Law Office of Thomas G. Simchak

11/11/2024

It's been a REALLY long time since I've posted here. So long I can't find my post for all the commercial posts that have been posted here by persons unknown.
Anyway, the election is over. There will be changes coming in the new year, most of which I fear will negatively impact many people.
If you're one of those who believe every word from 45/47's mouth, you did not pay attention. He wants to remake this country so that it looks like the USA of the 1940's, Where imprisoning people because of what they say or do happens without due process; where the Constitution doesn't matter; and where what does matter is the color of your skin (so long as it's white) and how much money you have.

06/28/2022

Yesterday the news came out that 46 immigrants died in a trailer left in San Antonio.
Yesterday our beloved Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted about how effective his Operation Lone Star was and how many people have been detained, charges filed, etc.
Not one word about the tragedy in San Antonio. Yep, leave it to Gov. Abbott to ignore tragedy and gloat about something to which he contributed very little.
This is his Twitter feed.

Official news from the Office of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. You can follow the governor's personal feed

05/12/2022

?fbclid=IwAR2-0mcDwdbGvY4fWbPwzMSSjvuYHSTX4cGCSicaPOzLUhRUGxIejkOzDH0

The above link (hopefully) takes you to an opinion from the Western District of Texas where the court there enjoined a statute enacted in the most recent legislative session. The statute prohibits social media sites from censoring content that the site deems inappropriate, unreliable, etc. Sort of like when Facebook puts someone on probation for a post or comment. But, I think there's more involved here. Think ALEC.

For those not familiar with ALEC, you should be. ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) works with states in implementing legislation that pretty much mirrors legislation in other states.
While ALEC's home page says that it is "America’s largest nonpartisan organization of state legislators dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism", the terms "limited government, free market and federalism" should be enough to educate one that ALEC caters to the GOP's conservative wing.

I bring this up because the opinion cited here states that Florida has a similar law. While there's no proof, I believe that ALEC has its fingers in both the Texas law and the Florida one, which has also been enjoined by a federal court in the Northern District of Florida. Technology, whether it's hardware, software or apps is under attack in the US.

This link is to a blog about the statute here in Texas. https://blog.ericgoldman.org/archives/2021/09/texas-enacts-social-media-censorship-law-to-benefit-anti-vaxxers-spammers.htm

In addition to those mentioned in the actual URL, this statute would also let politicians put out whatever they want and the truth be damned.

The case I'm referring to is NETCHOICE, LLC d/b/a NETCHOICE,
a 501(c)(6) District of Columbia organization, and COMPUTER & COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION d/b/a CCIA, a 501(c)(6) non-stock Virginia Corporation

VS.

KEN PAXTON, in his official capacity as Attorney General of Texas

The cause number is 1:21-CV-840-RP

I hope the opinion containing the injunction can be found here (hopefully) https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=15662765868573071744&q=netchoice,+llc+vs.+paxton&hl=en&as_sdt=3,44

IT IS ORDERED that Appellant's opposed motion to stay the preliminary injunction pending appeal is CARRIED WITH THE CASE. This matter is expedited to the next available randomly designated regular oral argument panel. No extensions to the current merits-briefing schedule should be granted. The merit...

12/28/2021

I learned something today. There are a number (a small but growing number) of law schools that will accept students who have taken the GRE and not the LSAT. This includes more than half of the Ivy League schools, Stanford, U. Chicago, and more. Closer to home, UT, TAMU, UH Law Center, & SMU do, too.
Like some (many of you?) I took the GRE as well as the LSAT. At the time, there were ZERO law schools who would take the GRE in lieu of the LSAT.
You sometimes get a different variety of student who take the GRE, and that's a good thing. Different mind sets make for a more diverse and better mix of lawyers.
You can see the list of all the schools that will take the GRE without the LSAT here:

A list of law schools that accept GRE scores for their J.D. programs.

10/20/2021

It's been a while since I've posted on my "business" page, and in the interim, Facebook has seen fit to make some changes as to how the page looks to me, and more difficult to actually post something.
Anyway, I had my monthly CLE meeting Campioni Restaurant today. The topic dealt with big rig truck accidents, specifically rear-end collisions. The presenter used case he worked on as an example where the rig was going about 70 mph on a 4-lane divided highway up in East Texas, south of Dallas. The rig rear-ended another vehicle, and pushed it across both lanes of traffic, across the median, across both lanes going the opposite direction, and into a ditch where it came to rest against a concrete abutment.
The driver of the car was killed when he got crushed between the truck and the concrete abutment. Discovery in the case determined that the driver, and his passenger, were both asleep when the accident occurred.
So, moving on to next month. One of the speakers will be Holly Draper who was the attorney arguing the winning side in In Re: CJC to the Texas Supreme Court. To the best of my knowledge she will be in person. The date will be determined later, but it may be November 17th at 5 PM.
Whether this will be a one or two hour CLE is to be determined at a later date. When I have more details, I'll post again.

08/19/2021

We all know the internet lives forever. The other day I received a call from a local attorney. She had gone through one of the many groups I'm on and found something where I was venting/ranting about how government makes our job more difficult than it needs to be.
My post was from 2013! 8 years ago! And guess what? Nothing has changed in the interim.
My post dealt with the fact that it can be VERY difficult to get accurate wage data from the other side when child support in an issue. The OAG has access (per a contract with TWC) to new hires reported to the TWC. That information can be very useful, but if the OAG isn't cooperative, that information will never be available to the obligee.
That needs to change. Whatever statute that provides for confidentiality of the new hire pool data needs to be amended.

05/06/2021

It's nice to see that things are they have always been up in DC (and eslewhere), where the apparent goal of the GOP is to do everything it can to be in control of every level of government from the federal level on down to the local level.
Witness Sen. McConnell saying recently that his entire focus is stopping the "Biden agenda". The whole purpose of being an elected official (in DC) is to see that the needs of the country as a whole are met. Not today's GOP. Recall that back in 2009, when Obama was first elected McConnell said his whole focus then was to make him a one-term president. Obstruct, obstruct, obstruct. That's why many started calling the GOP the Grand Obstructionist Party. If there is disagreement over the programs being put forth by current occupant of the White House, there are mechanisms in place that can be used to work out some plan that is a compromise, and remember that a compromise is a solution that neither side is completely happy with. Scorched earth tactics benefit no one.
Witness many states that were predominantly red states that have started to turn purple having their legislatures put out laws that will restrict voting rights, with the two most notable examples being Georgia and Texas. And all of this is possible because SCOTUS some years ago did away with the requirement that certain states were subject to having their laws and redistricting efforts reviewed by the courts prior to implementation.
And how does this relate to the law? Simple. Lawyers are often the first to recognize issues with legislation being considered, whether at the federal, state or local level. But ALL of us need to be fully aware of what our elected officials are doing. Those officials may say that the goal of the legislation is to protect something, when in fact the unstated, yet primary goal, is to limit the rights of the people.
Educate yourself to the fullest extent possible. That may mean listening to viewpoints that are not the same as yours. You may not like what that person is saying, but listen to the argument with an open mind. You never know, you might actually see that the person has a valid point.

04/02/2021

An issue that has caused me some consternation during Covid is how the courts have changed policies and procedures multiple times. It is understandable that there would be some trial and error the first few months. But one particular change has been what is to be considered by submission.
Obviously some matters, like a prove-up of an uncontested issue can and should be done by submission. Others should not be done that way, especially those where there is no agreement.
In particular, discovery disputes where one side has a disagreement with what the other side has or has not done is not a matter where there is any agreement. But there are courts that only do discovery disputes by submission.
So what is my beef with this procedure? Lack of transparency. You don't know what the court does when a matter is decided by submission. I think many lawyers feel that being able to argue their case, either in person or remotely, is the way to know that all the points that they feel are relevant will be heard and considered by the Court.
And many courts have the Associate Judge handle discovery disputes. If you want to appeal to the presiding judge, you have a very limited time frame to do so. It can be problematic to know when the court has made its ruling even if you are practicing in a county that has a pretty decent online presence for its courts because it may take a day or longer before the ruling is online...and this is troubling because the Rules are pretty specific as to how notice of the ruling is to be made.
So, the point of all this is to say that while many people like having things ruled on by submission, issues which are NOT agreed upon should not be done by submission. It's time for the courts to review their policies and procedures.

12/18/2020

Now that the major hoopla over the election is over, and there will be a new President (POTUS) on January 20, 2021, we, as lawyers, need to take whatever steps are necessary to restore the rule of law to this country.
The last 4 years have seen the US devolve into the sort of political and judicial morass that you rarely see outside of poor Third World countries. And the person currently acting as POTUS is the chief instigator of the issues facing us as a nation.
Yes, it's easy for someone to say that the system needs fixing, but exactly what do you think needs to be done and how will that happen?
I don't have a good answer for that. I do know that lawyers need to be more civil to each other; to seek justice, not just what their client wants; and to speak up when you see something that needs to be fixed.
I'm open to suggestions about what else you, the reader, think needs to be done to get us back to where we were before the calamity that has been the last 4 years.

11/20/2020

For the past couple of weeks, I've been getting a whole bunch of mail from Thomson Reuters. All wanting me to buy more books for my library.
Today, I opened 3 pieces of mail. One was for me to buy Texas Business Statutes Annotated for $237, another was for Equitable Distribution of Property for $492 and the last was for Handbook of Texas Family Law for $795. Over $1,500!
Short answer is NO.

08/31/2020

Everyone's lives have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many organizations have also been affected by COVID-19. That includes the legal system.
Back pre-COVID, it would be pretty much a client contacts a lawyer, they schedule a meeting at the lawyer's office or elsewhere, the lawsuit gets filed and there are in-person hearings at the courthouse.
Now, there are VERY few hearings in person. There are VERY few meetings in person. Many, perhaps most, are done remotely/virtually via some program or app. The most common one is Zoom, but others are popular including WhatsApp.
If you need to schedule an appointment with the Law Office of Thomas G. Simchak, that can be done either in person at the location of your choice, or virtually using Zoom or WhatsApp.
Call today for your consultation.