All articles — page 9

The full archive in alphabetical order, across every field.

Summary, Special and General Courts-Martial Compared

Article 16 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice classifies courts-martial as summary, special or general. A summary court-martial is a single officer with sharply limited punishment power that an accused may refuse. A special court-martial sits with a military judge, alone or with members, and may adjudge up to a year of confinement and a bad-conduct discharge. A general court-martial may impose whatever the punitive article authorizes and must be preceded by a preliminary hearing.

5 min readFederal law

Mining & Mineral Rights

Surface Mining Permits and the Reclamation Bond

Surface coal mining requires a permit from the state regulatory authority under an approved program, or from the federal office where none exists. The application carries ownership disclosures, hydrologic analysis and a reclamation plan the regulator must find achievable. A performance bond is set at the cost for a third party to complete that plan, and it is released in phases as backfilling, revegetation and the liability period are successively completed.

6 min readFederal and state

Franchise & Distribution

System Standards, Mandatory Remodels and Who Pays

Franchise agreements incorporate an operations manual by reference and reserve the right to modify it during the term, which is how new equipment, technology, products and image standards become mandatory. Remodel obligations arise from a periodic upgrade clause, at renewal, or on transfer. Courts generally enforce express reservations, limiting review to the implied covenant, while a few state acts reach changes that substantially alter an outlet's competitive position.

7 min readFederal law

Tribal & Indian Law

Taking Land Into Trust and the Objections That Follow

The Secretary of the Interior may acquire land in trust for a tribe or an individual Indian under the Indian Reorganization Act and other statutes, following the land acquisition regulations. The criteria differ for on-reservation and off-reservation parcels, and off-reservation applications draw greater scrutiny as distance from the reservation grows. Local governments receive notice and may comment on tax and jurisdictional effects, and an adverse decision may be appealed.

5 min readFederal law

Franchise & Distribution

Termination and the State Relationship Statutes

Where a state franchise or dealership act applies, a franchisor may terminate only for good cause, generally defined as failure to comply with a lawful material requirement after written notice and a reasonable opportunity to cure. Notice periods run from ten days for nonpayment to ninety days for ordinary defaults, with shorter or no notice for insolvency, abandonment, conviction and health hazards. Contract terms inconsistent with the statute are void in the enacting state.

6 min readState law

Franchise & Distribution

Territory Rights, Encroachment and Reserved Channels

A franchise territory is defined by the grant clause and narrowed by the reservations that follow it. Exclusivity is usually limited to the placement of another outlet of the same brand within a described area, while the franchisor reserves alternative channels, non-traditional venues, national accounts and the right to operate acquired systems. Encroachment claims therefore rest on the implied covenant, on state relationship statutes, or on statements contradicting the disclosure document.

6 min readState law

Military Justice & Veterans Appeals

The Article 32 Preliminary Hearing and What It Decides

Before charges reach a general court-martial, Article 32 requires a preliminary hearing before an impartial officer, ordinarily a judge advocate. The statute limits the hearing to whether each specification alleges an offense, whether probable cause exists, whether the convening authority has jurisdiction, and what disposition to recommend. The officer produces a written report, and the recommendation in it binds no one.

5 min readFederal law

Immigration & Naturalization

The Certificate of Loss of Nationality and Its Review

Where a consular officer has reason to believe that a person abroad has performed an act causing loss of United States nationality, the officer certifies the facts to the Department of State. The department approves or disapproves, and that decision is the final administrative determination. An approved certificate is furnished to the person and transmitted to the immigration authorities. Reconsideration and a statutory action in district court are the routes for challenging it.

6 min readFederal law

Immigration & Naturalization

The DS-5535 and the Fifteen-Year Question Set

The supplemental questionnaire used by consular officers collects biographic detail beyond the standard application: travel, addresses, and employment across fifteen years, family names and dates of birth, and identifiers used online and by telephone across five years. It is issued at an officer's discretion after the application has been refused pending further processing. The refusal is a refusal for reporting purposes, and the case remains unresolved until the vetting behind it concludes.

6 min readFederal law

Military Justice & Veterans Appeals

The Duty to Assist and What a Claimant Must Still Supply

Under 38 U.S.C. 5103A the agency must make reasonable efforts to assist a claimant in obtaining evidence necessary to substantiate a claim. Federal records are pursued until obtained or shown not to exist; private records require the claimant's authorization; a medical examination or opinion is provided when a low evidentiary threshold is met. The duty does not extend to claims with no reasonable possibility of substantiation, and it does not apply at every stage of the review system.

5 min readFederal law

Legal Ethics & Responsibility

The Exceptions That Permit a Lawyer to Disclose

The model confidentiality rule permits, but does not require, disclosure to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm, to prevent or mitigate substantial financial injury from a client crime or fraud in which the lawyer's services were used, to obtain ethics advice, to establish a claim or defense in a controversy with the client, to comply with other law or a court order, and to detect conflicts on a change of employment. Disclosure is limited to what is reasonably necessary.

6 min readState law

Immigration & Naturalization

The Fee That Comes After the Visa and Before the Card

After an immigrant visa is issued and before the permanent resident card is produced, the immigration agency collects a separate fee covering the processing of the visa packet on arrival and the production of the card itself. The payment is made online using the case identifier and registration number printed on the visa. Non-payment does not affect the status acquired on admission; it prevents the card from being produced, which leaves the new resident without ordinary documentary proof.

5 min readFederal law

Fields of law

This journal

All articles — page 9

Summary, Special and General Courts-Martial Compared

Surface Mining Permits and the Reclamation Bond

System Standards, Mandatory Remodels and Who Pays

Taking Land Into Trust and the Objections That Follow

Termination and the State Relationship Statutes

Territory Rights, Encroachment and Reserved Channels

The Article 32 Preliminary Hearing and What It Decides

The Certificate of Loss of Nationality and Its Review

The DS-5535 and the Fifteen-Year Question Set

The Duty to Assist and What a Claimant Must Still Supply

The Exceptions That Permit a Lawyer to Disclose

The Fee That Comes After the Visa and Before the Card