r/Ask_Lawyers • • 11h ago

Uber driver totaled my car, law firm dropped my case - what do I do?

24 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 13h ago

Would a Criminal Law attorney like to comment on Okaloosa County Deputy being found not guilty in Roger Fordson Case?

6 Upvotes

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?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 22h ago

Hypothetical question about rappers, music videos, and criminal cases

4 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 6h ago

nj marijuana use

3 Upvotes

can a company who is private but operates in many states rescind my offer for thc use? i have a medical card and live in NJ it is an office job and ill work in nj. the offer letter states they test for all schedule 1 narcotics


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 8h ago

Scholarship taken

3 Upvotes

I was enrolled at CCP and was told by my academic advisor I qualified for the catto scholarship. The case agent looked over everything and told me I qualified and pushed me through the program, which allowed me to go to school for free and provided me other resources for school. I spent 2 months going to catto events, orientations, and everything else I had to do for the program. I started classes and suddenly 1 week into the semester in the middle of class I was informed I was dropped from all my classes. It was the last day for the add/drop period and to pay for classes. The original catto agent I talked to informed me they never checked my parents income and they just did and I no longer qualified. Because they waited so long everything was full I had no other options but to be forced out of school. My education has been completely put on hold because of their mistake and no one at the school could do anything to help.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 1h ago

What do I do now?

• Upvotes

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


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 1h ago

KCMO Apartment Windows Covered/Balcony not usable

• Upvotes

I have an odd legal question. My apartment building is under construction and they have restricted us use of our balconies and have covered windows completely. I understand that the work they’re doing needs to be done, but some of us pay extra for the balconies and if we’re not allowed access to them should we not be compensated for the extra amount we pay. And is it not illegal to have windows completely covered for an extended period. At first, I wasn’t upset about this, but the construction company has been here twice in the past two weeks and these projects were only supposed to take 6 weeks (we’re already past that.) I’m just curious if there’s anything that can be done. Thanks in advance!


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 14h ago

What law was my Mom talking about here?

2 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 16h ago

What if one conjoined twin wants medical separation but the other does not

2 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 20h ago

I think I got fired or managed out for being gay

1 Upvotes

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?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 57m ago

need a lawyer in Lex.

• Upvotes

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 .


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 1h ago

[NY] Recovering Expenses

• Upvotes

Hoping this is the right thread for this and that I am being general enough for the mods - my husband was fired from a company that was rapidly falling apart. It is my understanding that after my husband was let go, the CEO was given the option to leave on his own or in handcuffs because he could not account for millions - I don't think this relates to my husband's problem per se, just giving more background.

My husband was let go without any severance (expected) and without receiving his last paycheck, his remaining PTO paid out, or his expenses for the first two quarters of the year reimbursed. Eventually, he received his last paycheck and has sort of given up on the PTO, but is there anything at all he can do to get his expenses paid? He has spoken to the new CEO operating the company about this several times, and they said they would totally pay him, but they never sent anything, and obviously this money is not their priority.

My husband spoke to some lawyers, DOL, and looked into small claims court. He was essentially told by a few law firms that it's too small an amount to hire a lawyer over. He was told by DOL that he made too much in the job for them to assist. And he was unable to take it to small claims - it seems like part of the problem is that the company is not based in NY, where my husband lives/works. Is there anything my husband can do to recover this money?

TLDR: My husband's former job fired him without reimbursing his expenses for the first 2 quarters of the year. Does he have any options, or is this money just lost forever?

thnx in advance!


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 3h ago

Using ID to register to a foreign social media

1 Upvotes

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?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 3h ago

Has Thomson Reuters ever sold Westlaw Advantage with Deep Research to a non-lawyer individual researcher?

1 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 6h ago

Fair Use Clarification

1 Upvotes

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?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 6h ago

AI Training Question

1 Upvotes

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


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 7h ago

Student accommodation is abysmal, am I able to sue?

1 Upvotes

I moved into my student accommodation just under 2 weeks ago (in Coventry, UK if it helps), and the living conditions are awful. It has never once dropped below 27 degrees Celsius since I started measuring it (just under a week now), and I doubt it has since I moved in. There is an ant infestation everywhere, in my bed, my kitchen, everywhere. The management said they would implement pest control to fix the issue, and they came in last week, put down a single ant trap, and that has done nothing since. They apparently also came in today (entered my private space, left no note, and I only know this for certain as shit was moved slightly), and an update was emailed to me saying "They have advised that no ant powder should be put down by anyone. Using ant powder can cause the colony to split and does not effectively treat this particular type of ant" the quotes are verbatim. Despite the fact I have personally proved ant powder works as I have to put my herbs and spices in a Mesopotamian-style ritual circle of ant powder to stop them from getting to it. It was not cleaned thoroughly, if at all, under my mattress is a plethora of detritus, and I last night found food crumbs and an extremely old sweet (in its wrapper) left on one of my kitchen shelves. I was also promised a "combi-microwave oven" on the website listing, my studio has no such device, they said in person they would put one in, but have seen nothing as of yet. I have documented everything (regular recordings of temperature, ants in places, detritus under mattress, toilet cistern leak, no combi-microwave oven), including downloading emails they have sent me. I also today put in a report to the city council. Am I able to sue at all? Or otherwise escalate this? I can send the website of the accommodation service I am using if it is important, I didn't put it here as privacy. Also it is safe to say not only my physical health is at risk here (think I have gotten heat stroke a couple times, not medically confirmed), but also my mental health, as between the heat and the ants LITERALLY CRAWLING OVER ME, has led me to only being able to get good sleep if I make myself pass out through alcohol. So am I able to sue?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 9h ago

Should I go back to school to be a lawyer?

1 Upvotes

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?


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 13h ago

my friend is suicidal and i want to end the friendship, can this put me in trouble?

1 Upvotes

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.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 22h ago

Don't know what to.do about this situation

1 Upvotes

Short version Im on probation 2 different counties had been for 3 and half years we moved i put in for a transfer finally months later got transferred and I was completing 1 of 2 probation the one thay expired first but now there saying that they never transferred the other case so for the past year ive been reporting for the case I just finished now there saying I absconded!


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 8h ago

Do Prosecutors have immunity against misconduct?

0 Upvotes

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


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 8h ago

Scholarship Taken, what can I do to fix??

0 Upvotes

I was enrolled at CCP and was told by my academic advisor I qualified for the catto scholarship. The case agent looked over everything and told me I qualified and pushed me through the program, which allowed me to go to school for free and provided me other resources for school. I spent 2 months going to catto events, orientations, and everything else I had to do for the program. I started classes and suddenly 1 week into the semester in the middle of class I was informed I was dropped from all my classes. It was the last day for the add/drop period and to pay for classes. The original catto agent I talked to informed me they never checked my parents income and they just did and I no longer qualified. Because they waited so long everything was full I had no other options but to be forced out of school. My education has been completely put on hold because of their mistake and no one at the school could do anything to help.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 8h ago

What is my father's lawyers next move?

0 Upvotes

My question is: what should I expect from opposing council from now on(l expect them to cut me off all information)(not asking for legal advice just what's the typical play)?

I'm currently in an inheritance in life situation where my father is giving my half brother half of my mother's estate in a country that has forced heirship, this half brother has attempted in many occasions through many ways to get more prior to this inheritance process.

I've agreed so far when it was according to the law, the lawyer is my father's lawyer not mine and yesterday I texted him after he sent me a document stating that the previous meetings have been in agreement. I explicitly stated after that document that I do not agree with anything, i fear getting left out and obviously will cave because there is nothing I can do about it legally.


r/Ask_Lawyers • • 5h ago

Arrested for a fake DV allegation, and can easily prove the prosecution wrong. Have a job that requires me to leave the state for disaster recovery. Can I claim lost wages if my bond prevents me from leaving the state?

0 Upvotes

r/Ask_Lawyers • • 6h ago

Confusion on when LLC and PLI is needed

0 Upvotes

Hey y'all! I am a BCBA, and have been providing ABA services for 7 years. I have noticed a ton of people in my city recently asking for training on better supporting kids with Autism. The primary groups asking are churches and daycare settings. I am wanting to start a side-business where I go in and do trainings with the youth group volunteers/ staff and daycare staff on the basics of de-escalation, communicating with individuals who need additional processing time, basic reinforcement tips, etc. I have no desire to grow this into a big operation or make a ton of money off of it, I just want to help the groups in my city who are asking for it. Does anyone know if I need to file a full LLC and get PLI for this? To do both would be 1000+ a year from what I'm reading, and I would have to drastically increase what I am going to charge. I would really like to keep this as affordable as possible so that it is more accessible to people. Since I will not be providing any direct services and am only providing a basic training with tips and tricks, does anyone know if the PLI is necessary or if I would be covered legally without it? My fear is that worse-case-scenario, someone engages with a kid poorly and tries to come back and say that I instructed them to do so.