Hey Friends! Remember when you just started living on campus and you realized you had purchased a timeshare package to an extravagant family vacation resort and you didn’t even remember doing it? Of course you don’t, but someday you probably will look back on this experience and wonder how you could have spent so much money on what was essentially a vacation for life. Before you find yourself in shock, it is important to remember that you have time to make the right choice and legally cancel the contract before it is too late. So we thought today we would give you some tips on understanding the real meaning of a timeshare contract and how to utilize your legal recission period.

For those of you who don’t even know what a timeshare is, don’t worry because most of us aren’t familiar with the legal jargon and fine print until we are paying the bill. Essentially, a timeshare contract is sharing ownership or long-term use of property, usually a resort, with other “owners” or “members.” Members of a timeshare collectively own the property and take turns enjoying days at the resort every year. Timeshares are common at vacation resorts for tourist destinations, such as Florida and California. Many people sign up for these contracts expecting to save money over time since they believe they will visit the resort at least one week per year for a guaranteed number of decades. However, what many people do not know is that a timeshare is essentially “deeded property,” therefore at its heart a timeshare contract is a real estate contract. You purchase a shared interest in a home away from home and remove yourself from the possibility of choosing another place to vacation for life. The good news about this situation is that under the right circumstances, a timeshare contract can be canceled within specific time requirements. The bad news is that people do not always take the time to read the intricate details of the contract and so they are stuck paying astronomical timeshare fees.

If we are going to be honest, most people do not really think about our timeshare contract until they find themselves trying to cancel it for one of the several popular reasons. One of the most common reasons for trying to cancel a timeshare contract is financial hardship. Another reason commonly seen is that the deal was simply too good to be true. People often find that a timeshare contract is not worth the expense after a single encounter with their new vacation home. In either of these cases and others, people usually realize that they are interested in trying to legally cancel the contract within the first few months after signing it. This is called the “recission period.” The recission period is different in each state and more information on your state’s policy can be found by looking at our featured article. There are also several online tools available to sample letter to rescind timeshare contract forms, but it is important that individuals are aware of their time constraints and understand how to best utilize the rescission period.

While it is essential that students understand their rights and timing limits regarding timeshare contracts, it is equally important that we offer tips so that students are less likely to sign a timeshare contract in the first place. First, pay attention to any legal paperwork that is presented to you. While it seems pretty self-explanatory, people often sign contracts without reading commercials, fliers, or brochures. We encourage students to pay attention to details. Second, understand and ask about any and all fees attached to your timeshare contract, including membership fees. These fees can add up quickly and will inevitably reach the thousands of dollars per year. Third, take time to consider other options or alternatives to purchasing a timeshare. There are several other ways to enjoy a vacation without locking yourself into a timeshare contract. There are timeshare rental programs, for example, and prices will vary based on location. On the whole, timeshare contracts are not recommended for most individuals because it can be difficult to legally cancel a contract after the recission period has lapsed. However, there are some simple steps that students can take to ensure they feel confident signing a contract, knowing that they can legally cancel within a few months if need be. We hope this article has helped you understand the importance of being diligent with all of your purchases. Leave comments below to let us know your thoughts or experiences with timeshares. As students, we all have a lot of decisions to make that have lifetime implications. It is critical that you seek professional help and advice before moving forward with important purchases.

For more information on timeshare regulations, you can visit Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Understanding Inheritance Law in Puerto Rico

On this week’s post I have decided to analyze another article, this time published in our Law and Culture section, dealing with Inheritance Law in Puerto Rico and how it affects day-to-day life. The short and specific research article titled “Inheritance Law in Puerto Rico 101: An Introductory Guide” published in the Legal Trends Archive discusses the basics of inheritance law and the rules around who inherits what in cases of death or property division, and why young people should pay attention. It starts with a joke that goes like this: What Puerto Rican family tradition do you hate the most? The one about fighting over the land! – inquiring minds want to know. This is because, as the article states, drinking coffee while sharing the most juicy gossip with family members is a classic and it represents a lot more than a simple cup of coffee. This post, however, will not be focusing on the importance and beauty behind those specific moments. It will instead shed some light on the intricate set of laws surrounding land inheritance in Puerto Rico, how they can affect future & current generations, and how to deal with them through an informal chat style post. Let’s get started!

Several years ago, a friend asked me about my feelings towards the situation. They explained how they had opened their father’s inheritance process only to find out that their mother was co-owner of the property he had recently passed away in and that, because everyone was dead, the property now belonged to him and his siblings. The article by Crystal Ribeiro explains two of the concepts I explained in a simple way: What happens when you die without a will and the concept of universal heirship. In simple terms, when a person dies without a testament, version of the will, which formally designates the property heirs and division of said property, the concept of universal heirship applies. Simply put, your parents and children will be direct heirs, followed by your grandchildren if you have no children and so on. What most people don’t know is that siblings are not directly included in this. Siblings are instead considered universal heirs if one of their parents is dead. In this instance, the siblings will also be universal heirs. Siblings will not inherit property left behind if their parent is alive unless there’s a will reserving property for them.

Essentially, as the article says, a divided estate comes up when there are multiple owners, leaving out everything that is co-owned. This may sound lovely in theory but in practice, it doesn’t take into consideration the emotions brought out by the passing of a loved one and creates a rift between family members. An even simpler way to getting out of the quagmire brought out by the death of loved ones and the problems associated with universal heirship is to have everything clearly documented in a will. Yes, a will! Evident that pets become heirs of sorts during the process, it makes little to no sense when the properties left behind include a lifetime treasured possession such as a beloved car, a special sofa or even a collection of baseball cards. In Puerto Rico, a mixed property (including property and cars for example) will be divided equally according to the proportion of ownership by persons. It is important to note that Puerto Rican law follows far stricter laws in that sense than other states of the union, making it all the more important to understand the quirks of inheritance laws in Puerto Rico.

For instance, once three years have passed from the person’s death, the inheritance is final, giving the persons time to settle their affairs slowly. As a word of warning, mentioning that there were cases where the person was left with nothing, they had to start the process all over again and wait another three years to finally be able to divide the property correctly. It might seem hard to follow but again, it’s up to you to decide whether you want to navigate these sometimes shark-infested waters on your own or if you’d rather hire a professional to deal with the brunt of the work for you. If you decide to handle it all on your own, read articles like the one mentioned above, do some deeper research on the internet and use applications like LawInOrder to get some easy and clear answers to your questions. The only real downside about using an app like LawInOrder is the fact that it can’t provide direct legal consultation services. Fortunately, this is something you can do for free with the Colegio de Abogados and various other organizations such as tú abogado o tu abogado, which offers consultation days and even phone consultation services in certain cases. Yes, I said it, free. While the Colegio de Abogados requires prospective consultors to do a gradual registration process with each piece of information requested being submitted in full, tú abogado o tu abogado is a far simpler process. A simple online form submission is all it takes, followed by a call to verify the information you provided and you’re good to go. If anything else, I hope you’ve been able to learn more about the intricacies of Puerto Rican inheritance laws and how they affect day-to-day life, family relations and wealth division, and how in the end, it isn’t all necessarily bad.

Recently, I’ve come across an article from this resource that could very well be of interest to a lot of students at UGM. This is especially true when you consider that, in the future, they will, probably, take part into the job market and need to be aware of all the employment laws, so that they can get hired. Additionally, they could also gain some more experience and learn more about legal advocacy, as learning more about the law will simply contribute to their educational growth.

It is not uncommon for a student to not be familiar with legal matters, but the reason this could prove to be so important, is because employment laws are very concerned with the process of you being hired. Going into those details, we can say that there are many protections afforded to employees, especially when it comes to gender, race or sexual orientation. So, if one day you find yourself being denied a promotion, when you ended up being the most competent of your colleagues, then maybe the employer is acting in bad faith and discriminating against you for one of the above reasons.

Of course, this is a hypothetical scenario. But the point is, being aware of all those details can be really useful. A very prolific lawyer in Omaha will help you a lot by providing those details and the source of action you should take into discussion. As an expert, your lawyer will know what are the most suitable and favorable laws that can provide you the most adequate protection.

So, when it comes to finding the right legal assistance, all you will have to do is follow the protocol, and you will be just fine.

Ask your friends for recommendations about which is the best Omaha Employment Law Attorney. You may even ask one of your professors, or your school’s law department. After getting several subpoenas, you will be able to compile a list of potential candidates from which you can choose.

Go on the internet and check which are the top-rated Omaha Employment Law Attorneys. You can also check out all the articles and reviews written down by previous clients, as those will give you a better idea of what to expect.

Check their references and see if they match up the reviews and the articles that you read online.

Also, try calling them, and see how their attitude is, especially when answering your questions. Volunteer and think which are the most important issues, so that you can get those questions answered.

If you want to go a step further, a tactic is to call a couple of times. For example, the second time you call, use the same story and see how far are they willing to go to prove that they are a reliable Service.

If you’re lucky enough, you might find a couple of profiles on the various social media platforms. By combining the above approaches, you can easily find a good Law Attorney.

Discuss with your friends and family and see what are their opinions regarding the Omaha employment law attorneys that you are currently considering. Sometimes, you might be surprised, as one of them has had an encounter with that particular Lawyer.

As student veterinarians, you will not be exempt from maintaining the privacy of your clients (you know, those pet owners that bring in their precious fur babies for you to diagnose and treat). If you have been paying attention to Arina Nada’s site, you should be very familiar with veterinary confidentiality laws and how they impact veterinarians, pet owners, and the welfare of beloved creatures.

As picky pet owners, we want the best for our furry friends. If our dog or cat is having a health issue, we want to know the cause and how it can be treated. However, sometimes we don’t want our business out there.

When it comes to serious matters, such as medical concerns, theft, and abuse, we definitely want what happens in the animal clinic to stay between us, the veterinarian, and the pet.

Veterinary confidentiality laws exist that make veterinarians legally responsible for the protection and privacy of all personal information about you and your pet. Veterinarians cannot disclose specific or private information about your pet without your consent.

Veterinarians decide what information is disclosed by determining:

Veterinary confidentiality laws are not, however, the same as your typical physician and patient confidentiality laws. Veterinary staff is not bound by the same laws that govern human medical privacy.

For example, veterinarians are negligent if they reveal the following:

By comparison, veterinarians do not have the same obligations in protecting client records as human medical providers. This has a direct impact on you, the pet owner.

Veterinarians may not be careful about the information they share with others, especially unintentionally. Their discretion relies upon their assessment of the situation, which is not always ideal. If a person comes into your exam room to visit their animal, your vet may carelessly share pertinent information, assuming that, “oh, they were here last week; they must be OK.”

Quick!

Take this test…What have you learned? Ponder these questions:

If you answered yes to any of the above, then veterinary confidentiality laws may need to be more specific in order to protect you and your precious four-legged friend. Pass this blog along so that others can learn too!

Most of you are attending school to become veterinarians; some of you still have many years of school left. So what are you going to do about veterinary confidentiality and the concerns of your future clients? Here are some ideas that may help you as you continue your studies (as well as impress future employers):

These are just a few ideas to get you thinking! Veterinary confidentiality laws exist to protect patients and clients; however, it is up to you to ensure that the laws are respected. So how about you make it your mission to learn all you can on the topic of veterinary confidentiality and maybe even write a paper that you can share and impress your fellow classmates.

If you think that you are going to forget all that you learned here on Arina Nada’s site and study materials, then bookmark this page. That way, you will have the information at your fingertips…

If you believe that your pet’s doctor should be held accountable for transgressions and clients need protection, then do something about it! Advocate to your friends about the importance of veterinary confidentiality and how you can help make things better for you and your clients.

If you have questions or comments (and if you’ve read this far, then you probably do), leave them below. As a bonus, you’ll receive a few extra credit points.

If you answered yes to that, then you’re going to have a problem with veterinary confidentiality as you pursue your dream to become a vet.

Understanding Legal Aid in Stark County, Ohio

For most students, it could be an awkward time. You know you need some kind of legal assistance. Or a friend of yours in the dorm is having trouble with the landlord. The scenario might seem like something a sitcom character would experience, but, in reality, the legal aid you and your peers need are close at hand. In fact, you can call on these resources when you need them. You just need to know how to get started. Legal aid may seem like an odd topic for this blog, which has focused more on essays on building young professionals’ careers. But, legal aid is about the systems people can put in place to better their lives and the lives of those in their communities. It’s about speaking up for what you believe. That’s why we encourage you to learn more about the legal aid system, including local programs here in Stark County, Ohio.

You know you have a voice, but you also want to lend those around you the opportunity to be heard. That’s why comprehensive legal aid resources in Stark County can be so valuable to the students at University of Mount Union and Ohio Alliance to End Human Trafficking. You care about the legal system beyond the abstract. You want to see local laws be enforced the right way, like in the case of late rent being paid by underprivileged renters. UGH is a great program for you to apply your passion to making a difference for yourself and the people in the community.

Going further with the concept, you may find a local resource such as Legal Aid in Stark County, Ohio: The Complete Resource Guide. You can look for specific nonprofit programs and legal organizations that focus on protecting victims’ rights or exposing corruption. There are so many Stop Human Trafficking resources in Ohio. You can even find pro bono lawyers for seniors in Cleveland or the Stark County area.

Let’s start with the concept of legal aid in Western Ohio. By the legal aid system, we mean everything from a legal aid app on your smartphone to a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the rights of workers to senior welfare services. They help bring the people who need certain services in contact with the right organizations and professionals who can lend a hand. Remember that you and your classmates may not realize you even need legal aid until it’s too late. Think of all the people entering the university system and how many different directions your life can take.

Even more, it’s possible for students to lose judicial rights through litigation if they don’t know about the legal aid services available, so knowing how the system works is essential. That’s why legal aid can mean everything to University of Mount Union. We understand that. You and your peers at UGH have established the goal of bettering your community while meeting your own needs. You care about the ethics and principles of how business is done. That means you can understand how creating opportunities for legal aid can be crucial to everyone involved.

When you think about taking action, you can reach out to an ongoing UHM project that reflects the combined interests of preventing human trafficking, local injustices, and social work. An organization like Ohio Alliance to End Human Trafficking can give you insight into what’s needed – and what people need to overcome – to make a positive change in their communities. Don’t forget that you come from a university full of progressives like yourselves, and that means you have lots of resources around you. You may think on a common misconception that legal aid is only useful for those who don’t want to pay their debt. Or you might view it as a kind of charity where everyone who walks through the door must be mentally incapable of helping themselves to get what they need. You’re already individuals of extremely high caliber, but you can have even more influence on your local community if you get involved in this area.

Are Switchblades Legal in Georgia?

Hey there, fellow students! So, in the land of metal lockers and cafeteria lunches, there’s this wild beast we call choice. Yup, it’s that magical thing that gives us the freedom to express our unique personalities – like with your trusty pocket knife. Or is it? Trust me, this is where our paths cross in a super intriguing way… The intersection between student life and the legal world may seem as bizarre as a cat riding a dog, but put down those Doritos for a second because today we are diving into the sparkling waters of switchblade legality in Georgia. Crazy, right? I mean, who would’ve thought that our pocket knives could be involved in the legal realm?!

But hey, before we get too into it, let’s quickly brush up on the laws surrounding weapons. Now, if you’re anything like most students our age, you find anything that could potentially be dangerous or “cool” to have at the back of your mind as something worth knowing about. And away we go! So, back to our friend the switchblade. According to the laws in Georgia, a switchblade is, simply put, any razor-sharp projectile that opens automatically at the push of a button or flick of the wrist. It’s pretty much your favorite pocket knife gone all X-Men, Wolverine-style. But seriously, while how cool and sneaky these can seem at first thought, they aren’t something to just toss in your bag and take to school without a second thought.

In the state of Georgia, the weapon laws surrounding switchblades are a bit protective. In fact, those snappy little knives are on the illegal list. Now, don’t blame the messenger, but a switchblade in plain sight on school grounds, classified as a “dagger,” could potentially find you in the principal’s office. And by “in the principal’s office,” I mean sitting on detention sorting through your thoughts about choice, consequence, and – let’s be honest – what this all means for your street cred. In short, even in Georgia, if you like your switchblade slyly stored in your sock rather than on school property, you should absolutely listen to that little voice in your head that tells you to make safe decisions.

However, above all else, remember that my musings about legality or choice only go as far as your right to carry things that are ‘cool’ or ‘dangerous’ – whether weapons or not. Having your pocket switchblade, however fun it might be to whip out in front of your buddies, isn’t really important when there are other elements to safety that matter in the grander scheme of things. So, leave the switchblade (and all its tough-guy bravado) at home, and remember, it’s better to be the responsible one than the one who’s caught with a switchblade in Georgia.

The integration of legal operations is one of the hottest current techniques to facilitate the provision of services on the field of law. Over the last few decades, the technique of legal operations has emerged as a competitive business vital for succeeding in the current sophisticated legal marketplace. The Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC) has been instrumental in the advance of the legal operations as a clearly defined practice and a collaborative community. Perhaps nothing has been more interesting than the way the Consortium has taken a topic once relegated to individual law departments and elevated it into a center stage issue at the highest levels of management in most major companies. Arguably, at this point, to even be regarded as a serious corporate lawyer means that you have adopted some version of the CLOC standards to your operations and the rest of your practice. Those operating under CLOC standards now amount to more than 50% of U.S. corporations and it grows on a daily basis. CLOC influencers are members of practically every major corporation in the country, itself comprising a little more than half of the Am Law 100. The CLOC community meets at least quarterly, with a regular 1500-strong convention, the tone of which is made by CLOC Chief Legal Officers, General Counsels, and Senior Lawyers. They gather to analyze and take action on a broad range of issues including: Perhaps equally important, these highly expensive and valuable results are dwarfed by more basic approaches such as translating a single detailed invoice. Still, these advanced features represent a small fraction of the value many organizations have already begun to realize through the deployment of modern legal operations. The world of legal operations observed a significant acceleration in its growth as the COVID-19 pandemic developed. 2020 figures from the relevant marketplace intelligence firm, the Legal Operations Survey, put the number of legal operations professionals at approximately 20,000 (compared to only 10,000 a year earlier). More than anything else, this state of mind is what makes adopting the structure of CLOC so important as a first step in enjoying the many benefits of the operation’s legal practice. This is not just important for his future career paths for UGM students who wish to pursue a career in law, but also for other fields of study such as administration. Why is this important? Because being exposed to CLOC’s basic principles provides some of the most essential core competencies required to dominate one’s corresponding field. It boils down to the question of where do you want to be, and how quickly do you want to get there? You’re not going to change anything unless you begin by changing the way you think about things. A common refrain among lawyers is “we’ve always done it this way” or “that doesn’t seem necessary.” As an approach to law practice, though, there’s little room to move forward. But when you reframe everything in terms of a CLOC mindset, you begin moving in a new direction, which often is away from actually getting stuck in that rut of “doing things the way we always have.” Then there is the ability to answer the toughest question of them all: How do I make sense of everything that still needs to be done? The CLOC approach accomplishes this through a three-step process: You can’t do any of those things, though, without first getting a clearer sense of what you need to accomplish, measuring things against relevant benchmarks and setting up a strategy for the rest of your project. The abilities to do all of this comes with a substantial body of rules and practices that flow from the CLOC approach to legal operations. Think of it all like learning a language. You can’t just start speaking it in full sentences right away. You first need to learn how to conduct basic conversations. That’s where the real benefit is for people who want to stay ahead of the curve. It’s not always so easy, though. The most challenging aspect of working with CLOC involves dealing with people and their differences. For anyone used to the same old ways of doing things, simply conveying the message that things are going to change might come as something of a shock. You can’t just take a bunch of people together and tell them that they are going to start recording their time, comparing invoices and reducing spending. You can begin moving in that direction by first demonstrating and showing how inefficient and ineffective the previous business model was compared to the new one based upon CLOC principles. Get introduced to the CLOC method, and you’ll find yourself much better equipped to navigate today’s complex legal landscape. More and more employers, practicing attorneys and scholars agree that adding knowledge of CLOC principles is both a skill-set and fundamental quality of a successful legal professional. CLOC’s ideas transcend divisions of classic “functions” and establish a more integrated and cohesive framework for understanding the business of being a lawyer. It’s why the Corporate Legal Operations Consortium has made such a strong case for adoption over the past decade. Davidson has had a front-row seat as those efforts unfolded. It’s clear that the future will be defined by CLOC’s approach to legal operations. For any ambitious University student wishing to pursue a career in law, the adoption of CLOC strategies is a step towards achieving the goal of being a key part of that future.

Law clerk jobs are one of the most sought after positions in the legal field. This is because these positions provide individuals who are aspiring to have a career or a taste in the legal industry an opportunity to work under the supervision of a practicing attorney. In Los Angeles, law clerks play a significant role in Los Angeles attorneys from the point of entering case law into computer databases, conducting legal research for different cases in progress, drafting reports on case data and presenting fact-based arguments to attorney(s). Over and above, law clerks in Los Angeles conduct extensive data analysis and offer persuasive criticism of opposing attorney(s) especially during pre-trial assessments. These individuals also participate in briefs and trial preparation during active trial periods. Most importantly, law clerks are considered entry-level positions within the legal industry with a great potential for growth in terms of career development compared to other positions.

UGM students are highly creative and can merge this factor with any profession including law. The key to achieving an excellent law clerk position in Los Angeles is to ensure that you familiarize yourself with the basic requirements of the occupation and then develop strategies on how you can outsmart your competition. To begin with: As an aspiring law student or law professional, Los Angeles presents the best opportunity for you to advance your career through positions in the legal field. This is because there has been a consistent rise in the number of attorneys operating from the city and as a result, the need for more law clerks has significantly increased as well.

Being a law clerk in Los Angeles will not only provide you with an opportunity to mentor directly under an attorney but it will also allow you to enjoy the beauty of L.A’s weather. To some extent, law clerk jobs Los Angeles is one of the most beautiful experiences an aspiring attorney can have and this is why the demand for these jobs is significantly high. More importantly, the demand for law clerks within Los Angeles is not expected to decrease anytime soon hence you have an opportunity to gain significant working experience through even before you become a licensed attorney.

UGM students who are majoring in law or any other loosely-related academies should always strive for law clerk internship opportunities through their professors, reference letters, or previous employers who can vouch for their skills. This means that you have to be creative and aggressive in pursuing available opportunities in Los Angeles. Try not to lose yourself in the process of being creative and most importantly, remember that the legal industry is highly competitive and the only way to stand out is to offer exceptional service.

Law is changing and unless you keep up with change, you will one day become irrelevant in the society. The industry has witnessed a lot of changes within a short span and the earlier you realize that law is no longer just about theoretical concepts but a combination of artistic expression and legal strategies, the better. Therefore, creativity is everything.

Do you guys know about the Affordable Care Act rehire rules? Well I literally just found out what that’s all about and found out that it’s this law that affects everyone in the United States in different ways.

I’m not the kind of person who reads any kind of law in general, it just never worked out for me because I really don’t see the excitement in those kinds of things. But now when I’m looking for jobs, I stumbled upon more and more jobs that have anything to do with working with the government and obviously they have a lot of rules and regulations like the Affordable Care Act!

So I decided to do some research on this law and it turns out that the Affordable Care Act is about health insurance, and it’s been around since 2010! They’ve been doing a lot of stuff about it but it hasn’t really affected me personally until now because they’ve made a lot of adjustments to the Affordable Care Act so that it becomes a little bit more affordable in the future. And it’s almost affordable enough for you to be able to pay for your own health insurance when you’re working at a low to moderate salary!

They created these new rules called the Affordable Care Act rehire rules and they are great. The idea behind the rules is that when you’re hired by a certain employer, they are required to cover you with their health insurance plan. They do that for people that are laid off, for people that are rehired into a position that they had before, or even for someone who has worked at a previous employer and was laid off, and was then hired again at his current employer. A lot of times people have to work at a few different places before they find their purpose, you know?

So when all of this happens, it’s beneficial for the new employer to already know that they’re required to cover this person with the health insurance plan that they have available to them. In other words, it’s the people that have already worked in a certain profession that sometimes have it the worst when they’re trying to get back into the game. When they come back to their position at another company after they’ve already left for another period of time, they are required to get covered again! It also gets a little confusing if the person is going back into the same role as the previous employer, it’s a little bit confusing to the IRS whether or not they’re going to be getting any kind of tax breaks or whether or not they have to cover their ex-employee.

But you know, the creative reaches of people always find a way to bypass these ridged rules. So to avoid being covered they sometimes take the easy way out, and make a lot of their employees work only a certain amount of hours so that they don’t have to deal with and provide health insurance to their employees.

But you know how it goes. If people don’t have health insurance they can get pretty sick, and instead of putting their faith in the hands of a hospital and hoping that whatever illness it is that they have isn’t going to cost thousands of dollars in medical bills, they always prefer to get health insurance coverage done at their job – but in order to do that the employer needs to step in and realize that their employees need to be taken care of!

So yeah, that’s essentially how the Affordable Care Act works and today’s article is just about that. If you’re interested to learn more about the Affordable Care Act rehire rules for employers make sure to check out these guidelines for assistance in communicating employer and employee responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act. For more detailed information, you can visit HealthCare.gov.

The International Bar Association (IBA) recently provided a write-up of the rules governing evidence in international arbitration (“IBA Rules”). The IBA Rules are used primarily by international arbitration practitioners to assist them in their efforts to resolve domestic and cross-border commercial disputes. But that’s not to say that students should not take an interest in the IBA Rules and their impact. In fact, a basic understanding of the IBA Rules is helpful for aspiring international arbitration students and practitioners. So let’s take a moment to explore what international arbitration actually is and its interesting history.

What Is International Arbitration?

International Arbitration is basically a contract between two or more parties to settle a dispute outside of a courtroom. The parties each name an arbitrator, both arbitrators select a third arbitrator, and those three arbitrators together hear evidence, hear arguments, make a decision as a panel, and then issue a final decision. That decision is in essence a final judgment that is enforceable in numerous jurisdictions worldwide, and further, parties who lose may not appeal that decision in the traditional sense.

Why Should Students Care About The IBA Rules On The Taking Of Evidence?

The IBA Rules allow the parties to agree whether they will give shorter or longer time periods to produce documents, whether they can require non-parties to produce documents, whether they will allow witnesses to provide expert reports without hearing testimony, and whether certain questions may be posed to witnesses.

In short, the IBA Rules allow the parties to customize their discovery process and even eliminate the entire process by stipulation. For instance, they permit parties to assign responsibility to pay the cost of producing documents. Further, they permit parties to stipulate that they will not take depositions of non-party witnesses during the evidence-taking process.

The point of the IBA Rules is to speed up the evidence-taking process, bring down the costs of taking evidence, and create relative equality of power during the evidence-taking process (e.g., if Party A has better access to certain documents than Party B). It is preferable to achieve these goals through agreement because the underlying goal of international arbitration is to provide a final and binding resolution. Once the parties stifle evidence-taking opportunities, they can’t go back for more.

These IBA Rules are important because if a dispute goes to international arbitration and the parties have not considered terms for their evidence-taking process, there is a good chance that gaps or issues will arise during the evidence-taking process.

Indeed, the IBA Rules are powerful and provide a template for international arbitration evidence-taking, but it is always advisable that students read them and understand them so that when they draft a new international arbitration agreement, they know how important taking evidence will be to resolving disputes.

Is The IBA Rules On Taking Evidence Fair To The World?

Yes. International arbitration provides a forum for parties to settle disputes worldwide. Domestic courts and many governmental bodies are not bound by the jurisdiction of any international organization, but private companies may apply the IBA Rules to their disputes directly.

The catch is, however, that the party seeking security for its arbitration-related claims must be able to find another nation that is willing to enforce and recognize such an arbitration agreement. In many cases, such another nation may very well be able to do that, but in other alleged cases, the nation may not.

For instance, the United States Supreme Court recently examined a case dealing with disagreements over whether arbitration agreements are valid and enforceable. In Amgen v. Harris, the Court ruled in favor of Amgen, a California-based company, against Harris, an employee who alleged trade secret violations and a breach of contract.

Now, Amgen and Harris may have agreed to use the IBA Rules to settle their dispute and each of their agreements may have been governed by a different country’s international arbitration rules and laws.

While the US Supreme Court decided that Amgen’s arbitration claim was valid, other courts will likely wrestle with the broader issue of whether certain contracts are valid generally.

Hence, the larger question remains: Should the IBA Rules provide a process that may be applied once disputes for enforcement of international business agreements arise, or should the IBA Rules regulate the dispute-resolution process overall?

While Amgen v. Harris addressed California state law, the larger question has not yet been answered.

What Does The IBA Do?

The IBA was founded in 1940 to promote world peace and development for the legal profession through greater awareness and cooperation amongst its members. The IBA is currently composed of lawyers from twenty-eight countries who practice law early on in their careers and subsequently meet at international law events hosted by the IBA around the world.

What’s Going On In The World That The IBA Can Help With?

Recently, the International Bar Association spoke out against a controversial bill proposed in Hong Kong that would target certain social media outlets which provide information on fundamental rights. The IBA’s statement also called upon China to keep its word in keeping the law.

What Are Some Good Examples Of Possible Careers In International Law And Arbitration?

It is entirely possible to work in international law and arbitration at a basic or mid-level, right out of law school. Often, the best first position is in an advocacy role (where you are tasked with arguing on behalf of your client), with the possibility of later advancing in senior levels to an attorney who advocates on behalf of the organization that employs you.

The IBA certainly provides education and other resources to support aspiring international law and arbitration students. It does not, however, assist students directly through educational sponsorships or grants.

Even so, students may apply the IBA’s principles of impartiality, professionalism, collegiality, and respect for independence to enhance their own education. Some good examples of possible careers include, but are not limited to: An oral advocate; a technological or pen-and-paper evidence-taker; a document reviewer; an executive-level expert; an investigative reporter; an oral expert; or the organizer of evidence-processing.

What Are Your Thoughts?

International arbitration seems like a lot, but it can be simplified for discussion. Are the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence more technical than helpful? Why do you think that is and what would you do differently?