Legal
He who lives in solitude may make his own laws. - Publilius Syrus,
Moral Sayings
12/1/07 (10:09 p.m.) Rudjard M. Hayes, a partner at
Sanchez Hayes & Associates in Tyrone, Georgia, was recently selected to
receive the Ninth Annual Justice Robert Benham Award for Community
Service... More
If there were no bad people, there would be
no good lawyers. - Charles Dickens
We operate under a jury
system in this country, and as much as we complain about it, we have
to admit that we know of no better system, except possibly flipping
a coin. -
Dave Barry |
8/13/08 (1:51 p.m.) A few weeks after they married, Joan
Koonce’s husband was diagnosed with leukemia. Their marital bliss turned
instantly to anxiety and long hours in the hospital. ..
More
4/24/08 (12:45 p.m.) Stites & Harbison announced earlier
that four attorneys in the Atlanta office were named in the 2008 Georgia
Super Lawyers magazine. The four attorneys listed in the magazine include:
R. Daniel Douglass - Construction/Surety
J.D. Humphries, III - Construction Litigation
T. Matthew Mashburn - Real Estate
Richard W. Stephens - Real Estate...
More
12/11/07 (11:42 p.m.) Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel
today announced that her office has filed a brief of amicus curiae in
support of Indiana’s photo ID voting requirement in the Indiana Democratic
Party v. Rokita case currently pending...
More
11/14/07 (6:43 p.m.) Atlanta Legal Aid (www.atlantalegalaid.org),
a Georgia nonprofit corporation, has represented Atlanta's poor in civil
legal cases since 1924, helping Georgians in Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton,
and Gwinnett Counties deal with some of life's most basic needs -- a safe
home, enough food to eat, a decent education, protection against fraud, and
personal... More
9/17/07 J.D. Humphries III, Office Executive Partner of
Stites & Harbison in Atlanta, has been selected by his peers as one of The
Best Lawyers in America® (Copyright 2006 by Woodward/ White, Inc., of
Aiken S.C.) He is listed under Construction Law.
Humphries has more than 30 years experience handling sophisticated
business transactions and difficult litigation. His practice focuses on
business and personal problem solving through negotiation and litigation.
The Best Lawyers in America® is a nationally recognized
referral guide to the legal profession that has been published biennially
since 1983. Sixty-three Stites & Harbison attorneys were selected for 2008
list firm-wide.
Best Lawyers compiles lists of outstanding attorneys by
conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading
lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. In the U.S.,
Best Lawyers publishes an annual referral guide, The Best Lawyers in
America, which includes 29,575 attorneys in 78 specialties, covering all
50 states and the District of Columbia. The 13th edition of The Best
Lawyers in America (2007) is based on more than two million detailed
evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.
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8/13/08 (9:12 p.m.) Clayton State University is adding
another new baccalaureate degree, this time in a discipline where the
University’s College of Professional Studies (CPS) has already established
a significant record of...
More
Stites & Harbison Attorneys Named One of Top Trademark Firms
5/12/08 (10:17 p.m.)
Stites & Harbison
Attorneys has been named one of the "Top Trademark Firms" in the United
States by Intellectual Property Today magazine. Stites & Harbison
increased trademark registrations by 16.6 percent from 2006 to 2007, which
resulted in a ranking of 48th of 328 firms.
Stites & Harbison’s Intellectual Property and Technology Group counsels
clients on matters relating to domestic and international intellectual
property issues and assists them in securing and protecting domestic and
international trademarks. Stites & Harbison, PLLC, (www.stites.com)
is a regional business and litigation firm with attorneys eight offices in
five states, including Atlanta.
3/15/08 (10:57 p.m.) One of the
nation’s foremost transportation attorneys will share his expert knowledge
of motor carrier contracts at the SMC³ 2008 Contract Law Seminar, which will
take place Wednesday, May 21 at the Hilton Atlanta Airport hotel...
More
12/5/07 (4:43 a.m.) The Community Foundation for
Greater Atlanta: Fayette Fund’s board of directors appointed Mr. Mike Hofrichter as Chairman. Mr. Hofrichter
has served on the Fayette Fund’s board...
More
Bad check writers are opportunists that stay on the fringes of crime. They
know how to manipulate the system to their advantage. They know and take
advantage of the overworked and paper-heavy judicial agencies responsible for
check collections. They lie, push, delay and make numerous excuses in an attempt
to avoid or delay paying off their bad checks.
County agencies assigned to collect bad checks are doing the best they can.
However, because of the sharp increase in numbers of citizens choosing this form
of crime, the agencies are becoming over worked. In many counties the number of
checks being turned in for collections is increasing while the percentage of
collections is dropping. Many check writers are using the system as a credit
free loan agency by negotiating time and monthly payments; causing further
expenses to the county.
The National Retail Merchants Association is alarmed at the double digit
increase in check losses. They say that worthless checks represent the largest
increase in retail theft. The majority of check writers would not think of
shoplifting but rationalize check writing because they "intend" to pay it back.
Check losses and workloads on counties will only continue to increase unless
affirmative action is taken.
One method that many courts and district attorneys have found particularly
effective for the past two decades is requiring offenders to attend a bad check
class. Many of these counties show dramatic drops in recidivism among bad check
writers in their communities. Travis County, Texas, for example, reported that
initially 40 to 50% of the bad checks filed with their office had been written
by repeat offenders. After running bad check classes, the recidivism rate
dropped to between 5 and 10%. The results have been an increase in collections,
fewer losses to the community, less paper work, reduced court dockets, plus
helpful budgeting and counseling to the offenders.
The American Community Corrections Institute (ACCI), a provider of bad check
course materials, explains that the classes work by throwing "a psychological
monkey-wrench into their mental gears" and that this causes offenders anxiety
and fear about re-offending. They report that their course materials disrupt and
confuse offenders' criminal thinking and thereby acts as a strong deterrent to
keep them from repeating. Whether or not the courses actually work this way or
not is not clear, but what is clear is that remarkable results are being enjoyed
using them.
About The Author
Jesse Fisher enjoys writing informative articles on a variety of subjects. To
learn more about bad check classes visit
http://www.accilifeskills.com.
This article is (c) 2006 by Freedom Works, Inc. and may be reproduced only in
its entirety with this notice intact.
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