About Carole Hawkins
Carole Hawkins is full-time freelance journalist who has written more than 2,000 articles on business and public policy for The Florida Times-Union, Jacksonville Business Journal and other regional newspapers. She has received awards from the Georgia Press Association and the Florida Press Club for business and feature writing.
Articles written by Carole Hawkins
Who Is Responsible in Premises Liability Claims?
If you or a loved one has suffered an injury on another person's property due to unsafe conditions, you may be able to bring a premises liability lawsuit. Premises liability is the legal idea that property owners, property managers, business owners, or residents should take reasonable steps to ensure a safe environment on their property so visitors aren't injured. If your accident is the result of a property owner's negligence, you can get compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, and pain …
The Company of Musicians
How a stint at a record label led Lorri Lomnitzer to intellectual property lawLorri Lomnitzer has spent much of her legal career making sure musicians are treated fairly. As for herself? “I don’t sing. I don’t create music,” she says. “[I’m] pretty much tone-deaf.” But she does enjoy the company of musicians—and playing a role in their success. “Sometimes I hear raw notes from the studio and I get to see that evolve all the way into a Top 40 hit,” Lomnitzer says. “It’s like watching the growth of a baby.” Born in Montreal and raised in L.A. …
Can the Police Search My Car?
Your rights during a traffic stopGetting pulled over for a traffic infraction never makes your day. It’s even more stressful if the police then ask to search your car. What exactly are the rules? It all depends on the circumstances, says Liz Crotty, a criminal defense attorney at Crotty Saland. “The police must have reasonable suspicion of criminal activity to search, and they must be able to articulate that suspicion,” she says. It’s basic civics. The Fourth Amendment protects people from unreasonable …
When Can Police Search My Car?
It can be confusing when an officer asks to search your car, especially during what seems like a routine traffic stop. Many people don't understand their rights in this situation or whether they should cooperate with the officer's request. The police may need a search warrant to enter your house, but there are exceptions for automobiles that give the police more access. For legal advice, talk to a criminal defense lawyer about your Fourth Amendment rights. Responding to Law Enforcement Officers …
A Comforting Face
Elaine Tso makes it her business to care for Northeast Ohio’s Asian populationAs a child, Elaine Tso often sat in doctors’ waiting rooms while her mother acted as a volunteer interpreter between pregnant Asian women and their obstetricians, who were neither female nor Asian. Tso remembers sometimes seeing the women cry. “When you grow up,” her mother told her, “you need to become a doctor so there is a comforting face that represents this community.” Tso may have taken a different career path, but she took her mother’s words to heart. A law professor …
Finding Her Voice
Sonakshi Kapoor was told a girl couldn’t join the family business—so she became a lawyer insteadAs a young girl, Sonakshi Kapoor loved hanging around her father’s agricultural-sales company, watching traders haggle over the local sugar cane crop. “It was fascinating to me. I didn’t understand the exact details, but I saw the transactions,” she says. “There was all this energy. It was a world where everybody would be so passionate about sugar or another agricultural commodity.” She assumed that she, too, would someday join the company. But when she mentioned this to her …
First Things First
Carol LoCicero fights for her media clients’ constitutional rightsImagine a world in which Nixon didn’t have to release the Watergate tapes, the federal government was able to block the Pentagon Papers from being published, and The Boston Globe couldn’t unseal court records revealing decades of child molestation by priests. That world will never exist—at least, not if Carol LoCicero has anything to say about it. The Tampa media and intellectual property attorney focuses on First Amendment litigation at Thomas & LoCicero, which she co-founded in …
Injury on the Home Front
Whose fault is it, who pays, and what do you do?Money disputes are a quick way to lose a friend. So what happens in the nightmare scenario in which someone slips and falls at your home? In a perfect world, your homeowners insurance pays and all is well. But the insurance company might blame your friend instead—and it could be right. The party liable under Florida law depends on three things: Why the guest was there. Whether the homeowner was reasonably careful. Whether the friend was using common sense. Let’s look at the …
Nursing Home Care in the Age of COVID-19
With all the other challenges facing aging Americans, a deadly new one was added this year: the highly contagious coronavirus, especially risky for older adults. Visitor Bans During the COVID-19 Pandemic When visitors were banned at Florida assisted living facilities because of COVID-19, family members panicked. Would their elderly loved ones become lonely? Would they catch a COVID-19 infection from others? But Jill Ginsberg, an elder law attorney at Ginsberg Shulman in Fort …
Do Not Call
What you can—and can’t—do about those annoying robocallsHas “Lisa” ever phoned you with important information about your credit card account? Respond to her soothing robotic voice and you’ll get a sales pitch. After Congress created the National Do Not Call Registry in 2003, unwanted marketing calls all but disappeared. But they’ve crept back. In 2018, their frequency increased by roughly 57 percent to 47.8 billion total calls, according to robocall blocking software company YouMail. The Federal Trade Commission received 5.7 million …
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