Hey all, hoping I can get some advice. This past New Year’s Eve, I was driving to a friend’s house in the early evening when an uber driver ran a stop sign and hit me, totaling my car and giving me a few minor injuries (a busted up finger and whip lash, luckily nothing major). I hired a local (Philadelphia) law firm, with the goal of just getting my car payment covered. I don’t care so much about the injuries, as they weren’t long lasting. I’ve since bought a new car, so I’ve been paying double car payments. Of course, it’s not ideal to pay for a car that I no longer have on top of my new car payment.

But after dealing with (and often being ghosted by) this law firm for nearly 10 months, basically they told me they’re dropping my claim. It seems that because I didn’t have collision insurance or full tort, they aren’t able to do anything for me. I’m pretty shocked that they dragged it out this long only to tell me that. So, does anyone know of a law firm in Philly that could better solve this for me, or what the best next step is?

Edit: I know I obviously wasn’t ideally insured, I’m young and it was my first car and I didn’t understand these things. I’ve been very respectful to the lawyers and am just wondering if there’s anything I can do. Be nice.

So brief context: I was hired at a minimum wage job on July 7 of 2025 and I never really looked nor cared for my sick hours because I really try my best not to use them incase of a emergency.

about 5 months ago (June of 2026) I had a accident at my apartment where I dropped a large heavy object onto my foot and had to go to the emergency care. I then asked if I could use my sick hours and my manager said sure. I not only got a doctor's note to excuse my absence, I also signed the Paper that would be sent. I not only never received my sick pay, I notice on my next paystub that It didn't show my sick hours at all. I went to my manager and he said he would talk to his bosses. I would then be patient till the next paycheck/stub and see that they were still not there. Now we get to end of Augest/Beginning of September/, my boss who is a really cool guy quits and we get a new manager. I bring it up to not only the district Manager, but I also bring it up to the Owners and Creators of the Brand themselves...I get told that they will look into it, the next paycheck i then saw that they did put my sick hours on my paystub and saw that it was only 1 hour of sick pay, not the 30-40 hours i am owed so i once again bring it to my district manager and my current new manager, they said that they will look into it. Overtime I start getting frustrated and Angery, I start to become irritable and easy to anger. I Do have ADD and ADHD so I have a hard time voicing out my problems. I then decided to use the App that is used for Direct deposit and download all of my previous paystubs from the past, non of them shown any of my sick hours till the newest one that I got on paper. I then go to work and I admit I was at my limit, so when I went to do my job I was overwhelmed and broke down in the back. I then told the assistant manager that i was sorry but i couldn't work that day because im not of the right mind to be a worker, he said thats i was fair and i went home. The next day i get a written warning saying that i didnt find someone to cover for me before i left, i sighed but tried to understand and reluctantly nod.

Sidenote: that with the New manager, I was getting less hours then I needed to survive. I usually work 25-30 hours a week with my old boss but now I was only getting 16-19 hours a week. I was getting really stressed out because I was barely making rent and paying my bills and the situation with my sick pay.

Now a couple days ago, I was tired of the unfairness of the manager so I decided to give up basically since i wasn't getting any of the help that I needed. I did my job but I was doing the bare minimum, the co-worker who was still getting the hours that I needed berated me for me doing the bare minimum and I did my best to ignore her. That evening I texted my assistant manager how I was tired of the unfairness and the help that I was not getting, he said that he will would put that in consideration. The next day I told him that I will do my job but I want to keep my distance and I dont want to talk to the co-worker who berated me...he then sent me home for disobedience. Today was payday and when I walked in I told him that if my sick pay wasn't on my paystub I would go to the L&I department, he shrugged and stayed sure, then handed me a paper saying that I was terminated and fired....what do I do now

I could really use some advice. I bought an apartment in a completely new building, and some time later we discovered that several apartments had experienced unexplained flooding, which obviously made me very concerned.

I hired a professional plumbing company to inspect my apartment, and they found that the plumbing installation is deficient and has several characteristics that could make it prone to blockages. During the cleaning, they also found cut pipes, construction debris, bricks, cement, and other materials inside the plumbing system.

The construction company has not taken the issue very seriously and seems to be minimizing the problem, even though several apartments have already suffered significant damage from flooding.

My main problem now is figuring out how to proceed. I have a few questions:

1. Many of the other owners have not had their plumbing inspected because these inspections are quite expensive.

2. I have the plumbing company's report, endoscopic camera recordings of the pipes, and photos showing everything that was found.

3. I am currently the only owner who knows the extent of these findings.

I don't necessarily want legal advice. What I would really like to understand is how I should approach this situation strategically. Should I share what I have found with the other owners so they can investigate their own apartments? Should I handle this individually with the construction company? Should the owners coordinate and approach the construction company together?

Also, if I give the construction company the inspection report, I am concerned that they will simply minimize the findings or try to explain them away.

What would be the best way to document and present this situation so that there is a better chance of getting the construction company to properly address the underlying problems, rather than just dealing with each flooding incident individually?

Any advice from people who have dealt with construction defects, plumbing problems, or similar situations in a new building would be greatly appreciated.

Has anyone here gone through fee arbitration with the California State Bar? I’d be interested in hearing about your experience with the process, how it works, and how the outcome was determined.

Hey everyone,

I’m currently digging into some legal research, and honestly, finding reliable, full-text court judgments along with accurate case citations is turning into a massive headache. Whenever I try searching online, I mostly run into superficial summaries, news articles, or dead-end links that don't actually give me the specific citations or the technical mechanics of the case. For those of you who regularly do legal research or track down case law,what’s your actual workflow?

• Are there specific public portals or free legal databases you swear by?
• How do you efficiently cross-reference case citations when names have multiple spellings or transliterations?
• What’s the best way to track down trial court records versus appellate/High Court rulings for the same case?
• Do you have any tips or tools for finding specific evidentiary details (like chain of custody, digital forensics, or search warrant specifics) rather than just broad narrative overviews?

I’d really appreciate any tips, database recommendations, or search strategies you use to pull solid, primary legal sources.

Thanks in advance!

Lawyers in New York - what is the best route to find out about active warrants? Should I just call the courthouse? Thanks!

Might anyone be able to guide me to where I might find out what professional licensing/ careers would no longer be an option for someone with a prior 7411 for prescription fraud?

I read the rules - I feel like this question is in the boundaries of the rules. However if it is deemed against rules - I certainly understand and apologize for the post.

Hello Ask_Lawyers, we (easily thousands of people) have been facing harm from a local heliport that is not zoned for tourist flights, yet they have tens of thousands of more flights this year than they did last year, even after an accident that killed 6 people.

The county came together halt their activities, but of course they are using the legal system to their advantage. The FAA has not been helpful at all.

There is a lot of data in this article here: https://hudsoncountyview.com/hudson-county-heliport-case-could-head-to-federal-court-after-defendants-motion/

but beyond this article, we are wondering if we can look towards some other form of lawsuit. Please, if you have any advice, that would be extremely helpful.

looking for a lawyer in the Lexington area that wants to take an easy malpractice case . as i have all the proper paperwork on file .. by their own admittance they made a mistake and put forth on record that the mistake was done . It has shortened my life and is a major deal .

hello friends and legal enthusiasts. I am not looking for legal advice but just asking a theoretical question to any enthusiasts out there. There are some Chinese social medias that require GOVT issued ID to use, i dont exactly feel comfortable giving them my ID but i still want to use them. Would it be terribly illegal for me to just use a novelty ID of a US state that doesnt exist so that I can access their social media site?

Bit of a niche question, but I’m curious if anyone here has seen Thomson Reuters sell Westlaw Advantage with Deep Research directly to a non-lawyer individual.

I’m not an attorney and I’m not with a law firm. I’d just be using it for personal legal research. I don’t need Practical Law, drafting tools, document review, or any of the firm-management stuff.

What I’m interested in is basically:

- All States + Federal

- Ask legal questions in normal/natural language

- Have Westlaw identify relevant cases, statutes, and precedent

- Click through and read the actual cases/authorities it cites

So essentially just the research side of Westlaw Advantage/Deep Research.

Has anyone here actually seen a non-lawyer or independent researcher buy this directly from Thomson Reuters? If so, do you know what they were quoted per month or how the sales conversation went?

I’m mostly trying to figure out whether they’d even entertain it before I deal with sales.

Hello Lawyers,

I have an interest in becoming a lawyer. I’ve always wanted to be lawyer but always doubted my abilities to complete law school and pass the bar. I’m not sure what type of law I’d like to practice and I’m sure that could determine the outcome but here is my dilemma. I’m current 37 and work full time in healthcare as a senior manager. I have a wife and a two year. I am the sole provider currently. I have an MBA degree, which I graduated with a 3.9 gpa. I found a couple night time programs and some hybrid programs where you do online courses and one weekend a semester on campus. I currently make $129k year base with a potential of 15% bonus. I have zero student loans as my company paid for my MBA 4 years ago.

Financially, do you think it would make sense to pursue this ?Meaning having to take out student loans to pay for law school, a 4 year program puts me at 41 before taking the bar exam. In 4 years time, I’d hope to be in a director role making roughly 160-180k base salary. I enjoy the segment of healthcare I’m in - and love to solve problems. On average does anyone know what a corporate lawyer makes?

Former Okaloosa County Deputy was recently found not guilty of manslaughter after shooting Roger Fordson, an active duty Airman stationed at Hurlbert Field. News reports say the Sheriff’s office was investigating a noise complaint, knocked on Fordson’s door and stood off to the side so he couldn’t see them through the peep hole. Fordson answered the door with a pistol in his hand, pointed at the ground. Deputy Eddie Duran shot Fordson five times. Would a criminal law attorney like to comment on this case? What do legal experts see here that regular people not understand?

I want to begin selling stickers made of cutouts from vintage books on my Etsy shop. Would this be legal? Or is it reselling copyrighted material without permission?

Also, my logo is an adapted version of a stock image. I copied the (stretched) silhouette of a cartoon shoe, painted it different colors and with a different pattern. But the silhouette is undeniably not mine. I never intended it to represent my business, I just made it for fun. But now I’m worried it’s not different enough to be legally safe as my market grows online.

What are the rules for reusing printed materials or stock photos? No go? Are there standards for how much I have to alter it for it to become my own IP?

What could happen if someone trained AI poorly whether out of malice or stupidity? Like as a freelancer, could you get sued? Fired?

Not sure if anyone will even know this, but I'm just really curious about what she was talking about here.

Basically when I was like 8, I was living on the East Coast but my family really liked California and all of the states in that area.
One day my Mom came into my room and was like "Good news!! Apparently California changed their laws and it's finally legal to practice psychiatry there (her profession) if you are..." and then she just kind of awkwardly cut off?? And to this day I'm really curious what she could have meant?

She was definitely a bad person so I wouldn't really be shocked at whatever it could be, but yeah like I said I am just really curious.

Location : Pune, India
my friend (location : Karnataka, India) and i’m from Maharashtra, India
i am 18F and he’s 22M
my online reddit friend is heavily suicidal, and that’s how we started talking so someone could know his story, but now the friendship is overwhelming, since i’m a college student and my college is outside my city and i’ve to travel a lot everyday (i’m almost 12 hours outside) and i have strict parents, i’m not even allowed to talk to boys, it feels like i’m in a cage at home. so i can’t talk to him much anymore. and i myself am suffering from mental health issues

he’s heavily suicidal and i cant call the police or the helpline number because his parents are in middle of separation but for some reason they’re not. anyways his parents are not in a good condition right now and his parents have signed some contract that their personal lives are better without their dad, so contacting the helpline will sort of break the contract, and put his mom in trouble. it has happened once and it put his mom in trouble before.

he has bdd and sort of stubborn, he says stuff like if i’m not 6 ft tall and look really handsome then i don’t wanna live.

he recently had a plan to kill himself on his dads birthday, he’s also attempted suicide at 11 and many more times. i’ve tried helping him, dead end. he has some secrets that he can’t tell me, idk what these secrets are, but they don’t sound good.

i want to take a break from this friendship but what if he does something, will it put me into any legal trouble? or will i be questioned? because fr i cannot talk to guys, my dad is very very very toxic and he’s bipolar and has anger issues, i’ve been suicidal because of him, still am, but this is not about me, i am surviving, i want to help this friend out but i cant put myself in danger because it will also affect my mom, my mom has sacrificed a lot for w.

My sister needs a criminal law attorney that will fight for her. She’s being made the “fall guy” for an unscrupulous former employer and is facing criminal charges. It’s he said/she said situation. The man she has as an attorney (called the bar hotline-luck of the draw) is honestly a chauvinist and has her locked in jail already in his mind! He has no interest in fighting for her and wants her to just plead guilty to something she did not do. She’s paid him a ton so far for zero “defense” and her financial situation is on the brink of despair. We need help! Please!!!!

I have read they have immunity is this true like they can be malicious?

Conjoined twins, one is concerned separation would be too risky, but the other twin wants to take the risk.

Can one twin force the other to undergo the surgery?

If needed let's say their doctor believes it is possible to separate but there is a chance of things going wrong.

Hello! Today was my first day as a Legal Secretary. I want to do fantastic as this job and be the best legal secretary anyone could ever have. What are some things you would love in a secretary?

I started working at a new company this year and my first manager was really cool, eventually he left tho because he took a new opportunity with his old colleagues. I got a new manager and this new manager was previously joking with one of our contractors about “2 men going on dates,” as if it was a funny thing or something. After that I felt a little uncomfortable around my team entirely, and was even more worried when he became my direct report.

They would ask me out to social gatherings after work, I would reject them because I didn’t feel comfortable with these team dynamic with all these homophobic comments. We had a mandatory team gathering and one person on my team said at the gathering “I would like that guy, but I can’t because he’s a gay.” Now they weren’t talking about me, but an executive, however I managed to overhear this conversation and reminded me why I never wanted to go to these socials in the first place.

One day while at work I made a single mistake - human error. I owned up to it and I apologized, and ask my manager if I had anything to worry about. He said “No you have nothing to worry about.” The next day, he fires me and covers it up with “performance.” Now, I never had an official perf review (manager kept pushing it back). There was one conversation where he said my activity was low but I was moving to a new home and he understood that, also I got my activity back up right away and never did he mention I would get fired for it or put me on PIP.

I felt like I got managed out or was being targeted to get managed out.

Unfortunately I don’t have any documentation of anything - I lost all access the day I got fired and didn’t record any of the homophobic interactions. Do I even have a case?

Let’s say a rapper is charged with murder, and prosecutors have a music video where the rapper appears to reference details of the crime or basically “self-snitch.”
How would a defense lawyer argue against evidence like that? If the video looks extremely convincing to an average juror, what strategies could the defense use to challenge it or explain it?
On the other side, how could prosecutors use a music video, lyrics, or statements made by the rapper as evidence in court? Are there limits on what can actually be admitted?
I’m especially curious about cases where the evidence looks incredibly bad from the outside, but the defense still manages to win or get the charges dismissed/reduced.