New Editions: Fair Debt Collection

The Library recently received new editions of several titles published by the National Consumer Law Center, including Fair Debt Collection, 8th.

The Definitive FDCPA Treatise

The latest thinking and authoritative analysis of the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the statute that dramatically alters how collection agencies and attorneys collect consumer debts.

For 30 years, the primary reference in the field:

• Preparation of a debt collection harassment case
• Persons and transactions covered and FDCPA requirements and remedies
• The debt collector's defenses and counterclaims.

(Description from the NCLC website.)

New Book: Internet Legal Research on a Budget

Internet Legal Research On a Budget by Carole A. Levitt and Judy K. Davis

“Internet Legal Research on a Budget will help you quickly find the best free or low-cost resources online and use them for your research needs. The authors share the top websites, apps, blogs, Twitter feeds, and crowdsourced resources that will save you time, money, and frustration during the research process.” From Amazon

This title is a good source for websites and tips for legal research on the internet. Published by the American Bar Association , this title has gotten good reviews from attorneys who want to maximize their time and their legal research dollars. It is available in print or ebook.

 

You can find this book in our Ready Reference collection.  Ask for it at the Reference Desk.

Treatise Spotlight: Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide

Title:  Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide

Author:  Alan N. Resnick

Last Update:  Release 92, April 2013

The Collier Bankruptcy Practice Guide, written by over 40 prominent bankruptcy attorneys, is an authoritative strategic and procedural guidebook that combines legal analysis with practical procedural and strategic advice, practice aids such as checklists and forms, and the relevant rules and primary source material of all the local bankruptcy courts in a single all-inclusive guide. Each chapter begins with an overview, explaining the issues to be covered and how those issues affect bankruptcy practice. The discussion of each issue includes strategic and practical advice as well as practice aids and other timesaving features. Up-to-date coverage of developments in bankruptcy practice and procedure, including the landmark Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, insures that decisions are based on the cutting edge of the law.

The Practice Guide includes:

• Strategic guidance and practical advice
• Checklists for both debtor and creditor
• Practice-tested forms, including litigation forms, with cross-references to the Practice Guide, Bankruptcy Code, and Bankruptcy Rules
• Discussion of the Bankruptcy Rules and their impact
• The full text of local rules for all jurisdictions, including local bankruptcy forms and orders, organized by circuit in convenient, easy-to-use, soft-bound pamphlets

Description from publisher's website.

Treatise Spotlight: Age Discrimination

Title:  Age Discrimination, 2d
Author:  Howard C. Eglit
Last Update:  May 2013

Description:  Containing well-rounded views of age discrimination from perspectives of both employee and employer, this resource provides a complete, analytical explanation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA).  Contents include ADEA information on topics such as who is protected and who must comply; prohibitions and requirements; statutory affirmative defenses; regulatory exemptions; waivers of liability; federal employees and job applicants; enforcement in nonfederal sectors; and remedies, fees, and costs.  Plus, numerous appendices provide access to ADEA statutes and EEOC policy statements.  Table of Cases and index for handy reference. 

Features:

• Explores perspectives of both employee and employer on age discrimination questions
• Provides complete, analytical explanation of ADEA
• Convenient appendices include ADEA statutes and EEOC policy statements
• Table of ADEA cases for handy reference

Description from publisher's website. 

Treatise Spotlight: California Marital Settlement and Other Family Law Agreements

Title: California Marital Settlement and Other Family Law Agreements
Author: Amyx, Carol; Blair, Sandra
Publisher: CEB
Edition: 3rd
Last Update: 4/2013

Description: Ensure that your drafting is easy and correct with this comprehensive guide that also covers premarital, marital, and nonmarital cohabitation agreements.

• Over 250 forms including child custody, visitation, child and spousal support, division of community assets and debts, and attorney fees and costs

• Key assets such as the family residence, retirement benefits, and closely held businesses

• Income tax matters

• Negotiating and implementing the agreement

• Using mediation and collaborative practice

• Includes both individual clauses and complete sample agreements

Description from publisher's website. 

Treatise Spotlight: Judicial Puzzles, Gathered from the State Trials by John Paget

The following is a guest post by our cataloger, Ann.

While barcoding a section of books, I came across this little gem.  It is not in the best of condition so I am moving it to the rare book room where it will have an easier life.  It is indeed small, measuring 7" by 4 1/2" and has been repaired using tape that would make an archivist cringe.  It has multiple ink stamps and came from the State Library when we received the legal collection.

Title:  Judicial Puzzles : Gathered from the State Trials
Author:  John Paget
Publisher:  San Francisco, Sumner Whitney & Co., 1876

 

From the preface:

“These narratives and reviews of five most interesting State trials were published in “Blackwood’s Magazine” in 1859-60, and subsequently reprinted, among other contributions of the same author, in a volume entitled Paradoxes and Puzzles.”

The publishers present the American edition with the belief that it will prove attractive to general readers as well as the legal profession and add a pleasant variety to the series of “Legal Recreations.”  January, 1876

[Editors' Note:  A copy of Judicial Puzzles once owned by the Boston Library Society has been digitized and is available via Google Books.] 

Treatise Spotlight: Electronic Commerce: Taxation and Planning

Title:  Electronic Commerce:  Taxation and Planning
Author(s):  David Hardesty
Last Update:  2013 Supplement (March 2013)

The only tax planning resource that addresses the rapidly changing world of Internet commerce.  The first and only authoritative treatise on electronic commerce taxation and planning, this invaluable resource addresses the special strategies and solutions needed by electronic commerce enterprises.

Details:

With Electronic Commerce: Taxation and Planning you'll be able to identify and resolve the federal, international, and state tax and planning issues unique to electronic commerce transactions.

This comprehensive treatise is packed with numerous case studies and examples illustrating the application of both new and traditional tax principles to this uncharted business area. David Hardesty provides expert guidance to assist practitioners and electronic commerce enterprises in making informed planning decisions. The treatise also features an easy to use state-by-state guide on the tax treatment of electronic commerce.

Table of Contents:

• Chapter 1: Overview
• Chapter 2: Electronic Commerce Fundamentals
• Chapter 3: Web Sites
• Chapter 4: Privacy and Security
• Chapter 5: [Reserved]
• Chapter 6: Tax Compliance
• Chapter 7: Web Site Development Costs
• Chapter 8: Acquisitions and Dispositions of a Web-Based Business
• Chapter 9: Web Site Valuation
• Chapter 10: Introduction to International Taxation of E-Commerce
• Chapter 11: Outbound Transactions
• Chapter 11a: Value Added Tax and E-Commerce
• Chapter 11b: Character and Source of Income From Electronic Commerce
• Chapter 12: Inbound Transactions
• Chapter 13: Foreign Corporations Owned by U.S. Persons
• Chapter 13a: Transfer Pricing and Electronic Commerce
• Chapter 14: Sales and Use Tax
• Chapter 14a: Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement
• Chapter 15: Multistate Income Tax
• Chapter 16: Digital Products
• Chapter 17: State Tax Summaries
• Chapter 18: Revenues and E-Commerce
• Chapter 19: E-Commerce Tax Policy
• Appendix A. E-Commerce Tax News Archives

Description from publisher's website.

Treatise Spotlight: Contract Enforcement

Title: Contract Enforcement

Author: Edward Yorio and Steve Thel

Edition: 2nd
Last update: 2013 Supplement

Description: Contract Enforcement, Second Edition covers every aspect of the availability and inherent limitations of equitable remedies in such contract areas as:

• Real estate
• Sale of goods
• Intangible personality
• Construction contracts
• Covenants not to compete
• Wills and other property agreements
• Employment agreements
• Franchise agreements
• International trade

You will find in-depth analysis of the policies that underlie contract remedies, as well as clear explanations of the practical consequences of those policies in contract litigation. The effect on availability of equitable relief of such factors as:

• Right to a jury trial
• Legal limits on contract damages
• Disgorgement of profits
• And agreed remedies are also examined

Throughout the book, you'll find concise analysis of all significant specific performance cases, legislation, and commentary.

Description from publisher's website.

Treatise Spotlight: The Right to Die: The Law of End-of-Life Decision Making

Title: The Right to Die: The Law of End-of-Life Decision Making
Author: Alan Meisel
Publisher: Aspen
Edition: 3rd Ed.
Last Update: 2013 Release

Description: The Right to Die, Third Edition analyzes the statutory and case law surrounding the profound issues of end-of-life decisionmaking. Whether the situation calls for long-term planning or quick, unexpected decisionmaking, this cogent, one source treatise guides you through all the available channels for helping your clients reach the ultimate resolution.

This comprehensive edition guides general practitioners, elder law, health law, and health care professionals through complex issues pertaining to passive and active hastening of death and such subsequent statutes as The Oregon Death with Dignity Act. Also covered in the Third Edition are such issues as:

• Civil and Criminal liability for such efforts
• Do-not-resuscitate orders
• Advance directives
• Health care powers of attorney
• Palliative medical care
• Decision making for children and newborns
• Surrogate decisionmaking statutes
• Resolution in a clinical versus a court setting
• And much more

Description from publisher's website.

Treatise Spotlight: Debt Collection Practice in California, 2nd edition

Title:  Debt Collection Practice in California, 2nd edition
Publisher: CEB
Last update: December 2012

Description:  Debt Collection Practice in California:  Understand successful creditor remedies and effective debtor defenses—both essential tools in a difficult economy. For creditors, learn to obtain powerful judgments—and how to collect on them. For debtors, discover defense strategies and responses to a judgment.

• Bringing creditor actions, discovery, prejudgment remedies, obtaining a judgment
• Writ enforcement, finding debtor assets, wage garnishment
• Debtor defense before and after entry of judgment
• Complying with the Fair Debt Collection Practices Acts
• Enforcing family law judgments
• Indispensable court pleading forms and mandatory Judicial Council forms
• Bankruptcy issues for both creditors and debtors
• Handling a deceased debtor’s debts

(description from publisher’s website)

 

Treatise Spotlight: Automobile Liability Insurance 4th

Title:  Automobile Liability Insurance, 4th

Author(s):  Irvin Schermer, William Schermer
Publisher:  Thomson West
Edition:  Fourth
Last Update:  November 2012 (semiannual supplement)

Description:  Automobile Liability Insurance offers a thorough analysis of substantive law, practice tips, and expert guidance, cutting through complex issues of automobile insurance law. The comprehensive coverage of caselaw and statutes from each state lets you handle practice issues from the initial claim for insurance benefits through every phase of litigation.

This all-encompassing resource is organized to give you instant access to answers on any question about automobile liability insurance. It suggests ways to enforce no-fault claims, explores conflicting laws on automobile liability, and probes issues of bad faith. It contains thorough treatment of:

• Coverages and exclusions

• Bad faith/refusal to settle

• Refusal to defend

• Discovery

• No-fault and PIP

• Medical examinations

• Arbitration

• Uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage

• Stacking of coverages

• Subrogation

• Conflict of laws

It also includes state-by-state no-fault summaries. 

 

(Description taken from publisher's website.)

Treatise Spotlight: Epstein on Intellectual Property

Title: Epstein on Intellectual Property

Author: Michael A. Epstein
Publisher: Wolters Kluwer (Aspen)
Edition: Fifth Edition
Last Update: 2012 Supplement

Description: Packed with insightful analysis, expert guidance, and clear, practical examples, this key resource provide up-to-date, integrated coverage of the law of trade secrets, copyright, trademarks and patents, ideas, and noncompetition agreements.

Epstein on Intellectual Property, Fifth Edition covers the latest legal developments in such hot areas as biotechnology, intellectual property, due diligence, software protection, copyright infringement, ownership of employee inventions, and more.

You will consult this reference for expert answers to questions such as how to:

• Prevent the unauthorized use and disclosure of your company's trade secrets
• Determine what types of materials and information are covered by the copyright laws
• Apply for and enforce patents
• Reduce the risk of claims under the "law of ideas"
• Make effective use of noncompetition agreements
• Deal with the unique problems of biotechnology

(Description taken from publisher’s website)

Treatise Spotlight: Legal Opinion Letters: A Comprehensive Guide to Opinion Letter Practice

Treatise Spotlight:  Legal Opinion Letters: a Comprehensive Guide to Opinion Letter Practice

 

Title:  Legal Opinion Letters: A Comprehensive Guide to Opinion Letter Practice

Author: M. John Sterba

Edition: Third

Publisher: Wolters Kluwer
 

Description: Legal Opinion Letters provides comprehensive coverage not only of the standard corporate and securities third-party opinion letters, but also real estate opinions, tax, intellectual property, bankruptcy, letters to auditors, international opinions, and liability just to name a few. Special attention is given to exposure to liability, an area of great concern to the opinion practice attorney. It also examines the current content of actual letters used to address these topics. All of this valuable information is provided in light of current case law, the ABA Legal Opinion Report, The TriBar Report and several excellent state bar reports.
 

It is a contributed work with introductory chapters by M. John Sterba, Jr., and additional chapters by a host of other expert practioners. Description from publisher’s website.

Part of Treatise Spotlight, an occasional series highlighting publications in the law library's collection.

Treatise Spotlight: Law of Defamation

Title: Law of Defamation, 2d

Author(s):  Rodney Smolla
Publisher: West
Last Release:  November, 2012   

Description:  Law of Defamation offers a comprehensive analysis of defamation law, useful to legal practitioners and other professionals, including professors, publishers, and media industry experts. Updated every year, this two-volume set provides step-by-step guidance to all the legal and business complexities posed by modern libel law and addresses topics, such as:

• Definition of public employee
• Corporate speech
• Recipient approach to determining defamatory character of words
• Criminalization of mere “lies”
• Preliminary injunctions and the “Occupy Wall Street” protests
• Right of publicity and the First Amendment
• Public figure/private figure dichotomy
• Fault requirements
• Defamatory meaning
• Truth as a constitutional defense
• Opinion and fair comment
• Special harm
• Libel and slander rules
• Common law privileges
• Damages and other remedies
• Invasion of privacy
• Emotional distress
• Injurious falsehood
• Negligent publication
• Litigation
• Counseling and strategy
• Defamation in the workplace

 

(description from publisher's website)

 

Part of Treatise Spotlight, an occasional series highlighting publications in the law library's collection.

 

Treatise Spotlight: State and Local Government Employment Liability

Title:  State and Local Government Employment Liability

Author:  John E. Sanchez

Publisher:  Thomson Reuters

Last update:  October 2012

Description:  State and Local Government Employment Liability provides the vital information you need to deal with the employment liability issues that arise in the public sector, such as:

• Hiring and firing
• Laws governing the terms and conditions of employment
• Pension plans
• Areas of public and private employment that are governed by the same federal statute

(description from publisher's website)

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From the Treatise Spotlight series, highlighting treatises in the law library's collection.

Treatise Spotlight: Brady on Bank Checks : the Law of Bank Checks

This is the first of an occasional series of posts highlighting treatises in the library's collection.

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Title: Brady on Bank Checks and Funds Transfers

Author: Hagedorn, Richard B.

Publisher:  A.S. Pratt

Edition: Revised edition

Last update:11/2012

Description: Brady on Bank Checks and Funds Transfers provides comprehensive commentary and guidance to bankers and practitioners concerned with the complexities of Uniform Commercial Code Articles 3, 4, and 4A as they relate to bank checks and funds transfers. This authoritative treatise addresses the issue, transfer, collection, and payment of checks; the return of unpaid checks; substitute checks; electronic checks; electronic funds transfers; and forgeries and alterations. (Description from publisher.)