As reported by the CBC in Canada, after 22 years, the US is lifting its travel ban against foreigners infected with HIV and AIDS.  South Korea has also given into international pressure and has lifted its travel ban as well. We are over the moon thrilled with these events and hope all Countries with a similar ban will reconsider such discriminatory polices.  For a touching story about one of the first Canadians to cross the Washington State border since the US ban has been lifted, please read the below CBC article or click here:

I thought I would do my duty and post the Dept. of Health’s list of places to get the H1N1 vaccine.  Having fallen victim to the dreadful illness I recommend getting it if you can (I wasn’t hospitalized or anything so this is self diagnosis, but whatever it was, it was a nasty flu and I’m pretty sure that is what H1N1 is so this advice can’t hurt).

My health insurance offered to pay for it for free a while back so you should check to see if your insurer (if you have one) will give you some kind of discount, unfortunately I got sick just as the vaccine opened up to the public at large.

Obviously, this is not a public health blog, but for the last 72 hours I have been utterly focused on flu recovery and if I can keep just one person from going through that kind of nastiness I consider this a post well spent, even if its a little off topic.

There are a lot of scams out there for people looking to try to find help with consolidating debt, avoiding foreclosure and/or bankruptcy, etc.  When a close friend of mine started looking for a debt consolidation program I got nervous and called a financial adviser friend, Washington’s Secretary of State, and the Washington Dept. of Licensing, because like most people these days I am wary of trusting anyone. Here is what I discovered:

The National Foundation for Credit Counseling is a non-profit organization that directs people to credit counseling organizations which certify that they are licensed to do business in States that require such a license.  (That is a confusing sentence from their website.  What I found out was that Washington does not have a licensing requirement for consumer credit counselors).  Still, the NFCC is a good place to find a legitimate counselor in your area.

The U.S. Department of Justice also has a program called the U.S. Trustee Program which provides Credit Counseling and Debtor Education Information.  They have a list of approved counselors by state as well as other very useful information.

There is also the Federal Trade Commission’s “money matters” site which I did not find particularly useful but the home site has good information in general about scams and what consumer rights are at the federal level.

Finally, the Attorney General of Washington has information about consumer credit counseling in Washington and scams.  You can call them at 1-800-551-4636.

Just to give readers an idea of how sneaky scammers are (not that you need much convincing since one name says it all: Madoff) I went to a Foreclosure class a couple weeks ago and learned a great deal about current scams.  When I approached the speaker to ask if I could post his information on this blog he hesitated looking uncomfortable.  I immediately picked up on it and told him it was not a big deal, I just thought it was really useful information that should be shared with as many people as possible.  He agreed but hesitated because of an experience where his information was used for the wrong reasons.

Evidently, a person who was running a foreclosure scam had come to this foreclosure class himself.  Afterward he used the materials from the class on his own blog to legitimize his own program.  In other words, he told people to watch out for scammers relying on people’s assumption that no scammer would describe his own program on his own site.  (Eventually, I did get permission to post his information which I will hopefully share as soon as possible).

If you are asking yourself why I am a legitimate source of information about consumer credit counseling then you are asking a great question!  I am not a consumer credit expert by any means, just a paranoid friend trying to make sure my loved ones don’t get shafted. So, don’t take my word for it, look it up!

You can and should protect yourself.  Before signing up with a program check with the agencies or organizations listed above to make sure that you are using a legitimate credit counselor.

I just stumbled across this blog post about a recent decision by a Canadian court which ruled that a Court can order parties to disclose the contents on their Facebook profiles with respect to discovery requests, even if it is a private profile.  As usual, when it comes to the impact such a decision has on social media users, the first thing attorneys are told to do is advise/remind clients that their Social Media profiles are public or could be considered public.  So here it is for the thousandth time to the world at large: FACEBOOK and MYSPACE and TWITTER and DELICIOUS and DIGG and FRIENDSTER etc. could be open to discovery.

The example in this case was that a person claimed to have lost significant enjoyment of their life because of the other party’s negligence.  Included in their suffering was that the victim of negligence couldn’t play certain sports anymore.  The opposing party argued that there might be evidence on the person’s Facebook Profile that proved that his claim was bogus.

The point is that Courts have not yet decided what role Facebook, et. all really plays in our lives.  Is it a Diary or a Newspaper?  What does this mean to regular people?  For myself I think of my  Social Media profiles the same way I think about having a conversation with a friend in a crowded restaurant.  Most of the time people aren’t paying attention and you can say what you need to say.  However, you have to be prepared for the inevitable collective lull in the room that usually happens right when you say something incriminating and out of context, “…when he was finally dead I called my boyfriend and told him, ‘You have some clean-up to do…’”  Talking about a dead mouse can all of a suddenly cause you big problems.

So what do we take away from this case?  Eventually we will have some clearer rules about what our social media profiles are but until then tread carefully and don’t expect unlimited privacy.

“Charlene Quincey, a Canadian living in Toronto,  and Katy Sheehan, an American living in Washington State, both graduated from the City University of New York School of Law and wanted to work together. But they figured the distance would make that impossible. “We started to do some research, under the assumption that Charlene would move out to Washington,” says Sheehan. “Long story short, Charlene discovered a virtual law firm, and we decided to give it a try.”  To read the rest of the article click here.

In November 2008 Washington State voters approved the Death with Dignity Act, codified as RCW 70.245, making WA the second state in the US (Oregon was the first) to allow doctor assisted suicide.  Specifically, the Act allows terminally ill adults seeking to end their life to request lethal doses of medication from medical and osteopathic physicians. These terminally ill patients must be Washington residents, at least 18 years of age, have less than six months to live and have been deemed mentally competent to make such a request. Other safeguards prescribed by statute include:

Waiting Period:

• Statute requires that at least a 15-day waiting period has taken place between the patient’s initial oral request and the  subsequent written request.

Written Request:

• A written request which must be signed and dated by the terminally ill patient.
• Written request must be witnessed by at least two people who attest the patient is capable and acting voluntarily, and not being coerced to sign the request.
• At least one of the witnesses shall not be the patient’s attending physician, a relative, or owner, operator, or employee of a health care facility where the patient is a resident or getting medical treatment.
• Even once a written request is made the patient may rescind the request at any time and in any manner.

Attending Physician’s Responsibilities:

• Determine whether the patient has a terminal disease.
• Is capable of making decisions and has made the request voluntarily.
• Inform the patient of diagnosis, prognosis, risk of taking the medication to be prescribed, feasible alternatives including comfort care, hospice care, and pain control.
• Refer the patient to a consulting physician for confirmation of diagnosis and determination patient is acting voluntarily.
• Refer to a mental health professional if the patient may be suffering from a psychological disorder.
• Recommend that the patient notify next of kin.
• Complete all required documents.

Once a request has been approved, it is the patient that administers the lethal dose of medication – not their doctor.  For more information pertaining to the Act visit the Washington Department of Health website at: http://www.doh.wa.gov/dwda/ Also, if you are seeking support regarding end of life choices visit ‘Compassion and Choices of Washington’ at the following address: http://www.candcofwa.org/index.html

Attention Washington residents with traffic tickets and fines!  Washington courts have extended the “Debt Reduction Program” into June.  I posted about  this program in May, or you can read more on the WA Courts Website.  Take advantage of this opportunity and contact your local court for details!

I was reading an article in the ABA Journal last week entitled “A Day at the Virtual Office” (online excerpt of article).  One of the issues the author, G.M. Filisko, raised was that clients may wonder whether their attorney is licensed to practice because they don’t have a framed diploma from law school hanging behind the attorney’s desk (or at least you can’t see it online).

This issue is not solely an issue virtual law offices face.  Anyone can put up a shingle and create the appearance of a law practice.  That is why its important to make sure that your attorney is a legitimate member of your state bar association if you have any doubts whatsoever.

These days its easy to check in Washington.  Just go to the Lawyer Directory of the WA State Bar Association and type in your attorneys full name.  The search will include their address, email, phone, bar number, and their status.  If an attorney’s status is active it means they are practicing law.  If they are inactive it means they are not practicing.  A lawyer might choose to go on inactive status for a number of reasons like their current job does not involve the practice of law.  Bar fees are cheaper for someone on inactive status so most people don’t want to pay extra for something they don’t use.

It is more difficult to know whether or not your attorney graduated from the law school they claim to have attended.  The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a federal law that protects students’ educational records from being publicly known.  A student may choose to allow their information to be open to the public but they must request that it be open.  As I was writing this blog entry I contacted my own alma mater CUNY School of Law to ask about my status and discovered that my status was closed.  I am now in the process of opening up at least that much information to public inquiry.  I think most graduating law students don’t realize when they sign those releases that this information is closed to the public and prospective employers.

Its important to know that just because your attorney passed the WA state Bar, doesn’t mean that they went to law school.  Under the WA State Court Rule 3 a person may complete a law clerk program in place of attending law school.  WA State Court Rule 6 outlines the requirements of the program a person must meet before they are qualified to sit for the bar exam.  Some people believe that this is not as good as going to law school.  Others believe that this path ensures more hands-on learning.  For myself, I think there are many ways to skin a cat and that there shouldn’t be only one way to become a lawyer.

In any case, if you have any questions about whether or not your attorney is licensed to practice first try to find them in the WSBA’s Lawyer Directory.  If you can’t find them there then you should contact the Washington State Bar Association and let them know about the inconsistency.

For the record, my full name is Kathryn C. Sheehan and my partner’s full name is Charlene Quincey.

During the month of May Washington Courts are offering  Fine/Debt Reduction and Relicensing!  Here is the program as described on the WA Courts Site:

“In an effort to help citizens regain their driving licenses and reduce debt owed to collection agencies for unpaid fines and fees, 110 district and municipal courts in Washington State are participating in a “Debt Reduction Program” throughout the month of May…

Designed to help those with outstanding traffic tickets and fines, the courts will be offering reductions as agreed upon with their collection agencies. Many courts are also offering reductions on outstanding fines not yet sent to collections.

Courts are offering the 30-day program from May 1 through May 31, 2009, with some extending the program into June. Those with outstanding tickets or court fines should contact the court where their fine originated.”

IF YOU HAVE ANY OUTSTANDING COURT FEES OR DEBTS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS PROGRAM!  Check out the Washington Courts website to look for participating courts.