Think hard before buying a gun for your home

If you’re a homeowner, should you get a handgun to protect yourself? You may be asking this question in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision overturning the D.C. law restricting handguns has led to an upsurge of interest in guns for protection. The instance of a Baltimore resident defending his house against a burglar also captured a lot... More

Car crash? Here’s what you have to do

By Steven H. Heisler If you’re ever in a vehicle accident in Maryland, take these seven steps immediately! More  Read More →

Start talking with your family about estate planning

While it can be awkward and difficult, it’s very important to discuss estate planning — planning for how one’s assets will be sorted out after death — with your parents and other members of your family while all of them are mentally healthy. If families wait to make arrangements until one parent is incapacitated in some way, it limits their choices. One way to begin the discussion is to talk with parents and other family members about your own financial and estate plans. This could be the... More

Much of info about protecting inventions patently false

Perhaps nothing in the law breeds more myths than patents. The mere definitions of patents, copyrights and trademarks are confusing enough: Patents protect inventions, innovation and improvements to existing technologies; copyrights protect songs, books, articles, software code and other “works of authorship”; and trademarks safeguard the names of products and services. More  Read More →

Don’t leave your family with a badly written will

When attorney Jeanne Richter tells people her specialty — estate planning — their voices often drop to a whisper. “They say, ‘You know, I don’t have a will,’ ” Richter says softly, laughing. “ I say, ‘That’s OK. I can take care of that.’ ” Do you really need a will? That depends. If you have children younger than 18 or disabled adult offspring, the answer is emphatically yes: A will is the only legal document in which to designate a child’s guardian. Otherwise, a will is... More