Week 7: 10 lawyers and websites

1. Byron L. Ames, http://www.tharpe-howell.com/Attorney_41.htm
2. John Lund Krieger, http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/john-lund-krieger-19926
3. Jonathan W. Fountain, http://www.martindale.com/Jonathan-W-Fountain/4691218-lawyer.htm
4. Colt B Dodrill, http://www.lawyers.com/Nevada/Las-Vegas/Colt-B-Dodrill-3496070-a.html
5. Jason D. Firth, http://www.bhfs.com/People/jfirth
6. Renee L. Mancino, http://www.merchantcircle.com/businessLaw.Offices.of.Renee.L.Mancino.LLC.Logandale.NV.702-398-7870
7. William J. Wray, http://www.lawyers.com/Nevada/Las-Vegas/William-J-Wray-36631848-a.html
8. Mark R Borghese, http://www.bmhm.com/attorney/Mark_R._Borghese,285690.html
9. http://www.gtlaw.com/portalresource/lookup/wosid/contentpilot-core-1602-8906/pdfCopy.pdf
10. Susan Marie Pitz, http://lawyers.justia.com/lawyer/susan-marie-pitz-57567

Week 7 EOC: Intellectual property questions

1. How do I best protect myself from someone else stealing my artwork/design?
2. What’s the first step to take if someone does steal my design?
3. Do you recommend I personally contact a company that I suspect has stolen my idea?
4. How different (percentage wise) does my design have to be than a similar one?
5. What common issues do designers usually overlook in protecting themselves?
6. Do you recommend a lawyer review my contracts before signatures are put on them by the parties involved?
7. Where do you recommend a designer look for a contract template?
8. Is it better to use a template or have a lawyer draft an original contract for my design?
9. If I die and have a patent pending, does it become public domain?
10. When is it necessary to trademark intellectual property?

Week 6 EOC: ILLICIT: What do I think about it?

I think Illicit is a new and improved way to make a quick buck in the black market. It ranges from bags to kidneys. It use to be that we bought fake glasses and hand bags, but we knew they were fakes. The fake bags and glasses did not have the same logo or emblem, or changed enough so that we knew they were fakes. Now the fakes are so good we can’t tell that they are fake, they are getting top dollar for the fake merchandise. What’s so bad about a few fake bags being made and smuggled across the globe? Well those same fake bags that are harmless at first sight may contain drugs or weapons being smuggled inside the fake products being transported around the world. The people smuggling the bags illegally don’t follow the same rules as the rest of the hard working population of business. So if you can smuggle a fake bag why can’t those same bags be filled with human kidneys or drugs or weapons. You wouldn’t want to buy a bag that contributed to human sickness or even death. The company that make these original products are losing money from these knock offs. It will ruin the reputation of that particular brand name, the knock offs are not as durable, the colors fade, there made with cheap material, so when these knock offs start to break down and fall apart the average consumer can’t tell that it’s a knock off and then they assume the product is not worth buying. I think this is terrible, because Illicit material is hard to determine that they are knock offs. They are even making fake medicine, and this is dangerous because they could kill the consumer that has no idea why they got sick from a brand they took all their life.

Week 5 EOC: Lawyers looking for Fame

In this case it seemed a little fishy that a lawyer wanted to represent a client that cannot pay the attorney fees associated with the case. Humberto Fernandez-Vargas, looked like he was out of options, due to the fact that his current lawyer did not have the expertise to peruse this case further up the latter. It was only because his particular case looked like it could go to the supreme court, so this interested many law firms. A lawyer could get really famous if the lawyer wins the case in the supreme court. This is the only reason that Humberto Fernandez-Vargas, got FREE representation by David M. Gossett. You could say that the client was lucky to get a free lawyer but why would you agree to that? Do you think the lawyer working for free would ever care about YOU? In my mind this act was selfish and wrong on the law firm to put a lawyer in the supreme court that was only there for fame purposes . I think it is wrong to get Humberto Fernandez-Vargas hopes up. If you are a lawyer and you only care about the fame and not about his clients well being. I think lawyers are a double edge blade, It would be a perfect world if we didn’t have to get sued and go through the courts, instead let’s govern ourselves, yea right that would never work. Can you imagine if we had total freedom, things would be a mess. People are smart but the mob scene is dumb and reckless. We need lawyers even though we hate them for taking our money, but on the flip side the average person could go to law school, learn all the laws and defend themselves.