Arbitration and Power of Attorney

There is an ongoing dispute as to whether a power of attorney is binding to require principal to be bound to arbitration.  I am aware of at least one (1) case in Tennessee that is pending concerning this issue.  Due to this, it is worth looking into having a power of attorney that expressly forbids the agent from signing up for forced arbitration. 

Death and Facebook

What happens to your Facebook account upon your death? Have you thought about it? Well, Facebook has.  Go to “Settings,” then “Security,” and look at “Legacy Contact.” Facebook walks you through the process of designating a person to handle your Facebook account in the event of disability or death. It explains everything. In addition, it explains how you can leave a Facebook account open for memorials after your death.  There is also an option to permanently delete your account, if you do not want an account after you pass away.

For more details, look here.

Weight of Guardian Ad Litem Report

I am working on a brief dealing with the changing of a guardian ad litem report in the middle of trial.  This is rare and I think prejudicial.  However, after Gateley v. Gateley located here, the biggest question is what defects, if any, will justify reversal.   This is what makes me wonder if it is not time for the chancery court to consider court-appointed experts in complex custody cases to minimize potential problems and defects in GAL cases.   

Alternate Payment

Drafting QDROs for domestic cases is painful to put it mildly.  There are potential issues regarding payments and one is almost never accepted the first time it is submitted for approval.  I am toying with the idea of drafting a clause ordering the payment from alternate sources if for some reason it is determined that the amounts cannot be paid from the retirement plan.  I keep seeing cases from the Court of Appeals where this is an issue because of federal law considerations on certain kinds of plans.  Think that at least allows some protection to the party getting the money. 

Out of Court Agreement

The Mississippi Court of Appeals decided Deckard v. Deckard yesterday which is located here.  The issue in the case was contempt for nonpayment of child support.  Mr. Deckard said the parties had an out of court agreement.  Ms. Deckard denied it.  Ultimately, with no proof, the court held him in contempt for over $100,000.00.  Any modification in Mississippi should be done by court order, otherwise this can happen. 

5.1 Waiver Language

Rule 5.1 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure went info effect April 30, 2015.  The new rule is below:

RULE 5.1. PRIVACY PROTECTION FOR FILINGS MADE WITH THE COURT

 

(a) Redacted Filings. Unless the court orders otherwise, in an electronic or paper filing with the court that contains an individual’s social-security number, taxpayer-identification number, or birth date, the name of an individual known to be a minor, or a financial-account number, a party or nonparty making the filing may include only:

(1) the last four digits of the social-security number and taxpayer-identification number;

(2) the year of the individual’s birth;

(3) the minor’s initials; and

(4) the last four digits of the financial-account number.

 

(b) Exemptions from the Redaction Requirement. The redaction requirement does not apply to the following:

(1) a financial-account number that identifies the property allegedly subject to forfeiture in a forfeiture proceeding;

(2) the record of an administrative or agency proceeding; and

(3) the record of a court or tribunal, if that record was not subject to the redaction requirement when originally filed.

 

(c) Filings Made Under Seal. The court may order that a filing be made under seal without redaction. The court may later unseal the filing or order the person who made the filing to file a redacted version for the public record.

 

(d) Protective Orders. For good cause, the court may by order in a case:

(1) require redaction of additional information; or

(2) limit or prohibit a nonparty’s remote electronic access to a document filed with the court.

 

(e) Option for Additional Unredacted Filing Under Seal. A person making a redacted filing may also file an unredacted copy under seal. The court must retain the unredacted copy as part of the record.

 

(f) Option for Filing a Reference List. A filing that contains redacted information may be filed together with a reference list that identifies each item of redacted information and specifies an appropriate identifier that uniquely corresponds to each item listed. The list must be filed under seal and may be amended as of right. Any reference in the case to a listed identifier will be construed to refer to the corresponding item of information.

(g) Waiver of Protection of Identifiers. A person waives the protection of Rule 5.1(a) as to the person’s own information by filing it without redaction and not under seal.

 

It should be noted that the provisions are not mandatory as noted by the language in paragraph (a).  (Rule says may not shall).  I think the following language can be added to an order which may give attorneys some security as there has been some discussion about the practicality of this. 

 

"The Court finds that for good cause the redaction provisions of Rule 5.1 of the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure shall not apply to this order so that the parties and/or any third party can effectuate this order."

Movie of Interest

I was thumbing through Amazon Prime over the weekend and found a good documentary called Kids for Cash.  The documentary goes through a scandal in Pennsylvania where a juvenile judge was getting kickbacks for sending kids to jail.  The video also has a lot of interesting comments on how juvenile justice changed after the Columbian shootings.  It is a very thought provoking movie.