Had a nice Saturday afternoon catching up on my RSS Feed. This is what I found: What are your thoughts regarding genetic biodiversity in our food system? The G-20 Agriculture Ministers made an action plan last week to help mitigate hunger & food price volatility around the globe. Let’s take the Taboo out of end-of-life conversations. We are all going …
NY Family/Matrimonial Law Webinar for Mental Health Professionals
As I noted in this previous post, I am planning a Family/Matrimonial Law seminar series for mental health professionals in New York City and Long Island. I have been contacted by a few therapists in Manhattan that cannot make the seminar next Tuesday. There will be a webinar next fall for those of you who could not make the seminar …
Liability in Highway Accidents Involving Livestock
There was an interesting article on page 5 of the May 16, 2011 edition of County Folks by Jay Girvin, Esq. of Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C. about whether a livestock owners can be held liable if their animal wanders off their farm and causes a highway accident. You can review the full article online here. Mr. Girvin accurately noted that …
Quit Postponing: NY Health Care Proxy
As I have noted in previous “Spring Cleaning” posts on Health Care Proxies and Living Wills, I think spring is the perfect time to look at your estate planning documents on an annual/bi-annual basis to make sure everything is up-to-date. A few weeks ago, I attended an Article 81 Guardian course for attorneys. It reminded me how important it is …
Overview of State Laws Relating to the Amount of Space Given to Farm Animals
I am speaking today in Atlantic City at the New Jersey State Bar Association’s (“NJSBA”) Annual Meeting on a couple farm animal law issues. One of the topics that I will be addressing today includes an overview of state legislation/regulation over the amount of space given to farm animals. Seven states have had laws sponsored by the Humane Society of …
Downtown Lawyers
For the last year, I have been a member of the Downtown Lawyers group here in New York City. It is comprised of attorneys who practice law in New York City in a myriad of practice areas including bankruptcy, estate planning, elder law, business law, personal injury, employment law, immigration, matrimonial law, tax law, landlord-tenant law, intellectual property, criminal law, …
Role of Buyer’s Attorney in Real Estate Closing
I have had several real closings this week and was reminded this morning of this pamphlet from the New York State Bar Association (“NYSBA”) on the Attorney’s Role in Home Purchases. Most of us will purchase property at some point in our lives. The pamphlet properly describes the various responsibilities of the Buyer’s/Borrower’s attorney in real estate transactions including, but …
Interview with Dr. Temple Grandin
I have previously noted on this blog my admiration for Dr. Temple Grandin as an animal scientist. She truly is an extraordinary woman and has done so much for the livestock industry. Last night, I was reading National Cattlemen’s Beef Association‘s (“NCBA”)Beef Issues Quarterly for Fall 2010 and on Page 23 there is a great interview with Dr. Temple Grandin. …
New York Business Structures
Over the weekend I stumbled across the materials from the First Annual Meeting of New York Agri-Women and reviewed this excellent article titled “Doing Business in New York State: Structures and Strategies” by Bruce L. Anderson, Brian M. Henehan, and Charles J. Sullivan, Esq. Mr. Sullivan spoke on business organizations at the New York Agri-Women’s annual meeting. If you have …
Child Support Calculations in New York
As I wrote in yesterday’s post, divorce is something that affects people of every industry– including farmers, ranchers, and agri-businesses. A party does not necessarily have to be going through divorce to be owed child support. In New York, the court calculates (weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly) child support based upon the Child Support Standards Act (“CSSA”). The statutory formula is …
LIFT NY Family Law Resource Guides
As a general practitioner, I spend some time in the Family Courts here in New York. Family law affects people involved in every industry- including those involved in the food, fiber and biofuel industries. When I was in Queens Family Court last week, I finally had an opportunity to visit the resource table by Legal Information for Families Today (“LIFT”). …
How to Handle Visits from Non-Police Officers in New York
On Page 12 of this month’s Grassroots published by the New York Farm Bureau (“NYFB”) you will find my article titled “How to Handle Visits from Non-Police Officers.” I also posted the article on JD Supra. I encourage New York livestock producers to read this article, previous blogs on the topic, and my outline on farm animal cruelty laws in New …