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Recent Blog Posts
Motorcycle Accidents Are More Severe than Car Accidents
Motorcycle accidents result in far more severe bodily injuries to the rider than car accidents, as the impact of a vehicle overwhelms the protective gear worn on a motorcycle. Even though many enthusiasts love their motorcycles, either for thrill riding or commuting, serious injuries and even death result with regularity in accidents between motorcycles and cars or trucks or other motor vehicles. As the number of registered motorcycles increases in Wisconsin, so do the number of serious accidents involving motorcycles.
You Are Likely to Be More Severely Injured on a Motorcycle than in a Car
As the rider of a motorcycle, you are exposed, and your motorcycle does not have safety features you find in a car, such as air bags and over-the-shoulder seat belts. The faster the motorcycle, the smaller and more lightweight it is, which means a collision with a passenger vehicle or another object can have critical and even fatal results. If you have been injured in a motorcycle accident, it is very important to work with experienced motorcycle attorneys from the outset.
What Types of Injuries Are Most Often Sustained in Motorcycle Accidents?
No two accidents are alike, and every accident involving a motorcycle will need to be carefully investigated to determine the cause. A common finding in most motorcycle accidents, however, is serious injury to the rider. If the motorcycle rider is not wearing a helmet or other appropriate protective clothing and gear, then the injuries sustained are often disastrous.
It is very common for motorcycle accident victims to experience head trauma, as well as broken bones, paralysis, concussions, road rash, and in the worst cases, death. Unfortunately, long-term care is often required as a result of permanent injuries or paralysis.
Additionally, the cost to repair a motorcycle after an accident is often steep, not to mention all of the out of pocket expenses and missed work time as a result of an accident. Expenses can pile up very quickly after a motorcycle accident, which is why it is important to speak to an attorney about filing a claim as soon as possible.
Your Insurance Company Should Not Add to Your Problems
After a motorcycle accident, the last thing you need is to have any trouble working with your insurance company. Although insurance companies are supposed to act in good faith and pay damages for injuries sustained by people who purchase their policies, upon occasion they fail to do so. Sometimes insurance companies will try to undercompensate you for the damages you suffered, or worse, deny your claim altogether. In any case, if you have been in a motorcycle accident, it is important to have experienced insurance coverage attorneys on your side if your motorcycle accident has led to problems with your insurance company.
The experienced personal injury lawyers at our firm are ready to act quickly if you have been in a motorcycle accident. Our attorneys are standing by to thoroughly investigate the cause of your motorcycle accident, and to passionately seek the relief you are entitled to. We will gladly hold your insurance company accountable for payment under their insurance policies if they are resisting their obligations. Call or email the experienced Milwaukee motorcycle injury attorneys at our firm today and let us see how we can help you.
Online Movie Download Woes Continue in Hollywood
The music industry of the 1990’s has seen a lot of changes as cassette tapes replaced vinyl records and cd’s replaced cassette tapes. However, perhaps the most impactful change of that decade could be contributed to the growing popularity with digital music replacing cd’s, causing the music industry revenue to plummet to an all-time low. In 1999 Napster made its debut as a free online file-sharing service. While the free downloading service was eventually deemed illegal, in the interim, music sales took a drastic hit.
Unfortunately, the music industry isn’t the only one suffering from illegal downloads. The movie industry is also seeing the affects of Internet piracy. After its recent debut in August, Hollywood’s movie “Expendables 3” experienced dismal box office sales. According to the show’s directors, illegal downloads of the movie are the cause. On July 24, 2014, just before its official release to the box office, “Expendables 3” illegally appeared online. Within 12 hours, over 100,000 copies of this movie were illegally downloaded. A recent online article by Torrent Freak suggests that Nu Image, the company behind the movie, claims the loss has been devastating. The CEO of Nu Image, Avi Lerner, claims the stealing of such intellectual property has cost the movie box office $250 million.
Have You Been Charged with Forgery in Wisconsin?
Forgery is the act of creating, altering, using, or possessing a false document with the intent to defraud someone, and it is considered a white collar crime in Wisconsin. There are many different ways forgery may occur, and the types of documents that might be the subject of a forgery charge vary widely. For example, forgeries can be made on documents such as birth certificates, transcripts, wills, or a bill of sale, or on objects, like membership cards, credit cards, or tickets to travel, that symbolizes some value or serves as a means of identification.
Regardless of the type of document or object at issue in a specific forgery case, in order to secure a conviction, the prosecutor must prove specific factors behind the forgery beyond a reasonable doubt. There are many defenses available that a skilled attorney can advance on your behalf.
Are You Being Investigated for or Charged with Embezzlement in Wisconsin?
Embezzlement is considered a white collar crime in the state of Wisconsin. For a non-violent crime, there are rather steep penalties involved, so if you are charged with embezzlement in Wisconsin, you need immediate legal representation.
What Is Embezzlement?
Embezzlement charges are commonly brought in Wisconsin against a former employee accused of stealing from an employer, although embezzlement charges are brought in a host of other situations as well. Embezzlement is a crime that is committed when somebody who was trusted to maintain or manage another person’s property or money steals all or part of what they were entrusted with for personal gain. Embezzlement is a unique crime, as it is a combination of traditional stealing with the requirement that the person alleged to be the embezzler must have been in a position of trust by the victim.
First Criminal Conviction for Spoofing May Increase Scrutiny for Other U.S. Businesses
In today’s technologically savvy world, fraud is more rampant than ever. Foreign “companies” promise products or services that they cannot deliver on. Unsuspecting Americans are pulled into counterfeit fraud. And companies are able to manipulate the markets in order to fool investors and increase their stock. This last offense — otherwise known as spoofing— has only recently seen its very first criminal conviction. As such, many U.S. businesses may be facing increased scrutiny in how they conduct business, making them more susceptible to accusations of fraudulent activity.
Spoofing and the Market
Manipulation of the stock market is not a new concept; companies, both small and large, have been trying to do it for years. For the most part, such actions were largely unsuccessful, but relatively new high-frequency trading tools have made spoofing much easier to do, and with less risk of detection. In fact, the government has had a hard time keeping up with the activity until recently, unsure of how to convict and prove such actions. However, the recent verdict indicates they may have found a way to start analyzing and criminally convicting businesses, in mass.
White Collar Crimes: Aggressive Prosecution of Executives Creating a Concerning Justice Trend
If you thought working your way up the corporate ladder to a top executive position was difficult enough, you also need to be aware of the need to avoid criminal prosecution. “Stung by years of criticism that it has coddled Wall Street criminals”, the Justice Department issued new policies in the Fall of 2015 that prioritize the prosecution of individual employees — not just their companies — and “puts pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives.” Currently, there are an estimated 4,500 federal criminal statutes and 300,000 administrative regulations that could lead to criminal charges for company executives and professionals, and the list of white collar and regulatory crimes keeps growing. Equally concerning is how, under some of these statutes, an executive may be charged with a crime she or he did not personally commit and was not even aware of.
Embezzlement in Wisconsin: Examples of Cases and Related Statute Information
Although Wisconsin does not call it “embezzlement,” the act of pilfering money or property by an employee is delineated under Wisconsin statute 943.20 is a felony. This “theft” statute defines the illegal action of any person who has taken funds or property, greater than $10,000 in value, without the owner’s consent and resulting in personal or business gain for the offender. Although prosecution and restitution may be handled as a civil matter between the business or entity that has experienced loss and the alleged person responsible for the loss, embezzlement cases are often charged criminally.
- If the value of the property is less than $2,500, the defendant is looking at a misdemeanor punishable by up to nine months in jail and a fine of $10,000;
Then and Now: The Evolution of the RICO Law
The mention of the Rico Law or more formally, the 18 U.S. Code Chapter 96, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) often brings to mind the five Mafia families convicted in New York City on November 19, 1986. Although the Rico Law has been on the books since 1970 when Congress passed the Act in an effort to combat organized crime, many criminal defense attorneys first shied away from using the act as a prosecution tool because they did not fully understand the power of the Act.
Often referred to as the atomic bomb that brought the Five Mafia Families to their knees, the RICO Act was evoked to establish the intertwined families as an operating commission linked to criminal activity for monetary gain.
Although today’s crime syndicates appear less territorial and open to stronger collaborative bonds, prosecution under the RICO Act remains in play today.
Fraud, Forgery, and Bad Checks in the State of Wisconsin
Fraud, forgery, and criminal charges resulting from writing a bad check can seem rather similar. However, there are some significant differences between these types of offenses; the most notable of which rests in the defendant’s intentions. If you are facing criminal charges for fraud, forgery, or charges related to writing a bad check, know your rights and how you may best take action to avoid maximum penalties.
Forgery
Forgery is defrauding another through the alteration or writing of an object so that it appears it was written or made by another individual. For example, a woman recently had a warrant issued for her arrest after allegedly altering a check written to her by a resident at the centerat which she works. Originally written for $11, she reportedly changed it to read $11,000 and then deposited the check into her bank. Possession or use of an altered document may also constitute forgery charges, even if the person in possession of the document was not the one who altered it.
White Collar Crime Lawsuits and Criminal Investigations
White collar crimes are often complex and involve months and years of preparations before prosecutors bring formal charges. There is no official set of crimes under the law called white collar crimes. However, federal and state crimes involving fraud and finances are generally considered to be white collar crimes. These include things such as embezzlement, securities fraud, computer crimes, and identity theft.
Dangers of a Lengthy Investigation
Because white collar crimes often involve many different sets of financial records and a complicated set of facts, the investigations are often lengthy. Law enforcement investigations may span months, or even years..
What If There Is a Lawsuit?
Another consequence of the sometimes-lengthy criminal investigation process is that those who have lost money may file a civil lawsuit. As part of a civil lawsuit, defendants may be required to testify under oath and provide thousands and thousands of pages of documents, Oral testimony or anything turned over in the civil case may also be used in a criminal case.
