ON LEGAL

October 2022

These Travel Insurance Strategies Will Keep You Safe (and Covered) Now

The upcoming holiday travel season is fraught with uncertainty — a predicted spike in COVID cases, soaring gas prices and inflation. Can your travel insurance keep up?

“It’s important to understand any exclusions to your policy,” says Christina Tunnah, general manager of marketing and brands at World Nomads. “So grab yourself a cup of coffee and spend some time reading through the policy details.”

Do you need to read your entire travel insurance policy? Yes, you do. But as you face the uncertainty of the upcoming holiday travel season, here are a few things that are worth reading twice.

Remember, travel insurance doesn’t cover everything.

“To keep rates affordable for everyone, travel insurance products include a list of covered situations as well as a list of things that just aren’t covered,” explains Daniel Durazo, a spokesman for Allianz Travel Insurance. “So take the time to learn about your policy’s covered reasons and exclusions.”

Watch for health insurance gotchas

The most overlooked aspect in travel medical insurance is pre-existing conditions, according to Joe Cronin, president of International Citizens Insurance. “Some policies will not cover medical care if it is related to a pre-existing condition,” he warns. However, some travel insurance companies will cover a waiver for a pre-existing condition if you buy the policy within 14 to 21 days of making an initial deposit, so make sure you review the pre-existing conditions language before you buy a policy.

Look for triggers

Triggers, or qualifying statements, are a mainstay of travel insurance policies, according to Angela Borden, a product strategist at Seven Corners. “For example, many plans on the market allow travelers to cancel

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October 31, 2022 by INSURANCE

Colorado strip club death trial delayed after lawyer defending club dies a same club

The death of a lawyer at Shotgun Willie’s early this month compelled a judge on Friday to reschedule a trial concerning a different death at the Glendale strip club.

At a four-hour hearing, Arapahoe County District Court Judge Peter Michaelson granted a motion by attorneys for the club to delay the start of next month’s trial. The club had asked for the delay following the death of attorney Steve Long at Shotgun Willie’s on Oct. 1.

Long was one of several attorneys defending Shotgun Willie’s in the Randall Wright case. Another, Peter Middleton, urged Michaelson to delay the Nov. 7 trial for several months.

“The timing of this was just awful for everybody,” Middleton told the judge as he outlined the large role that Long, an experienced trial attorney, was to play at the trial. “We have been really struggling in the past three weeks.”

He added, “Mr. Long passed away at Shotgun Willie’s, I guess, which is kind of weird.”

Reid Elkus, an attorney for plaintiffs Dory Wright and the Wright estate, made the case that the wrongful death trial should not be rescheduled. He noted that the case is more than three years old and that Long was only one of several attorneys for Shotgun Willie’s.

“This case is now ripe for trial. It must move forward,” Elkus told the judge. He said that for his clients, “Justice delayed is not justice served.”

After several minutes of deliberations, in which he sighed deeply, held his head in his hands and rubbed his face repeatedly, Michaelson agreed to delay the two-week trial. He set a tentative trial date for March 20 but said two dates in January will also be considered.

An attorney for the Wrights, Donald Sisson, declined to comment after the hearing.

On May 2, 2019, Randall

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October 31, 2022 by LAW

Legal Aid Society files lawsuit to stop illegal apartment conversions in NYC

Oct 29, 2022, 10:33pmUpdated 1d ago

By: News 12 Staff

Legal Aid Society filed a lawsuit against the New York City Department of Buildings, the New York State Department of Homes and Community Renewal and landlords of a Brooklyn building after they say illegal apartment layout alterations have been initiated. The Legal Aid Society says these alterations can displace long-term rent-stabilized tenants.

After a three-alarm fire destroyed Marshall Reese’s apartment building on Thanksgiving last year, he and his wife were forced to vacate the rent-stabilized apartment they lived in for 40 years. They say their landlord has been trying to change the layout of the building’s apartments.

“All the apartments had eat-in kitchens, all of the kitchens were moved to the center of the building, being replaced by kitchenettes, closets were being removed,” said Reese.

New York City law says that landlords are supposed to get approval from both the city’s Department of Buildings and the state’s Department of Homes and Community Renewals before making changes to layouts in rent-stabilized apartments.

“What these landlords are doing is ignoring the laws, they’re circumventing the process and they’re going right to the Department of Buildings…We’re seeing them alter the apartments in ways that will permanently displace long-term rent-stabilized tenants ,” said a representative from the Legal Aid Society.

In a statement, DOB said “We are legally obligated to issue a permit for a construction project when all of the requirements that we are legally allowed to enforce are met. DOB approvals do not absolve a property owner of their responsibility to comply with the regulations of other government agencies. We are reviewing the suit.”

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October 31, 2022 by LEGAL

Turkish man sentenced to life in prison for pushing pregnant wife off cliff to collect on insurance policy

A Turkish man has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of throwing his pregnant wife off a cliff to collect her life insurance policy.

Hakan Aysal, 41, was sentenced to life behind bars after being convicted of pushing his seven-months-pregnant wife, 32-year-old Semra Aysal, off a cliff while vacationing at a popular tourist attraction in southern Turkey in June 2018, New York Post reported.

Authorities believe Aysal lured his wife to the edge of the cliff by convincing her to take a selfie before pushing her off.

After his wife was killed by the fall off the 1,000-foot cliff, authorities say Aysal tried to cash in on a life insurance policy worth roughly $25,000 that he had taken out before the crime, but he was prevented from doing so by a police investigation .

TURKISH POP STAR GULSEN MAKES HER FIRST COURT APPEARANCE IN RELIGIOUS SCHOOL JOKE CASE

Hakan Aysal was sentenced to life in prison after pushing his wife off a cliff in Turkey

Hakan Aysal was sentenced to life in prison after pushing his wife off a cliff in Turkey
(Newsflash)

Aysal initially claimed he was not guilty, but he entered a last-minute insanity plea that was heard by the Fethiye High Criminal Court but was ultimately rejected.

Witnesses to the killing, and family members of the couple said that Aysal’s calm demeanor following the incident triggered suspicions the death was intentional.

TURKISH RESEARCHERS CONFIRM SANTA CLAUS’ ORIGINAL BURIAL SITE, FIND ST. NICHOLAS’ TOMB UNDER FRESCO OF JESUS

Semra Aysal, together with her husband, Hakan Aysal

Semra Aysal, together with her husband, Hakan Aysal
(NewsFlash)

“When we went to the Forensic Medicine Institute to get the body, Hakan was sitting in the car,” Naim Yolcu, the victim’s older brother, said in court. “My family and I were destroyed, but Hakan did not even appear sad.”

“My sister was always against taking out loans,” Yolcu added. “However, after

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October 30, 2022 by INSURANCE

Hawaii man accused of stealing dead baby’s ID loses lawyer

HONOLULU — A former US defense contractor in Hawaii accused with his wife of living for decades under stolen identities of dead babies will get a new attorney, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

According to prosecutors, Walter Glenn Primrose and Gwynn Darle Morrison are the real names of the couple who have been fraudulently living for decades under stolen identities, Bobby Fort and Julie Montague. Prosecutors say Primrose spent more than 20 years in the Coast Guard, where he obtained secret-level security clearance.

They have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, false statement in a passport application and aggravated identity theft.

Assistant Federal Defender Max Mizono filed a motion earlier this month asking to withdraw as Primrose’s attorney, citing a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship.

During a telephone hearing Thursday, US Magistrate Judge Rom Trader granted the request after having a private conversation with Mizono and Primrose about their relationship.

After returning to an open hearing, Trader said he found good cause to determine that it’s no longer tenable for Mizono to continue representing Primrose.

Another attorney will be appointed to represent Primrose.

Prosecutors have suggested the case is about more than identity theft.

A search of the couple’s home in Kapolei, a Honolulu suburb, turned up Polaroids of them wearing jackets that appear to be authentic Russian KGB uniforms, an invisible ink kit, documents with coded language and maps showing military bases, prosecutors said.

Attorneys for the couple have said they are not Russian spies.

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October 30, 2022 by LAW

Free Legal Aid services yields immediate and long-term benefits

Civil legal aid services in the state of Michigan yield 669% return on investment in social and economic value, according to a recent report released by the Justice for All commission.

By providing resources for more than 100 civil legal aid issues, the report found that the added economic value adds both immediate and long-term benefits to communities and the state. It accounts for the money that would be otherwise spent on assistance, if free legal aid wasn’t available to prevent possible long-term issues.

The report is being used to help understand the importance of free legal aid in the state of Michigan, as investment in these programs rises, many expect to see even greater social economic benefits.

The civil legal issues that are addressed by these aid programs include, custody, healthcare, consumer protection (such as foreclosure and debt collection), eviction and more. These programs assist with legal advice, paperwork, and legal representation. There are more than 1.7 million Michigan residents eligible for assistance from Michigan Legal Aid.

Angela Tripp is the director of the Michigan Legal Aid Help program, and the Vice Chair on the Justice for All commission. She explains that the report allows the commission to monetize the work in legal aid, and justify further investment.

“It’s not just helping these individual people with an immediate crisis but it’s creating long-term benefits,” she explained.

The report suggests that addressing and providing aid to address these issues, rather than leaving the community without legal help or knowledge, have longer term benefits that exceed the cost of offering these services.

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October 30, 2022 by LEGAL

Hennepin County attorney, inflation, health care, Mississippi River

Opinion editor’s note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

In Mark Osler’s commentary endorsing Mary Moriarty for Hennepin County attorney (“Moriarty brings hope, not fear, to prosecutor’s role,” Opinion Exchange, Oct. 19), he cites his work with HEALS 2.0, the task force focused on reducing violent crime convened by Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman. We also serve on HEALS 2.0 and, like Mark Osler, we are proud to see our work to reduce violent crime starting to pay off. Homicides and shots fired in Minneapolis are both down slightly from the record-high we saw in 2021, and we are heading in a good direction. That work would be impossible without coordination between justice partners and law enforcement on the city, county, state and federal levels.

Moriarty’s positions on policing, prosecution and her inability to work productively with justice partners to improve overall community safety in her previous role as a public defender makes her the less-than-ideal candidate for Hennepin County attorney if we want to continue to reduce violent crime .

Moriarty has said she would not charge gun and drug cases that result from traffic stops. From our conversations with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, traffic stops focused on gang hot spots are responsible for the majority of the illegal guns that we are removing from the streets. It is critical that we have a county attorney who will prosecute these cases. Further, Moriarty stated in 2021 reasons that she did not believe the Minneapolis Police Department needed more officers, despite it having one of the lowest per capita staffing levels of any city in the country. Her opponent, Martha Holton Dimick, has a balanced approach that emphasizes reform, adequate police staffing and effective prosecution. For

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October 29, 2022 by ATTORNEY

Lawyer’s death at Shotgun Willie’s delays trial about a previous death at the same strip club

An attorney’s death at Shotgun Willie’s has delayed a trial about another death previously at the same strip club in Glendale, Co.

Arapahoe County District Court Judge Peter Michaelson granted the motion by lawyers to reschedule the next month’s trial following the death of lawyer Steve Long on Oct. 1, according to The Denver Post.

Long was one of the many lawyers defending the strip club with the Shotgun Willie’s in the Randall Wright case. Hence, Long’s colleague Peter Middleton requested Michaelson delay the trial for several months.

“The timing of this was just awful for everybody,” Middleton said, The Denver Post reported. “We have been really struggling in the past three weeks.”

“Mr. Long passed away at Shotgun Willie’s, I guess, which is kind of weird,” Middleton continued.

The wrongful death case is already over three years old. Patron Randall Wright, 48, got into an altercation with another man at the strip club on May 2, 2019. This led to a chase throughout Shotgun Willie’s before Wright was tackled by a bartender and died shortly afterward.

Reid Elkus, a lawyer representing Dory Wright and the Wright estate, said the wrongful death case should not be delayed due to the fact Long was one of many lawyers representing the strip club.

“This case is now ripe for trial. It must move forward,” Elkus said to the judge. “Justice delayed is not justice served.”

Read more via The Denver Post.

READ MORE:

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October 29, 2022 by LAW

New England College course aims to address staffing shortages in insurance field

Published: 10/24/2022 7:11:56 PM

Modified: 10/24/2022 7:11:45 PM

Next spring, students at New England College will be learning about the insurance industry, in a new course offering taught by state employees from the New Hampshire Insurance Department.

The course is being offered through a partnership between the college and the New Hampshire Insurance Department, a state agency that regulates the insurance marketplace. State officials hope it will attract more potential employees into the insurance field, which is experiencing staffing shortages.

“Our mission at the department is to promote and protect the public good by ensuring the existence of a safe and competitive insurance marketplace, and a significant component of that charge is to ensure that the future workforce in the insurance industry is well trained,” said New Hampshire Insurance Commissioner Christopher Nicolopoulos. “Attracting highly educated individuals into the industry – whether as producers or regulators – is critically important to the health of our markets and the furtherance of our consumer protection efforts.”

In the four-credit course, which begins in the 2023 spring semester, students will learn about the nature of risk, risk identification, general risk management techniques, and the management of risk through insurance. It covers why an individual or a corporation purchases insurance, what constitutes an intelligent insurance plan, what products are available in the insurance marketplace and how the New Hampshire Insurance Department regulates those products. A team of insurance experts from the New Hampshire Insurance Department will teach the course.

Students who are interested can do an internship for additional academic credit, and students that complete the course and the internship will have the opportunity to get their insurance licensing exam waived.

“Collectively, our team of experts bring hundreds of years of insurance experience in both the public and private sectors, and we are

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October 28, 2022 by INSURANCE
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