Archive for December, 2011

Fair Business Practices Act in Georgia

Sunday, December 18th, 2011

atlanta business attorney; lawyer; georgia; business law; law firms atlanta; contract dispute lawyers

In summary the Fair Business Practices Act claim is an action by an individual who is injured when a defendant breaches a duty to the general consuming public.  It is not intended to be applied by businesses against competitors.  To be actionable, the defendant’s actions must have an “impact” on the marketplace.  As an atlanta business attorney, it is important to know the difference between this type of claim and others available to a business client to seek relief from the practices of a competitor.  In these claims, only a natural personal can bring a fair business practices act claim.  In addition, if the damage suffered is solely to the plaintiff and therefore, has no potential to damage other consumers, the Act does not apply.   

There is a two year statute of limitation on such actions.  Atlanta business litigation lawyers should be mindful of this statute of limitation.  The act complained of in these claims must be unfair or deceptive.  The statute lists thirty four practices or acts that are unfair or deceptive however this list is not all inclusive and instead is for illustration purposes only.  In addition, the deceptive act must be part of a consumer transaction which is defined in the statute.  

The defendant must also be found to have engaged in a volitional act to avail itself of the channels of consumer conduct.  Law firms should be mindful that this does not mean you must allege intent to defraud.  Intent is not a necessary requirement in these claims. 

Meals in county jails

Saturday, December 17th, 2011

meals in county jail

It is no secret that the food served in county jails across the United States is not usually rated five star. Inmates usually rate food from one to a six on a scale of one to ten depending on what part of the country you are in.

Do they get enough food?

While most county jails serve three meals per day there are certain notable exceptions. The most famous jail is Maricopa County Jail (Arizona) which only serves two meals per day. Maricopa also makes inmates wear pink underwear and live in tents. Sheriff Joe Arpaio is currently under fire for his controversial treatment of inmates.

In general, however, it appears that inmates do receive enough food to get by. They might get hungry during the day but there are ways to subsidize their rations through trading with other inmates and commissary.

Gambling behind bars

Inmates like to gamble and like gamblers on the outside they like to have something at stake. Usually behind bars inmates will gamble for “trays,” or meals. Of course this helps out the winner but somebody who hits a losing streak can be in danger of losing quite a bit of food.

Commissary

A recent inmate in the Boulder County Jail (Colorado) said that if you didn’t have money you were going to be hungry because the food was so bad.

The best way to subsidize small portions in county jail is to order food off of commissary. Most jail commissaries will offer food such as Ramen noodles. If the local food is really bad some inmates will even forego provided meals in favor of commissary items.

The problem with commissary is that it is not cheap and most inmates do not have an income. They must rely on friends and family on the outside for funds to make purchases.

Special inmate recipes

Inmates are nothing if not resourceful. Anybody who has spent significant time behind bars knows a lot of recipes for meals that can be cooked entirely from items from commissary. Some jails don’t offer microwaves to inmates so they come up with creative (and dangerous) ways to heat water.

The most popular hot water heating device is a “stinger.” This is a device that must be plugged in to the wall on one end and dropped into a cup of water providing an electrical current. Water can start boiling within seconds. Many inmates have been electrocuted with this dangerous water heating method.

How to Effectively Advertise Your Do You Bake Website

Monday, December 5th, 2011

direct sales, home business, food, cooking, mlm

One of the key features of Do You Bake’s business opportunity is the consultant website. New consultants are given a free website for an entire year and Do You Bake offers website bonuses for consultants who are promoted to certified cookie consultant level and above. However, to be promoted and gain eligibility for website incentives, you have to reach at least $500 personal sales volume per month, depending on your leadership level. This means that you have to increase your party and online sales. You don’t have to be an Internet marketing expert to increase your website’s traffic and sales, you just have to keep a few things in mind:

Focus on Traffic that Translates to Sales

Many site owners employ methods of marketing to increase their site’s traffic but forget about the purpose of getting traffic in the first place. Since you are selling products, your goal should be quality over quantity. This means that you should focus on attracting more people that would likely make a purchase rather than just getting people to click on a link to your site, giving you lots of traffic but never translating to sales. You’ll know if you are advertising to the wrong people when you get a lot of traffic but your sales do not reflect that number. Make your advertisements relevant and make them available to people who find them relevant. This may be a more tedious process, but it is worth it.

Make Use of Social Media

Social media is such a powerful driving force in e-commerce today. With millions of people logging into social networking sites on a daily basis, you’ll be missing out on a lot if you don’t take full advantage of social media. There are so many plug-ins and services that will allow you to publish your site’s content directly to your social networking pages simultaneously so it would help to have that feature on your consultant website.

Get Reviews

Since Do You Bake Recipes product base focuses on food, you can’t necessarily show your customers online how great they taste. Your next best option is to get reliable reviews from consumers and bloggers. Giving out free samples to popular bloggers can also be a good marketing move; they get to try out some great-tasting products and you get a reliable review in exchange. This is the best way to get the attention you need for your site and your products.

The Internet is such a powerful tool today and has become a necessity for many people to find a Direct Sales Company. As a Do You Bake consultant, you will be given your own website where you can market and sell products, so make full use of it by advertising properly.

Assumption of the Risk Agrument Prevails

Friday, December 2nd, 2011

atlanta personal injury attorney; lawyer; atlanta; georgia; injury lawyer; accident attorney

In a recent decision by the Georgia Court of Appeals, an assumption of the risk argument has prevailed overturning a large plaintiff’s verdict in a product liability case.  The case stemmed from an injury due to a four wheeler roll over.  The plaintiff’s case centered around an argument that the vehicle should have had a door to prevent injury if and when the vehicle rolled over.  The plaintiff injured his leg when the vehicle rolled over onto it.  Apparently, on cross examination at trial, the plaintiff admitted to knowing that it was important to keep hands and legs inside the vehicle because of the possibility it could roll over.  Moreover, the plaintiff acknowledged that the fact that the vehicle did not have a door was beneficial to him and led him to purchase that vehicle. 

As an Atlanta personal injury attorney, assumption of the risk arguments are par for the course.  Usually, they are unsuccessful but as shown above, depending on the facts that are illicited at trial, the defense can carry the day.  Certainly this ruling will be very favorable in the defense of future product liability cases and is one accident attorneys in atlanta should be mindful of in taking on product liability cases for clients going forward. 

As a Georgia car accident lawyer, this ruling does not have much relavance.  While product liability cases can be born out of an everyday car accident case, typically those type of product liability cases do not have facty patterns that would lead to a viable assumption of the risk arguement as was faced in the above case.