| Volume 107 Number 1 |
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The People’s Lawyer’s Tip of the Day
Immediately review your bank statements and returned checks for forgeries. Promptly report any problems to your bank. A short delay may cost you your legal rights.
For more general information about the law, check out my website.
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Verizon Supercookie Opt-Out
For the past two years, Verizon has been collecting consumers' browsing history to understand their patterns and interests. That information has been extremely valuable to advertisers, but has many consumers calling it an invasion of privacy.
Last week, Verizon finally announced that it will allow consumers to avoid these "supercookies."
Are you a Verizon customer? How can you opt out? How was Verizon collecting the information?
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How to Save Money By Using Gift Cards
Do you have a favorite restaurant that you visit regularly? You could be saving money just by using gift cards.
Many restaurants, like Outback Steakhouse and Red Lobster, give consumers a free $20 gift card when they spend $100 on gift cards. But those restaurants aren't alone. Buca di Beppo and many other restaurants run similar offers throughout the year. If you then use those gift cards to pay for your meals, you've already built in a discount. If you check the Sunday paper or visit the restaurants website, you may even find some coupons to use with the cards!
If you have a Costco membership, it's even easier to save. Costco sells $100 worth of restaurant (and retail) gift cards for $80. In fact, many Costco locations have an impressive inventory of restaurant gift cards, allowing you to choose from more than just the usual suspects.
Find out how paying with gift cards can help you save!
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Highest Paying Degrees of 2015
College is an investment in your future. Receiving a college degree is an incredible accomplishment. Measuring the value of a college degree, however, can be difficult. For many, it's not about the money they'll make, but other forms of gratification that come along with pursuing a passion. It sum, the value of a college degree can be very subjective.
But what about those who simply want to know which degree will give them the greatest return financially? After all, finding a job will be the top priority for most college graduates.
Engineering tops the list for starting salary and projected lifetime earnings. Engineering graduates start at nearly $63,000 a year and can expect to make about $3.4 million in a lifetime.
Computer science isn't far behind, though. With an average starting salary of $61,287 and an estimated lifetime earning of $3.1 million, computer science is gradually closing the gap on engineering.
What are the five highest paying degrees of 2015?
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Your Money
How much self-employment tax will you pay?
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For the Lawyers
Agreement requiring before tribal panel is unenforceable.
The Eleventh Circuit held that a defendant could not compel arbitration of consumer claims before the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Nation in South Dakota.
The court found that arbitral forum was integral to the parties’ agreement, but unavailable, and therefore the dispute could remain in federal court. The loan agreement called for disputes to be “resolved by Arbitration, which shall be conducted by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Nation by an authorized representative in accordance with its consumer dispute rules.”
The district court initially compelled arbitration and the consumer twice tried to demand arbitration. In response, the Tribe explained it did not conduct arbitration. Based on that evidence, the district court changed course and refused to compel arbitration. The Eleventh Circuit affirmed. It found the tribe was unavailable and because the agreement had many references to the Tribe the choice of that arbitral forum was “integral” to the arbitration agreement. The pervasive references to the Tribe also prevented the court from using the severability clause to “sever” the choice of forum and compel arbitration in some alternative forum.
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