No Extended Vacation

A client of ours called me up and asked me if we could meet at the office on Wednesday. Although my boss told us to go back on the 3rd of January, I was planning to extend my holiday vacation a bit until the 5th. Oh well.

I can’t postpone the meeting. Our client is really bent on buying a huge New England real estate before February. However, he’s also quite apprehensive. Some of the property’s tenants said that they have rights or liens on the land. However, they weren’t able to produce any document that proves their claims.

Checking on properties is easy. I usually just go to Webstigate and browse through their database for specific property records. I also make sure that the property hasn’t been adjudged to somebody else by going through court records. I already told our client that he could easily do this by himself. Unfortunately, he’s quite reluctant to use computers.

I wish I brought his records here at home. I’m sure I would be able to finish my search and investigation on the property within an hour.

Late Gift

I received a very surprising call from the court clerk of the county court that I visited last week. He said that he has found the court record that I was looking for.

I was not really expecting that he would find anything in his search. I did not even expect that he would do it this week considering that Christmas has just ended and that the New Year is just a few days away.

I almost gave up on it myself. The details of the suit that the client provided was so vague and incomplete that I thought that the one who would be searching for it would virtually be looking for the invisible.

The news was very welcoming considering that I have been slacking off at work for the past few days. Who would have thought that Santa still had one gift for me in his sack :)

Showing My Gratitude

It’s Christmas morning. Everybody’s still asleep, so I decided to post something here while waiting for them to come down the stairs and raid the Christmas tree for their presents.

Speaking of presents, I received a lot this year. Well, it’s probably because I hosted a party two days ago. All of my college friends who attended the party, EXCEPT GEORGE (just kidding, doc) brought me something.

It feels good to be at the receiving end. However, it also feels great when you’re the one who’s spreading the cheers. I was at the county courthouse 4 days ago distributing gifts to the court staff who generously lent their time and effort to me whenever I’m rummaging through their court records for information.

I gave the sheriff a pair of beach shorts. I remembered him telling me that he’ll be off to Florida during the holidays to test the waters and escape the cold winds.

I sure wish that I’m in a Florida beach, too. The winter chills have been penetrating my very thick sweater lately.

Spreading the Cheers

Believe it or not, I’ll still be doing some court records search tomorrow while wrapping the gift’s that I’ll be giving out on Christmas Eve. It’s not that I have a deadline on Monday. In fact, my boss gave us a breather and told us that we could lock ourselves in our houses until the 26th.

I’m doing an officemate a favor by taking in some of his workload that he labeled as “hopeless.” He has been working on these files for over a month now and he still can’t get the information that he need to complete his report.

He was planning on visiting the state courthouse yesterday to go through the records that he need, but his mind was not exactly up to it since he was also worried that he might not be able to finish his Christmas day preparations if he’ll devote the last days of the week out of town.

I told him to look for the court records that he need online. However, his laptop took an early Christmas break. I thought that he needed a Yuletide cheer, so I offered my help.

Pet Concerns

Yahoo! recently featured an article about the worst celebrity pet owners. I wasn’t able to go through the whole article, but I know Britney Spears is one of them since her photo was pasted beside the title.

I always thought that the pets of Hollywood stars are living a life of absolute luxury. Many of them are even believed to be eating steaks that many could not afford. I wonder if the stars that were featured in the Yahoo! article were previously charged for acts constituting cruelty to animals. Maybe I’ll try to check court records for that.

Despite the fact that many laws have already been passed that shield animals from abuse, there are still people who treat their pets as if they’re non living objects. It’s already sad that these animals have been taken out of their natural habitat. The least that the owners could do is to provide them with a good new home.

Roasting on an Open Fire

My mom wants to blanket our entire roof with Christmas lights. I have no problems with it. In fact, I think it’s a great idea. My dad’s a bit worried about the bill, but he also likes the idea.

While dad is worried that our electricity bill might jump up exponentially, I’m quite concerned about the prospect of having homeless parents this Christmas. I’m sure you’re aware of fires resulting from faulty Christmas light wirings. While the incidents have dwindled through the years, still the harrowing possibility is present.

I haven’t raised this concern yet to my mom. I don’t want to dampen her yuletide mood with my apprehensions. After all, this is the season to be jolly. Maybe I’ll just run a court records search on the manufacturer of the Christmas lights that we’re going to buy and check if they’ve been charged for offering faulty products in the past.

People should be very diligent about this. Otherwise, chestnuts won’t be the only things that will be roasting this Christmas.

Swiping Credit Card Doubts Away

Cara is probably the only person in the whole office building who still doesn’t have a credit card.

She’s not one of those who abhor credit cards because of the exorbitant interest rates that it imposes on holders who are late in paying their balances, though. In fact, she admits that plastics can be very convenient when going around the mall or the grocery store.

The reason why she doesn’t want to decorate her wallet with one of these commerce wonders is that her brother nearly had a stroke when he learned that he has a $4,700 balance on his credit card.

Of course, Cara’s brother contested the amount. It was later found out that somebody was able to access the details of his credit card account. The credit card company did not notify him of the purchases since they were basically the same things that he usually buys using his card.

I assured Cara that what happened to his brother was the exception rather than the general rule. I explained to her that credit card companies usually have an elaborate security scheme or system that protects the account details of its clients. I also advised her to check out a book that guides people on how to secure their personal and financial information.

I conceded though, that there are card companies which have doubtful track records as far as securing the accounts of their client is concerned. I told her to check court records for suits that may have been filed against the card firms for failure to exercise the diligence required of them in securing the financial details of their customers.

Curing The World

I’ve recently read in an international journal that many poor and developing countries are now importing medicine from India. Although most of the drugs manufactured in that South Asian country do not carry the big labels that we’ve grown accustomed to here in the United States, doctors say that they’re as potent as the branded ones.

I’m glad that there are companies or groups which are working hard to keep the cost of medicine down. Unfortunately though, there are some manufacturers who are selling substandard products. A number of cases have already been filed against these corporations or groups or persons. However, some of them managed to sidestep the law and continue to operate up to the present.

People should be vigilant in checking the potency of the drug and in determining which company produced it. They should check court records to ascertain that the manufacturer is a legitimate one, and that it hasn’t been the subject of any criminal or civil suit in the past for producing defective medicine.

Tomorrow Never Dies

A cousin of mine called me up yesterday to ask me if I could accompany her to the county courthouse on Tuesday.

I gave my “yes” conditionally since I’m supposed to submit a lengthy report on Wednesday. If procrastination doesn’t get the best of me this weekend, then I think I’ll even be able to go with her to the mall for some window shopping.

I still gave Renee some advice on how to conduct a courthouse research and what to bring with her though, just in case I don’t get pass by the first chapter of my report this weekend.

I really hope that I’ll be able to go with her. I want to give something to the court clerk who helped me go through 29 court records last month. I was doing a research work on probate proceedings back then, and he unhesitatingly assisted me in searching for the records that I wanted.

Judging His Works

I sometimes wonder why civic groups, supporters, or opponents of Supreme Court or collegiate court nominees go through needless documents for the purpose of showing that the person being considered for the post is competent or otherwise. I mean, if you really want to know if a person can decide a case judiciously, all you have to do is look at the cases that he had written or handled.

Many of the nominees are members of the bench. This makes it easier for people to check if he is competent for the job or not since all they have to do is inspect the court records or decisions which he had penned.

Of course, there are other things or records to consider in order to ensure that the nominee is indeed fit for the job. Indeed, one has to know the applicant’s moral, philosophical, and sometimes even his political leanings, before he can determine if the latter is indeed deserving to be elevated to the post.

Hiding the Shame

I’m not making a bold prediction here as many believe that this is the inevitable -- China will take over the United States as the world’s economic superpower in 2020.

Many economists would second me on this. While many American businessmen have raised their eyebrows on the possibility that the United States will bow down to East Asia in the near future as far as trade is concerned, some may seem have already conceded to this emerging fact by putting up offices and plants in the region.

While I’m kind of glad to see that more nations are now getting a crack at prosperity, I’m quite saddened by persisting news that China is climbing the economic ladder by stepping on its people. What shocks me the most though, is that American companies are tolerating this! Shouldn’t every person, natural or artificial, in the United States condemn this kind of human exploitation?

Sweatshops still abound in many countries in the world, especially in developing ones. Some companies openly condemn child labor, but are setting up factories in places where the children are taken out of school and horded to factories.

I’m giving these companies the benefit of the doubt. A few weeks ago, Business Week ran a feature on how some countries are camouflaging human rights violations or sweatshops in order to entice foreign firms to tap their labor force. These companies should exercise due diligence in contracting with these outsourcing companies by checking court records if they have been charged for illegal labor practices. Economic progress should be synonymous with human progress. The former cannot and should not be made at the expense of the latter.