So, it has been three years since my last blog post. As a busy attorney, husband, and father of two wonderful children, the blog has taken the back seat to my clients and family. I checked the site today and realized I have lost a substantial amount of hair since the photo had been taken. An updated picture now replaces the previous photo to properly denote the passage of time and receding of hairline. Additionally, I have rekindled my love for running, am regularly jogging for pleasure, and enjoy the cardiovascular benefits that are a side-effect of regular exercise. While my 3 year hiatus from blogging has not necessarily made my heart grow fonder of blogging (that remains to be seen), surely the absence has helped my heart grow stronger.
Great things have happened and do continue to happen at Jackson Law since my last post. I continue to proudly provide personalized legal services to everyday citizens and achieve strong results for my clients based upon their needs. If you need legal assistance, check out my website and see if I can be of service to you. You may think you are out of options and may just simply feel overwhelmed. I will do my best to alleviate those worries and to offer you good solutions. Here is the link:
www.jacksonlawiowa.com
Thursday, May 15, 2014
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Like Pairing Wines and Food, Abstract Review Goes Well with Pink Floyd?
Being an attorney is often not the same as it is portrayed on the television shows. It is truly not "As Seen On TV." It might even seem mundane to some folks. But, what others may find to be mundane tasks, I can find rewarding. Reading
An abstract, for those who do not know, is a paper trail created by a person known as an "abstractor" that covers a particular piece of real estate and details the history of all recorded documents which affect the title to that land. Sometimes, these abstracts go back to the 1800s, especially on the East side of the State where the Mississippi Iowa Iowa
When reviewing an abstract, I can often see a family's history over the passage of time. For example, I might see that a husband and wife purchased a home in the 1940's and held the property for several years together, maybe taking out and paying off mortgages on the property during that time. As life goes, the husband passes several years later, and the house becomes the wife's due to appropriate title planning or through a probate action. She then dies, years or maybe merely months later, and perhaps the couple's children obtain the property through the couple's estate planning or by operation of State law. Thereafter, the children may sell the property to another individual who gets married, and the process repeats itself--all over the course of perhaps 50 to 100 years.
In that abstract review, I might also get a good look at our Nation's or State's development over time and feel how recent these developments really are. I might see a piece of property that is originally described by "metes and bounds," --a long drawn out description of a property measurement which eventually positions the property in relation to the particular principal meridian of the Earth. That property might be, years later, platted into lots by a developer or a City. I might see the details of the original patent when Iowa or the United States
History can sometimes seem like a long time ago--December 28, 1846, sure seems like a long time ago--but when you consider that family members you know or knew were around during or not too long after some of those years, it suddenly does not seem so long ago. Similarly, when I look at an abstract, I can see how short our lives can be--and can appreciate how important it is to get my head out of the dusty abstract and enjoy time with family and friends when I am able.
If you own a home, I encourage you to look through your abstract sometime, if for no other reason than to just see families that have lived in your home or have been a part of your real estate. Perhaps, as I do, you'll feel that sense of time and interconnectedness with others.
Now for the lighter note: One of my passions has always been music. If you are ever in the mood to review your abstract, to assist you in appreciating your abstract review experience, may I suggest listening to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" while you do so, or if you can only spend a few minutes, try Alan Parson's Project's "Time." No, I have not done this; as you would expect, I need to fully concentrate on the abstract when I am reading it and not be distracted by some lady's melancholy singing in the "Great Gig in the Sky". (So, maybe it's kind of like asking a beer lover to suggest a wine/food pairing?) But, if I was perusing an abstract purely for pleasure, it just seems to me that the song/abstract pairing would complement each other. If you do it, let me know how it works, and enjoy your weekend.
Saturday, March 5, 2011
There are Some Mistakes that No Attorney Can Correct
I am a big believer in personal responsibility. If you wear pants that belt around your legs with your underwear hanging out, you should expect that at some point your pants will fall down--not blame the belt. If you stretch out your earlobes to put in large rings, you should expect that you'll regret the floppy earlobes you have when you are 60, not blame your earlobes for not growing back.
Put a little more seriously, a person should act respectfully, expect to be treated in a similar manner, should avoid causing harm to others, and should also avoid harming themselves. If you break these rules, you should expect consequences for your behavior, sometimes criminal consequences. However, not everyone has committed the crime of which they are accused. Further, even if they have, we should remember that we all make mistakes, so leniency is sometimes merited in considering punishment for the individual. As part of my law practice, I help those accused of crimes, preparing and presenting that individual's defense, while additionally helping to insure that the constitutional rights of all are protected from unfair infringement by governmental action.
It should come as no surprise that the government can also make mistakes. When the government makes mistakes, and tramples on an individual's freedoms, it should expect the consequence that even the guilty individual will be cleared of the charges. After all, this is the best way to insure that all of our personal freedoms are protected. Heck, even the jail makes mistakes. For example, I've seen a jail refuse to release someone from its custody despite receiving an order which showed that the inmate ought to be released, apparently because its employees couldn't read the paperwork correctly. (Hint: "2 years probation" generally means "released from custody" and checking the box "suspended" always means that the prison term is suspended, thus, "released from custody"). It should not take a second order from a Judge which says "Inmate Shall Be Released Immediately" to convince the jail that the inmate is entitled to be released.
When mistakes are made, sometimes the person making the mistake ought to be given a chance to prove they will not make the mistake again. Unfortunately, though, the person charged with a crime is often treated just like every other criminal defendant. The OWI defendant, drug possession defendant, driving offense violator---they often share common categories of stories, and so the system is often tempted to lump them all together in their "crime category" and treat them the same.
Put very simply, the Criminal Defense Attorney's job is not only to protect that person's constitutional rights, thereby protecting all of our rights (by calling the government on their mistakes). The job also calls for the Attorney to make the Judge and prosecutor see the accused as a person, not just a category. By doing so, the Attorney can help the Judge and prosecutor avoid making the mistake of imposing punishment where none is warranted--or of imposing an unfairly harsh punishment.
Everyone makes mistakes, but if the day comes that you need help fixing the mistake, take comfort in knowing that there are attorneys around to help you fix or deal with many of those mistakes. I do have to admit, however, that I will not be able to fix all of your problems---I'm not going to hold your pants up for you, and you are on your own with the floppy earlobe.
jacksonlawiowa.com
jacksonlawiowa.com
Saturday, February 19, 2011
My scratcher ticket won! Then, I threw it away.
Sometimes, Theresa and I get a good laugh by opening junk mail, so, I have tended to open it on occasions. For example, if there is an envelope that clearly looks like junk mail and also appears to have a check inside, I like to open it and say to her, "Look, Honey, we've got a check for $5,000.00 in the mail. Wow, that is great!!" Then, I flip it over to read the fine print and announce the oppressive interest rate that I agree to by cashing the check. Then we laugh, rip it up, and toss it.
I came home on Thursday to a mailer with the Presidential Seal on it saying, over the colors of the American Flag, that I would receive top dollar for my current vehicle and that "Kelley Blue Book Official Guide will be honored." I was intrigued, so I opened it. After considering what "honored" meant in the ad, my eyes were drawn lower to a much more important pronouncement. There, below the fold of the mailer, was the following: "ATTENTION, enclosed is a scratcher ticket with a value of up to $10,000 CASH." My colorful scratcher ticket was enclosed. Winning was simple. If you scratched off three matching symbols, you won. As the advertisement stated, "to win: the winning boxes below must be the same." It also guaranteed that the winning $10,000 scratcher had been mailed. Somehow, I assumed my boxes would match (by golly, I like to think I'm a winner!!!), and they did! Then, I read the finest fine print, and discovered the odds of winning. There were six prizes, five of which were bona fide big time prizes. The six, well, I don't know, but the odds of winning one of the 5 big prizes were 1 in 12,500. The odds of winning the six prize.....12495:12,500.......... Yes, your statistical calculation is correct! Everyone wins! Be it a pen, a credit towards the purchase of a new vehicle, or whatever. My scratcher ticket was a winner. I might be one of the lucky 5, but, probably won't go in to check. I do, however, wonder how many folks that got the mailer thought they really had won one of the big prizes.....
Let me be clear here, they are giving away prizes to everyone who got the mailer, so this really is a nice way for them to entice people to their store, and I kind of feel like this is a fairly harmless bit of playful deception.
But, there are other more dangerous junk mailers. If you get the check in the mail that Theresa and I laugh about, just throw it away. I see so many people who get into bad situations with high interest rate loans, or get into a cycle of payday to payday loans, that it just makes me sick. There are folks out there who, to keep from bouncing a check they wrote to a payday loan place, have to go back to that payday loan place, or another one, and write another check to get cash which they can deposit to keep the first check from bouncing--then do it again, then again, then again and again, always paying the ridiculous fees for the privilege of the up-front cash. That cycle can be broken, and people caught in it know it needs to be broken, they just feel like there is no way out. People who, from the outside, see things like this happen are truly informed in their perspective. From an ivory tower, those who don't see it might feel like money problems come from being lazy. It is truly not so. People work hard, but everyone can't be as successful as those in the ivory tower, and everyone does not start from the same place in the race towards the American Dream. Illnesses, job loss, divorces, and poverty happen to good people, and once the problem begins, the attempts to solve the problem can make bigger problems. If you are in the cycle, please consider seeking help from an attorney.
Next time you get that flyer in the mail, read the fine print, laugh about it, and throw it away. Unless, that is, you are looking for a new car. In which case, maybe you might win $10,000 (payable in monthly installments of $208.33 per month for 48 months).
http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/
I came home on Thursday to a mailer with the Presidential Seal on it saying, over the colors of the American Flag, that I would receive top dollar for my current vehicle and that "Kelley Blue Book Official Guide will be honored." I was intrigued, so I opened it. After considering what "honored" meant in the ad, my eyes were drawn lower to a much more important pronouncement. There, below the fold of the mailer, was the following: "ATTENTION, enclosed is a scratcher ticket with a value of up to $10,000 CASH." My colorful scratcher ticket was enclosed. Winning was simple. If you scratched off three matching symbols, you won. As the advertisement stated, "to win: the winning boxes below must be the same." It also guaranteed that the winning $10,000 scratcher had been mailed. Somehow, I assumed my boxes would match (by golly, I like to think I'm a winner!!!), and they did! Then, I read the finest fine print, and discovered the odds of winning. There were six prizes, five of which were bona fide big time prizes. The six, well, I don't know, but the odds of winning one of the 5 big prizes were 1 in 12,500. The odds of winning the six prize.....12495:12,500.......... Yes, your statistical calculation is correct! Everyone wins! Be it a pen, a credit towards the purchase of a new vehicle, or whatever. My scratcher ticket was a winner. I might be one of the lucky 5, but, probably won't go in to check. I do, however, wonder how many folks that got the mailer thought they really had won one of the big prizes.....
Let me be clear here, they are giving away prizes to everyone who got the mailer, so this really is a nice way for them to entice people to their store, and I kind of feel like this is a fairly harmless bit of playful deception.
But, there are other more dangerous junk mailers. If you get the check in the mail that Theresa and I laugh about, just throw it away. I see so many people who get into bad situations with high interest rate loans, or get into a cycle of payday to payday loans, that it just makes me sick. There are folks out there who, to keep from bouncing a check they wrote to a payday loan place, have to go back to that payday loan place, or another one, and write another check to get cash which they can deposit to keep the first check from bouncing--then do it again, then again, then again and again, always paying the ridiculous fees for the privilege of the up-front cash. That cycle can be broken, and people caught in it know it needs to be broken, they just feel like there is no way out. People who, from the outside, see things like this happen are truly informed in their perspective. From an ivory tower, those who don't see it might feel like money problems come from being lazy. It is truly not so. People work hard, but everyone can't be as successful as those in the ivory tower, and everyone does not start from the same place in the race towards the American Dream. Illnesses, job loss, divorces, and poverty happen to good people, and once the problem begins, the attempts to solve the problem can make bigger problems. If you are in the cycle, please consider seeking help from an attorney.
Next time you get that flyer in the mail, read the fine print, laugh about it, and throw it away. Unless, that is, you are looking for a new car. In which case, maybe you might win $10,000 (payable in monthly installments of $208.33 per month for 48 months).
http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Trust Issues; Snowblowers and Debt relief agencies
I admit it. I have some trust issues. There are some things with which I have just not been able to become comfortable. The first is the snowblower. Especially this morning, I am dreading this lack of trust. My driveway is covered in snowpack, and it means that I will be spending hours clearing it with the shovel and ice chipper. There are ways to define my resistance to snowblowers in a positive light. Growing up on an Iowan family farm, I was no stranger to hard work. Some Saturdays were entirely spent scooping...and not snow. Some weeks were spent throwing hay bales. Although I may not have felt it at the time, I now look back fondly on those days. When your muscles are sore and your body is tired, you know you've had an honest day's work. There may be a little stubborness in that distrust as well. In any event, this afternoon, around 3:00 or so, I am going to tackle the snow and try to clear the driveway. And really, though I may sound like a glutton for punishment, I do look forward to it.
On a more serious note, however, I have a severe lack of trust for debt relief and tax relief agencies. Having spoken with numerous folks that have used credit relief agencies, the generalized facts seem to be this: person contacts debt relief agency, begins paying substantial amounts of money to the company, and is surprised to learn after several months that the agency has done nothing for them but take their money. Some of those folks are then surprised to learn that they cannot get their money back without a fight, and, because it is an out-of-state entity, trying to get back their money may seem too hard and too expensive. If you are my client, I will strongly urge you away from consulting those agencies with one exception: Consumer Credit of Des Moines. As I tell my clients, and those considering filing bankruptcy, if you want to try something else first or it makes sense to do so, you could have me try to help you negotiate with creditors. Another cost effective option may be to go to Consumer Credit of Des Moines....but don't go to any other debt relief agency. I have no business relationship with Consumer Credit of Des Moines and receive nothing for making that recommendation. I say this because it is a business in Iowa, and I have never heard the stories about them that I have heard about others. So if you want to try debt relief agencies, please do not call the toll free number on the TV unless it is Tom Coates in one of his zany commercials. Here is the website: http://www.consumercredit-dm.com/ If you have tax problems, pay a local accountant to help you. Their fees may likely be no more than the tax relief agencies' fees, and even if they are, they are local and thus more easily accountable for their actions and accessible to you. I hope you can share my distrust of these agencies. If you have had an experience with one of these agencies that is positive, I would be interested to hear it.
Please enjoy your Saturday while I work on my trust issues by chipping the driveway.
http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/
On a more serious note, however, I have a severe lack of trust for debt relief and tax relief agencies. Having spoken with numerous folks that have used credit relief agencies, the generalized facts seem to be this: person contacts debt relief agency, begins paying substantial amounts of money to the company, and is surprised to learn after several months that the agency has done nothing for them but take their money. Some of those folks are then surprised to learn that they cannot get their money back without a fight, and, because it is an out-of-state entity, trying to get back their money may seem too hard and too expensive. If you are my client, I will strongly urge you away from consulting those agencies with one exception: Consumer Credit of Des Moines. As I tell my clients, and those considering filing bankruptcy, if you want to try something else first or it makes sense to do so, you could have me try to help you negotiate with creditors. Another cost effective option may be to go to Consumer Credit of Des Moines....but don't go to any other debt relief agency. I have no business relationship with Consumer Credit of Des Moines and receive nothing for making that recommendation. I say this because it is a business in Iowa, and I have never heard the stories about them that I have heard about others. So if you want to try debt relief agencies, please do not call the toll free number on the TV unless it is Tom Coates in one of his zany commercials. Here is the website: http://www.consumercredit-dm.com/ If you have tax problems, pay a local accountant to help you. Their fees may likely be no more than the tax relief agencies' fees, and even if they are, they are local and thus more easily accountable for their actions and accessible to you. I hope you can share my distrust of these agencies. If you have had an experience with one of these agencies that is positive, I would be interested to hear it.
Please enjoy your Saturday while I work on my trust issues by chipping the driveway.
http://www.jacksonlawiowa.com/
Saturday, February 5, 2011
The start of a new journey
I am starting a blog! I hope to cover all facets of my life, being honest to what I want to talk about at the moment. Hopefully the blog will provide some understanding of the legal world and will help to show my legal philosophy while also giving some insight into my personal life and interests. We'll see.
Saturday mornings for me are usually times to reflect on the week, plan for the weekend, and plot out the next week's schedule. I am reflecting this week on helping a client this week save several thousand dollars that the client owed to creditors. Having grown up in areas that may not have had the best economic outlooks, I know and have known some really great people who have problems making ends meat. Just because you can't buy that fancy house, car, or go on the fancy trip doesn't make you less of a person. To the contrary as we all know, material distractions can simply clutter up a person's life. I am always sensitive to budgets and know that legal services are expensive. So, it always makes me feel great when I can say that not only did I help that person out of the problem they were facing, but I also saved them money, essentially "paying for myself" through the savings. Obviously, it does not always happen that way, but when it does, like it did this week, I do get a great feeling!
STOP LIGHT CAMERAS SEE DOLLAR SIGNS
Also in my head this week: stoplight cameras. Brad Zaun was on the news talking about how he did not support them and that he got a ticket when his son ran a red light because the vehicle was in Brad Zaun's name...thereby punishing Brad Zaun for breaking a law that he did not break with no need to prove that he did. The Democratic response was that the cameras save lives, make sure laws are followed, but, as an added benefit, also add revenue. Sorry, let's be honest about this issue. There would be no cameras if they did not generate revenue and pay for themselves. Sure, they may make it safer and sure they may cause people to follow the law. But, think about it: we could put cameras in people's homes and on every street corner and that too would make things safer and insure laws were followed. Also, if you are punishing the person that did not break the law (i.e. the vehicle owner as opposed to the driver), what crime control are we getting? Whose behavior are we controlling? We could lower the speed limit to 20 mph on the interstates and that would make it safer too. So, let's be honest. This is a cash cow for the city. They need not patrol the intersections...saving what would be employment costs, and they still get the money. I don't consider myself a big Brad Zaun fan, but he is right about this one. Democrats, get on the right side of this issue, or at least admit that it is about revenue and not about saving lives. Our laws measure risk with personal freedom and privacy. These cameras need to go.
Saturday mornings for me are usually times to reflect on the week, plan for the weekend, and plot out the next week's schedule. I am reflecting this week on helping a client this week save several thousand dollars that the client owed to creditors. Having grown up in areas that may not have had the best economic outlooks, I know and have known some really great people who have problems making ends meat. Just because you can't buy that fancy house, car, or go on the fancy trip doesn't make you less of a person. To the contrary as we all know, material distractions can simply clutter up a person's life. I am always sensitive to budgets and know that legal services are expensive. So, it always makes me feel great when I can say that not only did I help that person out of the problem they were facing, but I also saved them money, essentially "paying for myself" through the savings. Obviously, it does not always happen that way, but when it does, like it did this week, I do get a great feeling!
STOP LIGHT CAMERAS SEE DOLLAR SIGNS
Also in my head this week: stoplight cameras. Brad Zaun was on the news talking about how he did not support them and that he got a ticket when his son ran a red light because the vehicle was in Brad Zaun's name...thereby punishing Brad Zaun for breaking a law that he did not break with no need to prove that he did. The Democratic response was that the cameras save lives, make sure laws are followed, but, as an added benefit, also add revenue. Sorry, let's be honest about this issue. There would be no cameras if they did not generate revenue and pay for themselves. Sure, they may make it safer and sure they may cause people to follow the law. But, think about it: we could put cameras in people's homes and on every street corner and that too would make things safer and insure laws were followed. Also, if you are punishing the person that did not break the law (i.e. the vehicle owner as opposed to the driver), what crime control are we getting? Whose behavior are we controlling? We could lower the speed limit to 20 mph on the interstates and that would make it safer too. So, let's be honest. This is a cash cow for the city. They need not patrol the intersections...saving what would be employment costs, and they still get the money. I don't consider myself a big Brad Zaun fan, but he is right about this one. Democrats, get on the right side of this issue, or at least admit that it is about revenue and not about saving lives. Our laws measure risk with personal freedom and privacy. These cameras need to go.
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