(05/20) HOTL Hour 2

Handel on the Law, Marginal Legal Advice.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is handle on the law,marginal legal ad vice where I tell you
you have absolutely no case. Hereis a fun one that I don't know
if there is a case or not. How many Mexican restaurants do you know
in your area that have Taco Tuesdays? Everyone I know has a Taco Tuesday.

(00:27):
So there is a lawsuit that TacoBell filed, and it's with the
US Patent and Trademark Office see seeingto end a trademark Taco Tuesday. Now
wait a second, it's it's commonusage. Isn't available to everybody. It
describes it Tuesday and Mexican food.It has been trademarked. It's been trademarked

(00:55):
by a small, a very smallMexican restaurant thirty years ago and now Taco
Bell. By the way, it'sactually a smaller taco chain called Taco John's,
and that was thirty four years ago. The Taco Tuesday was trademark.
And what Taco Bell is doing issaying, uh, no, no,

(01:18):
no, And of course you know, Taco john has not done anything.
It's not like a season desist yet. But Taco Bell wants this, that
wants the phrase Tacos Tuesday just tobecome generic and no longer trademark, and
the trademark department can take it off. The trademark office can say take it
back and go. It's now suchcommon usage that it can't be limited anymore.

(01:42):
That's like a Coca Cola trademarking CocaCola and then asking that the word
cola be part of it. Andyou cannot trademark the word cola. It's
too broad. And in this case, Taco Tuesday is too broad what Taco
Bells says, and they're asking forthey're asking for that decision, and we'll

(02:06):
see. I love this line,they say. The very essence of Taco
Tuesday is to celebrate the commonly amongstpeople of all walks of life. To
celebrate the commonality, yes, amongstpeople of all walks of life, who
come together every week to celebrate somethingas simple yet culturally phenomenal as the taco

(02:29):
m Interesting, which way is itgoing to go? You know? I
don't know, because well, particularlyhere in southern California, every Tuesday is
Taco Tuesday. So we'll see whathappens with that one. That's fine,
trademark Taco Tuesday. Look where areyou going? Can you imagine them doing

(02:51):
cease and assist letters for every Mexicanrestaurant saying we own the trademark. And
that's all they do. They closedown the restaurant. They don't have to
serve food anymore. They just sitback your lawyers and sue everybody and get
a percentage. All right, let'sstart with Iggy, Hi, Iggy,
welcome to handle on the law Ibill ye. In twenty nineteen, twenty

(03:15):
twenty, my daughter who was aboutsixteen or seventeen then had nice knee pain
and we went to the doctor andthe doctor recommended physical therapy. UM.
She took a few but eventually COVIDhit and everything was shut down. So
now fast forward to January twenty twentythree, she still has the pain.
This time she gets an MRI thatshowed she had a benign tumor called PVNS.

(03:38):
She had surgery to remove it,and she is recovering well in the
pain and the pain is going away. Correct, correct, correct, Okay,
But we got a bill from theMRI and the insurance says they won't
cover it because she didn't go toall of her physical therapies. UM.
But regardless of whether physical therapy wasclosed because of COVID or not um.

(04:01):
I'm saying that, you know,the no physical therapy is going to remove
any any benign tumor. So whatmy question now becomes, what do I
do with the with the bill thathas no deduction for okay? Uh?
First of all, uh, physicaltherapy is or is not covered under the

(04:23):
insurance policy. It is okay Uh. A much stronger argument was I couldn't
get physical therapy because of COVID.Uh. That is a stronger argument than
arguing the other side of it andsaying, uh, there was something miss
uh and I didn't go. Andbecause this is a this is medical liability

(04:45):
is what this is. You know, the insurance company says, hey,
go to the doctor who's screwed up. This isn't us. Here are our
rules. Our rules are you haveto go if if if physical therapy is
is suggested or is mandated, youhave to do it. Otherwise we're not
covering you. Well, the reasonI didn't is COVID. Very strong argument.

(05:10):
And you go back to the doctorand say the reason that I even
did it because you missed diagnosed.Okay, So that's your argument. Argue
that I'll argue the COVID one firstto start it, to start off with.
Okay, so that's a stronger argumentthan saying that physical therapy would not
have cured the You don't know that. You don't know that. Yeah,

(05:34):
it's your opinion. They're gonna getdoctors to say exactly the opposite, and
you're gonna have to You're gonna haveto hire doctors that promote your point.
And you know what, you knowwhat doctors get paid. Do you have
any idea what an expert witness getspaid. You're talking north of ten thousand
dollars to start with. Yeah,okay, more than the bill, more

(05:56):
than the bill. Yeah. Soyeah, you do not want to go
there at all. Uh, Memi, Hi, MEMI welcome, Yeah,
Mimi there, yes, yeah,can you hear me? I can't?
Yes, Um, good morning.I am in a program called Stake at
Home through the California Sexugariest State.I have a very serious stalking issue.

(06:21):
UM My stalker has a fake identity. Um uh, I won't say the
name, but she pretends to beJewish to do business with Wait in a
minute, who whoa whoa whoa whoaoa. Let's start with this. Why you
have to do business and be Jewish. Explain that one to me, um,

(06:42):
because she, you know, isanti Semitic and thinks Jews run the
world and how well okay, wa, wait and she pretends and wait a
second, and she by the way, just to let you know she's right,
did you do around the world?Now? Why does she have to?
I don't understand how her pretending tobe Jewish somehow connects to her anti
Semitic A sort of a contradiction,isn't it. No, I don't.

(07:05):
I don't think so. But thepoint is she has a fake identity.
Okay, Um, recently, um, my stalker uses a man by the
name and his friends by the nameof Michael Buchanan through the cow through the
rampart scandal. I don't know ifyou know that. You know, I
don't, but we don't have touse Okay, So they're using a name,

(07:27):
doesn't matter what the name is,using a name that's through the rampart
that the police scandal. Correct,No, that's yeah, that's another word.
She hires off duty an ex policemanand know what to stock you,
to stock you, Yes, sherecently had my dog killed. Yeah,
okay, oh lovely, let meask you something, MEMI, what is
it that you do? Uh,that is either big enough or important enough

(07:49):
or in somehow is involved with herthat she would hire stokers, hire off
duty police officers, have your dogkilled? What is the connection there?
Um? She um? I wasworking on a creative project with her over
ten years ago. She was committinga bunch of white collar crimes that she

(08:09):
kept telling me about. At thatpoint, I had was talking to my
attorney and I said, I don'twant this woman in my project, so
I stopped working with her. Thatwas late two and ten. Since two
thousand and eleven, she hasn't stopped. Okay, So you stopped working with
her, You stopped working with her, and because of that ten years ago,

(08:31):
Yeah, she's been stocking you forten years police officers. Yeah,
okay, So yeah, it's abig deal. Okay, So what's your
question? So my question is,you know she's really ramped up things by
killing my dog and yeah, goingafter my mother and destroying property. I

(08:52):
have lots of receipts. I've evenbeen stocked nationally and internationally from one village
to another in India and from Indiaand into Katmandu into Nepal. I have
these guys names, I have copiedwhat I have a pass you have their
passport numbers? Oh? Yeah,people, you can pretty much get anything.

(09:13):
Okay, Um, what's so,what's your question? What's your question?
My dear, So, my questionis her she has a fake name.
Yeah, she also has copy writtenher name, her real name.
She has a copyright on it,and she's not Do you have a copyright
on your own name? It's yourname, you ask me. I don't
know. Okay, So what's yourquestion? What's your question? My question

(09:33):
is I'm going to start putting allthese receipts online, of these men's names
online and information online. Yeah,because the police have never helped me understood?
What's your question? And I wantto I want to know is it
okay if I use her fake name? I think it's okay. I think
it's okay for you to use everythingof hers. And I'll tell you why.

(09:54):
It doesn't matter because there is nobodythat would not think you're not a
fruitcake. That basically you're a wingnut, and that is the bottom line.
But some great questions I have totell you. Joey, Hello,
Joey, welcome, Hello, thanksfor taking my call. There Bill.
Yes, last yeah, last Friday, I go in for a hernia surgery

(10:18):
and the wake up, you know, you know, everything apparently goes well.
I get out of there. Igo to my room in the hospital,
and you know, my hospital room. The next morning, eight thirty
in the morning, doctor walks inthere. The surgeon flips on all my
lights and says, okay, youcan go home today that we can do
for you here now. Oh yeah, so you can get dressed, you
know, whenever you're able, sowhenever it was convenient, you know,

(10:41):
let you know, just get dressedand you can leave, you know,
before noon preferably. And uh AndI looked at him kind of shocked,
like, you know, I understandfrom research, I've never really had a
hernia surgery, stir. But thisis like a three week recovery. You
know, I'm in a lot ofpain. I can barely. I don't
even think I could walk. Okay, this is sh Wait wait, this
is subsequent to your hernie a surgery. You did have the surgery? Yes,

(11:03):
yes, okay, here it comeshere, Here, it comes here,
care comes Bill. He says,well, it wasn't her hernie,
as sir. I went in thereand I found some sort of mask looked
like a tumor, could be nonmal, you know, nomal, nomalnit or
you know, I'm anigned, butI took I took most of it out
what I could, and you're goingto need a second surgery. And I

(11:24):
don't do that sort of thing.And as he's saying I don't do that
sort of thing, he's leaving mybedside with this type of manners. I'm
like a like a like a youknow, Stalin or some dictator, and
uh, I'm kind of shocked anddon't know what to do. And then
the doctor that recommended me to him, this doctor was sitting bedside too,
and you know, he had tothrow his uh you know, his his

(11:46):
his cavalier attitude in there with thestatement which I was surprised. I didn't
even know he would he would dothis or say this. But he says,
uh, you know, after whatI had been said, he goes,
oh, no worry, I'll tellhim. And then he proceeds to
follow the surgeon out of my room, like you know, exit, you
know, stage right immediately, andthere I am left in my room.

(12:07):
Hook took to my drip. Thishappened last Friday, too, okay,
okay, and all right, okay, a couple of questions. First of
all, you're still hooked up.So when when did you leave the hospital?
When did they unhook your drip afterthat meeting? He he actually did
this eight thirty in the morning.I remember looking at my clock on the

(12:28):
wall. Okay, so he waitwait, wait, hold on, So
he did he did this before heleft? Correct? Yes, yes,
it was a four three minute there. Okay, So he didn't all right,
so he didn't. He didn't leaveyou hooked up. He unhooked you
and then left. Is that right? He didn't. He never touched anything
of mine. One okay, thenwho so how much? Okay? I

(12:50):
understand that. I'm just concerned aboutyou know how they left you? Was
it hours later? Did a nursecome in? Did they sign you out
or uh walked out with a dripin your in your arm? No?
No, no, this is thisis what happened. I'm familiar with nursing.
I've had a friend that has beenin and at a hospitals all the
time, and I realized these ivydrips they were no longer going to give

(13:11):
me any more pain. Okay,did you take it you're not you know,
you're going through a whole story here. I'm just curious at this point,
you know what, let's off.Okay, there, that's all I
wanted to know. That's all.It's all I wanted to know. Did
they sign you out? And ordid you just walk out? What we
did? They absolutely did. Oncethe nurse has found out what had happened,

(13:31):
They gave me that the number tothe special neural surgeon dependent they sign
Did they sign you out or doyou just walk away? No? No,
they signed me out. Okay,thank you. I want to know.
Now let's talk about now okay,now let's talk about let's talk about
the malpractice it occurred, because thatwas just a precursor. I'm trying to

(13:52):
figure out what happened and where.All right, So now you have a
surgery, a wrong surgery that's takenplace. Uh after how long after the
surgery did the doctor come in anddo these shenanigans? Possible? Well?
Four thirty five thirty pm? Okay, so just a couple of hours,

(14:13):
all right, just a couple ofhours. And did he send okay,
hold on, did he send didhe send the tissue to the lab to
find out if it was benign ormalignant. He mentioned that he didn't know
what it was. And I understand, did he send it? Did he
send it to the lab? Hedid? He said, okay, and
what okay? And have you gottenthe results yet? I have it?

(14:35):
How long ago was this? Howlong ago was this? So it's been
okay? All right, so we'retalking a week? Yeah, yeah,
you you should have gotten the information. Okay. With all that, it
was a much longer story than needed. It. Sure seems like you are
a victim of some serious malpractice basedon what you have said. Uh.

(14:58):
And then then Bill, Yeah,and Bill, sorry, sorry to interrupt
you, but to insult, youknow, to insult me further. The
lady that was there in his inhis office Friday night when he declared this
as an emergency hernea surgery and getover across the street where the hospital is
and let's get this done. Shewas instructed to call the emergency room to
set me up for the emergency roomprocedure. But on on Monday she calls

(15:22):
me and says, oh, didyou have your prescedure? Are you are
you doing okay? That doesn't matter, None of that matters, And that
doesn't matter none. None of thatmatters. Yeah, none of that matters.
None of that matters. None ofthat matters. None of that matters,
none of that matters. None ofthat matters. Thank you. Okay,

(15:45):
So what I suggest you do iscontact you want to contact a medical
malpractice attorney, because this actually isa pretty big case and it's uh,
if everything is okay and it's benign, then it's not as big a case.
But still it's time for a medicalmalattorney. There's no question about that.
That was one of the most difficultcalls I've ever had. Just that

(16:10):
should have gone thirty seconds. Myfault, though, I asked. I
asked, all right, Chris,welcome to handle on the law. Yes,
sir, Hi Bill, I don'tcare how you're doing good. The
city was redoing the curbs and sidewalkson my street and my house was marked
to get the curbs and sidewalk donein front of my house. I had

(16:33):
a project working its way through thecity building planning, and they found out
that I needed to redo my curbsand sidewalks as part of the part of
this project. The city decided notto do my curbs and made me take
them. Do I have a case. Uh okay. So the city was
out there and they were repairing thecurbs, putting in new driveways. What

(16:56):
were they actually doing? New curbs? New? All right? So now
you have some kind of a permitthat you've asked for, and part of
it is the city is forcing youto put in your own curb sidewalks.
Therefore, the city saves money bynot doing yours forcing you to do it
correct. Yes, okay, Andyou want to know, do you have

(17:17):
a case? Yes? Okay?What do I love to tell people?
Uh? Yeah, you don't havea case? The city is absolutely uh
well all right, but let megive you an example. I've I've been
a builder, I worked my waythrough the law school. And you've got
the city, for example, buildinga sidewalk, and then you have some

(17:41):
empty lots and what ends up happeningof a developer builds those, buys those
lots and puts in homes, hasto build the rest of the sidewalk and
the driveways. The cities can absolutelyforce you to do anything, and if
there's a way they can get someoneto pay for it, they will and

(18:03):
just save them a pilomdee, apile of money. And it happens every
single day, and yes, theycan do exactly that. And it's a
good question. What do I paytaxes for? Well, to do your
own projects? Oh even better,you're paying taxes so your neighbor gets new
curbs and new driveway. How's thatfor fun? Amata, hi amatta,

(18:26):
welcome. Oh hello bean, Yes, thank you. Yes, I already
talked to you about the check fromthe cutting students that I didn't cut.
But I think my question wasn't clear. My questume needs is that a guarding

(18:49):
students company is obligated legally obligated.Oh they can do it even No,
no, legally, and just ifthey can eat me a new check?
Yeah, I think an issue anew check. But I don't understand what
the problem is. Have they didthey settle a case and then refuse to

(19:11):
send a check? No, no, I didn't. Firfect was talking to
you. I wasn't able to talkto them yet. Okay, So what's
your question? That was? Ifthey usue my check? It was oh
so much two thousand fun? Ohyeah, no I answer that. Yeah,

(19:33):
I don't. I think it's done. I don't I think those days
are done. I said that toyou. I remember the phone call.
Uh, No, I don't think. I don't think they're I don't think.
I don't. Yeah, I do, I do not. No,
they can, but I've never heardof them going back almost twenty years and
saying you didn't cash your check andall of a sudden, you say,

(19:55):
write a new one. I thinkthat's past uh, any policy or any
statute. So the answer is,I don't think so, just like I
answered last time, I don't thinkso. So we'll wait for next week
and a motto will call again,and I'll probably give the same answer,
I guess. Michael. Hello,Michael, welcome to handle on the law.

(20:22):
Michael, you there, Okay,Well I'll put Michael on hold see
if he's dealing with the delay.Cindy, Hi, Cindy, welcome,
Hi Bill, thank you for takingmy call. I was My question is
I'm living in a senior retirement communityand we're having our vehicles vandalized. They've

(20:45):
moved in a couple of residents thatare strong arming and panhandling. They ripped
out the fuel line in a motorcycle, so and they're causing a lot of
commotion. They're in the pool inthe middle of the night and they bring
the homeless. They're washing their clothesand the manager isn't doing anything. They're
not on site. Yeah but wait, wait, why would they I just

(21:06):
have a quick question. Why woulda senior retirement home that's in business,
right, they make money off oftenants? Why would they allow tenants that
are destroying the property and making ituntenable for everybody else to live there.
I'm just asking that on a businesslevel. At first, I mean,

(21:27):
how big a unit? How biga unit is it? Cindy, Well,
is that a rhetorical question? Ahundred seven, two hundred and fifty
seven units, and so one hundredand sixty seven, okay, one hundred
and sixty seven units, and themanagement company is bringing in tenants that make
it almost unlivable for all the othertenants. Well, they say it's either

(21:51):
a police matter or a civil matter. I'm not arguing that. I'm not
arguing that. What I'm saying isit doesn't make any business sense. If
I have a business and it isincorporates people being at my business, why
would I ever allow what you describeas tenants in the first place, let
them in in the second place.Keep on saying, oh no, that's

(22:15):
your problem. I just don't understandit. So now here is my suggestion,
and that is you go to theowner of the building, and it's
probably a corporation, and you say, hey, this is what the management
company is doing. Legally, itwould cost you a fortune to go to
court and to get a court orderto have the management company move them out.

(22:38):
I mean you're talking thousands and thousandsof dollars. I think where you
want to go? Ahead, Well, can I request that they hire a
security guard? You can request anything. You say it's a danger, or
you put it all in writing,you say these people are stealing and look
what's happening. You have to proveit. I mean you have to be

(23:00):
you have to be very specific ifyou're are, if you're if you are
complaining about someone stealing and accusing themof that, you better be right on
on that and you better have theproof, right, that's right. Truth
is the best defense. Yeah,but you know slash Tires, you know,
do you know who did it?Well, see we know she said

(23:23):
they We can't prove that they didit's you do you have Do you have
video? I don't have video ofthem? Actually, so how do you
so? How do you prove theydid it. Well. See that's where
we're kind of in a yes youare, Yes you are, But I
would still let's so let's get ridof the let's get rid of the legal

(23:44):
part. As I told you atthe beginning of this, and that is
go to the owners of the building. Enough of you, I mean,
just try to get as many peopleto say this is what's happening. You
are going to lose our business andall you're going to have is people that
are left that are doing this.You can say tires being slashed, you
can say we are being strong armed, you can say all of that.
Just don't specifically say that person hasdone it unless you have the proof.

(24:07):
Michael, Hello, Michael, welcometo the show. Hey Bill, Yeah,
hear me, Yes, I cangreat, Thank you for taking my
call. I'm just sure. Ihad a daughter that was at a La
Las Vegas music festival last weekend andshe was at the very front they called
the barricade. There's a bar there. She's under five feet tall and so

(24:30):
she can't really move around when shewas watching the concert. But the end
result was at some point somebody waspulled out from behind her and it pushed
her head into the barricade poll andshe broke her nose. So I'm just
wondering if I have a case.Yeah, well, normally I would say,
of course, but was it Howdo you prove that it was?

(24:52):
And I'm assuming he was a securityofficer that pulled that other person off,
and she was sort of caught inthe middle of it. Yep, exactly,
all right, so what happened beforeshe was able to anticipate it?
But yeah, how do you howdo you? But do you know?
Do you know who actually physically hither? The person that they pulled out?

(25:17):
Okay, you don't know who thatperson is? No, Okay?
And now, and so when they'repulling out who is they pulling her out?
The security company? Okay, sothe security of company is pulling someone
out that is either a danger oris too streperous or whatever. And she
got caught and went into the post. Uh. I'm assuming there are witnesses,

(25:45):
and I'm assuming that there is adirect connection. Security officer grabs that
person pulls your daughter is next tothat person, hits her nose, and
you can tie all of that togethereither by witnesses or video. Okay,
Yeah, that's I'm asking that athat we have witnesses that are next to
her that came to the concert,okay, and you and you have been

(26:07):
up okay in venue before, soshe was familiar with the you know the
area. Yeah, yeah, no, no, yeah, I'm arguing.
So the witnesses will say that thesecurity guard push that person back and as
a result of that, uh,the your daughter's nose hit the stanchion or
hit this fence right the rail correct. Yeah, And so here's the problem.

(26:32):
Uh, someone comes in, You'vegot everybody crammed together. Security person
is for whatever safety or security ispulling someone out, and you're saying,
look at the way you did it, Well, there is no way to
do it without the possibility of thathappening. So the argument is you should
have either done in a different wayor you should have not done it at

(26:56):
all. And no security under thosecircumstances should have for move someone from the
from that venue. And so itsounds to me more like an accident,
and it doesn't sound to me likenegligence. So I don't think so,
but and her, no, we'llwait a second. That doesn't mean you
don't talk to a personal injury lawyer, because there may be cases on point.

(27:21):
It's one of those things where thevenue, the company, whenever even
a lawyer sends a letter under thosecircumstances, settles for some money. So
I would talk to a personal injurylawyer, go to handle on the law
dot com and talk to one ofour PI lawyers and see if there's anything
there. It's all I tell youwhat personal injury lawyers do, is there

(27:41):
good ones are brilliant at finding liabilitywhere you wouldn't think they would. You
would go, yeah, I don'tfigure that out. That's what lawyers are
lawyers for, is they they handlethose kinds of cases. Laurie, Hello,
Laurie, welcome. Hey. Ijust have a quickie well not a

(28:06):
quickie question. I recently bought anew car a few months ago, maybe
like three four months, from thedealership. And you know, when you
signed it for the new car,you got the sales manager of the finance
manager of the sales reft and yougo through all the financing, the checks
and nada da da da da da. Well four months later, well,
actually the other night I discovered thatI thought my car was stolen off my

(28:27):
driveway, and I went down tothe police department to make a police report.
The police officer tells me, yourcar wasn't stolen, man, the
was repossessed by the finance company.I know what the hell. I saw
the finance company and I said,why did you repossess my car? I've
been paying monthly payments since the datapurchase. And they said to me,

(28:51):
no, no, no, you'renot on auto pay. And I said,
well, why did you at leastcall me or send me an emails
or yeah, okay, so youknow, okay, is it correct?
Weren't on auto pay? That's bythe way. If that's the case,
that's your problem because you have tomake sure auto pay happens. Correct.
I went back to my dealership andI said to the finance guy, why

(29:11):
wasn't I set up on autopay?You sat with me behind the desk for
a whole hour, going throughout thepros and closes this. Why didn't you
say okay, Well, yeah,let me tell you. What's going to
happen is you're gonna say that andyou're and you're gonna how you want to
pay for it, and he's gonnaset up monthly payments and it's up to
you. It's up to you tovolunteer autopay. They don't. They don't

(29:33):
volunteer auto pay. You decide whetheryou're going to uh send it auto pay
or wire or send a check.They just say, this is what you
owe every month. It's on youto figure out how to pay for it.
And if auto pay doesn't pay,man, that's your problem. Now,
the other side of it is,you think I would have gotten some

(29:56):
kind of email. You think Iwould have gotten some indication as to why
you you weren't getting paid. Sothat's the issue. It's not the autopay
issue. It's that you didn't paytimely and they didn't even let you know.
So I would start arguing with thefinance company because they're the ones that

(30:18):
are Yeah, they said, becauseI wasn't on autopaid, they don't even
have my email, you know.But in the meantime, the dealership didn't
even wait, okay, the dealershipdidn't even the dealership, UH didn't ask
for your email. Is that whatyou're saying? Uh, Well, the

(30:41):
finance company, they said, wedon't if you're not on autopay, we
don't have your email. I don'tget that. I don't get that.
So what happened real quickly. Wegotta bail. What happened? Now,
I haven't lead a car. Ifound out my car is in tone.
And did you get your car back? Did you get your did you get
your car back? I will,I will, I'm okay. How much
is it gonna cost? How muchis it gonna cost you? Well,

(31:02):
let me put it this way.Whatever it costs you, you go to
the dealership, and you go here, and you go to the finance company,
and they're not going to do adamn thing about it. That I
guarantee you figure that one out.This is handle on the law.