Archive for the ‘Shanti Michaels’ Category

Owners of real estate, as well as renters and managers of real estate,  should be aware of their duties to maintain safe conditions on the property that they control because if someone is injured on the property, they could be sued and held liable for significant damages.   With the exception of the greater Eureka-Arcata area, Humboldt County has remained largely undeveloped over the years.   As a result, there are many buildings that were originally built in complete disregard of the County’s applicable codes.  Owners and occupiers should know the legal status of their buildings before it is too late and someone is injured as a result of failing to maintain appropriate living conditions.

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In the face of rising credit and debit card use nationwide, the Janssen Law Firm hopes to inform small businesses in Humboldt County and elsewhere to make the best decisions for their growth.   Whether or not to accept plastic forms of payment involves knowing the parameters of what can and cannot be done in compliance with the law and merchant contracts.   Since small businesses have little to no bargaining power in the contracts they must sign to accept cards, they should at least familiarize themselves with the rules (for an illustration of the rising use of credit and debit cards, see  New York Times .

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There are a variety of reasons that it may be better to wait before suing, often having to do with determining the amount of damages to demand in the lawsuit.  However, waiting too long to sue may legally prohibit you from being able to do so.

Almost every law provides a window of time after the facts of a case arise during which a suit may be filed.  This window of time is called the Statute of Limitations (“SOL”).  The size of the window will depend on the law which provides the right.  After the time period has ended, the SOL is said to have “tolled.”  California Code Civ. Proc. (“CCP”) § 312.  The rules for how a SOL tolls are complicated.  However, if you are thinking of filing suit, you should be aware of a few basic rules.

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The Janssen Law Firm is pleased to announce that Shanti Michaels has joined the firm as an associate.  Ms. Michaels is a 2009 graduate of the University of California Hastings College of Law and a member of the California  and Humboldt County Bar Associations.  She served as an Executive Editor of the Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and was a member of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Journal staff.  Ms. Michaels’ undergraduate work was at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA with study abroad at the University of Salamanca, Spain.   Ms. Michaels is fluent in Spanish.