Razumich & Delamater - January 2020

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OPENING STATEMENTS JANUARY 2020 WWW.LAWYERSREADYTOFIGHT.COM 317-934-9725 | INFO@RDLAWOFFICE.COM

FROM THE DESKS OF Razumich & Delamater

IT’S A NEWYEAR, AND A TIME FOR NEW BEGINNINGS!

I hope that everyone out there had a great Christmas season, and that your 2020 has started out great. Our focus here for the next year is going to continue on the theme of giving people back their futures. Hopefully everyone who was eligible took advantage of our December expungement offer, where we agreed to waive filing fees on all new expungement matters! Going by the numbers, we helped another 132 people in 2019 protect their future and their freedom against the excesses of the State of Indiana. This is something that we continue to be proud of year after year. When I adopted the bulldog as our logo way back in 2008, it was only PARTIALLY because I was stubborn and refused to give up; it was also to let the people that we help know that we will fight as hard as possible to get them the best possible result in their case, no matter how much the odds might seem stacked against them.

ARE YOUR ‘HEALTHY’ NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS DOOMED TO FAIL? H ow to U pgrade Y our G oals for 2020

DON’T resolve to eat less. DO resolve to eat more veggies.

When January hits, it’s easy to tell yourself that last year’s holiday treats and days of sitting on the couch marathoning Hallmark Christmas movies are things of the past. Every time a new year arrives, a fresh start comes with it, which is probably why New Year’s resolutions are so popular, particularly in the health and fitness space. That said, it’s hard to ignore the dismal statistics. According to U.S. News & World Report, a heartbreaking 80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by February. So what are we doing wrong? Diet and exercise experts suggest it might not be the concept of making resolutions that’s faulty, but the particular resolutions we choose. To set yourself up for success in 2020, check out these smart resolution swaps below.

The goal to “eat less” is not only vague (where does one start?) but it can also lead to disordered eating when taken too far. Instead, try setting yourself up for a healthy long-term diet by eating more of a nutrient-dense food group. Your vitamin intake will go up, and you’ll be too full to eat that second slice of cake. “We’re big fans of goals that start with ‘eat more,’” Lauren Slayton, director of the nutrition counseling service Foodtrainers, told TheHealthy.com. If you already have plenty of vegetables in your diet but are still struggling to eat healthily, try resolving to eat more fruit and probiotic foods, or drink more water.

As always, it’s an honor and a privilege to help each one of you on your journey to freedom.

-John Razumich and Joe Delamater

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DON’T resolve to lose weight. DO resolve to reach a healthy body fat percentage. As the body-positivity movement is constantly reminding us, there is no one- size-fits-all number on the scale that we should strive for. Depending on factors like age, gender, and height, one person’s healthy weight can be another person’s underweight or overweight. Instead of resolving to lose a set number of pounds this year, aim to bring your body fat percentage into the “fitness” range for your gender and age group. Websites like BMI-Calories.com can help you calculate your current body fat and give you a reasonable goal to shoot for.

failure. If you’ve always been prone to clutter and procrastination, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to change your decades-long habits and become a neat freak all at once. Instead, focus on one area of your life you want to be organized, like keeping your desk mess- free, or resolve to change your mindset by adding meditation to your daily routine. According to psychology professor Susan K. Whitbourne, mental and physical clutter are psychologically linked. If you can get your mind organized with a few minutes of peaceful meditation each day, it will be easier to manage the rest of your life.

be extremely difficult to shift your routine overnight to make that happen. Instead, resolve to go to bed just 15 minutes earlier. Such a small change to your routine should be easier to stick to, and once you have a streak going, you can move your goal back another 15 minutes until you reach the ideal amount of rest!

DON’T resolve to get 8 hours of sleep. DO resolve to go to bed 15 minutes earlier.

DON’T resolve to be more organized. DO resolve to meditate every day.

It’s hard to change a habit, which is why most people who set ambitious sleep goals are doomed to fail. If you normally go to bed at midnight but need to hit the sack at 10 p.m. in order to get your full eight hours, it will

Resolving to get organized without a road map to get there is setting yourself up for

HISTORY’S SWEETEST THEFT The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist

Unfortunately, the thieves got sloppy and stopped refilling the barrels with water. When an FPAQ inspector visited the targeted facility in the fall of 2012, he accidentally knocked over one of the empty barrels. The inspector alerted the police, who would go on to arrest 17 men in connection to the theft, including Vallières himself.

At the FPAQ facility, syrup was stored in unmarkedmetal barrels and only inspected once a year. The heist, led by a man named Richard Vallières, involved transporting the barrels to a remote sugar shack in the Canadian wilderness, where they siphoned off the maple syrup, refilled the barrels with water, and returned the barrels to the facility. The stolen syrup was then trucked east to New Brunswick and south across the border intoVermont. Wisely, the thieves sold their ill-gotten goods in small batches, avoiding suspicion from legitimate syrup distributors. In what is now known as the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, thieves made off with 10,000 barrels of maple syrup valued at $18.7 million. This remains one of the most costly heists in Canadian history. Vallières himself became a millionaire and took his family on three tropical vacations in one year.

Maple syrup holds a proud place in the history and culture of Quebec, Canada. It’s also a big part of Quebec’s economy, with 72% of the world’s maple syrup produced in Quebec alone. Due to tactics employed by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (FPAQ), the NPR-backed podcast“The Indicator”estimates that maple syrup is valued at approximately $1,300 per barrel —over 20 times more than crude oil. The FPAQ controls the available syrup supply, never releasing enoughmaple syrup tomeet demand, which increases the price. As a result, most of the world’s maple syrup is stored in various reserves. Between 2011 and 2012, a group of thieves decided to liberate the syrup from an FPAQ facility in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec. Stealing syrup from Canada doesn’t sound as glamorous as stealing cash from a Vegas casino, but their plan could rival the plot of “Ocean’s Eleven.”

Police were then able to recover hundreds of barrels of the stolen syrup, but most of it was never recovered — likely lost

to pancake breakfasts far away.

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MEET THEWORLD’S FIRST AIRPORT THERAPY PIG How Lilou and Animals Like Her Calm Stressed-Out Travelers

Imagine you’re navigating a vast airport on a busy Saturday, shouldering your way through crowds and struggling to hear the PA systemover the clatter of 1,000 wheeled suitcases. Suddenly, you see a pig wearing a hot pink sweater waddling toward you on a leash. Do you stop in your tracks? Does your stress level drop? Do you laugh out loud when you see its pink nail polish? If you answered“yes”to any of the above, then you can sympathize with the passengers, pilots, flight attendants, and staff at the San Francisco International Airport. They get to enjoy visits from Lilou, the world’s first airport therapy pig, on a regular basis! As part of theWag Brigade, the airport’s cadre of (mostly canine) therapy animals, Lilou wanders the airport with her humans, bringing joy, peace, and calm to everyone she meets. Liloumay be the only pig of her kind, but airport therapy animals have been a growing trend for the last few years. According to NPR, as of 2017, more than 30 airports across the U.S. employed therapy dogs, and these days, estimates land closer to 60. The San Jose and Denver airports have therapy cats, and the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport even offers passengers the chance to play withminiature horses before boarding their flights.

passengers calmdown that airports began implementing permanent programs. Some have pets on hand 24/7 to assist passengers, while others host animal visits every fewweeks or months. These days, regular travelers have fallen hard for their local therapy animals, many of whom even have their own Instagram accounts and hashtags.

So, the next time you’re traveling, keep an eye out for a friendly pup, cat, pig, or horse to pet. A bit of love from an animal just might improve your trip!

Therapy dogs started appearing in U.S. airports after the 9/11 terror attacks, which changed American attitudes about flying. They did so well at helping

Take a Break!

SIMPLE PANCAKES FROM SCRATCH

Inspired by The New York Times

Everyone should be able to make pancakes without a boxed mix. This recipe is no-frills fantastic and can probably be made without so much as a trip to the grocery store.

Ingredients

• • • •

2 cups all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder

• • •

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups milk

1/4 tsp salt

Unsalted butter or canola oil, to grease skillet

1 tbsp sugar, optional

Directions

1. Heat a griddle or skillet to medium-low. 2. In a mixing bowl, combine dry ingredients (including sugar if you like a sweeter pancake). In a separate bowl, beat eggs into milk. Gently stir the liquid ingredients into the dry ones. Mix only until flour is moistened. Clumps are fine.

3. Add some butter or oil to the skillet. If the butter foams or oil shimmers, the temperature is correct. Pour in a pancake of any size, cooking until bubbles form, about 2–4 minutes. 4. Flip and cook other side for 2–4 minutes. Serve warm.

Celebrate Champagne Confetti Countdown

Goals January Janus Midnight

New Year Resolution Toast Winter

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INSIDE THIS ISSUE From the Desks of Razumich & Delamater PAGE 1 How to Upgrade Your New Year’s Resolutions PAGE 1 The Sweetest Crime in History PAGE 2 Meet the World’s First Airport Therapy Pig PAGE 3 Take a Break PAGE 3 Simple Pancakes From Scratch PAGE 3 The Curious Case of Roy Pearson’s Pants PAGE 4 After losing an article of clothing from a dry cleaner, most would say“c’est la vie”andmove on. At most, someone might leave a bad review and ask for a few dollars to cover the loss, but for one administrative law judge, that wasn’t enough. He decided instead to launch an all-out legal battle. Roy Pearson, aWashington, D.C., judge at the time, sought $54 million to cover the loss of his pants after his dry cleaner lost them. He argued that the“same-day service”sign located in the window of the dry cleaners meant that the company had to provide same-day service. However, Pearson never specified a specific time he needed his clothes returned. He also insisted that the“satisfaction guaranteed”signmeant that the cleaners had to satisfy a customer’s wishes without limit. Based on those arguments, he claimed the signs were fraudulent.

SOLUTION

WHO WEARS THE PANTS? LADY JUSTICE! HOW ONE JUDGE LOST A FRIVOLOUS LAWSUIT AND HIS DIGNITY

put it, Pearson “failed to conduct an objective appraisal of the legal merits of his position. He made and continues tomake arguments that no reasonable attorney would think had even a faint hope of success on the legal merits.” From a legal standpoint, we’d call this judge’s behavior “dissatisfaction guaranteed.”

After the initial allegations, the dry cleaners scoured their business to find the pants and, to their credit, found the judge’s trousers untarnished. Even so, Pearson argued that he didn’t need to prove the pants were lost or damaged to satisfy his “satisfaction guaranteed” claim. Unfortunately for the judge, the court found his position to be ridiculous and ordered him to pay the dry cleaner’s attorneys’fees. In response, Pearson sought that his own attorneys’fees be covered to oppose this motion. In the end, Pearson did pay the dry cleaner’s legal fees, but the case isn’t the only thing he lost. The verdict also cost the judge his job and any semblance of professional dignity. Ten years after the case closed, the District of Columbia Board on Professional Responsibility sought a 90-day suspension. As the board

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