Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to KFI AM six forty the bill handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio f and see it's
a KFLI corning everybody. It is a Saturday morning. You
haven't been around for a while, so it's nice getting
back in the saddle again. And the phone number, as always,
(00:21):
that's the boy, hasn't changed in the last thirty years.
Eight hundred five two zero one five three four. Eight
hundred five two zero one five three four, and I
will answer your marginal legal questions with marginal legal advice.
And since it is the top of the hour, as always,
it is the best time to call, especially the first hour,
(00:44):
because then you know we're switching over from Dean Sharp
to the show that I do from now to eleven o'clock,
and then after that you get some tech stuff with
Rich Demurrow. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four is the number to call. And as I have
said over and over and over again, lines are open.
(01:05):
We come in and this set. There'll be a time
by the way, for those of you that are listening
that want to call. Inevitably there are some where you're
I'm going to get an email or one of the
staff's gonna get an email. I can't get in. The
line's always busy. No, it's not top of the hour,
always good time to call. Okay, so why don't we
(01:27):
get to it? Okay? Fair enough. This is handle on
the law, marginal legal advice where I tell you have
absolutely no case. As I have mentioned, and ever since
President Trump not only ran for office, had his first
administration now is second administration, the state of California has
(01:51):
been at war with the Trump administration, even the Trump candidacy,
and the war, the state of war goes across all
the life. We're talking about education, we're talking about government,
employment policy. Well, one of the big ones is the
issue of illegal immigration, where California and the White House
(02:14):
have been at war and will always be at war,
with of course Trump being very anti immigrant, certainly illegal immigrant,
and the State of California being very very pro illegal immigrant,
to the point where, if I'm not mistaken, I think
there was a law that was just introduced in the
state legislature that no one can run for the governorship
(02:36):
unless he or she is illegal. You cannot have a
American or a Green card holder actually becoming governor. It
must be an illegal alien. It's almost that bad. Okay.
So with that in mind, here's what a California bill
hasn't just now been introduced and it is actually California
(02:59):
State's Superintendent Tony Thurman announced that he is going to
present a bill wanting the legislature to do this that
limits the presence of ICE agents on school campuses. Prior
to now, there were sensitive areas where ICE agents couldn't
go in and pick up illegals, illegal aliens, illegal undocumented people.
(03:20):
And that was one churches, which makes a lot of sense,
and two schools. Schools were verboten, could not could not
go into schools. Well that's changed now ICE can go
wherever the hell it wants to. So what California is
trying to do the legislature and the school serpintendent saying
we're going to limit ICE agents getting onto school. Well,
(03:44):
President Trump's executive order ICE is allowed to target migrants
at schools and churches. So here's the fear, and that
is that it's going to be chilling on those who
are undocumented. In other words, they're not going to want
to go to school, not going to want to go
to church. Yeah, Well that's precisely the point of making
(04:06):
it almost impossible for any undocumented person to go anywhere,
because the point of the administration's position is you find them,
you catch them, you deport them. And the state is saying,
oh no, no, no. And it's a big difference. I mean,
there's no question we have sanctuary cities. I think California
(04:26):
is a sanctuary state. And so you know, the fight continues.
It is this going to happen? Uh yeah, yeah, probably
there's going to be a fight, of course. And the
problem with California particularly is the money that the California
gets from the federal government is predicated on school attendance,
(04:50):
which is why for anybody wh's going to school in California,
we always had home room attendants had to be taken
every day because the attendance of every student is then reported. Uh,
and then the CLI is made against the federal government,
and that is the state is paid for per student
per day. So not having students show up chilling, the
(05:11):
possibility of students showing up because they may get literally
picked up is very anti immigrant. Yeah, well, let's say
very anti illegal immigrant. Okay, And before we take a
break and move ahead and start taking the phone calls
(05:31):
eight hundred and five to two zero one, five to
three four. Let me tell you about the Pain Game podcast.
This is about chronic pain. Chronic pain is pain. Well
for those of you that have it, you live with
it constantly. It's twenty four to seven. It's always there,
sometimes sometimes quite often, it's totally debilitating. And this is
where the Pain Game podcast comes into play. The host
(05:55):
of the show, who is Lindsay Soprano, who I'm very
very close to. Obviously, she deals with chronic pain twenty
four to seven. And this podcast is about helping you,
someone you love, someone you know, someone you're treating, you
suffering with chronic pain. Every episode ends with a message
of hope, and you'll understand that the show is about
(06:17):
giving pain purpose. I didn't understand that until I started listening.
So wherever you listen to podcasts, tune into the Pain
Game Podcast. That's the Pain Game Podcast. This is Handle
on the Law. Can't buy handle here on a Saturday morning.
This is Handle on the Law. Marginal Legal Advice. Nicole.
(06:41):
Hello Nicole, what can I do for you? Call sure?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I have a seventy two year old ant that died
a year ago. She had a spinal stroke, and she
died about three or four years before she expected. She's
set up a family trust to be distributed at one
hundred dollars a meal for cousins to get together. There's
(07:06):
now five hundred and fifty one thousand dollars in this
account that my brother and cousin have to distribute. But
it's way more money than we could actually possibly all use.
And it's supposed to go down to the last living relative,
who's now two, and the court is we're looking to
(07:26):
petition the court in Colorado. The executors are in New
York State to say this was not her full intention.
She didn't expect to live this long or have this
much money left. And can we take fifty thousand dollars
and put it in this fund so that we can
do lunches and dinners on Fourth of julys and funeral
expenses to help people travel.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Okay, So is where does the rest of it go?
And who's asking for the money.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
We're asking that the rest of the money be distributed
at one hundred thousand dollars for the four remaining siblings,
all of our and uncles.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Wow. Okay, so these would be the four that would
be entitled by law to inherit if there was no trust.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Correct, Yes, there there is a There was a family
trust and then the four siblings are listed there, but
it wasn't distributed in upon my death of there's less
things left over. It was a very poorly written will.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Okay, well, let me hold on a minut I'm a
little confused. You're you're conflating trusts and wills, uh, and
executors and trustees. All right, you've described two trusts. Is
that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, it's only that's the problem.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Is only one trust, okay. And so under the under
the trust, it either the money all goes to the
siblings with children of completely dead ant or it goes
into a fund where it's one hundred bucks per person
per meal, which one or both?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, it's it's it's only a trust for one hundred
dollars per meal.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Okay, got it. And that's for all the cousins get together.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
It's all because yeah, it's for yes, whoever gets together.
But you can't possibly spend.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
It now, Okay, that gets kind of interesting. So now
is there any language? You're right, it's poorly written. Is
there anyail language that says, in the event there are
no cousins, in the event they they all end up
dying and there's no one there to eat. Therefore, what
happens to the money thereafter? Does it say? No? Ooh, okay,
got it. Well, here's all right. So the trust is
(09:39):
you're going to argue the trust is badly written, and
you're going to argue exactly what you're saying, and that is,
there's no way we can spend all of this money.
And had there not been a trust, had there not
been a will, then the siblings, that's the children of
the woman who is dead, inherit her siblings woman just
(10:02):
her does she has no children? Correct?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
She has no children? So we're asking the court.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Yeah, no, I understand. So you're asking the court that
I go to the siblings, they who would have inherited
if nothing was written, if she had died in testing. Interesting,
I've never heard of that happening. It's certainly logical for
me to me that that's exactly what I would ask
the court to consider, because otherwise where does the money go?
And it makes all the same If I'm the judge,
I'm going for it. And it's a really good argument
(10:31):
that you're going to make and you're only asking fifty
thousand dollars. Is there going to be any money left
for these meals?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That's what that was.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
They were saying this. The whole thing is five fifty
five mins.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Okay, all right, So you're coming up with a formula
where you're saying, okay, here is enough money to cover
cousins meals at one hundred bucks a pop, which by
the way, is a pretty good meal. Yeah, one hundred
dollars and does a lot of eating.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Except when we're basically saying, yeah, we're basically saying, let's
give one hundred thousand dollars to each of the siblings.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's you know, don't understand what you're saying and leaving
no money for meals?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Well no, and no leaving a trust in there so
that that when we get together on the fourth of July.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And Okay, yes, I think that makes sense. I got
it a little convoluted, yeah, but that's it's it's a
logical argument. I I would ask a trust and a
state lawyer and saying, hey, this is what I would do. Uh.
And uh, you know, the bottom line is everything you
say is completely totally logical.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And I don't know which way a court would go.
And you're in front of a you're basically you're in
front of a probate court, you know, the probate judge.
Should we see so much for that, Nicole? That's can't
do more for that? Frank, Hello, Frank, welcome.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
Hi, good morning.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yes, I got to take it hold of my cell
phone for like five seconds on the freeway. I wasn't
calling anybody, I wasn't checking my messages of just looking
at the map, you know, using it as a navigation device.
But nonetheless I got pulled over and I got to
take it for it. Is there a good defense that
I can use in a written declaration defense?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Sure, just say exactly what you're saying. You were not
using the phone, You were merely looking at it as
a navigational device. And the judge is going to look
at it and go chief Frank, I don't care. The
judge is going to take the word of the cop
who's going to say you were using it, and by
(12:38):
the way, to argue that you weren't using it because
you're looking at it just as a navigational device. Was
it in your hand?
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Okay, So how do you know or how does a
judge know that you weren't talking on it when a
cop said you were using it. Yeah, the point is
you're gonna say what you're going to say, and I'm assuming,
just for the purposes of this call, I'm assuming you're
telling me the truth, which I have absolutely no idea.
(13:12):
If you are, aren't, you could be the biggest liar
in the world. But assuming that is true, now you
have all the bias in the world. You're up against
the cop who is quote objective about it. All you
can do is argue, you plead not guilty, or you're
doing your affidavit, and you hope, hope that the judge
agrees with you or the judge believes you, and hopefully
the judge at one point got tagged, not that the
(13:34):
judge would, and you might win, but you won't. This
is Handle on the Law.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Fine Handle here, it's a Saturday morning. Nice to be
back again. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four All right back go more Handle on the Law.
Marginal legal add vice. Hey Jake, you're oh, let me
see if this is working uh should be Jake, you're there. Oh, oh,
(14:13):
there you go.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Okay, Jake, good morning.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, no, then it's on our side. Don't worry about it. Okay,
move on. What can I do for you?
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Sorry? I got a foul in my throat this morn.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I know what that's about.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
Tom, This uh lady that I hired a personal injury attorney.
I want to settle because I need the money. And
she's uh dodging my calls every week. She has like
a new intake specialist and she tells me call my
(14:48):
intake specialist. And I asked for the intake specialist that
I spoke to beforehand, and they're like, oh, they don't
work here anymore.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
I'm the new one.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And yeah, okay, a couple of thanks. All right, let
me ask you some questions. Okay, First of all, anybody
who hires any attorney that has an intake specialist you
got come on, Really, it's it's a secretary. It's someone
who works for the office. Intake specialist, I know, certified
intake specialist PhD and intake specialty. I have no idea,
(15:17):
but let me ask how along this case is so,
how old is the case?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
How many months, nine months, was back in July.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
How badly were you in assuming it wasn't your fault, right, yeah,
I was okay, got it, So it's not your fault
you were rear in it. Now, how badly were you injured?
And how much was the car damage?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Just very flight?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Not okay? And you've been treating right, and it's soft
tissue your neck all right? My back, my neck, loumba,
I've got lumbago. I mean, there are no broken bones
or anything, right, right? Okay? And so do you know
what the lawyer is asking for? Do you know what?
How much was the treatment? What did the doctors charge?
(16:06):
You have me an idea.
Speaker 6 (16:09):
Not really like okay?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
How many doctor visits as you go to for treatment?
Speaker 6 (16:14):
Like media do?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
It doesn't? Well, the case isn't worth very much money.
But I'm surprised that the lawyer isn't just wrapping this
one up because I had it. Makes no sense to
me that at this point a lawyer wouldn't just okay,
let's wrap it up. You're not gonna get a whole
lot of money because it's not worth a whole lot
of money, but ignoring you, that's kind of weird. Let
me suggest go to handle on the law dot com
and talk to one of my lawyers. That's not like
(16:39):
they're going to try to steal the case or anything,
but you'll get some advice. Because here's what's wrong is
that your lawyer is not returning your phone calls. And
this you got to talk to an intake specialist is
a complete croc. You don't need any your lawyer doesn't
need any more intake. So you can email the lawyer
(16:59):
and you I would put this in writing, saying, hey,
you are abandoning me. It's a great line because I've
used that told people about that for a long time.
That's a big deal in California, is accusing a lawyer
of abandoning a client. To throw that in there on
the email and at the same time, go to handle
on thelaw dot com and talk to one of our
(17:19):
lawyers and they'll tell you what to do. That's weird
that a lawyer is in wrapping up the cases. It's
not a lot of money. Insurance companies don't pay a
lot of money. Used to be that there was real
money in the rear enders, but now insurance companies say no, no, okay.
Three thousand dollars damage to the car you got. Let's
(17:41):
say you've gone to the doctor ten times two hundred
dollars or five hundred dollars a visit. We'll pay medical
expenses or part of your medical expenses, leaving nothing for you. Mark. Hello, Mark,
welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Hi, briefly, I would like to know when something becomes extortion,
and I'll give you a four backstory. I worked this
work for someone, took them the small claims court lost.
I feel unjustly. But anyhow, I'm wondering if I can
(18:19):
go back to these people and say, hey, unless you
pay me the money, I am going to disclose that
you you know, to the law that you've done this illegally.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Oh yeah, that's extortion. Yeah, that's straight out extortion. Yeah,
you're blackmailing them. By the way, what did they do
that was illegal? Let me go through that one because
I want to put that one to bed for a minute.
What did they do?
Speaker 3 (18:40):
They convert They converted a three car garage into a
living space with no permits.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Well, it's still extortion, Okay, So what are you gonna do.
You're gonna call the authorities, right, You're gonna called building
in safety. It's not a criminal offense that they did.
And you want to get building in safety to I
guess a plug and somehow say you know what you've
done is you've done this without a permit and therefore
where you're forcing you to get a permit or we're
yanking your ability to even use it. Now bring it
(19:09):
back to a garage. Yeah, that's extortion.
Speaker 8 (19:13):
However, Yeah, now the reality is nobody cares.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Yeah, yeah, Mark, I understand that. Okay, let me get
let's get practical for a moment. Yeah, it's extortion, Okay,
let's it is. It's blackmail right on there. Now, what
happens if you do well? Uh right, they can assue
you for what uh for extortion? What does that mean?
How much is that worth? So if if you do it,
(19:45):
do it really carefully without saying, hey, if you don't
pay me, then I am going to uh that's you
don't want to do that, you know, you want to
figure out some other way of doing that. And then
they're gonna call me and I'm gonna go, you know what,
how much do they owe you? By the way, Mark that.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
You're saying four thousand, there's a bunch of money.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
All right, Well, let's go back to your original question.
Is that extortion? Yeah, it is. And if you do
it that way, you're a complete idiot. And if you're
really smart, you figure out some other way of doing it,
which I'm sure as hell I'm not going to tell you. Peter. Hi, Peter,
welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Good morning, Bill, welcome back, Thank you. My question is
I hired a contractor to paint an interior of the house.
He demanded that I pay him up front before he
did the work. He started to work. It was a
two thousand dollars job. I said, I have three hundred
(20:48):
and fifty right now for the materials. At ten o'clock
when the bank opens up, I'll go get you the balance.
Even though you're not finished with the work. I'll go
ahead and capitulate what you want. He packed up his
stuff and left and left everything halfway done and said,
screw you, I'm not going to finish this job, okay,
(21:10):
I want I want to take them the Small Claims
Court to report him to the Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Better Business Bureau does nothing, I mean, that's not going
to do anything but taking him the small claims court.
Let's say, you hire someone to finish the job. Okay, right,
and I'm assuming you still have the paint. And so
how much was the contract for?
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Two thousand dollars dollars?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
You paid it and you paid him? How much.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
I paid the next painter? I paid him twenty four hundred?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Okay, So you have a two thousand dollars contract. You
paid twenty four hundred dollars for the next painter. And
how much did you pay painter who screwed you number one?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Nothing? All right? So you got him and it was
a job done well.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
By the second painter, Yes, it.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Was, okay. So here's what you have. You have a
four hundred dollars lawsuit against painter number one because you
would have paid twenty You agreed to two thousand dollars anyway,
so you consume him for four hundred dollars. They're just
telling them to go pound sand. There's no place he
can go.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Still, sim because you got a couple of thoughs. Yeah,
because contract law in California. But they can only collect
ten percent up front, that's to start with. Yeah, so
you're fine, you know, yeah, you're fine. I wouldn't I
wouldn't worry about it.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
You're in I'll call you next week for yeah, it will.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Tell me what happened. Yep, okay, oh, I just dropped
my telephone. How about that? Now? I just got back
from Italy. And by the way, the food in Italy
is spectacular. But I'll tell you what. They use lots
and lots of garlic, and they have no idea what
Zelman's is no idea. And I don't know if you've
(22:52):
ever ordered a sausage and Zelman's pizza doesn't work. Zelman's
the minty mouth mint. It's sort of a minty pizza
with sausage. No. And so if let's go to the
garlic part. If you have a bad breath, and you do,
you eat garlic, you eat onions, believe me, it comes
out of your body, comes out of your mouth. Zelmons. Well,
there's certainly the answer. I mean, it's a mint, but
(23:13):
it's far more than just a mint, because not only
does it work in the mouth with the minti part,
but then you swallow her bite into these capsules of
which Zelmans is and it goes to work in your gut,
and that's where bad breath can start. Stay there and
really do most of its damage. So here's what Zelmans
is offering for the entire month. If you order a
(23:37):
three pack an automatic fifteen percent off. Go to Zelmans
dot com slash kfi fifteen percent off automatically with a
three pack Zelmans Z E L M I N S
Zelmans dot com slash kfi. This is Handle on the Law.
Say fie, handle here, it's a Saturday morning. Nice be
(24:00):
back again. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four All right, back we go. More Handle on the
Law marginal legal advice. Hey, Jake, you're oh, let me
see this is working? Uh should be?
Speaker 6 (24:17):
Jake?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You're there? Oh yeah, oh there you go. Okay, Jake,
good morning.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
No, no, and then it's on our side. Don't worry about it. Okay,
move on. What can I do for you?
Speaker 6 (24:31):
Sorry? I got a fog in my throat this morn.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, I know what that's about.
Speaker 7 (24:37):
This lady that I hired a personal injury attorney. I
want to settle because I need the money. And she's
dodging my calls every week. She has like a new
intake specialist, and she tells me call my intake specialist,
and I asked for the intake specialist that I spoke
(24:59):
to before him, and they're like, oh, they don't work
here anymore on the new one.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, okay, a couple of things, got it, Jake? All right,
let me ask you some questions. Okay. First of all,
anybody who hires any attorney that has an intake specialist
you got come on, really, it's it's a secretary. It's
someone who works for the office. Intake specialist, I know,
certified intake specialist PhD and intake specialty. I have no idea,
(25:24):
But let me ask how along this case is?
Speaker 6 (25:28):
So?
Speaker 1 (25:28):
How old is the case? How many months?
Speaker 6 (25:33):
Nine months? It was back in July?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Okay it How badly were you in assuming it wasn't
your fault? Right, yeah, I was okay, got it. So
it's not your fault. You were rear in it. Now,
how badly were you injured? And how much was the
car damage? Just very flight to okay? And you've been treating, right,
and it's soft tissue your neck, alright, my back, my neck, lumbia,
(25:58):
I've got lumbago. I mean, there are no broken bones
or anything, right, right, Okay? And so do you know
what the lawyer is asking for do you know what?
How much was the treatment? What did the doctors charge?
Give me an idea not really like okay, how many
doctor visits as you go.
Speaker 6 (26:19):
To for treatment like media dosa.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
It doesn't Well, the case isn't worth very much money.
But I'm surprised that the lawyer isn't just wrapping this
one up because I had it makes no sense to
me that at this point a lawyer wouldn't just okay,
let's wrap it up. You're not gonna get a whole
lot of money because it's not worth a whole lot
of money, but ignoring you that's kind of weird. Let
me suggest go to handle on the law dot com
and talk to one of my lawyers. That's not like
(26:46):
they're going to try to steal the case or anything,
but you'll get some advice. Because here's what's wrong is
that your lawyer is not returning your phone calls. And
this you got to talk to an intake specialist is
a complete croc. You don't need any your lawyer doesn't
need any more intake. So you can email the lawyer
(27:06):
and you I would put this in writing saying hey,
you are abandoning me. It's a great line, because I've
used that told people about that for a long time.
That's a big deal in California, is accusing a lawyer
of abandoning a client. To throw that in there on
the email and at the same time, go to handle
on thelat dot com and talk to one of our
lawyers and they'll tell you what to do. That's weird
(27:31):
that a lawyer is in wrapping up the case. It's
not a lot of money. Insurance companies don't pay a
lot of money. Used to be that there was real
money in the rear enders, but now insurance companies say no, Now, okay,
three thousand dollars damage to the car you got. Let's
say you've gone to the doctor ten times two hundred
dollars or five hundred dollars a visit. We'll pay medical
(27:53):
expenses or part of your medical expenses, leaving nothing for you.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Hello, Mark, welcome to Handle on the Law.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Hi, briefly, I would like to know when something becomes extortion,
and I'll give you a four backstory. I worked this
work for someone, took them the small claims court lost.
I feel unjustly, but anyhow, I'm wondering if I can
(28:26):
go back to these people and say, hey, unless you
pay me the money, I am going to disclose that you,
you know, to the law, that you've done this illegal.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Oh yeah, that's extortion. Yeah, that's straight out extortion. Yeah,
you're blackmailing them. By the way, what did they do
that was illegal? Let me go through that one, because
I want to put that one to bed for a minute.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
What did they do They convert They converted a three
car garage into a living space with no permits.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Well, it's still extortion. Okay, so what are you gonna do.
You're gonna call the authorities right to called building in safety.
It's not a criminal offense that they did. And you
want to get building in safety to I guess pull
the plug and somehow say you know what you've done
is you've done this without a permit, and therefore where
you're forcing you to get a permit or we're yanking
your ability to even use it. Now bring it back
(29:16):
to a garage. Yeah, that's extortion. However, Yeah, now the reality.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Is nobody cares or they can pay those through Yeah, yeah, Mark,
I understand that.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Okay, let me get let's get practical for a moment. Yeah,
it's extortion. Okay, let's it is. It's blackmail right on there. Now,
what happens if you do well? Uh right, they can
assue you for what? Uh for extortion? What does that mean?
How much is that worth? So if if you do it,
(29:52):
do it really carefully without saying, hey, if you don't
pay me, then I am going to uh that's you
don't want to that, you know, you want to figure
out some other way of doing that. And they're gonna
call me and I'm gonna go, you know what, how
much do they owe you?
Speaker 4 (30:08):
By the way mark that you're saying four thousand, there's.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
A bunch of money. All right, Well, let's go back
to your original question. Is that extortion? Yeah? It is?
And if you do it that way, you're a complete idiot.
And if you're really smart, you figure out some other
way of doing it, which I'm sure as hell I'm
not going to tell you. Peter, Hi, Peter, welcome to
handle on the Law.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Good morning, Bill, welcome back, Thank you. My question is
I hired a contractor to paint an interior of the house.
He demanded that I pay him up front before he
did the work. He started to work. It was a
two thousand dollars job. I said, I have three hundred
(30:55):
and fifty right now for the materials. At ten o'clock
when the bank opens up, go get you the balance.
Even though you're not finished with the work. I'll go
ahead and capitulate what you want. He packed up his
stuff and left and left everything halfway done and said,
screw you. I'm not going to finish this job. Okay,
(31:17):
I want I want to take them the Small Claims
Court to report him to the Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Better Business Bureau does nothing. I mean, that's not going
to do anything but taking him the small claims court.
Let's say you hire someone to finish the job. Okay, right,
and I'm assuming you still have the paint, and so
how much was the contract for?
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Two thousand dollars dollars?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You paid it, and you paid them? How much.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I paid the next painter? I paid him twenty four hundred?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Okay, So you have a two thousand dollars contract. You
paid twenty four hundred dollars for the next painter. And
how much did you pay painter who screwed you? Number one?
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Nothing?
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So you got them and it was a job done well.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
By the second painter.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yes, okay, so here's what you have. You have a
four hundred dollars lawsuit against painter number one because you
would have paid twenty You agreed the two thousand dollars anyway,
so you consume him for four hundred dollars. They're just
tell him to go pound sand there's no place he
can go. Okay, all right, still sen because you got
a couple of doughs. Yeah, because contract law in California.
But they can only collect ten percent up front. That's
(32:29):
to start with. Yeah, so you're fine, you know, Yeah,
you're fine. I wouldn't I wouldn't worry about it. You're
in port.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
I'll tell you next week for yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Will tell me what happened? Yep, okay, Oh, I just
dropped my telephone. How about that now? I just got
back from Italy. And by the way, the food in
Italy is spectacular. But i'll tell you what. They use
lots and lots of garlic, and they have no idea
what Zelman's is no idea. And I don't know if
(32:59):
you've ever order a sausage and Zelman's pizza doesn't work.
Zelman's the minty mouth mint it's sort of a minty
pizza with sausage.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
No.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
And so if let's go to the garlic part. If
you have a bad breath and you do, you eat garlic,
you eat onions, Believe me, it comes out of your body,
comes out of your mouth. Zelmans. Well, there's certainly the answer.
I mean, it's a mint, but it's far more than
just a mint, because not only does it work in
the mouth with the minti part, but then you swallow
her bite into these capsules of which Zelmans is and
(33:31):
it goes to work in your gut. And that's where
bad breath can start stay there and really do most
of its damage. So here's what Zelman's is offering for
the entire month. If you order a three pack an
automatic fifteen percent off. Go to Zelmans dot com slash
kfi fifteen percent off automatically with a three pack Zelman's
(33:54):
Z E L M I N S. Zelmans dot com,
slash kfi. This is handle on the law
You're listening to KFI AM six forty the bill handles
show on demand on the iHeartRadio f and see it's
a KFLI corning everybody. It is a Saturday morning. You
haven't been around for a while, so it's nice getting
back in the saddle again. And the phone number, as always,
(00:21):
that's the boy, hasn't changed in the last thirty years.
Eight hundred five two zero one five three four. Eight
hundred five two zero one five three four, and I
will answer your marginal legal questions with marginal legal advice.
And since it is the top of the hour, as always,
it is the best time to call, especially the first hour,
(00:44):
because then you know we're switching over from Dean Sharp
to the show that I do from now to eleven o'clock,
and then after that you get some tech stuff with
Rich Demurrow. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four is the number to call. And as I have
said over and over and over again, lines are open.
(01:05):
We come in and this set. There'll be a time
by the way, for those of you that are listening
that want to call. Inevitably there are some where you're
I'm going to get an email or one of the
staff's gonna get an email. I can't get in. The
line's always busy. No, it's not top of the hour,
always good time to call. Okay, so why don't we
(01:27):
get to it? Okay? Fair enough. This is handle on
the law, marginal legal advice where I tell you have
absolutely no case. As I have mentioned, and ever since
President Trump not only ran for office, had his first
administration now is second administration, the state of California has
(01:51):
been at war with the Trump administration, even the Trump candidacy,
and the war, the state of war goes across all
the life. We're talking about education, we're talking about government,
employment policy. Well, one of the big ones is the
issue of illegal immigration, where California and the White House
(02:14):
have been at war and will always be at war,
with of course Trump being very anti immigrant, certainly illegal immigrant,
and the State of California being very very pro illegal immigrant,
to the point where, if I'm not mistaken, I think
there was a law that was just introduced in the
state legislature that no one can run for the governorship
(02:36):
unless he or she is illegal. You cannot have a
American or a Green card holder actually becoming governor. It
must be an illegal alien. It's almost that bad. Okay.
So with that in mind, here's what a California bill
hasn't just now been introduced and it is actually California
(02:59):
State's Superintendent Tony Thurman announced that he is going to
present a bill wanting the legislature to do this that
limits the presence of ICE agents on school campuses. Prior
to now, there were sensitive areas where ICE agents couldn't
go in and pick up illegals, illegal aliens, illegal undocumented people.
(03:20):
And that was one churches, which makes a lot of sense,
and two schools. Schools were verboten, could not could not
go into schools. Well that's changed now ICE can go
wherever the hell it wants to. So what California is
trying to do the legislature and the school serpintendent saying
we're going to limit ICE agents getting onto school. Well,
(03:44):
President Trump's executive order ICE is allowed to target migrants
at schools and churches. So here's the fear, and that
is that it's going to be chilling on those who
are undocumented. In other words, they're not going to want
to go to school, not going to want to go
to church. Yeah, Well that's precisely the point of making
(04:06):
it almost impossible for any undocumented person to go anywhere,
because the point of the administration's position is you find them,
you catch them, you deport them. And the state is saying,
oh no, no, no. And it's a big difference. I mean,
there's no question we have sanctuary cities. I think California
(04:26):
is a sanctuary state. And so you know, the fight continues.
It is this going to happen? Uh yeah, yeah, probably
there's going to be a fight, of course. And the
problem with California particularly is the money that the California
gets from the federal government is predicated on school attendance,
(04:50):
which is why for anybody wh's going to school in California,
we always had home room attendants had to be taken
every day because the attendance of every student is then reported. Uh,
and then the CLI is made against the federal government,
and that is the state is paid for per student
per day. So not having students show up chilling, the
(05:11):
possibility of students showing up because they may get literally
picked up is very anti immigrant. Yeah, well, let's say
very anti illegal immigrant. Okay, And before we take a
break and move ahead and start taking the phone calls
(05:31):
eight hundred and five to two zero one, five to
three four. Let me tell you about the Pain Game podcast.
This is about chronic pain. Chronic pain is pain. Well
for those of you that have it, you live with
it constantly. It's twenty four to seven. It's always there,
sometimes sometimes quite often, it's totally debilitating. And this is
where the Pain Game podcast comes into play. The host
(05:55):
of the show, who is Lindsay Soprano, who I'm very
very close to. Obviously, she deals with chronic pain twenty
four to seven. And this podcast is about helping you,
someone you love, someone you know, someone you're treating, you
suffering with chronic pain. Every episode ends with a message
of hope, and you'll understand that the show is about
(06:17):
giving pain purpose. I didn't understand that until I started listening.
So wherever you listen to podcasts, tune into the Pain
Game Podcast. That's the Pain Game Podcast. This is Handle
on the Law. Can't buy handle here on a Saturday morning.
This is Handle on the Law. Marginal Legal Advice. Nicole.
(06:41):
Hello Nicole, what can I do for you? Call sure?
Speaker 2 (06:45):
I have a seventy two year old ant that died
a year ago. She had a spinal stroke, and she
died about three or four years before she expected. She's
set up a family trust to be distributed at one
hundred dollars a meal for cousins to get together. There's
(07:06):
now five hundred and fifty one thousand dollars in this
account that my brother and cousin have to distribute. But
it's way more money than we could actually possibly all use.
And it's supposed to go down to the last living relative,
who's now two, and the court is we're looking to
(07:26):
petition the court in Colorado. The executors are in New
York State to say this was not her full intention.
She didn't expect to live this long or have this
much money left. And can we take fifty thousand dollars
and put it in this fund so that we can
do lunches and dinners on Fourth of julys and funeral
expenses to help people travel.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
Okay, So is where does the rest of it go?
And who's asking for the money.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
We're asking that the rest of the money be distributed
at one hundred thousand dollars for the four remaining siblings,
all of our and uncles.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
Wow. Okay, so these would be the four that would
be entitled by law to inherit if there was no trust.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Correct, Yes, there there is a There was a family
trust and then the four siblings are listed there, but
it wasn't distributed in upon my death of there's less
things left over. It was a very poorly written will.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Okay, well, let me hold on a minut I'm a
little confused. You're you're conflating trusts and wills, uh, and
executors and trustees. All right, you've described two trusts. Is
that correct?
Speaker 2 (08:39):
No, it's only that's the problem.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Is only one trust, okay. And so under the under
the trust, it either the money all goes to the
siblings with children of completely dead ant or it goes
into a fund where it's one hundred bucks per person
per meal, which one or both?
Speaker 2 (08:58):
Yeah, it's it's it's only a trust for one hundred
dollars per meal.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
Okay, got it. And that's for all the cousins get together.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
It's all because yeah, it's for yes, whoever gets together.
But you can't possibly spend.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
It now, Okay, that gets kind of interesting. So now
is there any language? You're right, it's poorly written. Is
there anyail language that says, in the event there are
no cousins, in the event they they all end up
dying and there's no one there to eat. Therefore, what
happens to the money thereafter? Does it say? No? Ooh, okay,
got it. Well, here's all right. So the trust is
(09:39):
you're going to argue the trust is badly written, and
you're going to argue exactly what you're saying, and that is,
there's no way we can spend all of this money.
And had there not been a trust, had there not
been a will, then the siblings, that's the children of
the woman who is dead, inherit her siblings woman just
(10:02):
her does she has no children? Correct?
Speaker 2 (10:05):
She has no children? So we're asking the court.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Yeah, no, I understand. So you're asking the court that
I go to the siblings, they who would have inherited
if nothing was written, if she had died in testing. Interesting,
I've never heard of that happening. It's certainly logical for
me to me that that's exactly what I would ask
the court to consider, because otherwise where does the money go?
And it makes all the same If I'm the judge,
I'm going for it. And it's a really good argument
(10:31):
that you're going to make and you're only asking fifty
thousand dollars. Is there going to be any money left
for these meals?
Speaker 3 (10:40):
That's what that was.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
They were saying this. The whole thing is five fifty
five mins.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
Okay, all right, So you're coming up with a formula
where you're saying, okay, here is enough money to cover
cousins meals at one hundred bucks a pop, which by
the way, is a pretty good meal. Yeah, one hundred
dollars and does a lot of eating.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Except when we're basically saying, yeah, we're basically saying, let's
give one hundred thousand dollars to each of the siblings.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's you know, don't understand what you're saying and leaving
no money for meals?
Speaker 2 (11:10):
Well no, and no leaving a trust in there so
that that when we get together on the fourth of July.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
And Okay, yes, I think that makes sense. I got
it a little convoluted, yeah, but that's it's it's a
logical argument. I I would ask a trust and a
state lawyer and saying, hey, this is what I would do. Uh.
And uh, you know, the bottom line is everything you
say is completely totally logical.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
And I don't know which way a court would go.
And you're in front of a you're basically you're in
front of a probate court, you know, the probate judge.
Should we see so much for that, Nicole? That's can't
do more for that? Frank, Hello, Frank, welcome.
Speaker 5 (11:54):
Hi, good morning.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (11:57):
Yes, I got to take it hold of my cell
phone for like five seconds on the freeway. I wasn't
calling anybody, I wasn't checking my messages of just looking
at the map, you know, using it as a navigation device.
But nonetheless I got pulled over and I got to
take it for it. Is there a good defense that
I can use in a written declaration defense?
Speaker 1 (12:18):
Sure, just say exactly what you're saying. You were not
using the phone, You were merely looking at it as
a navigational device. And the judge is going to look
at it and go chief Frank, I don't care. The
judge is going to take the word of the cop
who's going to say you were using it, and by
(12:38):
the way, to argue that you weren't using it because
you're looking at it just as a navigational device. Was
it in your hand?
Speaker 5 (12:49):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Okay, So how do you know or how does a
judge know that you weren't talking on it when a
cop said you were using it. Yeah, the point is
you're gonna say what you're going to say, and I'm assuming,
just for the purposes of this call, I'm assuming you're
telling me the truth, which I have absolutely no idea.
(13:12):
If you are, aren't, you could be the biggest liar
in the world. But assuming that is true, now you
have all the bias in the world. You're up against
the cop who is quote objective about it. All you
can do is argue, you plead not guilty, or you're
doing your affidavit, and you hope, hope that the judge
agrees with you or the judge believes you, and hopefully
the judge at one point got tagged, not that the
(13:34):
judge would, and you might win, but you won't. This
is Handle on the Law.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:49):
Fine Handle here, it's a Saturday morning. Nice to be
back again. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four All right back go more Handle on the Law.
Marginal legal add vice. Hey Jake, you're oh, let me
see if this is working uh should be Jake, you're there. Oh, oh,
(14:13):
there you go.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Okay, Jake, good morning.
Speaker 6 (14:16):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (14:17):
No, no, then it's on our side. Don't worry about it. Okay,
move on. What can I do for you?
Speaker 6 (14:24):
Sorry? I got a foul in my throat this morn.
Speaker 1 (14:27):
I know what that's about.
Speaker 7 (14:27):
Tom, This uh lady that I hired a personal injury attorney.
I want to settle because I need the money. And
she's uh dodging my calls every week. She has like
a new intake specialist and she tells me call my
(14:48):
intake specialist. And I asked for the intake specialist that
I spoke to beforehand, and they're like, oh, they don't
work here anymore.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
I'm the new one.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
And yeah, okay, a couple of thanks. All right, let
me ask you some questions. Okay, First of all, anybody
who hires any attorney that has an intake specialist you
got come on, Really, it's it's a secretary. It's someone
who works for the office. Intake specialist, I know, certified
intake specialist PhD and intake specialty. I have no idea,
(15:17):
but let me ask how along this case is so,
how old is the case?
Speaker 6 (15:23):
How many months, nine months, was back in July.
Speaker 1 (15:29):
How badly were you in assuming it wasn't your fault, right, yeah,
I was okay, got it, So it's not your fault
you were rear in it. Now, how badly were you injured?
And how much was the car damage?
Speaker 6 (15:43):
Just very flight?
Speaker 1 (15:44):
Not okay? And you've been treating right, and it's soft
tissue your neck all right? My back, my neck, loumba,
I've got lumbago. I mean, there are no broken bones
or anything, right, right? Okay? And so do you know
what the lawyer is asking for? Do you know what?
How much was the treatment? What did the doctors charge?
(16:06):
You have me an idea.
Speaker 6 (16:09):
Not really like okay?
Speaker 1 (16:11):
How many doctor visits as you go to for treatment?
Speaker 6 (16:14):
Like media do?
Speaker 1 (16:17):
It doesn't? Well, the case isn't worth very much money.
But I'm surprised that the lawyer isn't just wrapping this
one up because I had it. Makes no sense to
me that at this point a lawyer wouldn't just okay,
let's wrap it up. You're not gonna get a whole
lot of money because it's not worth a whole lot
of money, but ignoring you, that's kind of weird. Let
me suggest go to handle on the law dot com
and talk to one of my lawyers. That's not like
(16:39):
they're going to try to steal the case or anything,
but you'll get some advice. Because here's what's wrong is
that your lawyer is not returning your phone calls. And
this you got to talk to an intake specialist is
a complete croc. You don't need any your lawyer doesn't
need any more intake. So you can email the lawyer
(16:59):
and you I would put this in writing, saying, hey,
you are abandoning me. It's a great line because I've
used that told people about that for a long time.
That's a big deal in California, is accusing a lawyer
of abandoning a client. To throw that in there on
the email and at the same time, go to handle
on thelaw dot com and talk to one of our
(17:19):
lawyers and they'll tell you what to do. That's weird
that a lawyer is in wrapping up the cases. It's
not a lot of money. Insurance companies don't pay a
lot of money. Used to be that there was real
money in the rear enders, but now insurance companies say no, no, okay.
Three thousand dollars damage to the car you got. Let's
(17:41):
say you've gone to the doctor ten times two hundred
dollars or five hundred dollars a visit. We'll pay medical
expenses or part of your medical expenses, leaving nothing for you. Mark. Hello, Mark,
welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
Hi, briefly, I would like to know when something becomes extortion,
and I'll give you a four backstory. I worked this
work for someone, took them the small claims court lost.
I feel unjustly. But anyhow, I'm wondering if I can
(18:19):
go back to these people and say, hey, unless you
pay me the money, I am going to disclose that
you you know, to the law that you've done this illegally.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Oh yeah, that's extortion. Yeah, that's straight out extortion. Yeah,
you're blackmailing them. By the way, what did they do
that was illegal? Let me go through that one because
I want to put that one to bed for a minute.
What did they do?
Speaker 3 (18:40):
They convert They converted a three car garage into a
living space with no permits.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
Well, it's still extortion, Okay, So what are you gonna do.
You're gonna call the authorities, right, You're gonna called building
in safety. It's not a criminal offense that they did.
And you want to get building in safety to I
guess a plug and somehow say you know what you've
done is you've done this without a permit and therefore
where you're forcing you to get a permit or we're
yanking your ability to even use it. Now bring it
(19:09):
back to a garage. Yeah, that's extortion.
Speaker 8 (19:13):
However, Yeah, now the reality is nobody cares.
Speaker 1 (19:20):
Yeah, yeah, Mark, I understand that. Okay, let me get
let's get practical for a moment. Yeah, it's extortion, Okay,
let's it is. It's blackmail right on there. Now, what
happens if you do well? Uh right, they can assue
you for what uh for extortion? What does that mean?
How much is that worth? So if if you do it,
(19:45):
do it really carefully without saying, hey, if you don't
pay me, then I am going to uh that's you
don't want to do that, you know, you want to
figure out some other way of doing that. And then
they're gonna call me and I'm gonna go, you know what,
how much do they owe you? By the way, Mark that.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
You're saying four thousand, there's a bunch of money.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
All right, Well, let's go back to your original question.
Is that extortion? Yeah, it is. And if you do
it that way, you're a complete idiot. And if you're
really smart, you figure out some other way of doing it,
which I'm sure as hell I'm not going to tell you. Peter. Hi, Peter,
welcome to handle on the law.
Speaker 4 (20:26):
Good morning, Bill, welcome back, Thank you. My question is
I hired a contractor to paint an interior of the house.
He demanded that I pay him up front before he
did the work. He started to work. It was a
two thousand dollars job. I said, I have three hundred
(20:48):
and fifty right now for the materials. At ten o'clock
when the bank opens up, I'll go get you the balance.
Even though you're not finished with the work. I'll go
ahead and capitulate what you want. He packed up his
stuff and left and left everything halfway done and said,
screw you, I'm not going to finish this job, okay,
(21:10):
I want I want to take them the Small Claims
Court to report him to the Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 1 (21:15):
Better Business Bureau does nothing, I mean, that's not going
to do anything but taking him the small claims court.
Let's say, you hire someone to finish the job. Okay, right,
and I'm assuming you still have the paint. And so
how much was the contract for?
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Two thousand dollars dollars?
Speaker 1 (21:34):
You paid it and you paid him? How much.
Speaker 4 (21:38):
I paid the next painter? I paid him twenty four hundred?
Speaker 1 (21:42):
Okay, So you have a two thousand dollars contract. You
paid twenty four hundred dollars for the next painter. And
how much did you pay painter who screwed you number one?
Speaker 4 (21:51):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (21:52):
Nothing? All right? So you got him and it was
a job done well.
Speaker 4 (21:58):
By the second painter, Yes, it.
Speaker 1 (21:59):
Was, okay. So here's what you have. You have a
four hundred dollars lawsuit against painter number one because you
would have paid twenty You agreed to two thousand dollars anyway,
so you consume him for four hundred dollars. They're just
telling them to go pound sand. There's no place he
can go.
Speaker 4 (22:13):
Okay, all right?
Speaker 1 (22:14):
Still, sim because you got a couple of thoughs. Yeah,
because contract law in California. But they can only collect
ten percent up front, that's to start with. Yeah, so
you're fine, you know, yeah, you're fine. I wouldn't I
wouldn't worry about it.
Speaker 4 (22:28):
You're in I'll call you next week for yeah, it will.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Tell me what happened. Yep, okay, oh, I just dropped
my telephone. How about that? Now? I just got back
from Italy. And by the way, the food in Italy
is spectacular. But I'll tell you what. They use lots
and lots of garlic, and they have no idea what
Zelman's is no idea. And I don't know if you've
(22:52):
ever ordered a sausage and Zelman's pizza doesn't work. Zelman's
the minty mouth mint. It's sort of a minty pizza
with sausage. No. And so if let's go to the
garlic part. If you have a bad breath, and you do,
you eat garlic, you eat onions, believe me, it comes
out of your body, comes out of your mouth. Zelmons. Well,
there's certainly the answer. I mean, it's a mint, but
(23:13):
it's far more than just a mint, because not only
does it work in the mouth with the minti part,
but then you swallow her bite into these capsules of
which Zelmans is and it goes to work in your gut,
and that's where bad breath can start. Stay there and
really do most of its damage. So here's what Zelmans
is offering for the entire month. If you order a
(23:37):
three pack an automatic fifteen percent off. Go to Zelmans
dot com slash kfi fifteen percent off automatically with a
three pack Zelmans Z E L M I N S
Zelmans dot com slash kfi. This is Handle on the Law.
Say fie, handle here, it's a Saturday morning. Nice be
(24:00):
back again. Eight hundred five two zero one five three
four All right, back we go. More Handle on the
Law marginal legal advice. Hey, Jake, you're oh, let me
see this is working? Uh should be?
Speaker 6 (24:17):
Jake?
Speaker 1 (24:17):
You're there? Oh yeah, oh there you go. Okay, Jake,
good morning.
Speaker 6 (24:23):
Sorry about that.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
No, no, and then it's on our side. Don't worry about it. Okay,
move on. What can I do for you?
Speaker 6 (24:31):
Sorry? I got a fog in my throat this morn.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Yeah, I know what that's about.
Speaker 7 (24:37):
This lady that I hired a personal injury attorney. I
want to settle because I need the money. And she's
dodging my calls every week. She has like a new
intake specialist, and she tells me call my intake specialist,
and I asked for the intake specialist that I spoke
(24:59):
to before him, and they're like, oh, they don't work
here anymore on the new one.
Speaker 1 (25:04):
Yeah, okay, a couple of things, got it, Jake? All right,
let me ask you some questions. Okay. First of all,
anybody who hires any attorney that has an intake specialist
you got come on, really, it's it's a secretary. It's
someone who works for the office. Intake specialist, I know,
certified intake specialist PhD and intake specialty. I have no idea,
(25:24):
But let me ask how along this case is?
Speaker 6 (25:28):
So?
Speaker 1 (25:28):
How old is the case? How many months?
Speaker 6 (25:33):
Nine months? It was back in July?
Speaker 1 (25:34):
Okay it How badly were you in assuming it wasn't
your fault? Right, yeah, I was okay, got it. So
it's not your fault. You were rear in it. Now,
how badly were you injured? And how much was the
car damage? Just very flight to okay? And you've been treating, right,
and it's soft tissue your neck, alright, my back, my neck, lumbia,
(25:58):
I've got lumbago. I mean, there are no broken bones
or anything, right, right, Okay? And so do you know
what the lawyer is asking for do you know what?
How much was the treatment? What did the doctors charge?
Give me an idea not really like okay, how many
doctor visits as you go.
Speaker 6 (26:19):
To for treatment like media dosa.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
It doesn't Well, the case isn't worth very much money.
But I'm surprised that the lawyer isn't just wrapping this
one up because I had it makes no sense to
me that at this point a lawyer wouldn't just okay,
let's wrap it up. You're not gonna get a whole
lot of money because it's not worth a whole lot
of money, but ignoring you that's kind of weird. Let
me suggest go to handle on the law dot com
and talk to one of my lawyers. That's not like
(26:46):
they're going to try to steal the case or anything,
but you'll get some advice. Because here's what's wrong is
that your lawyer is not returning your phone calls. And
this you got to talk to an intake specialist is
a complete croc. You don't need any your lawyer doesn't
need any more intake. So you can email the lawyer
(27:06):
and you I would put this in writing saying hey,
you are abandoning me. It's a great line, because I've
used that told people about that for a long time.
That's a big deal in California, is accusing a lawyer
of abandoning a client. To throw that in there on
the email and at the same time, go to handle
on thelat dot com and talk to one of our
lawyers and they'll tell you what to do. That's weird
(27:31):
that a lawyer is in wrapping up the case. It's
not a lot of money. Insurance companies don't pay a
lot of money. Used to be that there was real
money in the rear enders, but now insurance companies say no, Now, okay,
three thousand dollars damage to the car you got. Let's
say you've gone to the doctor ten times two hundred
dollars or five hundred dollars a visit. We'll pay medical
(27:53):
expenses or part of your medical expenses, leaving nothing for you.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
Mark.
Speaker 1 (28:01):
Hello, Mark, welcome to Handle on the Law.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Hi, briefly, I would like to know when something becomes extortion,
and I'll give you a four backstory. I worked this
work for someone, took them the small claims court lost.
I feel unjustly, but anyhow, I'm wondering if I can
(28:26):
go back to these people and say, hey, unless you
pay me the money, I am going to disclose that you,
you know, to the law, that you've done this illegal.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
Oh yeah, that's extortion. Yeah, that's straight out extortion. Yeah,
you're blackmailing them. By the way, what did they do
that was illegal? Let me go through that one, because
I want to put that one to bed for a minute.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
What did they do They convert They converted a three
car garage into a living space with no permits.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
Well, it's still extortion. Okay, so what are you gonna do.
You're gonna call the authorities right to called building in safety.
It's not a criminal offense that they did. And you
want to get building in safety to I guess pull
the plug and somehow say you know what you've done
is you've done this without a permit, and therefore where
you're forcing you to get a permit or we're yanking
your ability to even use it. Now bring it back
(29:16):
to a garage. Yeah, that's extortion. However, Yeah, now the reality.
Speaker 8 (29:24):
Is nobody cares or they can pay those through Yeah, yeah, Mark,
I understand that.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Okay, let me get let's get practical for a moment. Yeah,
it's extortion. Okay, let's it is. It's blackmail right on there. Now,
what happens if you do well? Uh right, they can
assue you for what? Uh for extortion? What does that mean?
How much is that worth? So if if you do it,
(29:52):
do it really carefully without saying, hey, if you don't
pay me, then I am going to uh that's you
don't want to that, you know, you want to figure
out some other way of doing that. And they're gonna
call me and I'm gonna go, you know what, how
much do they owe you?
Speaker 4 (30:08):
By the way mark that you're saying four thousand, there's.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
A bunch of money. All right, Well, let's go back
to your original question. Is that extortion? Yeah? It is?
And if you do it that way, you're a complete idiot.
And if you're really smart, you figure out some other
way of doing it, which I'm sure as hell I'm
not going to tell you. Peter, Hi, Peter, welcome to
handle on the Law.
Speaker 4 (30:33):
Good morning, Bill, welcome back, Thank you. My question is
I hired a contractor to paint an interior of the house.
He demanded that I pay him up front before he
did the work. He started to work. It was a
two thousand dollars job. I said, I have three hundred
(30:55):
and fifty right now for the materials. At ten o'clock
when the bank opens up, go get you the balance.
Even though you're not finished with the work. I'll go
ahead and capitulate what you want. He packed up his
stuff and left and left everything halfway done and said,
screw you. I'm not going to finish this job. Okay,
(31:17):
I want I want to take them the Small Claims
Court to report him to the Better Business Bureau.
Speaker 1 (31:22):
Better Business Bureau does nothing. I mean, that's not going
to do anything but taking him the small claims court.
Let's say you hire someone to finish the job. Okay, right,
and I'm assuming you still have the paint, and so
how much was the contract for?
Speaker 4 (31:39):
Two thousand dollars dollars?
Speaker 1 (31:41):
You paid it, and you paid them? How much.
Speaker 4 (31:45):
I paid the next painter? I paid him twenty four hundred?
Speaker 1 (31:49):
Okay, So you have a two thousand dollars contract. You
paid twenty four hundred dollars for the next painter. And
how much did you pay painter who screwed you? Number one?
Speaker 4 (31:58):
Nothing?
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Nothing?
Speaker 4 (32:00):
Right?
Speaker 1 (32:00):
So you got them and it was a job done well.
Speaker 4 (32:05):
By the second painter.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
Yes, okay, so here's what you have. You have a
four hundred dollars lawsuit against painter number one because you
would have paid twenty You agreed the two thousand dollars anyway,
so you consume him for four hundred dollars. They're just
tell him to go pound sand there's no place he
can go. Okay, all right, still sen because you got
a couple of doughs. Yeah, because contract law in California.
But they can only collect ten percent up front. That's
(32:29):
to start with. Yeah, so you're fine, you know, Yeah,
you're fine. I wouldn't I wouldn't worry about it. You're
in port.
Speaker 4 (32:36):
I'll tell you next week for yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Will tell me what happened? Yep, okay, Oh, I just
dropped my telephone. How about that now? I just got
back from Italy. And by the way, the food in
Italy is spectacular. But i'll tell you what. They use
lots and lots of garlic, and they have no idea
what Zelman's is no idea. And I don't know if
(32:59):
you've ever order a sausage and Zelman's pizza doesn't work.
Zelman's the minty mouth mint it's sort of a minty
pizza with sausage.
Speaker 4 (33:07):
No.
Speaker 1 (33:07):
And so if let's go to the garlic part. If
you have a bad breath and you do, you eat garlic,
you eat onions, Believe me, it comes out of your body,
comes out of your mouth. Zelmans. Well, there's certainly the answer.
I mean, it's a mint, but it's far more than
just a mint, because not only does it work in
the mouth with the minti part, but then you swallow
her bite into these capsules of which Zelmans is and
(33:31):
it goes to work in your gut. And that's where
bad breath can start stay there and really do most
of its damage. So here's what Zelman's is offering for
the entire month. If you order a three pack an
automatic fifteen percent off. Go to Zelmans dot com slash
kfi fifteen percent off automatically with a three pack Zelman's
(33:54):
Z E L M I N S. Zelmans dot com,
slash kfi. This is handle on the law
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!