A low credit score can effect a number of things, including your current credit cards, future lending options, employment, and This post talks about sources you can use to check your credit score. The Wall Street Journal article gives some practical educational advice about credit scores, and provides links to free or low-cost resources for checking your credit score. Most of the options are limited, but they all give you a decent representation of what your credit score might be.

I encourage you to regularly check your credit score. If you’re having trouble with collections, past-due accounts, high-interest credit cards, or any other consumer credit issue, please contact us. We help people evaluate their debt situation, and assess various legal and personal options for managing debt.

Credit & Debt is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

We’re offering a basic will and healthcare directive for a discount: $100 per couple or $50 per person. This is available through the end of the year for the first 25 people who take advantage of the value.

You can download the documents you need by visiting our forms page, and downloading the estate planning intake form. Give us a call when you’re ready to schedule an appointment.

Or, if you’d like to have a more involved involved estate planning session, give us a call at (405) 748-0318, or email us (contact@absolutelawfirm.com). Sign up for in-depth estate planning, and you’ll receive $350 off our service. Don’t delay!

End-of-the-Year Essential Estate Planning is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

One of the things I never realized I needed, but I’m glad my wife stressed buying, was renter’s insurance. I believed that if anything happened to our quaint little apartment, my losses would be covered under the owner’s liability insurance, and my goods would be replaced with theirs.

THIS IS FALSE! If you don’t know this, learn it now. You have no right to recover for your lost stuff. This is especially important, if you’re like some folks I know, if you rent and you’re the type of individual who likes to acquire high-dollar electronics. Remember, if anything happens to your stuff, you’re on the hook for it’s replacement. Just think about the expense you’ll have, and if you’re not sure how much it’ll cost then do this simple routine: count every article of clothing and multiply by $25; count all your furniture and assuming it’s in good shape (no Goodwill specials) figure about $2,000; look at all your electronics (computer, TV, stereo, DVD, VCR, Cable/Satellite box, everything), ask what it cost to purchase, subtract $15; look at all your personal stuff (cologne, toothpaste, etc) figure $300 (high); look at your plates, silverware, everything in the kitchen, dining room, and bath, figure $1,000 or more. You’re starting to get the idea. You have to replace everything, with your own money.

Most people think, "it’s not going to happen to us." You’re probably right. Statistically you’re probably more likely to get into a car accident and seriously injure yourself (you do have the proper coverage, right?). Why run the risk though? I know that I could never afforded the expense to replace all my stuff. Renter’s insurance is cheap (we paid about $10 per month). GET IT NOW!!!

I’m Insured, Are You? is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

Generally, Republicans favor tort reform because it "benefits businesses", while Democrats dislike the idea because you’re permitting bad products/people. I’ve never really understood this, because both sides seem to be flipped on the issue and their desires. Mostly, Republicans favor fewer taxes, less government involvement in industry, and a free market system. Democrats generally favor more taxes, bigger government, and caps on free enterprise. In the tort reform debate, Republicans champion the ideas of caps on litigations because it hampers the free market system (although I’ve never agreed with that because it’s the quintessential free-market idea: pay and benefit from your products/services). The two sides clash in every state, and generally the issue is never resolved (click here for a previous discussion on legislation in Oklahoma).

Well, "the voice of Republicanism", Rush Limbaugh (I happen to like & sometimes agree with Rush – listening off and on since I was 12), is advocating tort reform as a method to stimulate the economy that is "the English rule" of tort law. This is a "loser pays" rule that could be beneficial (although I don’t support it at all) in high dollar cases  where "frivolous" claims are filed by "greedy plaintiff’s lawyers." Everyone hates hearing how some lady made 500 gazillion dollars because she spilled hot coffee in her lap, right? (BTW, here’s a link to the real facts.)

Arguably, there are some cases that see ludicrous (i.e. the Wendy’s finger), but for the most part, people sue other because they can’t get the "justice" (i.e. an apology sometimes) for bad behavior. I’ve talked to a lot of "tort reformers", especially doctors, who don’t realize that some of the suits for malpractice could be resolved by saying "sorry that the surgery/procedure didn’t go as planned." Instead, many clam up under the "do no harm" mantra, and feel that any sort of apology countermines their proficiency as a physician. I think most people recognize that doctors are human, and despite every precaution, sometimes stuff happens.

What "chaps" me though is that by touting tort reform, many people believe that they’re going to be better off, especially in the "loser pays" market. Here’s a consideration:

In my experience 75-85% of the lawsuits filed (at least in Oklahoma) deal with issues around car accidents. In most cases, the injured plaintiff has property damage (a busted vehicle), and some physical damage (cuts, broken bones, whiplash, etc.). In the current system, plaintiff’s attorneys negotiate separate payments for the vehicle damage and the bodily injury, many times without filing a lawsuit. Insurance companies may haggle over small issues, but generally, payments can be made without increased litigation costs.

Under a loser pays system, attorneys would automatically file a lawsuit (increased cost #1), and seek the trial (increased cost # 2-infinity). Because most of the auto accident claims are "clear liability" or something similar, the loser will always pay. That’s double payment for the victim (i.e. once for the insurance and twice for the plaintiff’s attorney). In the current system, attorney’s fees are usually based on contingency fees (percentage of the total settlement). Plaintiff’s attorneys will start charging hourly rates equivelent to their current contingency rates, and also risk no out of pocket costs. Also under the current system, each side pays their own litigation costs (yes, there are a few exceptions), which helps to keep litigation cost low.

Implementing the loser pays rule seems logical because it punishes someone who files a lawsuit just to sue. In reality, you’re only curbing a small percentage of those cases, and you’ve now increased the cost for automobile insurance for every individual. Moreover, as a plaintiff’s attorney, I’m still going to take those cases against the doctors where I see liability and can make the case, I’ll just be more cautious (I already am) about those claims.

Remember, plaintiff’s attorney’s aren’t meeting with clients and saying, "gosh, your case doesn’t look so good, but let’s go ahead and sue anyway" (again, there are a few exceptions). When I get a case, especially one of medical negligence, I’m going to research, read, and review a lot of things before taking the case and filing the lawsuit. As such, if we lose in the end, it’s because of the jury and not the case. Also, I’m going to work like mad to settle the claim ahead of trial, because I know there’s massive consequences if I don’t.

Finally, advocating the loser pays method doesn’t add anything because "the loser" usually doesn’t have money to begin with. You’re going to have to sue an individual with few, if any, resources and who is essentially judgment proof.  Basically, you’re never going to recover, and you’ll still owe your attorney’s bill. I can’t see any sense with trying to waste additional time and resources following this method, but, perhaps there’s an angle I’m not seeing. Let me know.

No, clearly it’s not "tort reform" that we need, rather insurance reform. Doctors and individuals can’t get coverages/payments that they need to adequately do their jobs and live their lives. While malpractice insurance continually rises (please show me a link to litigation), payments for services quickly declines. I heard my father tell me that the insurance company would rather pay $3,000 dollars for  him to perform a procedure in a hospital, than $300 (the actual cost with supplies) in his office. This is stupid! We gripe at paying $3.00/gallon for gasoline, and here’s a company that’s wasting our money.

As always, if you have opposing views or some rebuttals, we’d love to hear the comments. More importantly, each of us needs to be involved in discussing these issues with our state and representatives. The issue of insurance isn’t going away and neither is tort reform.

Tort Reform (Negative) 2.0 is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

Case in point: Yesterday, I managed to turn the seemingly simple task of removing a staple from a stack of papers into a tramatic injury.

Here’s how it happened:

I used a staple remover to grab the staple from the papers. The staple didn’t come out as easy as planned the first time, and needed a second effort to gently persuade it free. Unfortunately, the remover didn’t grab well enough or something, and the free staple flung toward me at or near the speed of light. Murphy says that these things always cause the most damage and catastrophe, the same held true in my case. The staple whirled directly into my eye. There was some slight pain (like that time I flicked the fingernail clipping into it, or the time I splintered wood and a the one fleck to fly honed in on me), but nothing severe. I dabbed at my watery-eye and moved on. However, when I went into the restroom and looked at the mirror, I looked like one of those freaky guys with an eyeball tattoo.

Evidently (though I haven’t visited a Dr.) the staple caused a cut to the white of the eye, and blood flowed in through the membrane. There’s no vision damage, only a grotesque-looking 1/2-red eyeball that freaked out a coworker who’d seen brain matter, tramatic amputations, and all sorts of other nasty physical injuries.

The injury to this eyeball is similar to one I had about 4 or 5 years ago when I smashed my face on concrete after a stupid bike trick went horribly wrong. Surprising, in spite of my accident acuity, I’ve only broken two bones, my leg at 5 and my right index finger at 13, in my life. I guess I’m just like Mr. Magoo, and oblivious to the damage I’m causing around me.

The Moral: you must have insurance (workers’ compensation or other) to cover yourself at your office, especially if you’re somewhat of a ticking time-bomb for a major health or physical disaster.

Freaky Accidents is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

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Many couples, including me, face the "pre-altar" challenges, and wonder whether this marriage will work out. More importantly, many couples are so caught up in the rigors or marriage planning, that they often overlook some of the more subtle issues like the tax and legal ramifications of marriage.

Oklahoma, unlike nine other western states, is a separate property state. This means that if a marriage ends, all property acquired prior to the marriage, or not as a result of the couple’s joint-industry remains the property of the person who acquired it. This includes property acquired through inheritance. At divorce, each spouse will receive his/her separate property. This is important because if the property becomes co-mingled or indistinguishable as to the owner, the property becomes "community property" or joint-industry property, and the divorce court will divide the property accordingly. While preparing for your marriage you should determine and list the property you are bringing into the marriage. This list may (hopefully not) enable you to remember who really brought that frying pan into the house.

Another consideration is your future, including education. You should actively discuss with your fiance your plans/desires for education, children, and careers. Many times when we marry, we’re uncertain of the final point, but we have some ideals regarding the former two. If you’re an "old school" guy/gal, and wish to be/have a stay home mom when you have children, you as husband or father, need to seriously consider providing a means to support your family in case of a catastrophic accident. I always recommend to my many friends with children, and especially those with wives at home, that they have at least $5,000,000 in life insurance, and worker’s compensation coverage for themselves.

Consider carefully where your wife, who generally has few employable/marketable skills to land a job that will pay as well as you. Moreover, you wife will need the money to be able to support your family (or you and your family) if you’re gone. You will need to pay off your home, vehicles, credit cards, etc., so your spouse can continue to raise your children. Obviously the sooner you purchase, or start saving money to purchase, this type of insurance coverage, the better prepared you’ll be.

Finally, you should prepare to work hard at your marriage. You should prepare to support your spouse in his/her goals and desires, and always remember you chose him/her.

If you’re interested in discussing in more detail some of these, or your other concerns, please contact our office.

So You’re Getting Married is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

I like the fact that President Obama has proposed a stimulus plan that has the potential to bring financial success. I don’t think, other than to say I told you so, that it’s right to criticize the President’s stimulus plan. The plan is what it is, and hopefully, as the President stated on Wednesday, this will be the plan that will bring the economy back where it needs to be.

One of the benefits I’m hoping will be good for everyone is the mortgage bailout proposal. Although I’m adverse to helping people who purchased more than they could afford because their lender said they could (sorry if that’s you), I think this provision will help bring this country and economy back where we need to be, but not in the short-term the President is hoping. I think if you qualify for a mortgage bailout, and your payments are reduced, then you’ll probably use the additional income to pay down your remaining consumer debt (that’s what I’ll do), instead of injecting the additional income back into the economy.

Sure, arguably you’re going to have more money to buy items and go to the movies, but generally, I predict you’re going to concentrate on increasing your family’s financial security through saving or reducing your debt. This will eventually be a good thing for this economy. Having less debt means more financial security, and eventually a stronger economy.

If you’re interested in the details and determining whether you qualify for the mortgage bailout, check out this article in Business Week, or refer to the White House’s blog post.

Give Me My Bailout is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

Did you know that the information contained in your credit report is protected by federal law? Sure you did. Do you know what the law says? You know there’s something about security, privacy, and "other stuff," but you’re not quite sure what that is. Or you might say, "I know they’re supposed to protect it," but what does that really mean?

Fortunately, the federal government has enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (see here, here, here, and here) as a mechanism to protect your sensitive and personal information. The act stipulates the requirements for disclosing information related to you (with some exceptions), and the penalties for violating the Act (see § 1681n and § 1681o).

Under the Act, you also have a remedy to correct innacurrate information. As I recently discovered, some information is often quite inaccurate, and can effect your future. In November, I used the free site and obtained my credit report. I discovered that one of my student loans, which had been in deferrment, and always paid on time, was being reported as default (never paid or extremely late). I quickly disputed the information on the report using the bureau’s dispute process, and was notified within about 2 weeks of the correction.

It’s important to dispute any inaccuracies because of the consequence they may have. The Act specifies that the reporting agency has 30 days from the time of notice to conduct their investigation. If the dispute (like mine) is valid, the agency must remove information, and more importantly, ensure that the inaccurate information remains off the report permanently. This second aspect can be an area where agencies run into trouble because of poor procedures and accounting measures.

If you haven’t already done so, visit annualcreditreport.com and get your free 3-bureau report. Also, spend an extra $25-30 and get your driving record and OSBI report. It’s extremely important to know what other people are seeing about you.

Credit Crunch is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

This month’s ezine focuses on credit, collections and foreclosure issues faced by people like you. One article in particular, caught my attention, and I thought I’d pass this gem onto you. The author, Mr. Wendell Finner, does an excellent job of highlighting one of the misunderstood aspects of consumer and property law.

Many times if you’re caught in the despair of foreclosure, it’s difficult to imagine that there may be options or defenses to the foreclosure that you haven’t considered. One of the great things about Oklahoma, unlike many other states, is that Oklahoma’s statutes require judicial process in order to commence a foreclosure proceeding. Usually, this process alone can enable you to find alternatives to losing your home.

Mr. Finner does a great job of helping laymen(women) recognize some key stages in the legal process. Remember, there are always options if you’re willing to work hard enough. As Mr. Finner notes, defenses, counterclaims, and possibly restructuring your debt scenarios are all legitimate alternatives.

In my experience, discussing the variety of options available with your attorney can quite often quell some of the fears and reservations you may have. Most attorneys, and especially those familiar with consumer issues, will know of alternatives that will help you keep your home, minimize your debt, and begin to rebuild your financial future.

If you’re struggling to meet your daily obligations, speak with a qualified attorney about some of your options. It’s 2009 and you’re supposed to be having an optimistic and happy beginning, do something today to help make it that way!

Foreclosures, collections, and judgments, Oh My! is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.

1. Insurance information.
   
2. Camera for photos of the vehicles, other party, surrounding area.
   
3. Cones or other reflective/emergency warning device.
   
4. Pen/pencil and notepad to write down other party’s information  and make notes regarding the situation and events.
   
5. Flashlight with batteries
   

If you’re looking at your insurance coverages, here’s some things to consider adding/increasing:

1. Add "medical payments" coverage of at least $5,000. "Med Pay" is an additional coverage that will pay your medical bills if you’re injured in an auto accident. If you decide to file a lawsuit, this could be beneficial in putting more money into your pocket once the case is finished. At the least, your medical bills will be substantially lower with this coverage.
   
2. Increase your liability coverage to $100,000. Most people accept "state minimums" as an adequate amount of coverage (25/50/25). Having higher insurance coverage ensures that if you’ve caused an accident, the other party will be taken care of, and receive proper medical care and treatment.
   
3. Increase your uninsured/underinsured motorist (UIM) coverage to $100,000. If you’re not the cause of an accident, chance are good (especially in this rough economy) that the other side has the state minimum insurance, or worse, no insurance at all. If this is the case, you’re going to depend on your coverage to pay medical bills, repair your vehicle, and compensate you for your injuries/lost work. I’ve seen quite a number of cases where the injured party didn’t have an adequate amount of coverage to compensate for months of lost work, high medical bills/surgeries, and damaged property.
   

It’s my suspicion that in this economy, you’ll be tempted to skimp on these essential coverages. Don’t let yourself get tied up by increased medical expenses and property damage because you feel like it’s too costly right now. I can promise you, the small increase in your monthly/yearly premiums is nothing compared to the long-term costs of inadequate medical treatment and compounded medical expenses.

Before the Crash is a post from: Oklahoma Legal Issues. You can read the original post by visiting our site. Please visit our homepage for more information about our law firm. Absolute Legal Services, LLC is an Oklahoma City law firm helping people with legal issues in personal injury actions, consumer claims, immigration, and social security. Please see our services page for more information.