Out with the old, in with the new. For 2012, I knew I needed to open the year with long over due new photos. I wanted photos that captured me looking as natural as possible, conveyed by down to earth yet no-nonsense personality for my job as a lawyer/trial lawyer. The right man for the job was photographer Rudy Meyers. I met Rudy a couple of years ago through searching for a photographer here in Sacramento on google. Rudy is a successful commercial photographer who has shot clients in the fashion, entertainment, legal, business and diverse industries locally and nationwide. What caught my attention about Rudy was how his shots of black models and professionals. Rudy is so good with lighting especially on people of color. I loved his prior work and felt strongly he would nail it.
He did. I had so much fun with the shoot and the whole time, I forgot I was at a photoshoot as we talked about numerous current topics ranging from music, fashion, business, the economy to the legal profession.I am very pleased with the result. Would I recommend him? Heck yeah!
Here is how Rudy described the last shot below- “Just striding the halls of power like a sleek, high-powered attorney on the move.” LOL! I forgot. He has a good sense of humor. Enjoy images below. Rudy was assisted by his assistant Boris Rajeski who made me comfortable and was professional. For more information about Rudy, visit Rudy Meyers Photography.
When I read Beyonce and Jay-Z paid $1.3million to section off a part of Lenox Hill Hospital in New York for delivery of their child, Blue Ivy Carter as reported by news media, I smelt a potential lawsuit from afar. Should celebrities place other expecting families in distress just because they are having their baby? What about the hospital? What is their responsibility and legal liability? Read the excerpt first:
“Hip-hop parents Beyonc and Jay-Z were in lullaby land with their baby girl Blue Ivy Carter Sunday, but one new dad was fuming over the velvet rope in the maternity ward that kept him away from his twins.
Neil Coulon, 38, of Brooklyn said the stress of his wife delivering two premature girls was tripled by Beyoncs bodyguards treating Lenox Hill Hospital like an exclusive nightclub.
Coulon griped that hes been repeatedly barred from the sixth-floor neonatal intensive care unit, once for 20 minutes, by the superstar couples private security.
He said bodyguards wearing headsets even cleared the sixth floor waiting room, booting his relatives out.
Three times they stopped me from entering or exiting the NICU (Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit) and it happened once on Friday just because they wanted to use the hallway, said Coulon, a contractor from Bedford-Stuyvesant.
They should have been more strategic about it, he said. These are children with problems in intensive care and you’re just going to take over the hospital like you own it? All I want is an apology.
Lenox Hill staffers, speaking anonymously, told the Daily News that Beyonc and Jay-Z paid $1.3 million to seal off and redecorate a wing at the upper East Side hospital, in a super-strict effort to protect their privacy.
Beyonc gave birth to her daughter, Blue Ivy Carter, Saturday night on the sixth floor, near the NICU, a hospital staffer told The News.
Some people were upset, the staffer said. I heard a gentleman say he couldnt go upstairs to see his baby (Saturday).”
Hospital spokeswoman Anne Silverman said she had not personally heard of the complaints.
We take patient satisfaction very seriously, Silverman told The News. This is the first time Im hearing about it.
Coulon scoffed at the double-standard treatment.
I know they spent $1.3 million and I’m just a contractor from Bed-Stuy, but the treatment we received was not okay, Coulon said. My wife is just terribly upset. She had a C-section. She gave birth to twins. She is sore. Nobody needs this.
Coulon insisted he wasnt the only new parent upset by the hip-hop hassles in the hospital.
This is the NICU. Nobody cares if youre a celebrity. Nobody is star-gazing. They just want to see their children, fumed Coulon, whose wife delivered two premature and underweight girls on Wednesday.-New York Daily News
Legal Issues Raised
1. Negligence
2. Negligent Supervision
3. Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
What area of Law?
Tort Law
What are the Possible Arguments under a Negligence claim?
Area of Law
Tort Law
Claims
Negligence
Under a negligence claim, the argument would be as follows:
1) The hospital had a duty of care to make sure Mr. Coulon had privacy and access to his twins. In legal speak, Defendant had a duty of care to conform to a specific standard of conduct to protect forseeable Plaintiffs like Mr. Coulon.
2) Defendant (hospital) breached that duty
3)Defendants breach was the actual and proximate cause of Plaintiffs injury Father was denied access to his wife and twins, especially given the fact that father’s twins were delivered by C-section. He needed to be there for his wife and also for his twins.
4) Plaintiff suffered damages – Father and wife suffered damages.
Negligent Supervision claim would essentially follow the same basic line of argument but focus on the supervision of hospital staff and/or bodyguards so they that they avoided placing the family in such situation.
Intentional infliction of emotional distress
This claim is actually a sexier claim for the Plaintiff’s lawyer. First, for this claim in general, there has to be a showing of:
An act by the hospital that amounted to extreme and outrageous conduct. Is it extreme and outrageous for “B” and Jay-Z to have sectioned off a part of the hospital just to have their daughter? That is an argument a Plaintiff lawyer will have to make and a jury will have to decide. A compelling case could be made that it is not given Beyonce’s status as an A-list celebrity. However, is she the first A-list celebrity to have a baby?
There has to be intent on the part of the hospital to cause Plaintiff Coulon and his wife severe emotional distress or recklessness as to the effect of the Hospital’s conduct in sectioning off the hospital and permitting bodyguards, without supervision, to prevent Coulon from seeing his family. This is where I expect the real battle, if the case gets before a jury, to really be.
Causation- Your lawyer cannot prevail on your behalf on any tort claim if you cannot establish causation. You have to show that an act of a defendant caused an injury suffered. Here, this is a moot issue.
Finally, a claim for IIED must show damages i.e. severe emotional distress.
This case if filed, should settle and settle quickly. I expect it too.
TMZ reports that Snoop Dogg has been arrested for possession of weed. I love reading great openings. “Snoop Dogg isn’t the Only Canine with a Nose for Weed. . .” What an opening by TMZ.
“Snoop Dogg isn’t the only canine with a nose for weed … TMZ has learned the rapper was ARRESTED in Texas this weekend after a drug-sniffing dog uncovered marijuana on his tour bus.
Law enforcement sources tell us … Snoop’s tour bus was stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca — a small town in West Texas where Willie Nelson was popped for weed back in 2010.
It’s all pretty ironic — considering Snoop RAILED against cops in 2010 for arresting the country singer, claiming, “They better leave Willie the f**k alone.”
We’re told the border patrol ran a standard inspection of the bus with the dog … when the animal alerted the agents to a possible hit in a waste basket in the back of the vehicle.
The agents claim they found a red prescription bottle with several joints inside. We’re told the bottle contained under a half-ounce of weed.
Cops say Snoop admitted the dope belonged to him. Snoop has a prescription for cannabis in California, but law enforcement tells us, there is a zero tolerance policy for weed in Texas … regardless of his status in other states.
Snoop was issued a citation for misdemeanor drug possession and released. . .”
Several things to note:
1. Snoop has a prescription for cannabis in California. It is prudent if you will travel out of California into another state, especially a state like Texas, to do your homework. Laws differ from state to state.
2. Snoop was cited for a misdemeanor drug possession and released. In California, a misdemeanor carries a sentence of maximum one year or less in addition to the fines you will have to pay for the crime committed. If you should spend anytime “locked up,” that time is usually spent in the county jail. Typically, the maximum sentence you should expect to spend locked up for a misdemeanor charge is six months with a maximum fine of $1,000. Nevertheless, depending on the misdemeanor i.e. if it is “aggravated” or “gross,” the fines increase up to $2,000 while the jail time increases to one year, maximum.
Since Snoop was cited and released, the crime is deemed a less serious crime than a felony which would carry a sentence of one year to life, depending on the charges, in California. The first court appearance Snoop makes before a Judge is known as an arraignment. See the Paris Hilton Cocaine Possessioncase for more discussions on arrest and how arraignments work in a California court.
NOTE: In Texas, a misdemeanor carries a sentence of one year or less like California. A felony sentence, in Texas, carries anywhere from 6months to life.
Your first point of contact, needless to say, is to hire a good criminal defense attorney to help fight your case for you.
Welcome to 2012 on UDUAK LAW FIRM’S Fashionentlaw.com blog.
It feels good to be back on my online home. This is my favorite hangout spot on the web. It is the place to relax and just be “legally me.” Typically, I prepare my stories I discuss with you all during the week on weekends, giving room for breaking and compelling legal news stories as my full work schedule permits. Well, this weekend, I did not have the luxury to prepare for a big welcome party welcoming you all!
Most of you longtime readers know I am of Nigerian heritage. I was born in San Jose, California but raised in Lagos, Nigeria. My desire to be an attorney and specifically a trial lawyer did not come from my time in the USA. On the contrary. It actually came from my time in Nigeria as a little girl and specifically reading a book in the Yoruba language about a courtroom proceeding that accused a young girl of wrongdoing.
In any event, Nigeria is experiencing a nationwide strike as a result of the deregulation of the country’s oil sector and an overnight removal of fuel subsidy which sent gas prices skyrocketing over a 100%. Given the protests and preparation for protests, I spent my weekend reporting and discussing all things related to the turn of events in the country.
So, excuse me that we are having evening court sessions if you will.
I am excited for all that 2012 brings and I am convinced it will be a fantastic year ahead! I look forward to discussing the legal issues I frequently confront in my practice areas by way of legal pop culture news. I hope my discussions and legal take helps you sleep better at night as you research the right legal professional to assist you for your legal troubles should they arise. I also have exciting news for you and look forward to sharing it in the coming weeks ahead.
Watch the clip below that best captures the issues on the deregulation of the oil sector in Nigeria. I look forward to our talks soon and once again, Happy New Year!
Cheers,
Uduak
“This is the true story of a great people, in a land flowing with milk and honey. Since independence on October 1st 1960, our government have enslaved us even though we got freedom from the colonialist. They steal from us and give us nothing in return. We toil they eat; we cry they smile; we cater for our basic needs and also for theirs with our tax. Government after government impoverished us, yet we kept sealed lips, now they’ve removed oil subsidy so that we can die. They have the guns, we have the guts, and we shall fight until we see the light, arise Nigerians say no to oil subsidy removal.”
Thank you all for a fantastic year! I appreciate every visit, your emails, your comments, your time. Uduak Law Firms Fashionentlaw.com blog clocked one year old this July 2011. Boy have we covered so much ground! When people experience the legal system in California and the USA in general, it is deeply personal. It is life changing. At times, rubbing shoulders with the legal system can be empowering. Often, it is not. It is intense, stressful, intimidating, crippling and at times destructive leaving those who experience it to pick up the pieces and start life all over again.
Either way you look at it, from representing hundreds over the years in my capacity as an attorney, there is a consistent thing that happens when people rub shoulders with the legal system. They lose sleep. It doesnt matter what side of the fence they are on.
I understand what that means for the many I have represented. This blog seeks to provide basic but crucial information to make you feel a bit at ease when/should you ever deal with the legal system, especially in a litigation context.
A special thank you to the following organizations and persons that have extended invitations to me this year and/or supported.
1. University of California School of Law Davis
2. Delta College School of Fashion Leslie Asfour
3. Fashionably Marketing’s Retail Camp Macala Wright
4. San Franciscos SFFAMA Owen Geronimo
5. Licensing International Expo 2011- Courtesy Macala Wright
6. Fashion Clotures Kenya Wiley – Thank you Ms. Wiley
7. Fox Rothschild’s Staci Riordan She is uniquely herself and a cool Fashion Lawyer colleague. Thank you Staci.
8. Stan Rapada – Thank you for the photos
9. Susan Scafidi, B.A.F.F.L.E.D, Fame Appeal – Thank you for keeping the fashion law community interesting. Susan thanks for all of your work especially with Fordham’s Fashion Law Institute.
10. Get Clickable.com – Thank you for the opportunity to speak on Social Media & the Law
Thank you all. Thank you to Natalie Cupps (@nataliecupps) for the beautiful time and help at the Licensing International Expo 2011.
HAPPY NEW YEAR IN ADVANCE! I hope 2012, for you all, is your best year, yet. I will see you all on January 9th, 2012. Below are the six articles you all enjoyed best measured by my analytics/measuring system.
As an attorney who is intimately connected with the use of social media on the front and back end, I believe I can authoritatively say these are really exciting times we live in! Long time followers of this blog know law is to me what music is to musicians or fashion to designers etc. It is creative, sexy, powerful, explosive, innovative and of course life changing. The current case I am about to discuss and its mind blowing intricacies underscores the above point.
If you are just joining me for the first time, welcome. My name is Uduak Oduok. I am a trial lawyer. I am also an online publisher who has been in the digital media space for almost five years (www.ladybrillemag.com,
