How to Prepare for a Consultation

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Your Frequently Asked Questions

For your Thursday post, I want to highlight one of the FAQ sections from the New Client Welcome Center on the main law firm webpage.

When should I make an appointment?

We recommend that you plan to make an appointment 2 days in advance.  This will give us greater flexibility in creating our schedule and allows us to prepare for our meeting.

If you have a pressing matter and need to meet sooner, we will do our absolute best to accommodate your schedule.

How should I dress for our meeting?

If you need to make an appearance in court, we’ll discuss your wardrobe; but until then just dress comfortably and avoid anything with offensive slogans or images.

What should I bring with me?

Make sure that you bring all of the relevant documents that might help us to evaluate your case.  This includes any court documents, letters, pictures, reports, and medical records.

Bring the necessary documents so that you can fill out the Client Intake Form (Fig. 1).  Also, please bring any contact information you have for people that are associated with your case (both for and against).

Who else should come with me?

The Attorney-Client Privilege allows you and your attorney to discuss the gritty details of your case without fear of someone forcing your attorney to disclose anything you have revealed.

At Matthew Harris Law, we take the Attorney-Client Privilege very seriously and hold your information in the strictest of confidences.  If we allow people that aren’t directly related to your case, such as family members and friends, then you may inadvertently waive that privilege and your attorney could be forced to disclose what you have revealed.

So in an effort to preserve your rights, we ask that you not bring family members or friends to your meetings with us.  If you must bring someone else with you, then explain to them why they must sit in the waiting room instead of sitting in the meeting.

Are my children allowed to come to my meeting?

Because much of our practice is devoted to Family Law, we love spending time with kids and truly look forward to helping their legal situations. 

We aren’t like other law firms that prohibit children from the office, but we do encourage you to leave children with a caregiver, if they are not directly involved in the case, during your meeting so we can focus on your legal issues. 

Matthew Harris Law - New Client Welcome Center

1001 Main Street, Suite 806, Lubbock, Texas, 79401-3322

Attorney@MatthewHarrisLaw.com 

(806) 702-4852 

www.MatthewHarrisLaw.com

You're Fired!

Fear Friday

Unfortunately, in this economy, getting fired/laid off/let go/etc. is happening at an alarming rate.  Maybe you thought you were doing pretty good work, or maybe you knew you it was coming.

Regardless, most people do not think they deserved being fired and ask me what their legal options are regarding wrongful termination.  Below, we’ll discuss this more in-depth.

“We find it’s always better to fire people on a Friday; studies have statistically shown that there’s less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week.” —Office Space

Texas Employment Law

Texas subscribes to the “at-will-employment” doctrine.  Essentially, this means that when you accept employment at a job, unless you have entered into a contract for different terms, you are guaranteed employment until you quit or you get fired, whichever occurs first. 

I bet you’re confused.  This doctrine gives you the freedom to quit for any reason you want, no matter how silly or outrageous.  Actually, you can even quit for no reason at all.  However, the other side of this freedom coin gives your employer the right to fire you for any reason, or even no reason at all.  Well, almost any reason, there are some limitations.

Reasons You Can’t Be Fired For

Obviously, our society is better served when we disallow businesses from engaging in discriminatory practices.  For that reason, an employer can’t fire you (or take any adverse employment action against you) based on your race, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, possibly sexual preference, or other protected classification.

In addition, there are some Public-Policy Exceptions that employers cannot fire/act against you.  Your employer cannot fire you because you’ve been called for Jury Duty, because you filed a Worker’s Compensation Claim, for refusing to break the law for your employer, being a whistle-blower, or filing a discrimination claim.

How to Protect Yourself from Employment-at-Will

If you and your employer enter into an employment contract, then the conditions of your job will be governed by your agreement.  Most standard employment contracts outline that you can be terminated “for cause,” which means that they need a reason to fire you.

However, if you are contemplating bringing a wrongful employment lawsuit against a former employer, remember that the burden will be on you to prove that you and your employer entered into such a contract and the terms of the agreement. 

Most employers won’t agree to such a contract because they like the freedom of firing people at will.  But remember, even though you don’t have the luxury of an employment contract, be thankful that you even have a job right now in these difficult times. 

--Authored by Matthew L. Harris, Esq.,

Matthew Harris Law, PLLC  - Business Law Division

1001 Main Street, Suite 806, Lubbock, Texas, 79401-3322

Tel: (806) 702-4852 | Fax: (806) 576-1318

Attorney@MatthewHarrisLaw.com 

Booby-Traps on Property

Trespassers Will Be Shot, Survivors Shot Twice

What would you think if I told you that it is legal under Texas law to set up booby-traps to protect your property?

That’s right, under Texas Law you have the right to use a booby-trap, the law says “device” but I prefer to call it a booby-trap, to protect your property.

Now the first questions in your mind are probably “What exactly do you mean by Booby-Trap?” and “What kind of property are we talking about?”

What is a Booby-Trap?

One of the most memorable cases I read in law school was about a homeowner, who had a problem with trespassers, who set up a "spring-gun" that would automatically fire a shotgun at knee height when a trespasser opened the door.

Well he got in trouble for that, but that’s not the kind of booby-trap we’re talking about.  When I say booby trap, you probably imagine some sort of Wil E. Coyote style contraption.  What we're talking about today though isn't some sort deep pit filled with alligators, or even a bear trap hidden under a dinner plate.

Specifically, your booby-trap can't be "designed to cause, or known by [you] to create a substantial risk of causing, death or serious bodily injury."  Also, use of the booby-trap must be reasonable under all of the circumstances as you believe them to be when installing it. 

I’m not going to give you opinions on what kinds of booby-traps would qualify here, but I imagine that it is something that would be an annoying deterrent rather than an actual “trap.”  (Do NOT trap people!)

Use of Force

If your booby-trap constitutes the use of force on anyone, then you must take great care and consideration before deploying it because use of force requires that you reasonably believe that force is immediately necessary.  

If your booby-trap uses force on someone that it wasn’t reasonable to use force on (child wanders on your property) then you will probably have your own crime to answer for.

What Kind of Property?

Under Texas Law, you can use your booby-trap (“device”) to protect both land and tangible, movable property.  However, you can’t set up booby-traps to protect just any property, you must be in lawful possession of it. 

Additionally, Texas Law allows you to protect the property of a third person if you reasonably believe that they requested your protection; you have a legal duty to protect it, or if the third party is your spouse, parent, child, resides with you, or is under your care.

Source: Tex. Pen. Code §§ 9.41, 9.43, & 9.44

--Authored by Matthew L. Harris, Esq.,

Matthew Harris Law - Property Law Division & Criminal Defense Division

1001 Main Street, Suite 806, Lubbock, Texas, 79401-3322

Attorney@MatthewHarrisLaw.com 

(806) 702-4852 

www.MatthewHarrisLaw.com