“Open Carry” advocates recently made the news by openly carrying rifles and shotguns into Texas businesses. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC) issued a REMINDER to all those who hold a Liquor License that businesses licensed to sell or serve alcoholic beverages are prohibited by state law from allowing rifles or shotguns in the

Monitoring his emails and gazing at the sights on Elafonisi beach in Crete, attorney Al B. Wise receives a desperate 4:30 a.m. (Texas time) email from his best client Betty Makit Williams – “Going under Slim Cutter’s knife in four hours for emergency surgery. No will. Can you get me one in case I don’t make it?” Sadly, Betty Makit did not make it. Did her will on a Post It?

Yes, at least in Texas. Knowing that a formal will was out of the question, Al B. Wise advised Betty Makit to write a holographic will – her last will and testament, completely in her own handwriting and signed by her. In addition to a will on a Post It note, Texas heirs have successfully probated wills written on a bedroom wall and on the fender of a vehicle. Even a Canadian will of a man trapped underneath was successful by probating the tractor’s fender as the will. About half of the states permit holographic wills.Continue Reading Last-Minute Wills….What Counts?

Arriving at his warehouse last week Knott Faire, owner of Faire Carpet Cleaning, discovered yet another complaining critique posted on WELP: “Lots of hype, a mediocre cleaning and a hassle at the end. Don’t get tied up with Knott!” In over 75 previous reviews only 3 were slightly negative. Since the “hype” complaint, another dozen scathing complaints were logged. Believing that the negative reviews are from a competitor, not his customers, Knott called his trusty lawyer Icahn Ficksit for help. Icahn issued WELP a subpoena demanding production of identifying information and ISP (Internet Service Provider) addresses for the dozen offenders. Will Ficksit win? 

In Virginia, yes; in Texas, no. The Virginia Court of Appeals held that a Yelp reviewer is generally entitled to First Amendment protection if the reviewer is critiquing a business they patronized; however, [i]f the reviewer was never a customer of the business, then the review is not an opinion; but is based on a false statement. Virginia only requires that Icahn Ficksit and Knott Faire show, among other things, that the WELP reviews “are or may be tortious or illegal,” or that Faire Carpet Cleaning has “a legitimate, good faith basis” to believe that they were the victim of actionable conduct.


Continue Reading Online Reputation Protection and Repair

Needing a sales boost for his new line of fashion catheters, Sy Noff, owner and President of Med, Inc., retained advertising gurus Draper & Olson. Their contract provided for signature by Sy Noff as “President and CEO” of “Med Catheter Corp, Inc.”

After a three-martini lunch, Draper & Olson run up a $100,000 bill creating an instantly iconic advertising campaign featuring the Medicorp Man, a rugged rancher who isn’t afeard to proudly use Medicorp’s “Healthy Heartland”-brand catheter whilst cow-punching on the range. Despite the instantly iconic advertising campaign, Med’s business goes down the tubes. Sy and Med stiff Draper & Olson on their $100,000 ad bill. Noticing that the ad contract was signed by Sy Noff using the wrong company name, Draper & Olson’s diligent attorneys sued Sy Noff himself for Med’s debt because he did not disclose the true legal name of the company he was signing for. But surely,” Sy says, “I cannot be held personally liable for Medicorp’s debt simply because the company name was wrong on the contract!”

First, don’t call us Shirley. Second, you bet he can.Continue Reading What and How You Sign a Contract Matters

Whizzle Blour, a professor of surgery at University Medical School, complained to his supervisor that trauma residents at University Hospital were treating and operating on patients without an attending physician’s supervision in violation of Medicare and Medicaid law.  After agreeing to settle those federal claims, University Hospital stripped Whizzle of his faculty chair position claiming he was a poor administrator. Later he was fired. He filed a whistleblower suit alleging his demotion was in retaliation for reporting the federal law violations. Will Whizzle Blour prevail?

No. Whizzle Blour failed to prove all the required elements for retaliation under the Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA). Reporting the Medicare and Medicaid violations to his supervisor did not satisfy the TWA because the supervisor was not qualified as “an appropriate law enforcement entity.”


Continue Reading Whistleblowers, Do Tell?

As 2013 was winding down, the law firm of Dewey, Cheatum & Howe also known as www.BestLawfirmEver.com was calculating its partners’ year end distributions. Before the ink was dry, Dewey announced he was leaving, taking an associate AND the law firm website www.BestLawfirmEver.com. Cheatum and Howe were convinced that the domain name and the website stayed with them and the other lawyers at the firm because their client was the web designer Dee Sine. Who wins?


Continue Reading Domain Names – Possession is 9/10ths of the Law

On a brisk January day, Mary A. Richman opened her mailbox and was confronted with the sobering sight of thick envelopes from Visa, American Express and MasterCard each containing a month’s worth of extravagant Christmas purchases.  Although she expected the bills to be large, she didn’t expect them to be this large.  When she carefully reviewed the charges, the weather wasn’t the only thing giving Richman the chills. She quickly noticed entries for businesses with which she was unfamiliar, including a $1,200 Visa charge on December 25th for a bar in Chihuahua, Mexico called Tequila Mockingbird.  Richman lost her Visa card on December 21st, but never reported it.  Is Richman liable for the unauthorized charges?


Continue Reading Lost or Stolen: Liability for Unauthorized Credit Card Charges

Twas the week before Christmas when at the North Pole,

Santa checked his throughput and moaned, “We’re in a hole!”

“We’ll never get done, we’re far from ready, let’s get some interns – some students will do.

Surely they’ll want to learn what elves can do!”

“On Juniors and Seniors, Thetas, Lambda Chi’s, you’ll

Amon Fire and B.A. Ware have been hunting buddies since high school and have hunted with each other many times.  The two men head out one crisp November day to go turkey hunting, as they are bound and determined that this year’s Thanksgiving bird will not come from the local grocery store.  Fire and Ware

Wanting to comply with the latest edict of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and give a recently released felon a break, Awft N. Cawssius ignored Pa Roll’s answer of “yes” to whether he had been convicted of a crime in the last five years and hired Pa to work as an armed security guard