Legal News for Everyday People
In Missouri beginning August 2005, all non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases were capped at $350,000 total for all defendants.
Today the Illinois Supreme Court struck down a similar cap in Illinois on the basis that this cap imposed by the legislator is a violation of the concept of separation of powers. Will courts in other states listen?
For more information, please contact an attorney directly at (314) 894-7900.
It is important to address a perception among many individuals, and a reality of some, that they cannot afford to hire a lawyer. I see this most often in divorce cases, but this can arise in many different areas of law. In today’s economy everyone is feeling the pinch of tightening budgets. And when you are faced with legal issues finding representation can become nearly impossible if you have little money even though many lawyers have been significantly reducing their traditional fees. Now there is another option: Unbundled legal services.
Unbundled legal services have actually always been allowed under the law and legal ethical rules that govern lawyers in Missouri, but most lawyers don’t offer this option to their clients. But due to increasing popularity in this type of service lawyers are beginning to rethink the options they provide.
Unbundled legal services is limited scope representation. To illustrate, imagine you are going through a divorce. You don’t know what to do but you cannot afford $1500 to retain a lawyer. You can enter into a limited scope representation agreement with a lawyer who will be hired to complete only a particular task, say to draft the Petition for Dissolution of Marriage, and you may only end up paying a few hundred dollars. Or if you don’t have that much money, you can do even more of the work and draft the petition yourself using free court forms and just hire a lawyer to analyze what you have drafted to make sure it conforms with the law and to local court rules. The more work you can do on your own the more money you save. The lawyer will only provide services when you need help that way you are in control of how much you spend.
The Missouri Supreme Court issued Rule 4-1.2(c) to provide ethical guidelines which lawyers must follow when taking on this type of representation. The rule states that the client must give “informed consent in a writing signed by the client”. And to assure that both parties understand the specifics about the agreement for limited services, the writing should also spell out what the attorney will do and what the attorney will not do. The lawyer undertaking representation should also explain to the client the risks and benefits of limited representation during consultation on limiting the scope of representation.
If you are in need of a lawyer but cannot afford representation, a lawyer who offers unbundled services will take on a limited scope representation for a much lower fee. This is possible because the lawyer won’t be handling your whole case, only the portion of the case you need help with. So really, it’s a win-win situation. You get the help you need and pay a much lower cost. My firm offers these services so feel free to contact us if you wish to discuss this option.
For more information, please contact an attorney directly at (314) 894-7900 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting (314) 894-7900 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.
In most cases the court that grants a dissolution of marriage will also divide the marital and nonmartial property between the parties. It is also possible to have a “divisible” divorce in which a court in one state may have jurisdiction to grant a dissolution of marriage, but not have jurisdiction to divide the marital property. Whichever court has jurisdiction over your property is determinative of which state’s law applies in dividing your property.
In Missouri it is the responsibility of a court that has jurisdiction over your property to divide only “marital” property, while giving each spouse his or her “nonmarital” property. Thus it becomes very important how a particular piece of property is classified.
In Missouri, all property acquired after the marriage is “marital” property, and all property acquired prior to the marriage is “nonmarital” property. There are of course exceptions enlisted within the statute. For example, property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or descent is considered “nonmarital” property even if it was acquired during the marriage. There are a few other ways property could be “nonmarital” too.
So generally speaking, if its “nonmarital”, the property is yours alone, and if its “marital” it is subject to division, although even that doesn’t necessarily mean divided equally in half. In Missouri, property is divided equitable, not equally. There are many ways to keep a piece of marital property whole during a dissolution of marriage, one of which is by you and your spouse agreeing to do so. To be fair, this usually means giving something up that you would otherwise have a marital interest in.
There are too many nuances to discuss regarding the division of property during a divorce in this type of a forum, but please understand that this stuff is not as cut and dry as it may appear on its face. What I have provided is just a high level overview of some of the basic concepts you may expect to encounter when dealing with property during a divorce. You should always speak to your attorney about your unique situation. What happens to your house if it is titled in only one spouse’s name? What happens to your retirement account? What happens if the couple has been separated for the last 5 years? All of these questions can be answered by your attorney.
Although Missouri courts have recently made it easier for pro se parties to gain access to forms needed to obtain a dissolution of marriage, they didn’t make the laws any easier to navigate or understand. And if you figure that the nice clerk down at the courthouse will assist you in drafting your pleadings, then maybe you aren’t aware that the clerk, librarian, and your friends and family that do not have a license to practice law are prohibited from giving you such advice. That is because it is a crime to practice law without a license to do so.
Although it is well within your rights to represent yourself during a divorce, think hard about what that entails. Learning the law, drafting your own pleading, filling your own pleadings, contacting your spouse and negotiating with him/her, gathering your own evidence, defending yourself, being your own advocate in court… If you are going through a divorce you are probably dealing with enough as it is. My advice? Hire an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, ask an attorney about providing unbundled legal services to make it at least affordable to review your self-prepared pleadings to ensure they conform with the law. Remember that in Missouri, the court’s order as it affects distribution of marital property is a final order which may not be modified at a later date. In short, if you mess it up there are is no cleaning it up.
For more information, please contact an attorney directly at (314) 894-7900.
If you have two or more DWIs on your driving record and your driving privileges are currently suspended or revoked, getting reinstated in Missouri just got tougher and more expensive. According to the new law that went into effect July 1, 2009, Missouri drivers who have been convicted of two or more alcohol related offenses must now install an interlock ignition device their vehicle as a condition of having their driver license reinstated. An interlocking ignition device is a machine that is installed on the dashboard of a car that can detect alcohol on the driver’s breath and if alcohol is present, will prevent the vehicle from operating. This will be very costly to the driver because the driver must pay a private company to install this device and maintain the device for a monthly fee for six months. Also, if you own multiple vehicles, you must install a device on each vehicle, not just the vehicle you actually drive. This law can also be read to mean that this device is required to be installed on all vehicles within the driver’s control, regardless if the driver owns a vehicle, under the assumption that if a driver has access to a vehicle that does not have a device, the driver would simply use that vehicle if he had been drinking. It is too early to tell how practical this law will prove to be, but check back here often for any new developments. To read all of the details, please read Missouri Statute 302.304 paragraph 17.
For more information, please contact an attorney directly at (314) 894-7900.
Thank you for visiting and reading the latest developments in the legal world. Our intent is to bring you interesting facts about the law written in a style that is relevant to the common person. For more about the author, visit www.greenetaylorlaw.com.
For more information, please contact an attorney directly at (314) 894-7900.
