Check out our November newsletter!
11/24
THE MOTTLEY CREW REVIEW
www.MottleyLawFirm.com | (804) 823-2011
NO MEANS KNOW
Why We Refuse Certain Cases
The mark of a prosperous business is how many customers it turns away.
Now, the above sentence may seem like an odd choice to start a newsletter sent to our clients, so allow me to explain. At our firm, we try to be very careful about which cases we take on. No law office can handle everything, so we spend days thoroughly assessing every potential case that comes our way before deciding whether to move forward with it. That said, I admit we’ve been declining many cases we’ve been introduced to lately. Refusing a client’s case is always gut-wrenching, but sometimes it is unavoidable. If you take every case on as a lawyer, you’ll quickly find you’re unable to serve everyone effectively. Instead of doing a great job for a select number of people, you’ll do a mediocre job for everybody . I feel joy and excitement whenever someone thinks enough of me to send a prospective client to me, and I never take it lightly that they want to hire us. I’m deeply honored when someone has faith in our services, but sometimes, their case simply wouldn’t be a winner. “Refusing a client’s case is always gut-wrenching, but sometimes it is unavoidable.” Recently, we were presented with a promising case that became more problematic as we reviewed it. Ultimately, we concluded we couldn’t proceed because too many things would have prevented it from succeeding. Having that conversation with the prospective client is difficult and disappointing for me as a lawyer, but I won’t put any client through unnecessary trauma or waste the court’s time if there’s insufficient strength to bring their matter to a positive outcome. We base our acceptance of cases on realistic criteria that I liken to a three- legged stool — if one of those legs is missing, the stool will not stand. The three “legs” are as follows: 1. Liability: Who is ultimately responsible for the case at hand? Did the defendant do something wrong or negligent to cause the incident to occur, making them responsible for damages under the law?
2. Damage: Was the client truly injured in the incident?
3. Collectability: Can we collect if we prove the defendant is liable to such a degree that the client could get a significant judgment from a jury? Is there sufficient insurance available? Does the defendant have sufficient assets to pay that judgment? One or more of these factors will likely prompt us to not take a case. In this most recent situation, we couldn’t prove under the law that the client was not at least partially responsible for causing the root of his case. As willing as we are to take on a solid case that would provide justice for a client, we’re just as willing to encourage them to reconsider their position and save themselves the time and expense of pursuing a case doomed to fail. Lawyers are often criticized for being “ambulance chasers,” but the reality is that the vast majority of us act as gatekeepers for the court system. I chose this profession because I want to help people in need. Having true integrity as a service provider means knowing when having less work is better than having too much of the wrong work. I’m committed to growing the success of my firm, but saying yes to a client who would clearly be harmed in the litigation process will never be my business model.
–Kevin Mottley
www.MottleyLawFirm.com | 1
GATHER, SAVOR, REPEAT TIPS FOR LAUNCHING YOUR OWN DINNER CLUB
Although the holiday season often enables us to reconnect with friends and loved ones in person, maintaining that spirit of tangible togetherness
be large enough for guests to connect with several friends or new people but small enough to ensure intimacy. Choosing Your Dinner Destination Determining the best settings for your dinner club gatherings is key to their success. For example, hosting them at members’ homes on a revolving basis (with the host or other members doing the cooking) would help the invitees avoid cramming into a noisy restaurant and having to shout at each other while seated at a long table. Matching Mood and Menu Coming up with interesting themes for each meal adds a thrill to the festivities. Maybe one of your members would like to give cooking a vegan meal a try. Perhaps another member would love to share an amazing recipe they picked up while vacationing in Mexico. The possibilities are endless! No matter how you structure your dinner club, the goal is to have fun and spend time with wonderful people. Bon appétit!
all year can often be a struggle. Sure, social media is fine for “likes,” but nothing beats sitting down with people whose company you enjoy. If you’re looking for a new way to stay connected with family members, friends from college, old work colleagues, or anyone else within a reasonable travel distance, starting a dinner club may be perfect! Conceptualizing Your Club There are no hard-and-fast rules to creating and maintaining a dinner club. You could start by giving your club a fancy name and deciding how often it should meet. From there, think about the people you want to invite. For example, maybe you know people who share a particular interest you also love (classic movies, model airplanes, etc.), or you
have a group of old friends you’d love to catch up with over a great meal. The trick is to be mindful of your club’s membership size. Ideally, it should
Risks, Abuse, and Remedies
A POWER OF ATTORNEY PRIMER
We receive many inquiries from clients regarding family estate disputes, but few questions are as common as those involving the potential misuse and abuse of power-of-attorney arrangements. I’d like to provide a brief overview for those unfamiliar with the benefits and possible pitfalls of these documents. Understanding the Essentials When you assign power of attorney to someone, you give them the right under the law to perform specific tasks and duties on your behalf. In these arrangements, you are known as the “principal,” and the assignee is known as the “agent” or the “attorney-in-fact.” The agent has a legal duty to perform their obligations honestly and to the best of their abilities. Sometimes, a “durable” power of attorney may be arranged to fulfill the principal’s wishes if the agent becomes incapacitated. Addressing Agreements Gone Awry Unfortunately, not all power of attorney situations run smoothly. We often receive calls from clients concerned that a family member’s agent has been abusing the agreement (such as draining the principal’s bank account). In rare cases, the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in Virginia grants certain family members or other parties access to information from the agent regarding how they’re overseeing and implementing the agreement. Naturally, the principal always retains the right to void the arrangement at any time and for whatever reason they choose. If a rogue agent refuses to provide the requested information to an entitled party, they can be removed by filing a complaint in circuit court. Certain time limits apply to both the information requests made to the agent
and their responses, so we advise that you seek legal counsel’s advice before pursuing a request or complaint. We at Mottley Law Firm are happy to assist you with any questions or concerns regarding power of attorney. Our website (MottleyLawFirm.com) features an Education Center and FAQs to better inform you of your rights in this and many other legal scenarios. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if we can be of service to you.
–Kevin Mottley
2 | (804) 823-2011
Attending live music events is one of my favorite pastimes. This past summer, I had the pleasure of seeing Billy Strings perform in Berkeley, California, and Kenny Chesney on stage in Nashville. Back in October, my wife Tricia, our daughter Catherine, and I joined around 63,000 other music fans to experience an unbelievable show by the one-and-only Taylor Swift. Now, I know I don’t fit Taylor’s key audience demographic. I am also more of a classic rock and bluegrass fan than a pop enthusiast. That said, I grew to appreciate Taylor’s talents after being forced to listen to her for the past 10 years whenever Catherine was in the car! All kidding aside, Taylor is an impressive talent despite not being my typical choice for tunes. After meeting with Catherine, who was on fall break from the University of South Carolina, we flew to Miami to see the show at the Hard Rock Stadium. Despite the early part of our trip being marked by a tropical depression that bent the palm trees nearly to the ground and made us feel like we were in a windstorm, we enjoyed some really good food — and Tricia and Catherine enjoyed some really good shopping — before we made our way to the open-air venue after the skies had cleared up. Taylor hit the stage at 7:45 p.m. and didn’t leave until 11:15 p.m. — there wasn’t even an intermission! She sang and danced and used every inch of the stage, which must have been 100 yards long. With the amount of theatrics she and her various backing performers delivered, I felt like I was at a Broadway musical. Even if you’re not a huge fan, there’s no denying that she’s an amazing talent who can blow anyone’s doors off. And here’s some good news for all the dads out there: The guy-to- gal ratio at a Taylor Swift show is about 1:10, which means the men’s bathrooms were empty and easily accessible (unlike the lines to the ladies’ rooms, which were each about 50 yards long.) Tricia and I loved spending time with our resident Swiftie and creating new memories during such a magical evening. And for the record, “Folklore” is my favorite Taylor era. –Kevin Mottley Our Swiftie Meet-Up in Miami TAYLOR-MADE MEMORIES
SUDOKU
TASTY APPLE PIE
Just like Grandma made!
INGREDIENTS
• 2 9-inch unbaked pie crusts • 6 cups thinly sliced peeled apples • 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour • 2 tbsp butter
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. 2. Place 1 pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate. 3. In a large bowl, combine apples, cinnamon, sugar, and flour. 4. Spoon mixture into pastry-lined pie plate and dot with butter. 5. Cut remaining crust into 1/2-inch-wide strips, then arrange strips in a lattice design over top of pie. 6. Trim, seal, and flute edges. 7. Bake for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly.
www.MottleyLawFirm.com | 3
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID BOISE, ID PERMIT 411
8001 Franklin Farms Drive, Suite 125 Richmond, Virginia 23229
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
www.MottleyLawFirm.com | (804) 823-2011
1
Understanding Our ‘No’
2
How to Make a Meal a Lasting Memory
Protections Against Agent Abuse
3
Live ‘Folklore’ in Florida
Tasty Apple Pie
4
How Turkey Became a Thanksgiving Staple
Part of what makes special occasions special is the foods they are synonymous with. We have cake on our birthdays, candy on Halloween, and turkey on Thanksgiving. How these culinary staples became linked with these holidays is rarely questioned because we all enjoy sweets, and blowing out candles is fun. But is that reason enough for them to be integral to our holidays? Why is Thanksgiving Day, the celebration of harvest and gratitude, synonymous with turkey dinner? The Original Menu Many in America believe we model our Thanksgiving cuisine after the menu of offerings available during the original feast. But in 1621, the Plymouth Pilgrims and Wampanoag did not eat like we do today. Moreover, they did not see their meal as a special occasion. Thanksgiving dinner has been used to celebrate the autumn harvest for hundreds of years and is a tradition that predates the colonies. The Wampanoag people brought venison to the party, and the Pilgrims supposedly brought wildfowl. While an estimated 10 million wild turkeys were prowling the Americas at the time, the Pilgrims more likely dined on duck and goose — which begs the question: If the Pilgrims didn’t eat turkey on the “original” Thanksgiving, why do we? A Love/Hate Relationship Turkey became the staple of Thanksgiving dinner due to a few contributing factors. Unlike chickens and cows, which can provide GOBBLE, GOBBLE The Thanksgiving Turkey Tradition
eggs and milk, turkeys are only useful to farmers as a source of meat. As gruesome as it may sound, that fact also makes turkeys disposable. Additionally, one turkey can typically feed a whole family, so it became a popular source of protein in America. However, it may be cultural staples, like Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” and Sarah Hale’s novel “Northwood,” both portraying decadent turkey meals, that played a more significant part in its popularity on the holiday table. Hale was also a key campaigner for Thanksgiving to bring together families across America and repair a nation splintered by the Civil War. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln granted her wish and made Thanksgiving an official national holiday. She was likely the biggest factor in turning turkey into the star of Thanksgiving dinner and, as a result, is likely the nemesis of turkeys everywhere. In 2022, about 210 million turkeys were farmed across the country, and Americans consumed 46 million on Thanksgiving alone.
4 | (804) 823-2011
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator