About Steph Weber
Steph Weber is an award-winning journalist specializing in healthcare, business, and law. She has written for Physicians Practice, Medscape, and Rheumatology Network and created content for several other industry publications, companies, and colleges. As a frequent Super Lawyers contributor, she enjoys drilling down complex legal topics into bite-sized, actionable advice for readers and interviewing the nation’s leading attorney voices, highlighting their most memorable achievements and lessons learned. She lives in Northern Indiana.
Articles written by Steph Weber
What Is Considered a Personal Injury?
Injuries are an unfortunate occurrence in everyday life. We all do our best to avoid them, but accidents happen. Sometimes they're the result of our own conduct or random factors. But if you suffer injuries as a result of someone else's conduct, you might be able to recover your losses with a personal injury claim. Many kinds of injuries can be involved in a personal injury case. The key question is whether the injury was caused by someone else, letting you pursue compensation. Personal injury …
How To Protect Your Most Valuable Assets in an Estate Plan
Misconceptions surrounding estate planning are plentiful: It’s only for those with substantial wealth; a will should suffice; preparations can wait until retirement. Some people also fall into the trap of doing nothing. “They believe they don’t have any options at all,” says Jeff R. Hawkins, an estate planning and probate attorney at Hawkins Elder Law in Sullivan. But with a range of tools at your disposal — wills, trusts, real estate deeds — it’s possible to preserve assets and …
When Being Treated Differently Crosses a Legal Line
While there are federal protections that prohibit the use of factors like race, gender, disability, and age in employment decisions, workplace discrimination occurs more often than you might expect—most years see over 70,000 new complaints reported to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Enduring Issues and Signs of Progress “It takes a long time for behaviors and beliefs to change,” says Kimberly D. Jeselskis, an employment and labor law attorney at Jeselskis …
3 Essential Estate Planning Documents Everyone in Massachusetts Needs
Estate planning is about three things, says Deborah Manus, an estate and trust attorney at Nutter McClennen & Fish in Boston: “You, your stuff and your people. It creates a guide that helps others navigate what should happen if you’re not around.” Unfortunately, fewer than half of U.S. adults have one. “Pretty much everyone should have three documents,” says attorney Eric Correira, who specializes in estate planning and administration at Correira Law in Boston. A health care proxy …
What To Do if You're Targeted by Discrimination at Work
Workplace discrimination can take many forms, but ultimately it boils down to this: “It’s about being treated differently than your coworkers,” says employment attorney Lori Jodoin, a partner at Powers, Jodoin, Margolis & Mantell in Boston. Who Is Protected Under Anti-Discrimination Law? Under federal laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), protected characteristics include an …
Why Do Life Insurance Policy Benefits Get Denied?
Life insurance coverage offers a financial safety net and provides peace of mind. Whole or term life insurance helps cover final expenses and eases the burden on the surviving spouse or children. So when a life insurance claim is unexpectedly denied, it only adds to the distress of losing your loved one. Make sure you understand your insurance policy to protect your family. Insurance protections can vary by state law. Get legal advice from a local insurance coverage lawyer to make sure you …
California Business Contracts: Clauses To Include for Safety
When a local bakery owner asked Daniel Blomgren to review a new commercial lease, a seemingly innocuous word caught his attention. “There was a section about a step up in rent, and it said ‘and’ instead of ‘or,’” says Blomgren, who represents entrepreneurs and small business owners at Coepio Legal in San Francisco. “I calculated the difference in cost over the course of the lease due to that one single word, and it was tens of thousands of dollars,” he says. “A bad …
From Southwestern Indiana to West Point
C. Erik Chickedantz spent the '60s in service to his countryWhen C. Erik Chickedantz arrived at the United States Military Academy at West Point in the summer of 1959—a long way from his small southwestern Indiana hometown of Washington—he began his “plebe year” with a grueling eight-week basic training session known as “Beast Barracks.” “It was very regimented. Reveille every morning at 0530, except on Sundays. A lot of military training,” recalls Chickedantz. “We’d march to classes and to the mess hall for three square meals. You …
How To Reduce Your Company's Attack Surface
California is the winner of an unwelcome title: the state with the most data-breach incidents and exposures of consumers’ personal records. The state’s size and concentration of tech and internet companies no doubt have much to do with these metrics, but the problem is worrisome for all business owners who increasingly rely on data as the currency of commerce. “You’re looking at a situation where people — and businesses equally — don’t even recognize how much exposure they …
All the Angles
From the minutia to the big picture, Deborah J. Caruso has it coveredOn Sept. 6, 2016, the Carmel-based ITT Educational Services, Inc., one of the nation’s largest for-profit post-secondary educators, abruptly closed, shuttering nearly 140 ITT Technical Institute campuses in more than three dozen states. The closure resulted in 8,000 employee layoffs and left 40,000 students in limbo. Ten days later, ITT filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Deborah J. Caruso of Rubin & Levin in Indianapolis was appointed the bankruptcy trustee by the U.S. Trustee’s office. …
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