KYZ Law, P.C.

Is Public confidence undermined?  In a nutshell- Steadily declining numbers for jury trials are attributed to high cost of litigation as well as the rise of other alternative methods of dispute resolution, such as mediation and arbitration. However, since less people get to come in contact with the court system, does that mean public confidence [...]

A Florida lawyer, Captain Thomas Dickens was deployed to Iraq to teach federal agents and local enforcement criminal procedure and local Constitution to establish due process and do away with torture. It seems his efforts already took root and began to instill confidence in its citizens that their laws are protective and provide security. Captain Dickens’ [...]

Do you know who doesn’t like it when opposing lawyers are friendly with each other? Clients. Clients don’t like to see their lawyers palling around with the other side’s lawyers. It reminds them that we lawyers are hired guns, and that while we care about their position, that care stems from the fees they pay. [...]

Trust is more about what I believe about me than it is about knowing what someone else will do. “How would you live if you felt you could trust life fully? If you believed you were totally protected and secure, that forevermore your life would be filled with love and prosperity? Think of how your [...]

By any measure, the murder of the Japanese woman named Yuriko and her two children was a grisly one. Yuriko endured an abusive marriage that included a forced abortion and a philandering husband who repeatedly left her and threatened her with divorce. The two fought continuously over Yuriko’s demand that her husband, Mitsutaka, change jobs [...]

American courts are facing perhaps their worst crisis in decades. When the recession kicked into high gear, courts already besieged with heavy dockets found themselves taking on even more cases as growing numbers of individuals and families faced foreclosures, bankruptcies, collections, employment disputes and domestic relations matters. Many of those people opted for self-representation, a [...]

It’s easy. 1)Eliminate all conferences and personal appearances except in extraordinary or emergency situations. 2) All motions and appeals should be in writing and orders submitted online unless the court deems argument necessary. 3) Better training for judges, especially in the area of temperament; 10-year term limits; and removal if reversed more than their colleagues. [...]

Barbara Swanson was fuming. “Is it justifiable homicide if I strangle an evasive witness in the middle of cross-examination?” she said. “Sounds like you’re more than half-serious,” I said. “Try 100 percent serious,” said Barbara. “This design engineer I’m cross-examining is the most obnoxious, argumentative, evasive witness I’ve ever seen. He refuses to admit the [...]

Everyone agrees it would be nice to have health care available for all. But is Obama’s version how to get there constitutional? Well, the first of such cases has reached the US Supreme Court. Will US Supreme Court take it? The petition (PDF) asks the court to overturn a ruling upholding the law’s insurance mandate. The decision last month by [...]

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division (“ICE”) of the Department of Homeland Security has announced it will launch another wave of employer audits pertinent to I-9 forms and other documents relevant to immigration compliance, according to Corporate Counsel magazine. Reportedly 1,000 employers will be audited of various sizes across the country, which should raise [...]

Supreme Court Affirms Invalidation of California Restrictions on Violent Video Games 7-2 decision reaffirms several strongly speech-protective precepts, reinforces constitutional protections for children and video games, and underscores recent holding against creation of new categories of “unprotected” speech  The Supreme Court’s June 27, 2011, decision in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) invalidated California’s “violent [...]

Supreme Court Rejects Expansive ‘Stream of Commerce’ Theory of Personal Jurisdiction  Due Process Requires That a Defendant Purposefully Target Activities Toward a Particular State in Order To Be Subject to Jurisdiction There  This week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinions clarifying the criteria that must be satisfied before a court may constitutionally exercise personal [...]

The state bill offers no hope for change of citizenship status, but it provides hope to children of Illinois immigrants attending schools without imposing additional costs on taxpayers, according to supporters of the legislation. The Illinois Senate and House have passed legislation that would establish a volunteer state commission that would generate reliable information about [...]

Illinois is one of three states that have now withdrawn from the “Secure Communities” program, under which states are sharing information and resources with the federal government to screen jail inmates and detainees for prior criminal histories pertinent to immigration policy. New York and Massachusetts have followed the lead of Illinois, with each state’s governor [...]

On May 26, 2011, the Supreme Court upheld Arizona’s recent law that imposes sanctions on employers who “knowingly or intentionally” employ undocumented workers and requires employers to use federal government’s E-Verify program to verify the status of its workers. One of the sanctions contained in the Arizona law allows, and in certain circumstances, mandates, the suspension or revocation [...]

Lawyer Responds to Kids’ Video Dissing His Daughter with Cease and Desist Letters, Lawsuit. A Houston lawyer has taken a legal approach to a video posted on Facebook by three middle school students he accuses of defaming his daughter. First, lawyer Jason Medley notified school officials about the video and sent cease and desist letters [...]

Photograph by Alex Mogilevsky (unrelated to this law firm). The U.S. Supreme Court has found no automatic right to counsel for indigent civil defendants facing jail time, though it ruled on behalf of a father who served a year in prison for failing to pay child support. The father, Michael Turner, was deprived of his [...]

Last month, the Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against a Canadian entrepreneur and a group of web-based businesses that promised “free” offers that were far from free. In its lawsuit, the FTC charges the online marketers with scamming consumers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand out of more [...]

“Today, the engine of government says that we will move towards justice, towards fairness, towards equal protection under the law,” said Metropolitan Water Reclamation District Commissioner Debra Shore, who attended the civil union kickoff this morning. “This is a day long in the making and I wish I could have been there to celebrate with [...]