Word: legalize
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Internet play. "At major blogs, you have the ability to destroy people with the click of the mouse," says Clay Travis, a former practicing lawyer and senior writer at FanHouse, a sports website. Shortly after the incident, Travis, a former Deadspin editor, wrote a smart, detailed breakdown of the legal questions that arose from the dustup. "For Web journalists, established bloggers and the 13-year-old girl sitting in the basement in her pajamas, how do we craft a legal framework that makes it understandable what's permissible and impermissible under the law?" he says. (See the 50 best websites...
Carolina Lombardi, a senior attorney at Legal Services of Greater Miami Inc., which is mentoring some of the UM fellows, says foreclosure defendants also need attorneys to help them fend off all-too-frequent lender practices like exorbitant escrow claims. "Homeowners who have lawyers are usually prevailing in those cases," says Lombardi. But she notes that unless homeowners fall below the federal poverty line ($22,000 for a family of four), they can't qualify for the free legal aid that agencies like hers provide. That creates an obstacle for most foreclosure defendants, who aren't impoverished but because...
...Paschal. "It involves a ton of paperwork." Yet another is the relatively low pay attorneys usually reap from defending foreclosure clients. Melanca Clark, counsel at the Brennan Center and co-author of this month's study, urges Congress and state legislatures to create incentives, like more funding for foreclosure legal representation, that "level the playing field" against lenders and their comparatively well-paid lawyers. Restrictions on government funding for legal services should be relaxed, she says, especially rules that don't let victorious foreclosure defendants collect attorney fees, as prevailing parties in most other kinds of civil litigation...
...fellowship. It also makes sense, says Paschal, since so many law firms today are trimming costs by delaying the start date for new hires by a year or more. That gives law grads time to pursue this kind of work - whose complexity, Paschal adds, is ideal for cutting young legal teeth. Says Froomkin: "It's a great opportunity to give recent graduates some invaluable experience and help your neighbors through this enormous spike in foreclosures," if not help end it sooner...
...surge in sick patients. A hospital in danger of being overrun by H1N1 patients would be allowed to segregate them in a separate site for treatment, which might slow the spread of the disease. It's not unlike declaring an emergency before a hurricane hits landfall - the action removes legal barriers that might slow a rapid response. (See what you need to know about the H1N1 vaccine...