incident and take appropriate action to ensure such a breach doesn't happen again. In some cases, depending on the severity of the issue and the laws in your area, you might want to consider legal action. Consulting a lawyer specializing in privacy law can help you understand your options here. I would recomend paying for a premium consultation with an attorney you trust that specialize in breach of privacy matters like myself to figure out all your options and to see if there is a financial benefit that may be able to reap from this breach of privacy incident. Looking forward to hearing from you, Good Luck.... Read More

No you will not be arrested but the Bank will most likely obtain a judgement against you giving them the option to enter a monetary judgement against you and recover funds in more ways you can imagine. We have dealt with clients who have been in situations like these and have helped them negotatie and settle the debt and even made it dissapare at times. I would recomend you reach out directly to an attorney to discuss the case in a premium consultation to get legal advice in how to protect yourself and your bank accounts. Looking forward to hearing from you. Good Luck.... Read More

Usually, the name of the attorney or law firm's name appears on the Will itself, although there is no legal requirement.  You will possibly need to ask any siblings, other relatives, friends, and neighbors of your mother if they know.  Realize that the attorney who prepares a Will has no ongoing obligations after the Will is signed.  The estate-planning attorney isn't often the same attorney who is hired to probate the Will when the client dies.  Depending on how much time has passed, the attorney who prepared the Will may not remember and may not have any files or electronic information concerning the preparation of the Will.  Experienced estate-planning attorneys will not agree to retain the original of the executed Will for their client for a number of very good reasons.  For example, the client can revoke the Will by physically destroying the original any time before death.When the client dies, the family of the decedent typically locates the Will, often in a lockbox or safety deposit box, and the person named as executor/executrix then can, but is not legally required to, probate the Will.  If the executor/executrix and any alternates decline to serve, anyone named in the Will (including you), any creditor of the decedent, or any heir at law of the decedent can probate the Will.  ... Read More

Search for attorneys in or near your county with experience in consumer law.  See if they mention moving and storage companies in their profile.  Scroll down their profile to the section named "Payment Information" to see if they accept cases on a contingency fee.  If you don't find any, broaden your search to other potentially relevant areas of law like contract litigation, bailments, property damage, etc.  If you still don't find any, broaden the geographic area of your search.You won't be able to expand the geographic area very far considering the small size of your case.  A 40% contingency on a claim of $150,000 is only $60,000.  It is unlikely very many attorneys will be willing to travel very far for such a small fee.Unfortunately, there is no way on this platform to simply create a list of attorneys who accept cases on a contingency fee in a particular geographic area and only then scroll through the profiles to determine the attorney's areas of practice and experience.  ... Read More

That depends upon whether your bachelor’s degree was earned in the US or if not, is the equivalent of a US baccalaureate degree – and whether it is related to the position that you will be sponsored for, which must be in a specialty occupation requiring a related bachelors degree. If your bachelor’s degree is not the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree, you might be able to qualify for H-1B specialty occupation status if you had sufficient related professional work to make up for the lack of a US degree. In immigration parlance, three years of such work can make up for one year of missing education. There is even the possibility of your master schooling being added to your baccalaureate schooling to give you the equivalent of a baccalaureate degree related to the specialty occupation. If you meet those conditions, your employer can sponsor you. For FY-2025, cap H1B registration season goes from 3/6/24 – 3/22/24. If you miss this registration, you would have to wait until next year for the next round. 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 start a shareholders derivative action against the board but it's best to get other shareholders involved- but you'd have a high burden of proof. The board is generally protected by the business judgment rule from liability for decieions such as an assessment. But if enough shareholders agree that it's outrageous you might at least be able to get better answers, and if there's actual malfeasance they could be liable.... Read More

Need more information to answer. There is a 2 1/2 year statute of limitations to sue for medical malpractice that runs from the date of injury but may be extended to the date of the last follow up treatment of the condition by the md who committed the malpractice. You may be able to sue both doctors if neither caught your cancer until it was too late. Is it inoperable? Were you treated successfully? Need more information about the testing and treatment and your prognosis- if it's not too late to sue.... Read More

You may have a case against the store, depending on exactly what happened after you were stopped for shoplifting. Assuming you were falsely accused, if you were detained in a room and not allowed to leave for an extended amount of time, you could have a claim for false arrest against the store, even if the police were not called. If there is video surveillance tape available, you should request it immediately. ... Read More

It is impossible for you to "know for a fact" that your 19 year old doesn't smoke marijuana around your 5 year old - or have him around someone who does- when you're not around unless you have her under 24/7 surveillance. She may be the subject of the CPS investigation but you could be next, and you may be in danger of losing custody of your 5 year old unless you get someone other than your 19 year old to take care of him when you're not around. You've already said there's a 2 1/2 hr window of time every school morning when she's alone with him and that she picks him up from school. You didn't say what time you get home but obviously she has a great deal of time to smoke around him- or have him around other people who do. If she has a car she could be smoking in her car or have someone in her car who smokes. Or she could be getting a lift from someone who smokes. You've given your 19 year old an enormous responsibility, and it's time for you to get someone else involved in taking care of your 5 year old- and let your 19 year old know how serious the situation is. If someone thinks your daughter has smoked massive amounts of marjuana since November, and the school smelled it on your son, and he was acting confused (sign of a contact high)- you've got a serious problem on your hands. Make your daughter understand that unless she cleans up her act she may not be able to live in the same house as your 5 year old. Marijuana may be legal, but exposing a child to it is not. child abuse.... Read More

As long as your brother and his wife are amenable to transferring the deed into your name and you follow the procedures in the condo by-laws, it should be a simple matter to get your name on the condo deed.. But if your brother and sister-in-law oppose this, the question is, why? If the condo was purchased with your money, why is their name on the deed at all? If they oppose adding your name, much missing information is needed about their role in the purchase to answer this question. ... Read More

I am puzzled as to how a "corner of a piece of vinyl flooring coming up" evolved into a "safety hazard" requiring "several thousand dollars" of repair over the course of a little more than a year. It really begs the question, how did that happen? If the entire floor was in such bad condition when you moved in, you should've notified the landlord about the general condition of the floor. The landlord now seems to be treating the floor problem as something you created.  Be that as it may, you can still report the condition to the Building Department if you live in a borough of New York City by calling (212)639-9675. If the floor is found to be a building code violation, the landlord will be served with a notice of violation and you can start a housing court proceeding (an HP action) and the landlord will have to fix it. You may even get a rent abatement. If you want the repairs done at no cost to yourselves, you'll need to let in inspectors and repair people regardless of whether they're masked. Since you're immune compromised you can always wear your own masks and ask everyone to keep their distance from you. But you can't force anyone to wear a mask.  You haven't said whether the landlord or super came into your apartment to inspect the floor, or just the flooring company, and whether you or the landlord arranged the company. But I'm guessing that neither the landlord or super has been in your apartment because they won't wear masks. That would be entirely understandable if it were April 2020, but it isn't. If it comes out in the course of a court hearing that you refused to give access for repairs or inspections because workers or inspectors wouldn't wear masks, there's no guarantee a judge wouldn't throw out your case.  You can always stay in another room while repairs are being made or conditions inspected.You can also call around until you find a company or repair person willing to do the repair at a reasonable cost, and pay out of pocket. Just because you were told by one company the repair will cost thousands of dollars doesn't mean it should. As for the landlord's demand for a $2800 deposit, that defies logic. If you choose to hire someone to repair the floor, make sure they're insured and don't alert the landlord.   ... Read More

If two doctors told you that the procedure was incorrectly done, necessitating another surgery, your son very likely has a good medical malpractice case. The question is when to bring it. You haven't said when the first surgery took place, but assuming your son is still under 18, the statute of limitations to sue for medical malpractice is tolled until 10 years after  date of the injury.  A second surgery might repair the problem but there also might be complications that do not emerge until he's older. That being said, the younger that your child is when you start a lawsuit, the less embarrassing it will be to him, and the less disruptive to his life. Give some serious thought to the timing of filing an action- you have time.  ... Read More

Your husband will probably be entitled to little or no share of your house or the joint bank account in your divorce.Since you bought the house before you married, it is not a marital asset. Therefore, he has no claim on it in a divorce, unless he put a very large amount of money into the property, in which case he might claim he has a constructive trust in it.As far as the joint account, if you had already filed for divorce you would've had no right to remove your husband's name, regardless of the fact that only you contribute to it. Your timing was excellent in removing his name now. Although you haven't mentioned it, if you have a job with a pension and your husband (as I suspect) does not, it's very important that you file for divorce as soon as possible to stop his share of your pension from continuing to accrue, keeping in mind that if he does have a pension, the same applies to you. The same applies to spousal support, which is calculated on the length of the marriage, up to the date you file for divorce. The additional caveat to filing as soon as possible is that if his income is significantly lower than yours, you can expect that he will file a motion for pendente lite relief, meaning a court order for spousal support and attorney fees from you, shortly after you file for divorce. Alimony is calculated according to a state mandated formula producing a range for an amount and length of time for spousa support to be paid, based on your joint incomes and length of the marriage. A skilled divorce attorney can often defeat or greatly reduce an award in that situation, depending on the particular case. ... Read More

First of all, keep in mind that the statute of limitations to file a medical malpractice action is 2 1/2 years, so if the surgery was in Sept 2021, the SOL to file a lawsuit expires in March unless you obtained follow-up treatment from the same doctor for the same condition, in which case it is extended for the length of the treatment. Second, the only way to prove medical malpractice is with testimony from a doctor in the same field that 1-but for the actions of the surgeon in question, you wouldn't have your injury, and that 2-your injury is permanent. In order to determine whether you have a viable medical malpractice case for the hammertoe surgery, your records need to be reviewed and opinion obtained from a foot surgeon. For your lack of informed consent claim for the right-side surgery, the same rationale applies, with the added caveat that you must prove that had you been informed of the condition requiring surgery, it would've been reasonable to refuse the surgery. A medical malpractice attorney interested in your case will normally obtain the necessary review, but it sounds as though your second opinion doctor may have already confirmed that you have a case.... Read More

Much more information is needed before your question can be answered. What stage is your divorce? Do both parties have attorneys? Has a divorce settlement agreement been signed by all the parties and their attorneys? Has the "packet" of divorce papers been submitted to the clerk for review before it goes to the judge to sign the decree? Or is it with the judge? Or are there outstanding papers that need to be drafted and signed?  Even in this age of no-fault divorce and even in an uncontested divorce, there is a mountain of paperwork that needs to be submitted to the court before the decree is signed by the judge. Once that paperwork is submitted, it is appropriate for your attorney to make periodic calls to the clerk to ascertain the estimated time before the papers will be reviewed by the clerk or the judge, depending on the stage. If corrections need to be made, the clerk will inform the attorney or party who submitted the papers. Once you answer these questions, you'll get a more helful answer. ... Read More

New York City requires home improvement contractors to be licensed, and allows consumer/homeowner complaints about one to be filed online with the NY City Department of Consumer Affairs https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/index.page. If you do not live in NY City kindly review your local county's website and determine if that county permits a homeowner to file a complaint against a home improvement contractor who fails, neglects or refuses to properly complete its work.  The contractor you site in your complaint could have its license suspended or revoked if the problem you describe is not remedied.  ... Read More

The big questions are whether the plumber can determine if the problem existed well before the property was sold, whether the seller had to have known about it, and whether a property disclosure form was submitted at closing or you received the $500 credit in lieu of the form. It seems unlikely that the sellers could've known of a gas leak and hidden the problem, considering a gas leak can be a life and property threatening condition. Unless you can prove that the sellers knew of this condition and failed to disclose it, unfortunately you have no claim against them. If you can prove the seller knew and deliberately hid the condition, you may have a claim against them. ... Read More