Articles — Page 2 of 3 — Attorney Veronica Valentine

Steps in Handling a Personal Injury Case

November 17, 2017November 13, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

Traffic accident cases

The first step is an in-depth interview with the attorney. The client comes to our office because they want monetary compensation for the damages that he or she incurred. The attorney has to assess three important issues. first item is liability. Determination of liability means deciding whose is at fault. Some accident facts are easier to determine and some require investigation before liability can be determined. For example, if you are at the stop in a red light and someone rear-ends you, chances are that they are at fault. Some accident facts are much more complicated and require an experienced attorney to prove that the other driver was at fault. For example, if the other driver ran a red light and hit you, the attorney has to know how to locate and speak to witnesses, how to evaluate the light sequence at the intersection to show that indeed you had the green light. The set of facts can be even more complicated if more than two cars are involved.

Supreme Court Applies NRS 11.190(1)(a) to Family Court Decisions

May 2, 2017May 2, 2017 by admin

If you were awarded property or money in a family court, you should know there is a time limit to enforce the judgment or decree. Last fall the Nevada Supreme Court ruled in Davidson v. Davidson, 132 Nev. Adv. Op. 71 (2016), that a court cannot enforce a judgement, including an obligation arising from a decree of divorce, if more than six years pass from the creation of the obligation. This means if you wait more than six years to go to court to force payment on a judgment, the trial court will not have the power to enforce the award against the other party.

Mandatory Detention of Immigration Violators

February 13, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

Not all noncitizens who come into the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can be released on bond (bail). An immigration detainee cannot be released on bond while awaiting his hearing in immigration court if he has been convicted of certain crimes and has been taken into immigration custody,

Under Immigration and Nationality Act section 236 (c), crimes requiring mandatory detentions are:

Criminal Convictions in Immigration Law

February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

Criminal defendants seek to minimize possible time in prison and often desire to avoid a risky trial. However, a plea bargain or a plea of no contest may make the defendant deportable or excludable from the United States. For years defendants who had been advised by their criminal attorney to plead guilty or nolo to a crime in order to get the best deal from the criminal law point of view, were shocked to learn that their plea resulted in them being deportable or excludable. In 2010, the US Supreme Court ruled in Padilla v. Kentucky, 130 S. Ct. 1473 (2010) that a criminal attorney failure to advise a non citizen client the immigration consequence of entering a plea is ineffective assistance of counsel. This ineffective assistance of counsel could be a constitutional basis to set aside guilty plea and conviction.

Not all convictions will make a defendant excludable. The following convictions are not a basis for exclusion:

Community Property and Premarital Agreements

February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

Community vs. Separate Property

Once a couple marries, all property acquired during marriage is considered community property unless otherwise specified by an agreement in writing, a decree of separation or divorce. A husband and wife have equal interests in community property. If the husband works and buys a property with his income, the property belongs to both parties equally.

Separate property is property owned by a spouse before marriage and property acquired by the spouse after marriage by gift or inheritance. The pain and suffering and suffering portion of an award for personal injury damages is also separate property. An award for medical expenses is not separate property, because the medical expenses are community debts.

What is An Aggravated Felony

February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

The consequences of a conviction of an “aggravated felony” by a non citizen are serious. Under the Immigration & Nationality Act, Many crimes are considered “aggravated felonies.” Consequences include, among others, deportation and a permanent ban on becoming a U.S. citizen.

Aggravated Felonies Under the Immigration & Nationality Act

For immigration matters, the term “aggravated felony” comes from Federal law. However, most criminal convictions are under state law. An offense that is not “aggravated” under State law, may be “aggravated” under Federal law. To determine if a person will suffer the immigration consequences of an “aggravated “felony” conviction, the state criminal statute under which the person was convicted must be compared to the definition of “aggravated felony.”

CPB posts new stats on border interdiction

February 14, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

CPB has posted border apprehensions for the last quarter of 2016.

Quote from the CPB report:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection saw a dip in arrivals along the Southwest Border in December, although overall total migration remained at elevated levels, primarily due to family units and unaccompanied children from Central America, Haitian nationals migrating from Brazil, and Cuban nationals. CBP continues to maintain a strong security posture through background checks of all individuals encountered and ensures that each person is processed in accordance with U.S. immigration laws and DHS policy.

In response to the increased number of individuals apprehended between ports of entry or encountered at ports of entry, CBP opened temporary holding facilities in Tornillo and Donna, Texas, in November 2016 capable of holding 500 people each. The facilities are available to provide additional space for those in CBP custody awaiting transfer to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for processing, detention, and/or removal, or to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Waivers of excludability

November 20, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

People with histories of criminal activities, previous immigration law violations, certain medical and other problems, will be denied entry or a lawful permanent residence, unless special permission is granted. This special permission is called a waiver. They are several kinds and types of waivers.

8 CFR §212.7 (e): Unlawful presence waiver.

Immigration law: The requirement of good moral character

February 12, 2017February 12, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

Requiring Good Moral Character

Much of immigration law is about crimes and other unsavory behavior. Because the law tries to keep criminals from getting immigration benefits, certain immigration applications require showing good moral character for a specific period of time. Crimes even without a conviction can still prevent a person from receiving an immigration benefit.

For How Many Years Must an Applicant Show Good Moral Character?

Termination of parental rights – Nevada law

February 8, 2017February 5, 2017 by Veronica Valentine, Esq.

As a divorce attorney, I know that when a parent can loses custody over his or her child it is pretty bad. Imagine when a parent loses his or her parental rights. These are sad cases but sometimes it is necessary for the protection of the child to separate the child from a parent who poses a danger to the child either because of drug use, alcohol abuse or criminality. In other situation, termination of parental rights is necessary because the parent is not supporting the child and not communication with the child. This is an absentee parent. Termination of parental rights of an absentee parents will enable the child to be adopted into a loving and supportive family.

The law and procedure regarding termination of parental rights is found in chapter 128 of Nevada Revised Statutes. A parent can lose his or her parental rights due to abandonment of the child, neglect of the child or injury to the child.