A common question asked by clients who are injured in a car crash is, “what is my case worth?”  The honest answer, at least at the outset, is “I don’t know yet.”  The reason for this is simple.  The value of any claim varies based upon the type of injury, the amount of medical care required, the duration of the symptoms, the amount of lost wages and several others factors which can take months or even years to develop.  The value of your claim may also be limited by the amount of insurance that the other driver, or you, carried at the time of the auto accident, or by any po ..read more

Many workers find their jobs involve some level of negotiating agreements either with vendors, customers or others. Prior to entering into such negotiations, it is important for the worker to analyze the negotiation parameters. The worker must first understand his level of authority in negotiating on behalf of his employer. This may, especially for a new offering, require research on what industry competitors are setting as terms for similar products or services. A meeting with the employer to discuss how the company wants to handle the pricing questions would be sensible. Once the worker unde ..read more

To prove employment discrimination it is not enough for the employee to show that the disciplinary action he received was unfair or that the employer was wrong in finding that the employee had a performance problem which resulted in the disciplinary action. The employee must show that the employer took disciplinary action against the employee due to discriminatory animus. This issue was the subject of a United States Court of Appeal First for the Circuit decision of August 23, 2011 in the case of Espinal v. National Grid NE Holdings LLC. In that case, Juan Espinal appealed an entry of summary ..read more

One of the most common reasons people do a trust is so their assets will avoid having to go through probate after they die. What is probate? Probate is court supervised estate administration; it is the court process that oversees the ultimate distribution of your assets. Probate can be a lengthy, stressful and costly process and most people want to make it as easy as possible on their loved ones after they die. In New Hampshire, it takes a minimum of six (6) months from the date the probate court appoints the Executor, Executrix, or Administrator to complete the process, and more often than no ..read more

While the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the “Act”) has recently been signed into law, collecting small sums of money from the general public over the Internet is not a new phenomenon. Crowdfunding or crowdsourcing has been around for a few years. In the past, the majority of the Crowdfunding sites catered to one time creative events such as a concert series, or were used by charities to raise money. The Act Previously, the sale of an equity interest was registerable under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (“1933 Act”), unless the security or the transaction was exempt. The Act prov ..read more

In my experience in representing employers for several decades, these are some insights as to how to avoid being fired. First try to avoid sharing your personal feelings to co-workers.  While all of us at times may be going through difficulties, whether it being a loss of a family member, divorce, physical injury, or other stressors, if you are consistently thought of as a black hole of despair your co-workers will not want to work with you.  Your career path will suffer if your fellow team members do not want to be on your team.  If there is a restructuring of the company and y ..read more

The New Hampshire Supreme Court on December 23, 2021  in the case of Patricia Crowe v. Appalachian Stitching Company, LLC, reaffirmed for both employers and employees alike that under New Hampshire and federal law, the disabled employee’s explanation of what he/she needs to do in order to perform the  job does not establish what are the actual essential functions of the job.  In this particular case, Ms. Crowe claimed her employer violated the American With Disabilities Act (“ADA”) and New Hampshire employment discrimination law, RSA 354-A, by refusing to accommodate her sc ..read more

On January 31, 2022, the New Hampshire Federal Court in the case of Leah Wallace v. NH Ball Bearings, Inc. granted summary judgment to the employer New Hampshire Ball Bearings, Inc. against the against the employee Leah Wallace so that she was unable to go to trial on her claims under the American With Disabilities Act (“ADA”), the New Hampshire law against discrimination, and wrongful termination. Wallace applied for a position at New Hampshire Ball and was offered a position as a Teflon assembler on the first shift entry level at $14.60/hr.  During her interview, Wallace noted ..read more

Often, when a person dies and owned real estate, that real estate needs to be sold; sometimes it is sold to pay debts of the estate but most often it is sold because the heirs do not want to deal with the real estate and prefer money instead. If you are going to be responsible for dealing with the real estate, first you want to make sure the insurance stays covering the property either when: it is unoccupied; relatives are living in it; or there is a renter in the property, while decisions are being made whether to sell or transfer the property to heirs or beneficiaries. Homeowner’s insurance ..read more

On October 7, 2021, the New Hampshire federal court in the case of James Saunders, et al v. Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc. issued an Order dismissing Saunders’ whole host of claims due to his frustration he was fired from his job at Shaw’s after coming into the store while on vacation and berating one of his co-workers on duty who was closing a department for the first time.  Saunders also entered that department without hairnet or face mask and swore at his co-worker several times.  Saunders asserted that he was in the protected classes of race, disability, and age.  Shaw’s was ..read more