eli doron,  adv - yaron tokotzky, adv (cpa)  eli-doron@taxlawyers.co.il 

 

On June 25^th 2005, amendment 147 of the revenue tax ordinance was passed, whose purpose was to improve the competitive ability of the Israeli tax system vis-à-vis tax systems world-wide, and as a probable consequence to increase the Israeli market job supply.

Flight Risks 
 by Attorney Gabirel Cosh

Not everybody gets to ride airplanes. There are still a lot who wish that they could get in on one and travel to the skies.

Commercial aircrafts are the most operated planes due to the public's need to travel long distances at shorter times. Commercial planes are piloted daily with more than two flights a day on the average.

Airlines are obligated to make sure that they use utmost care and diligence for their flight passengers, and also ensure that they are safe from harm during and even after flight. This obligation includes:

The Who, What, Why, When and How of Medical Malpractice Cases in Virginia   by Lauren M. Ellerman

You can define "Medical Malpractice," can't you? You may know what it means, but I would be surprised if you have actually considered how to file a med mal claim. This article briefly outlines what Medical Malpractice means in Virginia, from the letter of the law, to the process families undergo when filing a Medical Malpractice Claim. Please note, the laws are often being changed, so always consult an attorney about your specific case, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

Definition Under Virginia law, Medical Malpractice means "any tort action or breach of contract action for personal injuries or wrongful death, based on health care or professional services rendered, or which should have been rendered, by a health care provider, to a patient. Put simply, medical malpractice claims arise from health care worker / patient relationships, where the patient experiences damages (physical and/or financial), as a result of the health care provider's negligence.

Clearly, you know who your doctor is, but who is included in the legal definition of "health care provider?" Virginia case law has frequently defined who is, and who is not a health care provider. For example, a physician with an expired license is not a health care provider and is therefore not covered by the laws in the Virginia Medical Malpractice Act. A laboratory is not likely considered a health care provider. A nurse however, is a health care provider. A nursing home is also a health care provider. Tell your attorneys who you believe was involved, and allow them to do the research to determine whether or not your case is technically a medical malpractice claim.

Statute of Limitations

Claim for an Adult In Virginia, most personal injury actions against health care providers must be filed with the Court within two years of the date of the negligence.

In a case involving a foreign object (surgical sponges, needles, etc.), you have the two-year limitations from the date of negligence, or "a period of one year from the date the object is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered" - whichever period of time is longer.

In Virginia, under limited circumstances, you may be able to file a medical malpractice claim after the two year statute of limitations under what is called the continuing treatment doctrine. This rule is very complicated, and not a sure bet - so as previously stated, speak with an attorney as soon as possible to allow sufficient time to investigate and possibly file your claim.

Claim for a Minor The rules for children are different. If you are under the age of 18, you are deemed to be a minor in Virginia. If the parent or guardian of a minor wants to file a claim for damage to property (their child being the property), the parent or guardian has five years after the damage, to bring the suit. You will not be able to recover anything but the actual damages or medical bills.

To bring a medical malpractice claim for damage sustained by a minor, it gets even more confusing. Virginia law provides that if the child is less than 8 years old at the time of the injury, they have until their 10th birthday to bring the claim. If the child was older than ten at the time of the negligence, they have two years from that date to file the action.

Virginia Code §8.01-229 states that if one is under a disability (which includes under the age of 18), they have until they are 18 to bring the claim. Please note, the Virginia Supreme Court recently held in medical malpractice cases, it is not until you are 18, plus two years - it is until they are 18 and then the statute expires.

The moral of the story is - with a possible malpractice claim involving a child - call an attorney immediately to find out when your cause of action must be filed.

Wrongful Death Claim If the negligence of the health care provider caused the death of your loved one and you want to file suit, the claim is called a wrongful death claim. Virginia Code §8.01-244 states that such "action shall be brought by the personal representative of the decedent within two years after the death of the injured person."

What is the process of filing a malpractice claim?

Investigating / Reviewing Records Every attorney who is approached about a medical malpractice case will first need to review the relevant medical records. In our office, we prefer the family request these records so the facility or doctor is not made aware of attorney involvement. Once the records are requested, a doctor or hospital has 3 days to produce the records to the family. Under federal law, a nursing home must produce requested records within 2 business days. The hospital, doctor, or nursing home is allowed to charge a reasonable copying fee.

Once you get the records, the attorney, staff or a third party will review the records for the attorney. The purpose of the review is to make sure all the records are present and that the records reflect the events as told to the family, etc. It will take most law offices 2-4 weeks to review the records and decide whether it is a case worth investigating.

Expert Review If your attorneys believe the case is worthy of further investigation, after reviewing the medical records, they will seek an expert review of the case. An expert is basically a licensed physician who practices medicine in the same field, or specialty, as the health care provider you believe acted negligently.

In Virginia, an expert is required in almost all cases to establish what the health care provider did wrong or should have done. A second expert may be necessary to establish that the defendant health care provider's negligence caused the damages suffered by you or your loved one. And you just can't hire any doctor - your expert must meet a certain set of standards established by Virginia Courts, which includes an understanding of the state wide standard of care, in addition to sufficient knowledge skill and experience. Typically, your attorney will find the experts for you.

Experts are not cheap! Typically an expert will charge $300-$400 an hour to review a case. They may increase their fees for court time and depositions. Experts will be the largest cost in any malpractice case. Paying the experts falls upon the family. Because attorneys are prohibited from forwarding money to their clients in Virginia, law firms will require families to pay a cash retainer to the law firm, so the firm can pay the experts for their review and time.

Certification If the expert believes malpractice occurred, they will have to certify their opinion in writing. This is a new requirement in Virginia. Virginia Code § 8.01-20.1 and Virginia Code §8.01-50.1 require in all medical malpractice and wrongful death actions a written opinion signed by the expert, that the defendant has deviated from the applicable standard of care and the deviation was a proximate cause of the injuries/death.

Filing Suit/Arbitration From start to end, a lawsuit in Virginia State Courts could take 1-2 years.

If your expert has certified the case, the next step is filing the lawsuit. Now, a medical malpractice case in Virginia is called a COMPLAINT. The Complaint will be drafted by your attorney and will include a list of the relevant facts and allegations of negligence. It will be filed in the City or County Court where the negligent treatment occurred, or where the patient lived at the time of the treatment. After it is filed, it will be served on the defendants. This usually means a Sheriff will deliver the document and the defendant then has less than 1 month to respond to the lawsuit.

Please note - not everyone will have the opportunity to have a jury hear their claim in Court. Many health care contracts ask patients to waive their rights to a jury trial and agree to submit all disputes to arbitration. WE STRONGLY ADVISE AGAINST ALL ABRITRATION AGREEMENTS FOR MANY REASONS. See March / August 2006 articles on http://legalmedicine.blogspot.com/

If, however, you have signed an Arbitration Agreement, you have at least sixty days after the termination of health care to revoke the agreement. If such termination is by death or if death occurs within sixty days after termination, you will have a period of at least sixty days after the appointment and qualification of the guardian, conservator or committee or personal representative to revoke the arbitration agreement.

Written Discovery After the lawsuit is filed, both sides will issue what is called written discovery. Written discovery is where lawyers on both sides request documents and answers to questions under oath. These questions and answers become the building blocks of the case and will often consume many months of the case.

Depositions In addition to written discovery, both sides are given the opportunity to question their opponents' witnesses and clients under oath. Plaintiffs will almost always be deposed, as well as various employees of the defendant, other treating physicians, and experts. Depositions are usually held in an attorney's office, with both attorneys, a court reporter, and other witnesses present.

Settlement If the clients agree, the attorneys on both sides can enter into settlement negotiations in an attempt to resolve the case before it goes to trial. With trial, there is always a chance that the jury will rule against you even with the best evidence and experts, so many clients seek settlement where there is a guarantee for both sides.

Trial You've seen My Cousin Vinny? Well, trial is not too far different from that movie. Its emotional, and it can be a long - and often a very draining experience, but at the end of the day, you are trusting a jury of your peers to determine whether your health care provider was negligent, and if so, what damages his/her negligence caused.

Parties Well, now that your attorney has decided you have a malpractice claim, and you know that it is a long and detailed process; you must decide who will be named as defendants. Often it will be the doctor or nurse who failed to provide care, and their employer.

Please note that there are many healthcare providers in Virginia that you cannot sue for malpractice as they are considered employees of the state, and thus entitled to sovereign immunity.

Burden of Proof You cannot just tell the jury that you think the doctor or health care provider messed up. In Virginia, you must prove the following:

1. That the health care provider failed to provide care in accordance with "the degree of skill and diligence practiced by a reasonably prudent practitioner in the field of practice or specialty in this Commonwealth"

2. That the health care provider's negligence was the cause of your damages.

This is a very high standard to meet - what if your physician could have been the cause of your injury, but you have similar health problems which also could have caused your injury and pain. NO MALPRACTICE CLAIM.

Limitations Ever read about big huge verdicts in the paper?

Well, they are not likely Virginia cases. The General Assembly has established a "cap" on what you can recover in any medical malpractice action (no matter how many defendants are involved or how large your damages), which is based on the year the negligent care occurred as follows:

2000 - $1,550,000.00 2001 - $1,600,000.00 2002 - $1,650,000.00 2003 - $1,700,000.00 2004 - $1,750,000.00 2005 - $1,800,000.00 2006 - $1,850,000.00 2007 - $1,925,000.00 2008 - $2,000,000.00

Cost Filing a medical malpractice claim is not cheap. While most malpractice attorneys will accept your case on a contingency basis (meaning they don't charge you an hourly rate for their time) - families, and not attorneys, must be responsible for the costs of litigation.

The costs of litigation are:

Expert hourly fees Copying costs Long distance phone calls Mileage for travel Court costs Court reporters

When potential clients come into our office inquiring about a potential medical malpractice lawsuit, we advise them that the Expert Fees alone may exceed $25,000. Certainly something to think about if your only damages as a result of the doctor's negligence is around $10,000.

Outcome If you take a case to trial - there is no guarantee you will win. Virginians are wonderful people, but as everyone has a different opinion on politics, faith and justice - you cannot guarantee a Judge or Jury will rule in your favor, even with the best possible medical malpractice case.

Filing a malpractice case will not bring back your loved one, or take away your pain. So each and every family must consider all of the factors before they pursue a claim.

Conclusion If I can leave you with one piece of advice - it would be to: FIND AN ATTORNEY YOU TRUST - AND EVALUATE YOUR OPTIONS!!!

 

About the Author
Lauren Ellerman is an attorney with Frith Law Firm in Roanoke, Virginia. She concentrates her practice on medical malpractice, nursing home abuse, nursing home neglect, lead paint poisoning, and business torts. You may view her complete profile at www.frithlawfirm.com/lauren.htm and the firm's home page www.frithlawfirm.com

How To Avoid Copyright Infringement   by Brian Scott

Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it may seem as simple as not using someone else's work, it's not that easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations, we have the ability to use others' works -- as long as we use it under Fair Use laws. So what does Fair Use have to do with copyright infringement, and how can you utilize it?

Fair Use laws allow us to use a copyrighted work without having to pay someone royalties. This includes using a copyrighted work for educational or instructional uses, criticism of the work, commentaries on the work, news reporting about the work, teaching on the work (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship uses, and research. This is talked about fully in Section 107 of the Copyright Code (commonly called Fair Use) and is available for you to read at your local library.

Copyright Infringement in day-to-day life

Sometimes, if you're writing a paper for work or school, or if you are creating a Power Point presentation, you need to use someone's work that is already in copyright. So how do you use it without committing copyright infringement? All you have to do is ask -- the worst they can say is no, right? But, if they do say no, there are several items in the public domain which may help you to finish your project without having to commit copyright infringement.

What is the public domain, and how does it relate to copyright infringement?

Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain. You cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyrightable -- such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. Some creators (writers, musicians, artists, and more) deliberately put their work in the public domain, without ever obtaining copyright, by providing an affiliation with Creative Commons. Creative Commons allows people who create materials to forfeit some, or all, of their copyright rights and place their work either partially or fully in the public domain.

So, how do I ensure I'm not committing copyright infringement?

First of all, if you're going to use someone else's material, you may want to check the public domain to see if something is suitable for use, instead of trying to use someone else's copyright. However, if you can't find something suitable (and you can't create something yourself), the next best thing (and your only legal course of action) is to find a piece that is in copyright, and contacting the copyright holder.

When you contact the copyright holder, make sure you tell them what you want to use their piece for -- whether it's for your blog, podcast, or report -- and ask if you can use it. You may have to pay royalties, or an attribution in your piece, or a combination of both. The creator may also place many limitations on when and how you can use their material. Follow all these instructions they give you, and you'll be free and clear to use their work as you want.

Once you have permission to use a copyrighted work, you need to make sure you stay within the agreed-upon boundaries. If you veer outside their agreed terms, you may open yourself up for a copyright infringement lawsuit, which can be nasty, costly, and time consuming. If you're in doubt, before contacting the copyright holder, contact a copyright lawyer to ensure you're following the law -- and protect yourself!

QUESTION: If you hear a great new band, and then download a song from MySpace, is that legal or not?

ANSWER: The events of copyright infringement are not only limited by Kazaa, Morpheus, or some other file sharing peer to peer (P2P) service. If you download a song -- no matter if you're on a website or a MySpace page -- and it isn't coming from the artist themselves, you may want to think about downloading it. Chances are, if it's not coming from them, you can't have it -- unless it is under a Creative Commons License. Creative Commons gives the exact ways in which you can use the license -- and many times those are completely free and legal to download, so make sure you check if it's under a CC License.

QUESTION: If I'm writing a paper, or article, and I want to quote another website, can I?

ANSWER: First of all, did you know the minute you write or create something, you hold the copyright to it? ESPECIALLY if you're writing it online -- it's very easy to track things on the Internet. So, if you're writing a blog, all the things you've written (no matter good or bad) are recorded, thanks to Archive.org, which lets you review last versions of your web pages.

Sometimes, we can use someone else's work in our own, and think we're small and anonymous. That no one will notice by the time you get it down -- you're just "borrowing" it. Before you begin quoting anyone's website -- from CNN to your local neighborhood hardware store -- you need to ask the person who holds the copyright if you can. Usually, they'll let you if you attribute to them. Depending who you talk to, you'll either have to pay royalties or license rights to republish. If you don't ask before you quote, you're beginning the events of copyright infringement and you are opening yourself up for a lawsuit.

About the Author
Brian Scott is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for www.ResearchCopyright.com. Download his free e-book, "Copyright Basics" at ResearchCopyright.com.

A real home based Internet business has to comply with the same legal regulations as an Internet business from any other location. Here are the basic legal issues with which a real home based Internet business owner must be familiar.

The first issue, and a real concern for any home based Internet business is the restriction based on age. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) follows the regulations spelled out in COPPA, the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and requires that children under the age of 13 cannot disclose their personal information unless a parent consents to it. Children under the age of 18 cannot be allowed to view adult content on the Internet, nor can they enter into any contract.

Real time occurrences on the Web, such as chats, must be controlled by the home based Internet business owner. Bulletin boards would have the same control issues. The rules of using each should solicit and retain the consent of each online user to refrain from posting pornography, defamatory material or anything that infringes on others' rights. Your company should also clearly state on its site that you are not liable for other users that commit to following your policies and guidelines but subsequently violating them.

To make real your ownership of all property and content on your home based business Internet site you'll need a copyright notice on the site's footer. The notice should have the date and your name and the statement "All rights reserved." A real copy of your home based business Internet site should be field with the U.S. copyright office. This will effectively record ownership of the contents of the site, as well as its look and its feel.

Your site's domain name is an important part of the branding and marketing for your Internet business. It is best to tie that domain name as closely as possible to your logo, your brand and your business name. Carefully choose a domain name that clearly conveys the products or services of your real home based Internet business. Register your domain name as a trademark and you can retain ownership should it be challenged by another business.

If your site is on the World Wide Web then you must comply with export regulations. If you sell goods over the Internet to these global consumers then you are exporting items for sale and entering into international countries. If your site is encrypted then you are exporting to other countries U.S. Department of Commerce and Defense technology. There are many U.S. federal agencies that have regulations in force for doing business with other countries, and the times and circumstances that require a firm to get an export license to send information, technology or goods abroad.

There are countries with whom business transactions are limited severely for U.S. firms. These countries are Cuba, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Syria and Yugoslavia. The best decision about the real problems you might encounter for your home based Internet business doing business with these countries and/ or its residents should be made with your attorney.

Source: http://www.entrepreneur.com/ebusiness/operations/article60918.html 
Author Resource:- Larry Bregman is a webmaster and an online entrepreneur with easy to start home business opportunities that can generate extra income.

Visit my website at http://www.topprofit.net for details.


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Legal Issues Facing Home Based Business

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