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59 votes

Can I forbid the government from using my patented invention?

Can you prevent the government from using your patent? The opposite is actually true. If you patent something, and it is felt to be potentially of national security interest, then they can take your ...
Dewi Morgan's user avatar
53 votes
Accepted

Can I forbid the government from using my patented invention?

You cannot deny the federal government the right to use your patent, but you can sue them for "recovery of [your] reasonable and entire compensation for such use and manufacture", see 28 USC 1498. ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 196k
44 votes

Is it legal to go take my license plates off a car I sold, without realizing I should keep my plates?

License plates in Texas are governed by the Texas TRANSPORTATION CODE, TITLE 7. VEHICLES AND TRAFFIC, SUBTITLE A. CERTIFICATES OF TITLE AND REGISTRATION OF VEHICLES, CHAPTER 504 LICENSE PLATES Texas ...
David Siegel's user avatar
40 votes
Accepted

Can I get reimbursed if police shot the window of my car during a standoff?

There is no legal obligation of the police or any of its officers to reimburse you. It comes within a police powers exception to the 5th Amendment obligation to provide compensation for takings. ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
35 votes
Accepted

A sitting judge is claiming to represent a client against me. Should I file a bar complaint?

No, the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct permits County Judges to practice law except "in the court on which he or she serves or in any court subject to the appellate jurisdiction of the county court, ...
David Reed's user avatar
35 votes

Is it legal to go take my license plates off a car I sold, without realizing I should keep my plates?

Since this happened in Texas, we can refer to the Texas DMV: Vehicles are required to be titled in the buyer's name within 30 days from the date of sale. Failing to properly transfer a vehicle into ...
shoover's user avatar
  • 500
35 votes
Accepted

Is the new Texas law on social media invalid on first amendment grounds?

most likely The government can't compel people to some sort of speech under the 1st amendment. Forcing a company to host people is compelled speech by the company. It is well established that the ...
Trish's user avatar
  • 27.1k
32 votes

I abandoned my bicycle in the parking of the apartment I was living (Houston, Texas), what will happen?

I gather that you either a) don't want the bike or b) are physically unable to retrieve it. You are acting like a spectator here. You ARE involved. By doing nothing, you are creating trouble for ...
Harper - Reinstate Monica's user avatar
32 votes
Accepted

Can a trans man get an abortion in Texas where a woman can't?

Ever changing ordinary definitions do not change what the law makers meant The cited piece of law dates back to 1989. At that time, it was virtually inconceivable that "woman" could ...
Greendrake's user avatar
  • 23.6k
30 votes

Is self-defense mutually exclusive of murder?

The simple answer to the question you asked is that they are not mutually exclusive. Self-defense and “castle doctrine” are defenses. A person can be charged and tried for murder, and one or both of ...
Damila's user avatar
  • 1,630
29 votes
Accepted

US laws of firing an employee

At Will Employment - In General An "at will" employee in the U.S. can be fired at any time for any reason without any prior notice or warning. Outside a union shop or a civil service ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
28 votes
Accepted

Is it legal for a company to enter an agreement not to hire employees from another company?

Among other stories via Google, some major companies lost a 2015 civil lawsuit brought by their employees: Apple, Google, others settle antipoaching lawsuit for $415 million - CNET Filed by former ...
BlueDogRanch's user avatar
  • 18.3k
28 votes

Would Georgie’s “Teddy Bear Casino” from Young Sheldon actually be legal?

Potentially -- this is almost exactly how Pachinko parlors in Japan operate, with non-cash prizes being given out, but with "known" nearby establishments (sometime located in the same ...
sharur's user avatar
  • 8,667
25 votes
Accepted

Do the police need probable cause or a search warrant to search a rental car being driven by someone who didnt rent the vehicle?

In general, people have less expectation of privacy in cars than in their homes. To challenge a search and/or seizure under the Fourth Amendment, a person must have standing - the right to sue (that ...
Erica's user avatar
  • 366
25 votes

Do judges really care about perjury?

Perjury is more than a lie It is a knowing deceit undertaken with the express purpose of misleading the court on a material issue. It isn’t misremembering, or contradicting oneself (or others), or ...
Dale M's user avatar
  • 182k
24 votes

Can a trans man get an abortion in Texas where a woman can't?

If we were to interpret this law as allowing some people to get an abortion but not others, it would likely be unconstitutional, as it would violate equal protection. When given a choice between ...
D M's user avatar
  • 6,657
19 votes

Can I get reimbursed if police shot the window of my car during a standoff?

I highly recommend having a quick chat with your auto insurance agent. The insurance company has seen almost every situation you can imagine - and many you couldn't - and tend to be experts in ...
bta's user avatar
  • 1,214
19 votes

Divorced mom pays mortgage. She wants to get title in her name

Short Answer Usually, a divorce decree doesn't leave former spouses as co-owners of the former marital residence, but sometimes this happens anyway. To oversimplify, if the divorce decree leaves a ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
19 votes

What kind of civil action is created by the Texas Heartbeat Act?

As the answer by Dale M correctly states, it is a statutory cause of action. To classify it further, it would be a strict-liability tort, I believe, as there need be no proof of damages, and there is ...
David Siegel's user avatar
18 votes

Is the new Texas law on social media invalid on first amendment grounds?

That will be determined later by the courts. You might think so, if Facebook etc. were strictly private platforms. Knight First Amdt. Inst. at Columbia Univ. v. Trump, 928 F. 3d 226 somewhat ...
user6726's user avatar
  • 196k
18 votes
Accepted

Personal Misconduct That May Result in a Lawyer's Censure or Disbarment

The Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct govern the issue of the grounds upon which lawyers admitted to practice in Texas may receive professional discipline such as censures, suspension ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
16 votes
Accepted

Expungement of Arrest and Court Records after Death

Sorry for your loss. It appears that this is generally possible. Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, Title I, Chapter 55, Article 55.011: Art. 55.011. RIGHT OF CLOSE RELATIVE TO SEEK EXPUNCTION ON ...
Nate Eldredge's user avatar
16 votes

I was fired for refusing to work with Typhoid, do I have any recourse?

Read the answers to your previous question. You should not have gone to work anyway. That would have been stupid and irresponsible. You would have endangered the public and would have been liable for ...
BlueDogRanch's user avatar
  • 18.3k
16 votes

Is self-defense mutually exclusive of murder?

A charge of murder means that the government are accusing someone of intentionally and unlawfully killing someone else. A charge is an accusation, not a conviction. A conviction is when you are found ...
Shazamo Morebucks's user avatar
16 votes

What is the average cost of attending law school?

This answer is limited to options in the United States. According to the U.S. News and World Report annual survey of over 197 law programs, the average cost of attending a private law school is $43,...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
14 votes

What options are there for executor when no close family member is available?

Often one chooses your accountant, your financial advisor, or your lawyer. Another option is to appoint the trust department of a bank. I personally, as a lawyer, have a policy of not consenting to do ...
ohwilleke's user avatar
  • 173k
12 votes

Would Georgie’s “Teddy Bear Casino” from Young Sheldon actually be legal?

australia It's been used in other places legally. I don't know whether or not it'd be legal in Texas, but similar schemes have been used legally in other places. For example, in Queensland, Australia, ...
nick012000's user avatar
  • 1,613
12 votes

Who can stop a member of the public from peacefully protesting a private club who rents their space?

The club renting space from the shopping center makes no difference; the difference is public vs. private land. The legal controller of the land you are on - whether the shopping center, the club or ...
BlueDogRanch's user avatar
  • 18.3k
11 votes

Does Texas have a legal right to leave the Union or secede?

The U. S. Supreme Court ruled in 1869 that states may not unilaterally secede. The state litigant in the case was Texas. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_v._White
phoog's user avatar
  • 31.1k
11 votes

Is the new Texas law on social media invalid on first amendment grounds?

No one knows how the courts will eventually rule on this law, or on the somewhat similar Florida law now being litigated. It is true, as the answer by Trish says, that the government cannot compel a ...
David Siegel's user avatar

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