Pleading Ignorance Archive

Pleading Ignorance: “You May be Owed Money!”

August 7th, 2009. By AbiK

If that doesn’t sound like the quintessential come-on, I don’t know what does. And it’s t.v. ads blaring that phrase that give some lawyers and the law biz a bit of a weird rep. But don’t blame the law profession, blame their ad agencies. Why? Because there’s actually some truth behind the statement that you may be owed money.

This week’s Pleading Ignorance looks at…

What is Unclaimed Settlement Money?

The strange thing about a class action is that many people are typically affected—in fact, having numerous plaintiffs is a requirement for something to be a class action. But, if there’s a settlement from a class action, many times a good portion of the settlement monies just sits there.

Why is that? There are many reasons, but typically monies sit because: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Pleading Ignorance, Settlements
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What is a Moneygram Scam?

July 17th, 2009. By AbiK

Pleading Ignorance takes a look at Moneygram scams—what are they, what do you need to look out for?

First and foremost, it’s the misfortune of Moneygram—a reputable company—that its name rhymes with “scam”. Moneygram is probably best known for its money transfer and money order services. Western Union is perhaps a more well-known competitor to Moneygram, offering similar services. Regardless, any money order/transfer service can find itself in the middle of a scam operation—so the point here is not to point the finger at Moneygram. It’s to make you aware of those who try to put Moneygram’s services to illegal use—the scammers.

So Moneygram’s got the rhyming mishap, but…

What is a “Moneygram Scam”?

It’s a coined phrase that refers to a Consumer Fraud Scam. In all instances it involves a hapless victim sending money to a would-be relative, lover or bearer of good news (“have you claimed your sweepstakes prize?”). Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Consumer Fraud, Moneygram Scam, Pleading Ignorance
Posted in Personal Injury, Pleading Ignorance | 147 Comments »

J.D. – What’s up with that?

July 10th, 2009. By AbiK

From time to time, we’ll be posting a column called, “Pleading Ignorance“. No, it’s not to be taken literally—it’s more of a commentary on how much jargon and legalese there is in the field of law. So much so that it can be pretty off-putting, let alone just downright hard to understand. And who the heck took 8 years of Latin anyway? (oh yeah, I did—but that’s another story).

Today’s Pleading Ignorance is actually compliments of one of our Twitter followers, who asks:

Is it a Juris Doctor or Doctorate?

It’s a great question—and here’s the answer:

A J.D. is a Juris Doctor. It’s the degree awarded to someone who completes formal legal studies at an American law school.

“Juris Doctor” is actually Latin, not English—which is why it’s a little confusing. It’s not often that a word in Latin is exactly the same as a word in modern English–example: the Latin word for boy is “puer”. Go figure. So it’s easy to think J.D. is actually Juris Doctorate. But in Latin, “doctor” (doctor, -oris) means teacher. And the “juris” is from the Latin word for law (iur, iuris—the “i” is often seen as a “j”). “Juris” is the genitive case—or possessive case—of the root word “iur”; so to properly translate “juris doctor” into English, it becomes “teacher of law” or “law teacher”.

Sometimes you’ll see “Doctor of Jurisprudence”, an English spin on the Latin “Juris Doctor”. It can certainly sound a little persnickety or at the very least put your brain on an endless loop of the Beatles’ “Dear Prudence”. But, hey, “Jurisprudence” is just a fancy word for “science of law”—or simply synonymous with “law”. And just for kicks, the “juris” part is again from the Latin, “iuris” for law; the “prudence” part is from the Latin, “prudens”, meaning “wisdom”. 

Tags: Pleading Ignorance
Posted in Emerging Issues, Pleading Ignorance | 2 Comments »