Legal Ease Newsletter: 1997 Summer

• There are more lawyers in Washington, D.C., than in all of Japan.
  
  
• A company can refuse to hire a person who has filed for bankruptcy.  Although the Bankruptcy Code prohibits discrimination against employees who file for bankruptcy, it does not apply to applicants.
  
  
• A recent study by The American Association of Retired Persons revealed that:
  
  ...26% do not have a will.
  
  ...77% do not have a financial power of attorney.
  
  ...84% do not have a health care power of attorney.
  
  ...77% do not have a living will.
  
  
• A landlord is liable in New Hampshire if a tenant is assaulted by a criminal, where:
  
  
  1. a property defect such as a broken lock or window latch enhances the risk of attack.
     
     
  2. the landlord agrees to provide specific safety measures and then fails to do so.
     
     
• The law is the only place where one person is called a party.
  
  
• In Indiana—and most likely New Hampshire—if a farmer fails to take reasonable care to keep her cows penned up, she is liable for traffic accidents caused by wandering cows.
  
  
• A worker in New Hampshire who had a heart attack during a lunchtime volleyball game was covered by workers’ compensation.
  
  
• A non-compete agreement may be unenforceable if the employer is sold to another company.  In many cases, the agreement not to compete is not assignable to another company without the employee’s consent.
  
  
• Employees who have poor judgment, are chronically late or are irritable may have to be “accommodated” under the ADA if such behavior is the result of mental illness.