Facing Jail or Prison time? Get a power of attorney

I had another client who plead guilty to a crime unrelated to what I was representing him for.  He had to serve some prison time.  Unfortunately, before he went to prison, he did not execute a power of attorney to let somebody else handle the civil case in which I was representing him.  The difficult communications with the imprisoned client caused delays and added expenses in the case. Moral to the story - get a power of attorney. 

Facing a Serious Illness? - Get a Power of Attorney

I had clients, a husband and wife, whom I represented in a large business case.  While the case was pending, when there was a chance to settle the case, both clients became unavailable due to health reasons.  If they had planned ahead and executed a durable power of attorney, one of their children could have stepped in.  Failure to have the power of attorney resulted in significant avoidable problems.  Moral to the story - get a durable power of attorney done. If you make your spouse your agent, make sure you also appoint an alternate. 

Motor Trend's Long-Term Test 2018 Chrysler Pacifica

I have written about stalling problems with Chrysler Pacifica minivans. Motortrend reports that the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Limited that is in their long-term fleet has experienced stalling issues, but it is not yet under recall. For a variety of problems, their vehicle has been in the shop for more than 30 days, and would likely cqualify for lemon law buyback if it were consumer-owned.   The Motortrend long term report #3 is linked here. 

Mitsubishi Mirage heads list of most dangerous vehicles - BUT . . .

I feel like I'm playing "operator" reporting on a Jalopnik article reporting on an iseecars.com study identifying the most dangerous 14 car models on the road in terms of risk of highway fatalities. 

Per this study, the Mitsubishi Mirage has a rate of 10.2 fatalities for every billion passenger miles traveled. The same study calculated the average vehicle at  2.6 fatalities over the same period, so the Mirage was almost four times more dangerous than average by these numbers.

Let's convert these numbers to something more tangible. In the Mirage.  you can expect to be involved in a fatal accident once every 10 hundred million miles.  If you drive on average 35 miles per hour (figuring stopped time etc), that's once every 2,900,000 hours. There are 8766 hours in a year.  Let's call it 88000.  2,900,000/8800 = 329.5.  So if you drove a mitsubishi mirage nonstop for 329 years, you can expect it to result in your death. 

I have no idea what this means, but buckle up and be safe out there.

LFO - LIfetime Funding Options and New Wrinkle on Pension Assignment Scam

I've written before in this blog about the law closing in on the big players in the pension benefit assignment scams.  A recent caller explained experience which appears to be a new wrinkle on the scam.  In their case, LFO, Lifetime Funding Options ceased taking money directly out of the pension, and had the consumer authorize an automatic periodic debit of the account.  Perhaps they think not taking the money out of the pension makes  the deal legal. In my opinion, it does not.  First of all the underlying contract was for illegal payments, whitewashing it through a bank doesn't make it legal.  Secondly if it was an illegal loan before, it is still an illegal loan. If you have an automatic debit coming fro your account from Lifetime Funding Options, please contact me. 

By the way, I heard a report that Lifetime Funding Options has ceased answering its phones, and may or may not still be in business.