(Prudent Press Agency) --- This August, President Obama signed the Airline Safety and Federal Aviation Administration Extension Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-216) into law. The Act is the first piece of major federal legislation aimed at strengthening airline safety standards passed in the last 20 years.

Most notably, the Act requires all commercial airline pilots to have completed a minimum of 1500 flight hours in addition to "appropriate" operational experience before they may begin piloting commercial passenger flights. Prior to the law's enactment, pilots needed to complete as little as 250 hours before being hired by an airline.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- BHM Financial Group, a privately owned financing company specializing in bad and no credit loans has announced their most recent addition to their lending base. The new division "LegalLoans," will specialize in the funding of loans for legal fees incurred in Divorce, Child Custody and Separation proceedings in Canada. This has come about due to BHM Financial's sponsoring of Divorce PortalCA.com which focuses on delivering information on Divorce, Child Custody and Separation matters. Offering an unbiased informational portal, visitors can look for information about Divorce, Child Custody and Separation and their options including a listing of attorneys and self help links.

After repeated inquires from divorceportalca.com's visitors regarding the inability to afford legal fees and cover court costs, BHM Financial became conscious of a need to offer funding that does not require the same lending criteria as mainstream lenders. BHM Financial has a history of providing a specialized type of lending and offers private financing which bypasses the red tape often involved in funding loans for individuals with less than stellar credit. This means faster loan approval and funding; usually within 24 hours. Similar to BHM Financial's car, truck, boat and RV title loan division, LegalLoans base their funding on collateral, not on credit scores reaching a client base typically not supported by standard financial institutions - those with bad credit. Loans are secured by the equity in the borrower's vehicle.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- A leading expert in personal injury litigation is calling on Kenneth Feinberg, the "Oil Spill Czar" who was appointed by President Obama to administer the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, to reconsider his proposal to terminate claim payments to victims of the BP oil spill 90 days after the capping of the underwater oil well.

Feinberg, who is overseeing claim payments from a $20 billion fund established by BP to compensate victims of the world's largest accidental oil spill, has proposed to open up the claims window for the next 90 days. Although the legal rights of victims who receive final compensation have been a subject of negotiations, under Feinberg's plan the victims who accept final payment from the fund can't seek additional compensation from BP in court.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Four attorneys from the Burlington, Vermont law firm, Sylvester & Maley, Inc. were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2011.

In the guide, Sylvester & Maley was top rated in Vermont for medical malpractice law having 3 attorneys listed. They are Alan F. Sylvester, John P. Maley and Christopher J. Maley, selected to Best Lawyers® in the field of plaintiff’s medical malpractice.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue issued an executive order earlier this month to appoint Marion T. Pope, Jr. as Senior Appellate Judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals.

Judge Pope, who is the former Chief Judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals and served on the Court for more than 20 years from 1981-2002, has been in private practice as of counsel at the Georgia law firm Hasty Pope LLP. He is returning to the Court of Appeals to provide temporary assistance and is expected to serve until the end of the September 2010 Term, or until a successor to former Judge Debra Bernes is sworn-in as a judge on the Court.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Defense lawyers for four individuals under prosecution by the U.S. Attorney for operating a medical marijuana dispensary in Hayward, Calif., recently filed a motion to dismiss an additional criminal charge of possession of firearms.

The case, U.S. v. Norton et al (No. CR 07-0683 DLJ), is proceeding in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The decision by the government to indict and prosecute the operators of a licensed medical marijuana dispensary for drug trafficking under federal law has attracted much criticism by legal observers who note that the citizens of California passed a law in 1996 permitting the sale and use of marijuana for medicinal purposes.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- A peer-reviewed research paper published this week suggests that athletes and soldiers who have been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, may actually have suffered from concussions or other brain trauma injuries.

The study was conducted by doctors at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bedord, Mass. and the Boston University School of Medicine, and was published in the September 2010 issue of The Journal of Neuropathology & Experimental Neurology.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- In 2007, Governor Martin O'Malley in conjunction with the Department of Probation and Parole (DPP) introduced the Violence Prevention Initiative to identify and supervise the most violent offenders in Maryland. The ultimate goal of the program is to stop the revolving door for serious offenders in the criminal justice system by better monitoring their behavior through strict supervision requirements.

The Violence Prevention Initiative (VPI) turns three years old this summer and will receive an award for innovation from the National Criminal Justice Association in August. In an interview with the Washington Examiner, Patrick McGee, the director of the state's probation and parole department, says that setting expectations and putting supervision at the front of the offender's mind has been key to the program's success. McGee says offenders know that if they have one violation or missed appointment, DPP officials are going to request that action be taken in the courts.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Kenneth Newman, DVM, author of Meet Me at the Rainbow Bridge, met with Florida State Representative Rick Kriseman, and Liada LaBonte, Chief Legislative Assistant to Florida State Senator Dennis Jones, to find a sponsor for Gracie’s Law.

Dr. Newman composed Gracie’s Law to honor Gracie, his deceased Labrador Retriever, who was killed by a negligent driver that backed up 25 yards without looking, crushing Gracie and Dr. Newman between the two cars. The proposed law allows the owner of a pet that is killed through a deliberate act of malice or through an act of negligence to compensation for loss of companionship and pain and suffering. The laws in all 50 states consider pets as property, and an owner is only entitled to the cash value of a pet at the time of its death.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Jackson Walker partner Albon Head recently was awarded the 2010 Law “Good Scout” Award by the Longhorn Council of Boy Scouts of America.

The Law “Good Scout” Award is an annual award that honors a well-respected attorney known for his or her strong character and respect within the Fort Worth community. The award was presented to Mr. Head in Fort Worth, Texas.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- President Obama's July signing of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act brings increased oversight to an industry that many feel recklessly brought about "The Great Recession" and sent the economy into a tailspin. The stated aims of the new law include improving transparency and accountability in the financial system, ending bailouts by American taxpayers, putting an end to the idea that any institution is "too big to fail," and protecting consumers from improper financial services practices.

One important strategy is the extension of incentives and protections to financial industry whistleblowers. One securities fraud expert commented in Forbes magazine that the president essentially "deputized hundreds of thousands of employees in Wall Street brokerage firms, hedge funds, mutual funds, and all other public companies to be the new eyes and ears of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission." Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd put it this way: "After today, regulators will no longer be able to ignore emerging threats to the economy."

(Prudent Press Agency) --- One little known side effect of the prolonged recession is a rise in the number of applications for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In an average year, the Social Security Administration considers 2.5 million applications for disability benefits. But cases were up by 20 percent over the past year and are likely to increase to well over 3 million in the coming year, according to SSA chief actuary Stephen Goss.

One obvious reason is that workers who have endured disabilities may decide to seek benefits after losing a job to outsourcing or a prolonged layoff. "When there's a bad recession and we lose six million jobs, people of all types are going to be part of that," Goss explained in a recent interview. While the SSA is a vast bureaucracy capable of serving a huge volume of applicants, the recent surge has led to backlogs in some parts of the country.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- This scene is all too common on North Carolina highways and back roads: on a recent July night near the end of a long drive, a Georgia trucker hauling over 20 tons of a highly combustible chemical overturned on a sharp mountain curve. He had followed GPS commands onto a rural gravel road between Lenoir and Banner Elk, where he planned to sleep for the night before delivering his load the next day. Perhaps the only uncommon thing about this accident is that no other vehicles were involved, and nobody was severely injured or killed.

Trucking accidents like this happen for a variety of reasons: unbalanced or shifting loads, brake or steering failures due to improper maintenance, and collision avoidance are just a few plausible scenarios. But all too often the operator of the semi has exercised poor judgment because of fatigue and a selfish desire to push ahead a few extra miles before taking a legally required break.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- Case, DiGiamberardino & Lutz, P.C., a highly regarded law firm that represents individuals and small businesses with bankruptcy matters, has opened a new office in Hershey, Penn. The new office is located at 405 E. Chocolate Avenue in Hershey; the phone number is 717.533.4000.

Case, DiGiamberardino & Lutz represents consumer and business clients in all bankruptcy matters, including Chapters 7, 11, 12, and 13, as well as related bankruptcy litigation. The new Hershey office is the firm's fourth office location in the region, joining satellite offices in Allentown and Lancaster, as well as the firm's main offices in Wyomissing.

(Prudent Press Agency) --- John H. (Jack) Hickey was sworn in for the third year in a row to The Florida Bar Board of Governors. The Board of Governors is the body which makes policies and rules and which disciplines the more than 85,000 lawyers licensed to practice law in Florida. Hickey was sworn in at The Florida Bar Convention in Boca Raton, Florida on Friday, June 25, 2010. Hickey has been appointed to the Disciplinary Review, Rules, and Certification Plan Appeals Committees of the Board of Governors.