Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog

Police arrested a 14-year-old New Jersey City boy for allegedly threatening two 12-year-old boys on Facebook by threatening to kill and hurt them, calling them "gay" and "fat" and stating to one boy that he would tie him to a pole, attach a rope and hook to the boys stomach, tie it to a car and drive off tearing off his body. He allegedly did all this because he believed they were interested in his girlfriend.

The fourteen year old now faces charges of harassment and making terroristic threats.

According to the prosecutor, he used fake screen names on Facebook to threaten one victim, using a second and third name after the first was blocked. Shockingly, investigators do not believe he knew the boys personally.

How and why was this bully arrested? The twelve year old boys finally told their parents about the threatening messages the past several months and the parents called the police. The police, after executing a search warrant with the cyber crimes unit, arrested the fourteen year old who was processed and released to his parents.

It will be up the prosecutor to decide whether to charge and try him as an adult.

When is it appropriate to call the police on a bully? This is a good question that parents often face. There is not an easy answer to this question as it can depend on a various number of factors. Certainly however, you should always call the police immediately if you feel your son or daughter is in immediate, imminent danger of physical harm. However, we recommend seeking legal counsel to discuss the possible options.

In one instance, if the school is not responding appropriately to protect your son or daughter from harm and your child has been assaulted physically or incessantly threatened with violence, one of the many options a parent has is to consider pressing charges with the police by going straight to juvenile justice.

We cannot reiterate enough, it is always best to seek legal advice. At Williams Oinonen LLC we offer paid legal consultations for parents who are dealing with their son or daughter being bullied in school. The purpose of these consultations are not to necessarily retain legal counsel. Rather, they are to equip yourself with the facts and arms yourself with education to empower you to help your child.

In these consultations we first listen to the facts of your case. We then explain to you what the law in Georgia says about bullying and how it applies to the facts and circumstances of your son or daughter's situation. We then discuss all the possible various legal options are (everything you could do). Finally, and most importantly, we discuss and provide practical recommendations as to everything you should do to achieve the goals .

Williams Oinonen LLC often receives phone calls from Georgia citizens, innocent owners of vehicles, homes, and/or cash who have had their property taken by law enforcement agents because, supposedly, their property is related to a drug offense. The process of taking property in this manner is called forfeiture. And Georgia Code 16-13-49 primarily governs forfeitures related to alleged drug sales/transactions. What's important for you to know is that you can fight to regain your property. But you must act quickly, because forfeiture laws and rules are complicated, and very time sensitive.

For example, Georgia Code 16-13-49 requires you to respond within thirty (30) days of receiving notice that your property is subject to forfeiture. If you don't respond within thirty (30) days, then, "all right, title, and interest in the property is forfeited to the state and the district attorney shall dispose of the property as provided" by Georgia law.

Furthermore, your claim (response to notice of forfeiture) must be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested or staturory overnight delivery. And your claim must:

1. Be signed by the owner or interest holder of the property under penalty of perjury;

2. Be sent specifically to both the law enforcement agency that took your property and the relevant District Attorney; and

3. Contain specific details such as (a) the nature and extent of your interest in the property; (b) the specific provision of O.C.G.A. § 16-13-49 relied on in asserting that your property is not subject to forfeiture; and (c) all essential facts supporting each assertion, amongst other specific details required by law.

You must comply with the above-mentioned, and more, in order to have a mere "opportunity" at getting your property back. Then, if you do comply with the requirements of Georgia law to challenge what is called an administrative forfeiture proceeding, you still must challenge a potential judicial forfeiture proceeding. Simply put, the state agency will first attempt to take your property through an administrative proceeding, which is discussed above. If you meet those deadlines and other legal requirements, the state will most likely file a "judicial action" (complaint for forfeiture) in an attempt to take your property through a judicial forfeiture proceeding. You then must comply with more strict guidelines, rules, and laws!

If all that was not enough (and I've only touched on a few aspects of this complicated area of law) the state may turn your case over to the federal government in what is commonly referred to as adoptive forfeiture. The federal government will then file a judicial forfeiture action in an attempt to take your property.

You must have an attorney who understands both federal forfeiture law and Georgia forfeiture law in order to adequatley protect your rights.

Significantly, state and federal agencies attempting to take your property must comply with strict procedural timelines and laws, too, meaning you may be able to get your property back by demonstrating that the government failed to comply with mandated, legal requirements. And there are many defenses that may apply to your case such as an "innocent owner" defense or a due process defense. However, as I've stated, you need a good attorney who understands this area of the law.

Continue reading "Georgia Forfeiture Law: Are You An Innocent Owner? Did The Government Take Your Property? What Can You Do To Get Your House, Car, or Money Back From The Government" »

Good Georgia Contract Lawyers will explain that one of the primary purposes to incorporate your business or create an LLC is to protect yourself from personal liability for business debts and claims. While business owners who incorporate or convert their business into an LLC enjoy limited personal liability for many of their business transactions, this protection is not absolute.

Despite having one's business incorporated or formed into an LLC, an owner can be held personally liable if he or she: personally injures someone; personally guarantees a bank loan or business debt on which the business later defaults; intentionally does something considered fraud, illegal, or reckless that harms the company or someone else, or co-mingles funds: i.e. treats the LLC as an extension of his or her personal affairs, rather than as a separate legal entity.

This type of conduct is also called "piercing the corporate veil." The reason for this term is because your legal entity is considered a veil or shield that protects you from personal liability. Once you violate the rules surrounding it, the veil is considered "pierced" just as if a sword had stuck into it. Once the corporate veil is pierced, it can no longer protect you as a business owner.

Thus, it is important to carefully protect yourself and your business by avoiding such conduct that would be considered veil-piercing.

In Soerries v. Dancause, 248 Ga. App. 374 (Ga. Ct. App. 2001), a sole business owner of a nightclub was sued when the family of an intoxicated 18-year old girl left the nightclub severely drunk. Although a city ordinance prohibited individuals under 21 years old from entering nightclubs, it is undisputed that the club employees did not check the girl's identification to establish her age. After drinking that night, the girl left at approximately around 3:00 a.m. with a beer in her hand and was killed when she lost control of her car and struck a tree.

The jury pierced the corporate veil and found the business owner jointly liable with his corporation because he had commingled individual and corporate assets by personally assuming the corporation's financial liabilities, waiving corporate rental payments, and using corporate funds to directly pay his personal mortgage notes and other expenses.

Therefore, the Court ruled that the jury could disregard the corporate entity and that there was evidence to sustain the verdict finding him personally liable for compensatory and punitive damages.

In Pazur v. Belcher, 290 Ga. App. 703 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008), the Georgia Supreme Court stated that an officer's personal liability for corporate debts due to a piercing of the corporate veil rests on the notion that a corporate officer, or owner, who has abused the corporate form by commingling personal and corporate assets, should be held liable for corporate debts and liabilities. The Court explained that the focus in that type of liability is the abuse of the corporate form, not the personal participation of the officer in the tortious conduct at issue.

The Court further enumerated that the concept of piercing the corporate veil is applied in the State of Georgia to remedy injustices which arise where a party has over extended his privilege in the use of a corporate entity in order to defeat justice, perpetuate fraud or to evade contractual or tort responsibility. To prevail based upon that theory, it is necessary to show that the shareholders disregarded the corporate entity and made it a mere instrumentality for the transaction of their own affairs; that there is such unity of interest and ownership that the separate personalities of the corporation and the owners no longer exist. Personal participation in the tort is irrelevant. Pazur v. Belcher, 290 Ga. App. 703 (Ga. Ct. App. 2008)

If you are a small to mid size business owner, you need to be aware of these important issues in order to protect yourself and your business by avoiding such acts that would be considered veil-piercing.

Continue reading "Georgia Contract Lawyer Explains How To Protect Your Small Business From Liability: How To Avoid "Piercing The Corporate Veil"" »