Tag: Ruth Carter

  • I Can’t Pre-Guarantee Your Case

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/157270154@N05/38470202756/
    Photo by CreditDebitPro

    I regularly receive emails from prospective clients who explain the gist of the situation they’re in followed by, “Do I have a case?” A variation of this email is the prospective client who sends me a small section of a contract they signed and a short summary of the situation they’re in and then they ask if I can help them obtain a specific outcome. Some prospects specifically say that they don’t want to hire me, not even for a consult, unless I say they have a case.

    Here’s the Deal

    I can’t give anyone a guarantee about the outcome of a legal matter based on an email. If the law were that easy, we wouldn’t need lawyers.

    In any situation, I have to examine:

    • The parties involved,
    • Which law applies – statues and case law, and
    • What actually happened

    before I can say whether you have a case.

    I can’t give effective legal advice without all the pertinent information. I can’t evaluate a contract based on a single provision. I have to read the whole thing. To not do so would likely be unethical and potentially worthless to you.   

    There is one caveat to this. If I’m talking with a person who wants my help, but it sounds like they need someone other than a lawyer, I’ll tell them that. Whenever I deal with someone who’s experiencing online harassment, I tell them that they may have a situation that should be handled by law enforcement. If they still want to meet with me, I warn them that this may still be my recommendation at the end of the hour.

    I Don’t Want to Pay to be Told I Don’t Have a Case

    I get that people don’t want to take the time or spend the money to meet with a lawyer to be told they don’t have a case. But if you want a lawyer to analyze your situation, part of what we do for a living is that analysis.

    Maybe it would make sense to look at this situation using a medical doctor instead of a lawyer. I’ve never heard of anyone going to the doctor with the sniffles and saying they didn’t want an appointment unless the doctor said they could make the person better. That’s ridiculous.  Some illnesses don’t get better, and some are things like the cold virus that just has to run its course.

    I don’t like telling my clients that they don’t have a case anymore than they don’t want to hear it, but sometimes that’s the case. The fact that you’re upset does not mean that you have been legally harmed. Until I actually look into the person’s matter, there’s nothing I can tell a prospective client except “Would you like to schedule a consultation?” or something to that effect.

    Yes, I Charge People to Talk to Me

    If you’ve ever called my office phone, you know my outgoing message says don’t leave me a voicemail, send me an email. I do this for a few reasons:

    1. Unless it’s an expected call, I rarely answer my phone. When I’m working on a client’s matter, I don’t want to be distracted or interrupted. I’ve also turned off the ringer on my office phone. I won’t notice the call coming in unless I happen to be looking at the screen and see it change to the incoming caller’s number.
    2. When you leave a voicemail on my phone, a little red flashy-flashy light goes off until I deal with the message. It annoys the crap out of me. (Pro tip: Don’t annoy your lawyer.) It forces me to divert my attention away from focusing on my client, deal with the message, and then take extra time to pick up where I left off on my client’s matter.
    3. If the call is from a prospective client, they usually want to tell me their whole story before asking for help. This is what the consultation is for, and no, I don’t do free consults.

    Sometimes all a person needs is a consultation. I’m happy tell people how they can help themselves in a situation, and I have no problem providing recommendations that are mindful of the person’s budget.

    A few years ago, someone called me and they were incredulous when I said that they had to pay to talk to me. Listening to, analyzing, and providing information and advice on a legal situation is what I went to law school to do. This is my profession. If you want to hear my perspective on your legal situation, you have to pay for that privilege. (There are lawyers who do give free consults. I am not one of them.)

     I wish there were more guarantees in the legal profession. Just this week, I reminded a colleague that our job is to present the best case for our client and advocate on their behalf, but the ultimate decision in the matter is left to another authority.

    Thanks for reading this post. If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • Keep Your Clothes On, Kids!

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/120920526@N08/16053219327/
    Dark Selfie by www.sebastian.rieger.photos from Flickr (Creative Commons License

    I regularly get messages from teens or their parents that say the kid was chatting online with someone they don’t know in real life. The person convinces the child to show their genitals or masturbate for them using their web cam. The person then says that they captured the video and threaten to post it online or send it to the kid’s friends, family, and/or school. Sometimes the person demands money in exchange for not sharing the video with others.

    The variation of this situation I regularly hear about is from teens who send nudes or partial nudes to someone online, and then the person threatens to post them online. In one email, the teen said the person threatened to post the images if the teen refused to continue sending nude images of herself.

    Ugh!! What is wrong with these people who are preying on kids like this? Don’t coerce children into creating and sending child porn.

    These situations usually involve 14, 15, and 16 year-old kids – of all genders. When they reach out to me, they are petrified. They’re afraid they’re going to be humiliated. They’re afraid they can’t ask for help from an adult in their life. They’re afraid of what they’re parents are going to say if they find out. They’re afraid they’re going to get into trouble.

    I wanted to share a few thoughts so hopefully other teens don’t have to go through this situation.

    You’re Not a Bad Person, Kid.

    If you’re a kid in this situation, you’re not a bad person. You made a mistake, hopefully one you won’t have to repeat again.

    Whenever you send a nude image of yourself, regardless of whether you’re sending it to a stranger on the internet or texting your romantic partner, there’s always a risk that the images could fall into the wrong hands. For the rest of your life, whenever you choose to send nude images of yourself, assume they’re going to be seen by your family and friends and/or end up online.

    Ask for Help

    No one should have to deal with this type of situation by themselves, especially a kid. Reach out to a trusted adult in your life – a parent, a friend’s parent, a teacher, a coach, even the police. You can always call the non-emergency number for your local police department to discuss your options, or ask a friend to do it for you.

    It may be hard to know what the right thing to do is in your situation. You always have the option to wait and see if the person follows through on any threats they’ve made. If you tell them to leave you alone and they comply, that might be the end of it (though they now have nude images and/or video of you).

    You also have the right to report the incident to law enforcement, request a restraining order from the court, or file a civil lawsuit depending on your circumstances.

    Legal Implications – For Both Sides

    Given that these are situations that may involve the creation and sending of child pornography, there are many potential legal implications, including some for you.

    Depending on the rules of your state, by taking nude pictures of yourself or performing live on camera, you may have participated in the creation of child porn. The same law would apply to someone who voluntarily sends a nude image of themselves to their significant other. Some states have lower crimes for dealing with the situation where the person in the photo is also the creator.

    The perpetrator, the bad actor, could be facing many of legal accusations:

    • Requesting nude images or performance by video: Solicitation
    • If two or more people are in cahoots to get nude images from kids: Conspiracy
    • Creating screenshots or captures from your performance: Creation of Child Pornography
    • Keeping the photos and video you provided: Possession of Child Pornography
    • Threatening to share the images with others: Revenge Porn
    • Demanding money to keep the person from sending the images with others: Blackmail/Extortion
    • Sending the photos and video to others or posting them online: Distribution of Child Pornography

    There could be other legal implications in addition to these. As always, check your local laws for information pertinent to your specific situation.

    Perpetrators Deserve to be Punished

    People who prey on children like this deserve to face the consequences of their actions. If the person is outside the U.S. or if they created a fake account, it may be difficult to pursue the person. You always have to contact the police to file a report. Even if they can’t catch the perpetrator based on your case, the person may do it again to someone else, and the information you provide could help.

    I regularly talk with kids who say they don’t want to report the situation to the police; they just want the person to stop. One way these perpetrators try to avoid punishment is by relying on the victim to be too afraid or ashamed to report them. Whether you report this person or not is your decision.

    I was pleased recently when I saw that YouTuber Austin Jones pleaded guilty to child porn after he allegedly solicited explicit videos from 14 and 15 year-old girls using Facebook Messenger and Apple’s iMessage services.  He even alleged told them to send these videos to prove that they were his fans.

    Eww! Eww eww eww! People like this are disgusting!

    He’s scheduled to be sentenced this May and could face at least five years in prison.

    Thanks for reading this post. If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • How to Write a Decent Trademark Cease and Desist Letter

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/tangi_bertin/541603067/
    Stop by tangi_bertin from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    A friend recently forwarded me a trademark cease and desist letter he received and asked if it was anything they needed to worry about. Now, I always tell my clients to take such letters seriously, and give them their due consideration, but then I read this particular letter. It was possibly the worst cease and desist letter I’ve ever read. It was written by an entrepreneur, not a lawyer, so I automatically mentally cut the sender some slack, but still, it was bad.

    If you’re in a situation where you suspected a competitor is violating your trademark rights, please get your lawyer involved. And if you’re going to write your own cease and desist letter, make it a decent one.

    Make Sure Your Trademark has Likely been Infringed

    A trademark has two components. It’s the name, logo, slogan, etc. that you’re claiming as a trademark plus the product or service on which you’re using it. (It’s possible for two completely different companies to have the same trademark, like Delta Dental and Delta Airlines.) For many companies, the first trademark they register is just the word or phrase that is the name of your company or product/service. This is called a “word mark.” It’s just words, no images, graphics, or sounds.

    When you have a registered word mark and someone uses the same word or phrase, it’s not automatically a violation of your trademark rights. For example, Paris Hilton has registered trademarks for “That’s Hot” for “multimedia entertainment services” and apparel. These trademarks do not give her the ability to stop everyone from ever using the phrase “that’s hot,” as a descriptor. If a person is not using the word or phrase you registered as a trademark for their business, it’s likely not trademark infringement.

    What to include in a Cease and Desist Letter

    While I don’t endorse the idea of business owners writing their own cease and desist letters, it happens. If you’re going to write your own, these are some of the things I’d tell my client to include in their letter if they insisted on doing it themselves:

    • Provide the legal name of the person or company that owns the trademark,
    • Identify your trademark including the registration number and a screenshot of the trademark listing from the USPTO database,
    • Identify the alleged infringing activity, preferably with a URL and/or screenshot if it’s online or photographs if it is not, and
    • Clearly state what you want the recipient to do in response to your letter with a due date for compliance.

    When to get the Lawyers Involved

    If you encounter suspected trademark infringement, call your lawyer. Even if you want to send a cease and desist letter yourself, call your lawyer first. They can help you make sure there’s a real trademark issue that requires your attention and help you craft the cease and desist letter.

    Many of my clients want to reach out to the alleged infringer to speak business owner to business owner, first. They want to send friendly but clear cease and desist letter, and give the other side a chance to resolve the matter “without having to get the lawyers involved.” I have helped write many a letter that included that phrase. The other side doesn’t need to know that I’m already involved.

    If they don’t respond favorably to my client’s friendly letter, then I will follow it up with a strongly worded nastygram that demands that they cease all uses of my client’s intellectual property and failure to do so will result in litigation (or whatever consequences my client has selected).

    My recommendation for clients is to refrain from making threats in cease and desist letters unless they’re willing to follow through with it. Otherwise, if the other side calls your bluff and you don’t follow through, you will lose all credibility and any further demand letters will likely be ignored.

    If you threaten litigation in your cease and desist letter, be ready to pull the trigger if the suspected infringer doesn’t comply with your demands. Some people won’t take you seriously until a lawsuit has been filed. A lawsuit will force them to deal with the situation because of the court-imposed due dates or risk the effects of a default judgment if they ignore it.

    Thanks for reading this post. If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • How to Legally Use User-Generated Content

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/zoidberg72/16243539933
    Selfie by dr_zoidberg from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Here’s a question I get from companies and their marketers: What are the legal dos and don’ts for using user-generated content? These are situations where a company wants to use a photo, video, or text created by one of their fans, usually from a site like Instagram, Facebook, or Trip Advisor. Many companies merely want to approach the person through the platform where they found the content they want to use and ask for permission to use it. While this strategy is convenient, it may not be in the company’s best interest.

    Using Content Within a Platform

    It’s easiest when a company wants to share someone’s post within the social media platform – e.g., sharing someone’s Instagram photo on the company’s Instagram. Many social media sites build this option into the platform where you don’t even have to ask for permission to share someone’s post on another’s account.  

    Of course, I’m a risk-adverse lawyer so I tell my clients to review the terms of service first to see what happens just in case it turns out the person who created the post you shared didn’t have the right to do so and now you have to deal with the fallout. Depending on the circumstances, I might contact the person to ask the person if they took the photo (which would indicate if they’re likely the copyright holder), try to verify that the original poster is complying with the platform’s rules

    Using Content Across Different Platforms

    Here’s where it gets a little more complicated. These are the situations where you want to take content from someone’s post on one platform and share it on a different social media site, your website, or another third-party platform. For this situation, I recommend you have a contract drafted by a lawyer. You could have them create a template for you if curating user-generated content is part of your marketing plan.

    If I were creating a contract template for obtaining permission to use content created by a user or fan, I’d likely include terms such as:

    • The user owns the IP in the content: either they created it or they have permission to use it
    • The user has authority to grant the company permission to use the content
    • The user grants the company a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, sublicensable, paid-in-full, royalty-free license to the company to use the content for any purpose without needing the person’s consent or credit, including the creation of derivative works (or in the alternative, that the user grants the company a copyright assignment)
    • The user will reimburse the company’s legal fees and damages if it is accused of wrongdoing because the company used the user’s content

    Such a contract would also include boilerplate verbiage, like a dispute resolution provision that states how the company and user will resolve disputes if one occurs.

    Always Apply Reality

    In any potential legal situation, be sure to apply reality. If a company wants to use a photo with two people in it, whoever posted the image may not be able to speak on behalf of the other person in the photo, and you may need release from identifiable people to avoid being accused of violating their right of publicity.

    Additionally, it will likely take longer to get permission if you want to use images and other content across platforms. Be sure to build that into your timeline if your marketing plan involves using user-generated content.

    There are also those who may question whether it’s worthwhile to have a lawyer create a contract for these circumstances. When there are no issues, a contract may seem superfluous; however, contracts are imperative in situations where there is a dispute and/or the parties forget the terms of their agreement. When you work with your lawyer to create you contract, make sure it has provisions that will apply to situations that are likely to occur as well as the worst-case scenarios.

    If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • Side Hustle Contracts

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/joybot/6701744493
    Do the Hustle! by Joybot from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Note: The links for Chris Guillebeau’s books are affiliate links.

    I admire people like Chris Guillebeau who run with ideas and make stuff happen. He’s written a number of books, including The $100 Startup: Reinvent the Way You Make a Living, Do What You Love, and Create a New Future. The most recent book of his that I wrote was Side Hustle: From Idea to Income in 27 Days where he walks you through, day-by-day what you should do to launch a side hustle business. It’s a good book, but Chris and I disagree about how to approach contracts.

    Day 14: Contract

    Chris calls Day 14 “Set Up a Way to Get Paid.” This chapter covers selecting a payment system, creating invoices, and using simple contracts. For your contract, he says you only need to specify what you’ll do, how much you’ll get paid, when you’ll get paid, and “any protections you require.” Chris also says that that you can communicate all of this via email without needing a separate agreement document.

    <cringe><shudder>

    While Chris is technically right, I would never advise a client to operate their business this way. This is the type of contract that works when nothing goes wrong; however, contracts exist to save you in two situations:

    1. When there’s confusion about the parties’ obligations, and
    2. When there’s a problem or dispute.

    Always Have a Separate Written Contract

    If there is situation where lawyers are needed to resolve a dispute, the first thing I ask my client is “Where’s your contract?” If it’s a series of emails, and perhaps some text messages, and phone calls or conversations you claim occurred, the first part of my job will be compiling the terms of the agreement.

    When there’s a single agreement, all the terms are in one place. And when the contract requires that all changes must be in writing and signed by both parties, it minimizes the risk of confusion or a he-said-she-said situation.

    When you don’t have the terms of the contract in a single document, it opens the door for complications in the future. In many cases, it’s more cost-effective to have a lawyer create a contract template for your side hustle than to have to hire one to piece together the terms from the parties’ communications and actions. 

    Minimum Contract Terms

    In general, I don’t advise people to write their own contracts (unless they have a law degree or sufficient contract experience), but here are the basic terms I’d expect to find a side hustle contract:

    • Parties to the contract
    • Purpose of the contract
    • Payment terms, including what happens if the customer doesn’t pay (e.g. entrepreneurs who require ½ the fee up front and ½ upon completion)
    • Intellectual property terms – related to creation, assignment, and/or license
    • Where and how problems will be resolved, including the venue, jurisdiction, and which state law will govern
    • If/how the parties can make changes to the contract
    • “Entire agreement” – all the terms in the contract are in the agreement
    • “Severability” – if the contract has any invalid terms then the parties will throw those out and the rest of the contract will remain
    • A provision that states if a party chooses not to use a right granted by the contract, they don’t waive their right to use it in the future

    When I approach a new contract for a client, I try to mentally walk through the customer’s journey and address the problems that the client is trying to avoid and pre-plan how you want to deal with problems when they occur.

    Using a Lawyer for your Side Hustle

    If you’re going to have a side hustle, I recommend you sit down with a lawyer for an hour. Tell them your goals and your budget. An understanding lawyer will tell you about the legal issues you need to be aware of, can do a quick trademark search to see if the name(s) you want to use are already registered, and they can tell you want you can do yourself and what tasks you should hire a lawyer to do for you.

    A Few Final Thoughts

    Thinking about what missteps I’ve seen companies inadvertently commit, here are a few extra tidbits of information:

    • The terms of service for a website, online course, or mobile app are contracts. Write them or have them created with care.
    • Please don’t rip of another company’s terms of service and just change out the company and product names. That’s a recipe for trouble. You don’t want to represent that you do things that you don’t. I’ve also seen situations where the company’s terms of service says that it’s governed by New Jersey law and the company has no connection to that state. (The company they stole the terms from was in New Jersey.)

    If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • Legal Checklist to Protect Online Entrepreneurs

    Labib Ittihadul from Flickr (Public Domain)

    I was recently asked to create a list of what legal steps an entrepreneur should take if they operate solely online to protect their business. The person who asked appears to be primarily a YouTuber. Here’s the list I created for him: 

    1. Consider having Two LLCs. One is a holding company for the intellectual property and licenses the IP to the other LLC to use it. This way if the holding company is sued for infringement, there are no assets to be collected if the holding company loses the lawsuit. We recommend this tactic for many businesses, not just online entrepreneurs.

    2. Create an Operating Agreement if the LLC has more than One Owner.  Yes, this includes if you go into business with relatives, best friend, or romantic partner. This is a master document that lays out how the company will operate, each person’s obligations and responsibilities, and how the owners will address problems when they occur.

    3. Move your Website to a Server Outside the U.S. The reason for doing is if there is ever a court order against the website, it will be more difficult to enforce if the website is house by a company outside the U.S. and not bound by U.S. law.

    4. Register your Trademarks with the USPTO. So many legal issues could be minimized or avoided if every company properly registered their trademarks. This could include company names, product names, event names, logos, and slogans. When you have a registered trademark, you can stop a competitor from entering the marketplace while using a trademark that is confusingly similar to yours. If you have a strong international presence, it may be wise to register your trademarks in multiple countries.

    5. Create a Copyright Strategy. Many professional content creators do guest posts for and collaborations with others and allow guest posts on their sites. It’s best to have contract templates for these situations that include clarification about who owns the copyright, what the other person gets, any limitations regarding the content, and an indemnification clause if appropriate.

    Additionally, your copyright strategy should address when and how you can use others’ materials. You should have an understanding about fair use and where to look for materials that come with a license to modify the original as well as a license to use it for commercial purposes.

    6. Consider Registering your Copyrights. You do not have to register your copyright to get your copyright rights, and you do not have to register everything you create; however, it’s beneficial to have the discussion about what you might want to register. You are required to register your copyright if you want to sue for infringement. Additionally, I frequently recommend registration to people who want to license or sell their copyrights.

    7. Create an Action Plan for Addressing Suspected IP Infringement. Decide how you want to respond to suspected infringement before it occurs, so that you or your lawyer can be prepared to respond based on your desired outcome when it happens. Depending on how you want to respond, there may be things you need to do before the infringement occurs to best protect your rights.

    8. Have a Contributor Contract Template. This is the contract you will use with people who contribute content to you, your site, your channel, or a social media account. It will state what rights each party has to use the content – most likely that they own it, and they grant you a license to use for certain purposes. It should also have an indemnification clause to protect you in the event you’re accused of violating another person’s IP rights or other legal wrong by using what the contributor provided to you.

    9. Have an Influencer Contract Template. This is the contract to use when brands hire you so that the expectations on both sides are clear, and you state that you comply with FTC regulations. (You should probably have internal documents about FTC compliance as well.) Companies that hire influencers may have their own contracts that they want to use, but having your own template will help you analyze their contract to see how well it addresses your needs and concerns.

    10. Create Website Terms and a Privacy Policy. These documents may need to comply with U.S. privacy laws, the Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL), and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and manage the expectations of visitors to your website. Many of the new privacy laws interfere with how many companies collect and use others’ personal information. These issues are complicated. Many people copy another content creator’s terms and privacy policy, but that could be a recipe for disaster if what you use is insufficient for your needs.

    This may not be a complete or comprehensive list of legal steps to take to protect your business. It’s always best to consult a lawyer who understands the legal implications related to your business, preferably someone to specializes in business, intellectual property, and internet law. Hopefully this list gives you a place to start to evaluate your legal needs as a professional content creator or online entrepreneur.

    If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter where I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • How to Legally Change Your Gender in Arizona

    2016.06.17 Baltimore Pride, Baltimore, MD USA 6761 by Ted Eytan from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    This information applies to individuals who are female-to-male (FTM) and male-to-female (MTF) transgender. It does not apply to people who are non-binary.

    Legally changing your gender on your records in Arizona is a straightforward process. Unlike legally changing your name, you are not required to go to court.

    Physician’s Letter

    To legally change your gender, you need a letter from a physician. It must be of their office letterhead and include that you are “irrevocably committed” to changing your gender and that you have received “appropriate clinical treatment.” A lawyer who assists people with legal gender changes likely has a template letter you can use.

    Please note: this letter must come from a licensed physician. Getting a letter from a physician’s assistant, nurse, therapist, or social worker will not work.

    Update Your Social Security Records

    Once you get the letter from your physician, take it (along with the court order from your name change if you’re doing that too) to your local Social Security Office. You’ll need to complete Form SS-5, which you can get in advance. You’ll also need to bring your current driver’s license or ID card. Mark the gender you’re transitioning to on the form. (Your social security card doesn’t have your gender office, but it’s part of your social security record.)

    Update Your Driver’s License

    A few days after you change your social security records, go to the MVD to update your driver’s license. (Go a real MVD, not a third-party satellite office.) Bring your physician’s letter and current driver’s license. Tell the clerk you’re there to update your driver’s license, and they’ll give you the appropriate form. Mark the box for the gender you’re transitioning to. You’ll have to take a new photo and pay $12 to get your new license or ID card.

    Update or Get a New Passport

    Arizona will not change your birth certificate to reflect your correct gender. Since a birth certificate is required to obtain a U.S. Passport, you can generally use your passport in situations where a birth certificate is required. You will have to apply in person and complete Form DS-11. Bring your physician’s letter and your updated license or ID with you.

    Keep the original physician’s letter to present at each office and in case you need it to change any additional records with your correct gender.

    You can legally change your name and gender at the same time by obtaining a physician’s letter and going through the process to legally change your name through the court prior to updating your social security record, driver’s license, and other documents and records. If you need to legally change your name and gender, contact a lawyer to assist you with this process.

    If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter. I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • How to Legally Change Your Name in Maricopa County

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/40281989@N00/5660169258
    “Iona Nunnery” by magmaangel from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Legally changing your name in Arizona is usually a fairly simple process. It takes a petition to the court, a filing fee (currently $333 in Maricopa County), and a court appearance. It’s a situation where you want a lawyer to prepare the documents for you, but you don’t need a lawyer standing at your side in the court room.

    Requirements for a Name-Change Application

    The application to change your name must be submitted under your current legal name. (I tell clients this is the last time they have to use their old name.) It contains your current legal name, your new legal name, the reason for change, and that you are not changing your name to avoid legal obligations. It’s about a two-page document.

    If you are legally married, you need to have your spouse sign a notarized consent to the name change or attend the hearing. If they refuse, you must submit proof of notification to the court, similar to when a parent refuses to consent to a child’s name change. (The court needs to know that you’re not changing your name to skip out on your legal obligations to your spouse.) You lawyer can prepare this document and may even have a notary on staff. Your spouse can also waive the right to receive future notifications about this matter.

    Along with the application, you also need to draft the court order you want the judge to sign granting you the name change.

    Hearing for a Name Change

    Once you have your completed application and filing fee, you must file them with a court that processes name changes. If time is of the essence, call the clerk at each court house and ask how long it will take to get a hearing to find out when you can get the earliest hearing date. You don’t show up and get your hearing the same day.

    Bring the original of your application and at least two copies when you submit your application and fee at the court house. You also need the civil court cover sheet. When you submit your documents and payment at the clerk’s office, they will give you your court date for the hearing to change your name.

    Show up on time for your court date at the courtroom assigned for your hearing with your application, all necessary consents or affidavits of service, and multiple copies of the court order you want the judge to sign. (Having multiple copies of the order will make it easier for you to get your legal documents updated to your new name.) The judge will likely go through the information on your application: your new name, your desire for the change, etc. As long as you’re not changing your name for nefarious reasons, the judge will likely sign the order granting your name change.

    Updating Your Documents with Your New Name

    Once you have the signed court order for your new name – Congrats! Your new name is your official legal name. The next step is to update your legal documents – and the order you do them in matters:

    1. Social Security Card
    2. Birth Certificate
    3. Driver’s License and Passport
    4. Everything Else: Bank accounts, credit cards, utilities, professional licenses, school records, library card, etc. You have no idea how many documents and accounts you have in your old name until you have to change them.

    Name Change for a Minor

    If you’re under 18 and not emancipated, you need consent from a parent or guardian (collectively “parent” for convenience) to legally change your name. The parent(s) have to petition the court to change your name. You can’t do it yourself. If you are 14 years old or older, you must sign a notarized consent to the name change or attend the hearing. You lawyer can prepare this document and may even have a notary on staff.

    The process for changing your name as a minor is the same as an adult except it’s the parent(s) who submit the application on your behalf and attend the hearing. As a minor, you may not be required to attend the hearing.

    Last year on Mother’s Day, I worked at a 1-day legal clinic at One n Ten to help people prepare their documents who wanted to legally change their name and/or their gender. I met with people of all ages, including a 12 year-old and a 13 year-old (with their parents). They wanted to change their names before starting high school because the school wouldn’t acknowledge their chosen name otherwise. The 12 year-old was really cute. I asked him what his new name would be, and he told me his new name with the same last name as his birth name.

    “You know you can pick any last name you want,” I said.

    “Really?” The kid lit up with a smile.

    “No,” his mother immediately responded sternly as she whipped her head around and looked down at her child. We all grinned.  

    If Both Parents Won’t be at the Hearing

    If both parents are not going to be present at the hearing, the non-attending parent must sign a consent to the child’s name change and have it notarized. Again, your lawyer can prepare this document for you. The parent can also waive future notifications about this matter. This consent informs the court that there is no dispute in the family regarding the child’s name.  

    If One Parent Opposes the Child’s Name Change

    If one parent is opposed to the child changing their legal name or refuses to be part of the process, the parent who consents to the child’s name change is obligated to notify them.

    You can hand deliver a stamped copy of your application (this is one reason why you bring multiple copies to the clerk’s office) and the Notice of Hearing Regarding Application for Change of Name that shows the date, time, and place of your hearing and have them sign an “Acceptance of Service.” You can also send the opposed parent a stamped copy of the application and a Notice via certified mail (at least 30 days before the hearing date) and bring the proof of delivery post card and a completed Affidavit of Service by Certified Mail to the hearing.

    The parent who opposes the child’s name change has the right to appear at the hearing and be heard before the judge decides whether to grant the name change.  

    If the whereabouts of the other parent are unknown, there is a process to notify the other parent by publication.

    For most people, legally changing your name and updating your documents and accounts is a straight-forward process. If you are female-to-male or male-to-female transgender and need to change your gender as well as your name, you can take care of that at the same time with a physician’s letter.

    Because of the complications like required consents, it’s best to have a lawyer draft the documents for you, inform you of the requirements that apply to your specific situation, and remind you about what you can expect during the process. If you’re interested in having me work on your name change, please send me an email. Otherwise, contact a lawyer in your community for assistance.

    If you liked this post and want to know more about my work, please subscribe to the Carter Law Firm newsletter. I share behind-the-scenes information and readers get exclusive access to me.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • GDPR: How to Handle a Data Breach

    Photo by Christoph Scholz from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    Every company that sends commercial emails to people who reside in the EU or process their data has to comply with the new privacy law, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This law has specific rules about how companies have to respond when a data breach occurs. It’s so much better than the current rules in the U.S.

    Report the Breach to Supervisor within 72 Hours

    When a data breach occurs, the employee must report the breach to their supervisory authority without undue delay, and where feasible, within 72 hours of learning of the breach. This notice must include the likely consequences of the breach and the measures the company is taking to mitigate the potential adverse effects.

    The only exception to this rule is if the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons. The company doesn’t have to report the breach if it’s will not likely cause harm to those impacted.

    Report the Breach to Consumers

    In addition to reporting the breach up the chain of command, the company, without undue delay, must notify the people’s whose data was compromised if the breach is likely to result in a high risk to their rights and freedoms. The law doesn’t specify a number of days or a rubric to determine what is notification “without undue delay.”

    Companies should notify the effected persons unless it would require a disproportionate effort. In that case, notification may be made by public communication.

    There is an exception to this requirement. The company does not have to disclose that the data breach occurred if the personal data would be unintelligible (e.g. encrypted) to whomever stole it or if the risks have been sufficiently mitigated that adverse results are unlikely to occur.

    These new requirements are fantastic. These will hopefully eliminate the problem of companies waiting weeks or months to disclose to impacted consumers that their personal data was hacked.

    You can learn more about this aspect of the GDPR here:

    Remember, if you are subject to the GDPR, you must comply with this law by May 25, 2018 when it goes into effect.

    If you want more information about GDPR, please watch this site and my YouTube channel because I’m creating a substantial amount of content on this topic. You can also send me an email (Note: I can’t give advice to non-clients). I use my mailing list to I share my thoughts about being a lawyer/entrepreneur, updates about projects I’m working on, upcoming speaking engagements, and I may provide information about products, services, and discounts. Please add yourself if you’re interested.

    You can also connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

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    Ruth Carter

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  • GDPR: Protecting Personal Data

    Image by Descrier from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

    The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the new privacy law that goes into effect on May 25, 2018. Every company that sends commercial email to the European Union must comply with it, even if you’re not located in the EU. The purpose of this law is to obtain consent before using a person’s personal data and to adequately protect it.

    Protection by Design and Default

    The GDPR requires that you take adequate precautions to protect the personal information entrusted to you. The law does not specify exactly what you must do protect this data beyond the requirement that you take the appropriate technical and organizational measures considering the cost, available technology, and why you are processing individuals’ data. The level of security should correlate to the level of risk related to the nature of the data and what you’re doing with it. Additionally, you should only process the necessary data to fulfill your purpose for doing so.

    Another requirement of GDPR is that the people who have access to the data subjects’ information are only permitted to process it per the data controller’s instructions. This is a rule that every organization should have: only those who need access to the data subject’s information should have it, and it should be limited to only for the tasks for which they need it.

    You can learn more about these requirements here:

    Maintain a Records of Processing Activities

    The GDPR requires certain companies to maintain a record of all their processing activities. These companies fall into one of two categories:

    1. Companies that employ 250 or more persons.
    2. Companies whose work with data subjects’ information presents a high risk to the data subjects’ rights, or the companies process data that falls into one of the following special categories:
    • Racial or ethnic origin
    • Political opinions
    • Religious or philosophical beliefs
    • Trade-union membership
    • Genetic data
    • Biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
    • Data concerning health
    • Data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation

    As a company with no employees (just me running this show) and the only information people give me are their email address and name, I don’t have to maintain this record. If I did, it would only be a list of newsletters I sent and the service I use keeps my list protected behind a password.

    If you want more information about GDPR, please watch this site and my YouTube channel because I’m creating a substantial amount of content on this topic. You can also send me an email (Note: I can’t give advice to non-clients). I use my mailing list to I share my thoughts about being a lawyer/entrepreneur, updates about projects I’m working on, upcoming speaking engagements, and I may provide information about products, services, and discounts. Please add yourself if you’re interested.

    You can also connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or LinkedIn.

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    Ruth Carter

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