Articles by Michael Wechsler
Permanent Residence
How to Get a Green Card: Eligibility and Qualification
“Green Card” is the informal name frequently used for a U.S. Permanent Resident Card. It allows a person who is not a United States citizen to reside in the country indefinitely. The card may also serve as a path to U.S. citizenship. A green card may be obtained under certain circumstances...
A user of Google Glass was allegedly removed from an Ohio movie theater and interrogated for several hours under suspicion of bootlegging a film. The moviegoer was wearing Google Glass with prescription lenses, an option that Google said would become readily available when the beta product would...
LinkedIn, one of the world's largest professional networking sites, filed suit against unknown hackers who registered thousands of phony accounts in order to harvest valuable member data. The complaint, filed in federal court in the Northern District of California, was the first step the company...
Landlord Obligations
Tenants Rights in New York City: Utilities, Repairs, Safety
Life as a New York City tenant can be quite stressful. Your landlord should make every effort to ensure that your basic tenants’ rights are protected - your rights to a safe, comfortable and lawful environment. This includes working heat, hot water, timely repairs and privacy. Every tenant...
Sprinkle some magic powder on your food and you'll have a gym body without going to the gym in no time. Slim down just by rubbing some sweet smelling cream in strategic places. Do these promises of fitness without dieting and exercising sound too good to be true? The FTC thought so and charged...
Has anyone recently perused the Search Provider Agent Directory at the U.S. Copyright Office website for a DMCA / copyright infringement agent other than myself? You should because you might not be able to find your company listed. Browsing through the alphabetized entries would seem elementary...
Yesterday the California Supreme Court ruled that a Mexican immigrant, living illegally in the United States for 20 years, may not be barred from becoming a state licensed attorney. Despite acknowledging that an undocumented immigrant's presence in the country was an ongoing violation of federal...
Over the past week we've received a massive amount of virus infected spam, ostensibly from the prestigious law firm, Latham & Watkins. With the subject "Urgent court notice" comes a zip file, such as the one named Court_Notice_Latham_and_Watkins__NY82008.zip or using the Jones Day name. It...
A U.S. citizen who plans to marry a person who is a citizen of foreign country may wish to bring their fiancé / fiancée to the United States prior to the marriage ceremony. In such circumstances, the U.S. citizen who is engaged to be married can petition the immigration authorities for a K-1...
Law, Procedure, Other
USCIS Change of Address Rules & Requirements
Virtually all foreign nationals and aliens (those who are not U.S. Citizens) are obligated to inform the U.S. Citizen Immigration Services (USCIS) of a change of address in a timely fashion. Other than a few exceptions, a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder) has a short period of time...
Dangerous Drugs
Pharmaceutical Drug Law: Accountability and Liability
Lawsuits involving prescription drugs, medication and medical products usually concern product liability law. In general, product manufacturers are charged with a duty of care. They must make reasonable efforts to protect the consumer from harm.
Drug Manufacturer Testing Requirements and FDA...
Telemarketing companies using autodialers to make "robocalls" are finally being met with tougher federal regulation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised its rules and regulations in February concerning the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). These changes went into effect...
New York State Attorney General Eric T. Shneiderman announced in September that 19 search engine optimization firms and private companies agreed to pay fines exceeding $350,000 (in the aggregate) and cease creating fraudulent reviews online. The year long "Operation Clean Turf" was targeted at...
Juvenile Crime
Juvenile Delinquents and the Juvenile Justice System
When a child or a minor commits a crime, he or she enters the criminal justice system. However, the system treats minors differently than adults. Rather than calling the minor a “criminal defendant,” the special term used to describe this young person is a “juvenile delinquent.”
The Definition...
Drivers License
When can my Drivers License be Suspended or Revoked?
It is important to know that your ability to drive on the road is not a constitutionally protected right – it’s merely a privilege. Your driver’s license can be suspended for a period of time even for violations that not directly related to your operation of a motor vehicle. And when certain...
A lawsuit seeking class action status was filed in federal court claiming that LinkedIn hacked into external email accounts of its members and sent out numerous spam invitations. While users were logged into web-based email accounts such as GMail, Yahoo! Mail, Microsoft mail and others, the...
Child Abuse, Sex Crimes
Defenses to Child Abuse Charges
It can be difficult to assert a successful child abuse defense since criminal charges will typically include the testimony of a child. People tend to be more sympathetic towards children and are inclined to protect them first. The accused may face a challenging uphill battle when fighting abuse...
An opinion issued recently by the New Jersey Superior Court Appellate Division indicated that the Court could find someone sending text messages liable for texting a person known to be driving an automobile. In denying the appeal in Kubert v. Best and Colonna (decided on August 27, 2103) the...
California lawmakers closed a rape law loophole and have now made it illegal to impersonate another person in order to have sex, whether or not the victim is married. California Governor, Jerry Brown, signed bill AB65 after an appellate court overturned a rape conviction because the impersonated...
I read an article today about an allegedly guilt-riddled drunk driver who used social media to confess to a DUI crime that killed an innocent victim. The story and most of the comments lauded this man as a hero who came forward to declare his guilt, even though he could have easily avoided a...