Texas Recent Legal Answers from Lawyers

You can only collect storage fees if your friend AGREED to pay you storage fees.  Just because you want him to pay storage fees and told him that you want him to pay storage fees does not create an obligation on his part to pay you storage fees unless he agreed to them.You might be able to argue that he has abandoned the vehicle.  In Texas, you can apply for a certificate of authority to remove an abandoned vehicle from your own property.  https://www.txdmv.gov/motorists/buying-or-selling-a-vehicle/abandoned-vehiclesOnce you apply, the DMV will give notice to the registered owner to remove the vehicle.  If the owner fails to do so, the DMV will issue you a certificate of authority which will allow you to have the vehicle removed from your property.This may not be a perfect solution, however, as he has told you (apparently multiple times) that he will remove his truck from your property.  So he has an argument that you have actual knowledge that he has not abandoned the vehicle.  And he has an argument that you agreed to allow him to park his truck in your driveway, which creates what is called a "bailment" in law.  As the bailee, you are strictly liable to redeliver the property to the true owner.  So, if you choose to apply for a certificate of authority to tow the truck off your property, I strongly recommend that you deliver it to your friend's property to avoid being liable for misdelivering the truck.... Read More

Yes.  Typically your security agreement with a lienholder requires that any insurance proceeds received for damage to the collateral (i.e. your car) be used to repair the collateral.Since it is a six-year old car, you should consider paying off the lien if you do not intend to get the car fixed.  Paying off the lienholder will enable you to use the insurance proceeds for whatever you like.Incidentally, this is exactly why the lienholder's name is on the insurance check--so you won't use the money for something else.... Read More

She is not necesarily breaking any law but, under the right facts and circumstances, might become a party to a lawsuit for fraudulent transfer or for participating in and encouraging your husband's breach of fiduciary duty.In most instances, however, the court will simply compensate you in the division of your marital estate for the value of the gift.As an aside, if your husband has given a car that is community property to his girlfriend, he has most likely spent other money on her as well.  An audit or forensic accounting ought to be done of all of your accounts to determine if he has given more than just a car to her, and a claim for reconstitution of the community estate ought to be plead in your divorce proceeding.... Read More

A typical divorce attorney charges anywhere between $300-600 per hour depending upon the lawyer's level of experience, location, and current workload.Many divorce attorneys offer an initial consultation for a flat fee.  A few may offer free consultations, but my advice is to steer clear of those.  I personally offer a 90-minute initial consultation for a low flat fee of $500.  This is fairly representative of what to expect in the North Texas area.The amount of your initial retainer depends on the complexity of your marital estate, whether there are minor children, the county where you live, and how aggressively you anticipate your husband will be in any divorce proceeding.  For a relatively simple divorce without children involving a straightforward marital estate, I routinely request an initial retainer of $5,000.  If the parties are in relative agreement and disagreements do not arise regarding issues the spouses haven't thought of before filing and the spouses put in the legwork instead of requiring a paralegal or attorney to hunt down information from third party sources, we can occasionally complete a divorce for that sum of money depending on the court the case is assigned to.  This is not typical, however.Ordinarily, funds from the community estate will be used to pay for each party's attorney.  If one spouse does not have access to those funds, the court can order interim attorney fees to be paid from any account that is part of the parties' marital estate.  ... Read More

From reading your fact situation, it does not appear that you have violated status at any time and that you actually made trips back to the home country during the time that you have been holding F-1 status. You appear to have a position, teaching in the Dallas ISD, that would not generally be subject to question by the US Consulate. As such, barring any unknowns, I would assess your chances of obtaining a visa to reenter the US under H-1B status to be as good as or better than other applicants. 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

As you are renewing your visa, you should be able to renew without your spouse being present as the American consulate has already granted F-1 and F-2 visas to your spouse and you previously. You are of course subject to all other considerations of nonimmigrant visa renewal including showing that you and your spouse have been maintaining valid F-1/F-2 statuses in the States. On the possibility of renewing the F-2 visa in the US, the current immigration law does not provide for that convenience although such may happen in the future. 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

An employee normally must abide by the sick leave policy of his employer, unless a city or local ordinance applies.  If the illness or health condition is the result of a workplace injury, the employer cannot terminate an employee for seeking medical attention under the Workers' Compensation Act.  If the medical condition constitutes a disability under the American with Disabilities Act (which is certainly possible with a serious cardiac problem) and the employee has requested a reasonable accommodation with respect to seeking medical care for the disability, the employer cannot terminate the employee for seeking medical care for the disability.If this was just a routine cardiology appointment (and I empathize because I have to see a cardiologist periodically for past incidents which are not disabling to me), the employee normally must use whatever sick leave is available from his employer or must schedule his appointments on his day off.... Read More

Your employment agreement with your attorney will determine how much of any settlement proceeds you are entitled to receive.  It is common for asbestos exposure claims to be handled on a contingency fee with the law firm advancing out-of-pocket expenses, including the cost for expert witnesses. It is not uncommon for these expenses in an asbestos case to be tens of thousands of dollars.It is also common that these expenses, or your pro rata share of these expenses if the law firm is handling several claims for many plaintiffs against the same defendant, are deducted from any settlement first, before the remainder is divided between you and your attorney according to the agreed percentages.Your attorney, or the law firm, should give you an itemized statement of all out-of-pocket expenses which they are deducting from your settlement, along with any calculation reflecting how they allocated your pro rate share of such costs.  While they are not required to provide supporting documentation--like receipts or invoices from expert witnesses--you are entitled to request and received copies of the backup documentation.What constitutes a legitimate case expense largely depends on the language of your agreement with your attorney.  Things that are often questionable include meals, mileage, telephone charges, computer-assisted legal research, in-firm copy costs, and charges for sending or receiving facsimiles.  In the absence of express language in your agreement including these items, clients can often challenge these types of "out-of-pocket" expenses.... Read More

In Texas, our justice of the peace courts have jurisdiction over small claims where the amount of money being sought is $20,000 or less.  Because paying an attorney to file and prosecute a lawsuit almost always costs more than that, your best course of action in this case is to obtain a repair estimate for your spoiler (which I'm guessing will be less than $20,000), and then file a small claim lawsuit in justice of the peace court against the car wash company or car wash owner.  You may also want to ask for the cost of a rental car for the time period your car will be in the shop for the spolier to be fixed.... Read More

Hello Amber, Thankfully it's a fairly straightforward process. Most attorneys who have a client who wishes to fire them do not wish to remain on the case regardless as clearly there is an issue with the attorney-client relationship that could hinder the attorney's ability. Some courts may have a form that you can use, but essentially you would just need to file a Motion for Withdrawal with the Court. While these are normally submitted by the attorney, the Court will consider a Motion filed by the client as well. However, if you're planning on getting a new attorney, it may be easier and better to first hire the other attorney and they would simply draft and file a Motion for Substitution of Counsel instead. Webb County has a form template for criminal cases where the attorney is the one that filed the Motion, but you can likely use it as a guide for what your Motion needs to include: https://www.webbcountytx.gov/DC111th/Forms/Criminal%20-%20Motion%20To%20Withdraw%20Atty.pdf. The key thing your Motion needs to include are the style at the top (the "case heading"), the title stating it's a Motion for Withdrawal, that you no longer wish to have your attorney representing you in the case, and your signature. Keep in mind that after filing it with the Court, you do have to provide copies to your attorney as well as the other side/their attorney. Best,James M. Ringel... Read More

A party (you) cannot be the person who serves the summons (actually , it's called the citation).  You need to send the citation and a copy of the complaint to an officer or private process server authorized to serve such documents in the State of California.  That officer, or private process server, will then send you either a Return or an Affidavit of Service for you to file with the court.... Read More

Defamation is the publication of a false defamatory statement of fact about a person.  From your question, it sounds like the information your sister disclosed was truthful, not false.  Moreover, the statute of limitations for defamation is one year.  Since the disclosure occurred ten years ago, any claim would probably be barred by limitations.  With the exception of nominal damages for certain types of statements which are considered defamatory per se, your question does not indicate how the disclosure caused you to suffer any sort of compensable damages.  Finally, disclosing past medical history to nursing staff probably isn't defamatory.... Read More

Ordinarily, you cannot sucessfully sue for money merely for being placed in fear of your life as you have suffered no actual compensable damages.  This type of event is something that you should report to law enforcement for criminal prosecution.  Given the lack of any damages, it is highly unlikely that any attorney would waste the time pursuing such a claim on a contingency fee, and most would not take advantage of you by accepting your money on an hourly fee basis pursuing such a claim.  ... Read More

You need to hire another contractor to do whatever the inspector requires to insure that the mobile home is stable and that the work is completed properly.You can then make determination whether it is worthwhile to pursue the original contractor for breach of contract and/or for breach of the implied warranty of good and workmanlike performance.  My guess is that the cost to complete the work properly will be less than $20,000.  If so, you can file a lawsuit without an attorney in a justice of the peace court to recover that amount from the original contractor who won't fix the problem.... Read More

If you are not the beneficiary, you lack standing to address this matter.  Your brother-in-law's personal representative has standing to compel the life insurance company to disclose who the beneficiary is.  You should consider contacting him and offer to pay him out of your pocket to conduct that discovery.  He probably is not pursuing that information to avoid wasting assets of your brother-in-law's estate merely to learn who the beneficiary is.  ... Read More

If you purchased the car during your marriage, it is most likely community property regardless of being registered solely in your name.  Reporting it stolen probably will not be an effective way to get it returned.You should ask your divorce attorney to request temporary orders in your divorce proceeding awarding you the exclusive use and possession of the car during the pendency of the case.  If he refuses to return it then, your attorney can file a motion for contempt against your husband.  That is likely to be a far more effective way to get it returned.  Once you have been awarded the exclusive use and possession of the car by the divorce court, law enforcement may be willing to help you because his refusal to return it could be prosecuted as theft.  In my experience, police won't necessarily bring charges, but will stand there with you while you take the keys and drive away to keep the peace between you and your husband.... Read More

Your husband should send a letter to his court-appointed attorney instructing her not to agree to any further resets of his probation revocation hearing.If your husband did violate the terms of his probation and the State can prove such a violation by a preponderance of the evidence, your husband will have to serve out his sentence and will not be released from jail until he does.  In some cases, probation violators prefer to serve their sentence jailed in their county jail rather than in a state prison.  So the strategy of resetting the case could be a conscious decision made by your husband in consultation with his attorney in order to remain in the county jail rather than being transferred to a state prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.  He will receive the same credit toward his sentence in either instance.The only way he will be released to come home and go to work is if he wins his probation revocation hearing, he completes his sentence, or he serves enough of his sentence to be paroled.... Read More

Typically, a tenant is entitled to quiet enjoyment of the leased premises during the term of the lease.  As long as you are current on your rent payments and have not otherwise breached your lease, your landlord cannot make you move out until the end of your lease term.  If you do not have a written lease agreement, or if a prior written lease agreement has expired, your lease is most likely now month-to-month.  If so, your landlord can give you not less than 30 days written advance notice that he is terminating your lease.  Unless your lease permits your landlord to enter the premises during the lease term to show the property, you have no legal obligation to allow the realtors to enter until the lease ends.  It would be a kindness on your part to allow them to enter.... Read More

In part, this depends on whether the listing agreement is "open" or "exclusive."  In the current real estate market, "open" listing agreements are quite common.  Under such an agreement, the agent/broker only earns a commission if and when they procure a seller.  In the past, "exclusive" listing agreements were more common.  Under such an agreement, the agent/broker earns a commission if a contract to buy the property is signed during the agreed exclusive listing period.Note that a listing agreement must be signed by both parties, not just by the seller.  You might ask whether the broker has signed the listing agreement yet and, if so, will the broker send you a fully signed copy.  Without a listing date and price, I would expect the answer to be "No" because they are waiting on you to provide the listing price.  That would signal that there is no meeting of the minds on a material term of the listing agreement, i.e. price.  This is a reasonable conclusion because the broker might not be willing to pay the MLS fee to list the property if your proposed price is too high.  If it plays out that way, you can most likely rescind your acceptance of the listing agreement you signed, but which has not yet been signed by the broker, and tell him you do not wish to proceed with listing the property at this time.... Read More

With respect to the amount of time it has taken, if you and the contractor did in fact actually agree upon a fixed completion date and that date has passed, and the delay in completion of the project is not due to your own actions, you may be entitled to delay damages.  Because delay damages depend upon the specific facts and circumstances of your situation and are sometimes difficult to quantify, many construction contracts specify a set dollar amount per day for delay damages.  When a stated completion date is not firm or material to the parties, a construction contract often includes a "no damages for delay" provision to make it clear that you cannot seek damages for any delay in the completion of the work.  If your contract has neither, you will need to discuss your particular situation in greater detail with an attorney to determine what compensable damages you have sustained as a result of the delay.With respect to below average work, there are two different legal standards involved:1. Work that does not meet the specific requirements of your contract is "non-conforming."  You have the right to reject non-conforming work and to require the contractor to redo it regardless of how skillfully the contractor performed it.  For example, if he was to paint something blue, but instead painted it yellow, you could insist that he redo it whether it was below average or superior in quality.  2. With respect to contractors making improvements or repairs to real property, the law provides an implied warranty of good and workmanlike services.  That means the contractor's work must be done in the same manner as would a generally proficient contractor engaged in similar work under similar circumstances.  "Below average" may or may not meet this standard depending upon how much "below" average the work is compared to what generally proficient contractor would have done.... Read More

Generally speaking, unless the parents reached an agreement otherwise, they should abide by the possession schedule set forth in their court order.One parent can't preempt another parent's possession time by scheduling a vacation that conflicts, even if they do so with advance notice.With respect to summer vacations, the standard possession order provides that each party can give written notice in advance of selected periods for the exercise of their respective summer periods of possession which supersede any conflicting weekend periods of possession set forth in the order.  So each parent typically has an opportunity under the standard possession order to plan and take a summer vacation with the child/children.  When a parent wants to take an extended vacation with the child/children outside the parameters of that summer time frame, it is incumbent on the parent to approach and reach an agreement with the other parent.... Read More