The U.S. justice system, particularly the country's sentencing structure for certain crimes, is far from perfect. In some instances, those convicted of murderer receive shorter prison sentences than those convicted of so-called victimless crimes such as marijuana drug possession. This is because laws for certain crimes have been passed that mandate an automatic minimum sentence regardless of the particular situation. In recent years, particularly in the wake of recreational marijuana legalization in various states, the public has questioned the feasibility of these ...

What kind of law firm do you want handling the legal needs of your business? In the past, many successful businesses unquestionably turned to the big-law general practice, where hundreds of attorneys practiced law over a wide array of practice areas. In today's dynamic business environment, however, the better option for meeting a company's legal needs is increasingly a specialty boutique firm. Boutique law firms are typically small offices of 5 to 15 attorneys. Boutique firms have a more specialized, narrow focus, confining their services to a given practice area or ...

Continuing a tradition begun by its founder, Theodore I. Koskoff, the law firm Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder announced today that one of its attorneys has been certified to the National Board of Trial Advocacy. J. Craig Smith is the latest Koskoff attorney to meet the requirements to become certified with the National Board of Trial Advocacy, the Bridgeport-based firm said. Smith specializes in cases involving complex legal questions and the vindication of plaintiffs' rights. His multimillion dollar settlements and verdicts include a case against a trucking company ...

Providence Insurance Group, a Georgia small group health insurance broker, finds that in health care as in life, people see better results the more involved they are in the process. New research published in February's issue of Health Affairs confirms this theory, showing that patients' level of engagement in their health care corresponds inversely with how much they pay for health care. Patients who are invested in their overall wellbeing and are highly engaged in ensuring that they receive the best health care have significantly lower average healthcare costs than ...

You have pored over the details of the cake, dress, centerpieces, and seating plan for your special day. What often gets overlooked in the commotion of the wedding day festivities is the transportation of the wedding party. Atlanta bus rental company, Samson Trailways explains that leaving this important detail up in the air or at the mercy of family members can add undue stress, hassle, and safety concerns. Hiring a professional Atlanta charter bus company will ensure that your wedding party arrives at the venue on time and as quickly and safely as possible, allowing ...

With spring storms just over the horizon, many Atlanta residents are worried about the health and safety of their trees--and the mess that most Atlanta tree removal services leave behind when unhealthy or dangerous trees have to be removed. Removing the tree seems easy when homeowners are faced with getting rid of an unsightly stump by themselves when a tree removal service leaves it behind. The Atlanta tree services professionals at Yellow Ribbon Tree Experts understand that a tree removal job is not finished until the stump is removed as well. The company has specialized ...

Austin staffing agency recognizes the value of connections. TRC Staffing Services, Inc, a leading Austin staffing agency, would like to discuss the value of student-career advisor relationships. Higher education has long been an opportunity that people strive for; obtaining a college degree improves marketability to potential employers in addition to providing a lasting network of professional contacts. Students coming straight out of high school often do not think of the end of their college careers; four years can fly by, however, which is why students need to establish ...

The Tampa bankruptcy lawyers, Clark & Washington, would like to discuss football legend Warren Sapp's recent bankruptcy filing. It is very common for celebrities, especially professional athletes, to find themselves in financial straits. Although they make a lot of money (Sapp had a reported net worth of $82 million), they often the lack the economic know-how to effectively manage their income. Unlike their fellow wealthy patrons, athletes are often thrust into the world of the rich and the famous after coming from working and middle class backgrounds. The bankruptcy ...

The Orlando bankruptcy attorneys, Clark & Washington, would like to shed some light on the decision by Casey Anthony to file bankruptcy. Now a household name, the mother that was acquitted of killing her 5 year old daughter in 2008 reportedly owes $800,000 in liabilities with only $1,000 in assets. The bankruptcy attorneys in Orlando note that a large portion of this debt is the result of her trial that shocked the nation. The expenses include nearly $200,000 that was paid by Anthony for professional photographs, in addition to the mass of fees that were charged by ...

Topper Worldwide, a premier Atlanta limo service, wants fans to consider renting a car service in Atlanta before the next big game. Fans' pre-game warm-up should be filled with food, drinks and merriment before they root on their favorite team. The staff at Topper Worldwide want to help make that pre-game ritual memorable. From luxury sedans to stylish party buses, Topper Worldwide has a vehicle perfect for your next game experience. Why worry about driving to the stadium, parking and paying for parking when you can have a wonderful time in the back of party bus in Atlanta? ...

The Atlanta pest control firm, Team Pest USA, is proud to announce that it has recently launched a new location in Norcross. The company hopes that the new location will allow them to a broader range of customers and to attract new clients in the area. Now more than ever, Atlanta pest control services are in high demand. Spring is just around the corner, which is the prime season for many household pests. It is important to remember that bugs like mosquitos take shelter in the winter in the ground, which means they emerge very quickly when the weather starts to warm up. ...

Nicaragua's capital Managua made the third position in the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Strategy category of American Cities of the Future 2013/14 ranking, published by fDi Intelligence, a division of The Financial Times. Managua was only outranked by Montreal and Toronto, meaning that as a country, Nicaragua placed 2nd only after Canada. It is also worth noting that Managua was the only city in Central America ranked in the top ten within this category. In its submission, PRONicaragua, the official investment and export promotion agency, revealed the strategies of ...

Anthem Marketing Solutions has released the fifth installment of their bi-annual study comparing online and in-store pricing of consumer goods across a range of commonly purchased categories, and for the first time including an analysis of pre- and post-holiday trends. The results show that overall, the in-store channel holds a slight advantage with 55% of the observations favoring this channel. However, that advantage is not consistent across categories and price tiers. Two key trends emerged from comparing results from the study with previous iterations. Among higher ...

Rainmaker Advisory LLC, a leading consulting firm in the U.S. dedicated to providing services exclusively to the retail insurance broking sector, today announced the results from its annual nationwide survey of US Domestic insurance producers of all disciplines: The Ten Most Common Mistakes Producers Made in 2012. David Estrada, Founder, Rainmaker Advisory, said, "This year's results revealed a lack of focus around the sales process, the need to develop coherent and organized sales initiatives, and an overall lack of clarity related to basic target client definition. ...

After conducting a nationwide test of technicians from its member companies, NationaLease is pleased to announce the regional winners of the Third Annual Tech Challenge exam. The highest-scoring technicians from each region will represent their member company in the next round of competition. Each of the winners will participate in the hands-on competition, which will take place during the NationaLease Spring Maintenance Managers Meeting this May, in Schaumburg, IL. The top three finalists in the competition will represent NationaLease at TMC's Annual SuperTech Competition ...

Shell Oil Company is once again teaming up with Great Minds in STEM (GMiS) to host the highly acclaimed, nationally-recognized GMiS STEM Showdown , in New Orleans, on Friday, April 12, 2013, at the Lindy Boggs International Conference Center, on the University of New Orleans. The event is set to begin at 8:30 AM. The STEM Showdown is a GMiS-led initiative that brings together underserved high school students and college students to compete in a series of intense science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) challenges. Student teams participate in hands-on exercises ...

The H1 visas disappeared in a flash this year....in fact, they needed a lottery in order to ascertain who will get one. At this point in time none of SanDiegoBizLaw's clients have heard whether they received one and we don't expect an answer for over two weeks' time. The CIS will begin processing the Premium Processing [i.e. those who paid an extra $1225 for 15 calendar-day service] cases on April 15th. However, it's great news for the economy, as this is the best temperature check, states Steven Riznyk of SanDiegoBizLaw.com, law and business consulting firm that has been ...

"Mercy Row is a novel set in 1920s and 1930s Philadelphia. It's the fictional story of the rise of a North Philadelphia crime family that was also responsible for building the homes and factories that make up this blue-collar area of the city. Despite the violent trials and tribulations caused by rival gangs from South Philadelphia and Chicago, Jacob Byrne and Franklin Garrett, with the help of the Irish immigrants who settled the Kensington area, build a formidable Irish mob. This legal and criminal enterprise keeps North Philadelphia free from the Mafia for over ...

Joseph Hollander & Craft LLC rang in the new year by expanding the firm's family law department. Associate Rebecca Sisk joined Joseph Hollander & Craft's Wichita office in January 2013. She practices family law alongside Julia Craft and Boyd McPherson. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Sisk worked in Chanute, Kansas, as an assistant city attorney. She also handled family law cases for a private firm. Ms. Sisk is a graduate of Washburn University School of Law. She completed her undergraduate studies at Kansas State University. Joseph Hollander & Craft looks ...

The average UK worker sends and receives 10,000 emails a year and one in ten spend the whole working day on a computer or mobile phone. That's according to new research released by npower, which documents how electronic devices have transformed our working lives over the past 60 years. The study, produced by Warwick Business School to support the 'Remember How We Used To Work' online archive from npower, which has been created on Historypin.com and maps out the increasing use of office gadgets through the years; from typewriters to telex, computers to smartphones, it ...

Environmental change can drive hard-wired evolutionary changes in animal species in a matter of generations. A study by Umeå University ecologist Tom Cameron and a research team at University of Leeds overturns the common assumption that evolution only occurs gradually over hundreds or thousands of years. The results are published in the journal Ecology Letters. Instead, researchers found significant genetically transmitted changes in laboratory populations of soil mites in just 15 generations leading to a doubling of the age at which the mites reached adulthood and large ...

Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society GUMBOS technology promises new drugs, electronic devices NEW ORLEANS, April 10, 2013 — Mention a breakthrough involving "gumbo" technology in this city, and people think of a new twist on The Local Dish, the stew that's the quintessence of southern Louisiana cooking. But scientific presentations at a meeting of the world's largest scientific society this week are focusing on what may be an advance in developing GUMBOS-based materials with far-reaching ...

Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Overcoming a major barrier to medical and other uses of 'microrockets' and 'micromotors' NEW ORLEANS, April 10, 2013 — An advance in micromotor technology akin to the invention of cars that fuel themselves from the pavement or air, rather than gasoline or batteries, is opening the door to broad new medical and industrial uses for these tiny devices, scientists said here today. Their update on development of the motors — so small that thousands ...

Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Major symposium on arsenic contamination in food and water supplies NEW ORLEANS, April 10, 2013 — After virtually eliminating arsenic as a useful tool for homicide, science now faces challenges in doing the same for natural sources of this fabled old "inheritance powder" that contaminates water supplies and food, threatening more than 35 million people worldwide. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of a popular book documenting arsenic's ...

Michael Woods m_woods@acs.org 504-670-4707 (New Orleans Press Center, April 5-10) 202-872-6293 American Chemical Society Understanding the life of lithium ion batteries in electric vehicles NEW ORLEANS, April 10, 2013 — Scientists today answered a question that worries millions of owners and potential owners of electric and hybrid vehicles using lithium-ion batteries: How long before the battery pack dies, leaving a sticker-shock bill for a fresh pack or a car ready for the junk heap? Their answer, presented here at the 245th National Meeting & Exposition of ...