Category: Newsletters
BBC&B News
We are pleased to announce: On September 19, 2002, Karen Peterson, our controller, gave birth to a 8 lb. 11 oz. baby boy, Eric Michael. Both mother and son are doing well. Sandy Cowan, an experienced legal secretary, has joined our staff and will be… Continue reading
A Guide To Employment Applications
An employment application, alone or in conjunction with accepting resumes, is a helpful tool used by many businesses to screen applicants and to find qualified employees. However, developments in employment law could result in inadvertent use of an application which could expose a business to… Continue reading
The Queen’s English: Nouns Lost in the Thicket
It has been called “the invasion of the verbs,” and it seems to know no bounds. Nouns are being transmogrified into verbs at what seems an ever-increasing rate. Perhaps it has always been the case, but the pace seems to have taken a leap with… Continue reading
Latin Lovers
Latin phrases pervade legal writing to the point where we use them so commonly they seem like part of the English language. A good example of this is the phrase ab initio, which means “from the beginning” or “from the inception.” For example: “Because it… Continue reading
Adoption: Pre-Placement Home Studies
In Pennsylvania, nearly all adoptions, whether through a public adoption agency, a private agency, or an adoption attorney, require a pre-adoption home investigation, known simply as a home study. Under certain circumstances, however, a court may waive this requirement, such as in step-parent adoptions, intra-family… Continue reading
Latin Lovers
Due process is one of the cornerstones of American jurisprudence, and the concept is rooted in the basic notion of fairness. In the context of a court proceeding, due process generally requires that all parties be given advance notice of a hearing or trial and… Continue reading
Watch Your Receivables!
With the softening economy, we have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of calls from clients seeking to collect long overdue balances from delinquent customers. While we are generally very successful in collecting overdue accounts from our clients, there are ways to prevent having… Continue reading
The Death of “Death Taxes”?
Now that the Republicans have won both houses in Congress, it seems inevitable that the federal estate tax (euphemistically referred to by many politicians as the “death tax”) will be repealed as early as next year. To accomplish this, Congress will likely extend the recent… Continue reading
Pennsylvania Mortgage Satisfaction Law
Several years ago we ran an article explaining Pennsylvania’s Mortgage Satisfaction Law, which requires lenders to mark fully paid mortgages “satisfied” on the record within 45 days following full payment by the borrower. The law generally requires that the administrative fee for satisfying the mortgage… Continue reading
Collecting Attorney’s Fees
In a softening economy, we often witness an increase in commercial litigation, especially in the area of collections. Clients are sometimes surprised to find, however, that under American law there is no automatic right to also include a claim for your counsel fees expended in… Continue reading