Weekly Docket
Fireworks Mishap, Alec Baldwin Trial, Dog Bite Liability, and Minimum Wage Disparities
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 26 of the ‘Weekly Docket’ as they discuss the recent fireworks mishap at a Utah stadium and the latest developments in the Alec Baldwin trial. Get insights on when a dog owner is liable for bites in Texas and the different types of mail services and their legal applications. Plus, a rant on the varying minimum wages across the U.S. and their impact. Don’t miss this episode packed with legal insights, expert advice, and engaging discussions!
Join Phil Silberman and Austin Black in Episode 26 of the ‘Weekly Docket’ as they discuss the recent fireworks mishap at a Utah stadium and the latest developments in the Alec Baldwin trial. Get insights on when a dog owner is liable for bites in Texas and the different types of mail services and their legal applications. Plus, a rant on the varying minimum wages across the U.S. and their impact. Don’t miss this episode packed with legal insights, expert advice, and engaging discussions!
Welcome to Silberman Law Firm's Weekly Docket, Episode 26, where we talk legal news and practical law. Today is July 11, 2024, and I'm Phil Silberman, owner of the firm and your host. I'm joined by Austin Black, my co host, who works in our Dallas office. How are you doing today, Austin?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Doing just fine, ready to get into the show.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Alright, sounds good. were you listening to some pre show music?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I was, based off of your recommendation. I actually wasn't listening to any music before you said that, but I started listening to some, yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I've been inspired because, my oldest plays baseball and baseball players have walk
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:walk up music. yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:so I feel like we should have some kind of pre shoot podcast music. So what were you listening to?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I was listening to a song called Absinthe. It's, it's by a Korean rapper.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay, I, there's some similarities and I was, I too was listening to a song about alcohol. I assume, is absinthe technically a type of alcohol, a very strong alcohol, or am I misunderstanding what absinthe
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Absinthe is a type of alcohol. It is something a lot of, famous, writers had issues with I think a girl on Poe was addicted to it, like he thought it had some hallucinogenic properties. a few other people. Yeah, they, it does not have hallucinogenic properties. It's just like an, an anise based spirit. It's disgusting. I hate it, but the song is good. So
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:is it legal to drink in the United States?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:it's legal to drink absent. Yeah. there are certain varieties of absent that are not legal. It's like normally there's like a special like absinthe glass and you put like a sugar cube on top of a spoon and then have like light that sugar cube with a lighter and then have it fall into the absinthe to dilute it.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:have to drink something like that to do this show. So I can, I can
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:It's very pretty, it's very pretty, it's like bright green, but it's disgusting,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. I was listening to Copperhead Road by Steve Earle. I'm not sure if you're familiar with that or not. But,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:No, I know Steve Irwin, not Steve
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, it was a song from 1988. It's about a guy who, I think ends up flying helicopters full of cocaine. Who was inspired by his grandfather. who was a moonshiner. I think that's basically the essence of the song. Yeah.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:your grandfather traffics cocaine, and then you just become moonshine, or vice versa.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:all right. those are officially our walk up songs for episode 26, but that said, what's on our docket today, Mr. Black?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:first, we're going to be going over some case updates, and then we will be getting into our legal news section, which I guess coincides with our updates, and first we'll be talking about, A firework mishap that occurred, Utah stadium on the 4th of July. and then we will be doing a deep dive into the Alec Baldwin trial, which is actually currently going on. So we'll be giving some updates as to what's occurred thus far. Some associated cases, and then our thoughts on how we think it might come out one way or another. then we'll be jumping to our legal questions section, talking about first, um, when an owner of a dog is liable for the dog biting someone. So if your Chihuahua goes off and has a rabid attack, just running around the city, biting everyone. Are you liable for that or not? We'll let you know. Um, then, second, what are different types of mail services and their legal applications? So you may have heard of certified mail, sending things via regular mail, sending things via FedEx, all that sort of stuff. What the differences are in their legal applications. And then, I'm reading our show notes here and I don't entirely understand why this is under the legal questions section, but we have is what does the term, but hurt me? It's not just like you wanting to know Phil
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:No, it's a legal term. it's, yeah.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:asked me, I could have just told you out of the show.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:no, legal. This is a legal question. it's used by a certain segment of our clientele that we provide services for and certain industries use certain terms and we need to educate our listeners.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:okay. Okay. Got it. Got it. Okay. We'll be going into the legal term butthurt, which I did not realize had a legal application, but we'll be going over that. and then our rant and rave section, where we will be talking about. The minimum wage disparities across the U. S. and how our economy.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. before we get started on our legal news, let's talk about an update because Austin last show. You mentioned that a Texas judge made a ruling for injunctive relief related to the non compete ban and that, that was true, but that's also very, not exactly true because it was more, the ruling was more restrictive.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:it was true. Okay. It had just happened. All right. Like we have a little bit more, understanding of it now. Cause we actually have the language of the ruling. Yeah. it was more restrictive. It replies just to the plaintiffs in that particular case.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. so just to give our listeners a little history, everyone will remember that the FTC, Federal Trade Commission, passed a rule banning non competes all over the country. When that news broke, we said that the FTC does not have the power to do that kind of rulemaking, right? of course, it was challenged, and in Texas, the plaintiff that challenged it was a tax services law firm based out of Dallas. And took that case to, federal district court and judge, the judge, Ada Brown issued an injunction saying, okay, the FTC cannot do that, but the injunction only applied to be plaintiffs. In that case, so the rule is not set to go into effect, the FTC rule banning non competes is not set to go into effect until September of 24, so it's not a rule yet, but we've predicted on the weekly docket on this show that is really never going to happen, the federal courts are going to get involved There's going to be an injunction, eventually the Supreme Court may rule and say, no, the FTC does not have that kind of power. And we're already seeing that unfold. Austin, have you been following the Supreme Court's ruling related to, administrative rulemaking and the Chevron deference? Okay. Can you tell us, tell the listeners about that?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah. so Chevron deference, is a term that anyone who goes to law school is familiar with. usually you have to take some sort of administrative law class. And what administrative law is it's, the sort of rule making, um, that's done by the subsidiaries of the executive branch. So like the part of health. All those sorts of things, like a lot of rulemaking applications, and then the USCIS, immigration, all those sorts of things. It's rulemaking, it's not judicial, but they have administrative courts there, and Chevron deference. Basically says that if a case not involves definition of an administrative rule is in actually the judiciary, if there is a ruling that the court and their discretion determines is ambiguous, they will defer, they can defer. to the agency's interpretation of that rule. So if the agency decides that this thing that the court says is ambiguous means one thing, the court's very likely going to defer to that interpretation of the rule according to Chevron deference. Recently, that was overruled by the Supreme Court, Chevron deference was. pretty much along ideological lines. and This, as we were just talking about the FTC situation, when we originally talked about that, as Phil said, we thought that this is very likely to be forestalled from going into effect, and then eventually, a court would rule that the FTC does not have that authority to do that sort of, basically lawmaking, and now that's almost 100 percent certain, for the Supreme Court to walk back, this Chevron deference to overrule the Chevron case, it's much more likely, That it's the FTC's attempt to promulgate this final rule is going to be ruled unconstitutional. So
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, I think that's an excellent explanation. If I were to try to break that down for our listeners, I would probably say something like liberal, and there's nothing wrong with your explanation, I just, brass tacks, liberal Democrats. Love rules and they love the administration. The executive branch, they love, the Ft p, the FTC, the EPA, all of these rulemaking bodies to basically have power carte blanche. they want it to be that's what they consider the best environment to be. Conservative Republicans generally favor less rulemaking. The less power in these agencies that are not elected by the people. So you have those tensions that exist. And the Chevron case way back when I was in law school, I can't remember when was the Chevron case Austin, but way back when Austin was in law school. The Chevron case basically said these rulemaking agencies should have Deference. There should be certain authority given to them if there's ambiguity in the rule. And now this recent Supreme Court decision has said no, that's no more. So this is a win
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:so that was a 40 year long
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:So I was definitely in law school after the Chevron ruling. So We've seen an erosion of the power of rulemaking agencies. like the FTC. So generally speaking, if you're pro business, if you're conservative, if you're Republican, this is a win for you. If you're a liberal democrat and you want more rules and more regulation, then this is a loss.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:a little bit more nuance that isn't necessarily along party lines. this is something people on the left say, right? a lot of the times, people who are in those positions, in these various agencies, Do you have some sort of expertise in that particular field? For instance, the Department of Health are probably doctors or have have have experience in health administration, something like that. And so the argument there is that those people are experts, and they would know what the best interpretation of certain things are. But then there's also pushback on that, both from the right and the left at times, giving examples of people who are in those positions who are absolutely not experts or they just make rulings along their own ideological preferences. And so it is messy, but with Chevron being overruled, it seems like we're just going to get judges making decisions, and they're not going to be able to punt the ball back to the agency anymore.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. So that's like when Anthony Fauci ruled the country during Covid, right? Because he was, he was a health expert,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:helped. I think with various quote unquote emergency powers, we probably still would have gotten there, but we'll see. I'm
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:we know how well that went with Dr. Fauci and all that, but let's go ahead and move along. let's kick off our legal news section and let's start with this fireworks thing in Utah. So on July 4th. There was a concert, a big fireworks display. Austin, are you a fan of the Jonas Brothers at all?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:a fan of the Jonas Brothers. Yeah. And I am hoping I can live until the year 3000. So I can just experience people listening to that song in the same year. It's probably not going to happen.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:No, not gonna happen. the Jonas Brothers were getting ready to perform in Utah, and there was a fireworks display. Really tragically, the display went very poorly, and these fireworks were shot. errantly into the stands where all the spectators were. Six people were injured, taken to the hospital. This was at, BYU's Lavelle Edwards stadium in Provo, Utah.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:so I, it's very sad that people were injured. That's not what I'm laughing at. I, you really know your career is just like on its last leg when for the 4th of July you're performing at BYU.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. Now, come on.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:really rough.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:that's a, let me apologize in advance to all of, BYU alumni listeners,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I can just say anywhere in Utah. There we
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Oh, okay. Utah is not a great music state, maybe. I don't know. But hey, the Jonas Brothers are performing in Utah. Fireworks go awry and you get some people injured. This is obviously a terrible thing. there's been a lot of news coverage around sort of these events that have, that had problems. We've talked about being Texas based lawyers. We talked a lot about the astro world. event. and what happened there? And what was the name of that rapper again? Austin?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:juice? no, it wasn't juice. It was Travis Scott, right?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Travis Scott. Yeah, the Travis Scott Astroworld issue where those people were stampled to death. That was tragic. I don't think anyone was killed here. There was maybe a serious injury from the fireworks. Six people hospitalized and again, from a legal perspective, almost certainly lawsuits will come out of this. It's likely going to be a negligence type of case.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:we don't know exactly the extent of the injuries as of yet. It's still being but yeah
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:you go see something in a stadium. The event. the people running the thing. There's a duty not to shoot you with a firework. That would be one of their duties. And I think when you get shot with a firework, that's likely a breach of that duty.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I think that duty is unreasonable personally, but toots their own.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:That's gonna be some lawsuits. We'll keep everyone updated on
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:of shooting people with things beyond fireworks
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah. Ah, yes, that's our next legal news topic here. We have deep dive into the Alec Baldwin trial. I don't know how deep we can go on this,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I mean, if you want a deep dive, I think multiple news organizations, because this is, there are a lot of journalists in the courthouse who are providing like minute by minute updates. I was following it earlier. This is interesting,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:well, there's a group, I think that, I think the trial is actually being recorded and yeah, televised on court TV. I have not watched much of it. For listeners who don't know, Alec Baldwin, obviously a famous actor, he was shooting a movie called Rust, I believe in 2021. in, oh boy, he was shooting a 2021 in New Mexico. And on the set, again, tragically, someone was killed. I can't figure out whether he was in mid scene or he was just on set and this gun discharge, we don't know the facts yet, but I don't think it was a situation where he was in the middle of the scene and he was supposed to shoot someone and then the bullet flew by. I heard that this was off on the set while they were not filming and the gun discharged. His story is that he never actually pulled the trigger.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:that he just cocked it because that was in the script. He just cocked the gun and when he cocked it, it went off. That's what he
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. The person who died was cinematographer, Halnyad Hutchins. There also was an injury to the director, Joel Sousa. And Baldwin is being charged with involuntary manslaughter in New Mexico, which carries a maximum punishment of 18 months. The armorer, that's the person, Austin, who's in charge of all the guns and
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:yeah,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:They're not supposed to have live ammunition. She was already convicted of involuntary manslaughter. She's serving 18 months. She's saying that she's a scapegoat.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:maybe she is, but it's crazy. cause I told you I was following and I don't want to watch the live thing because I don't really like Alec Baldwin's face. So if I can avoid seeing that and get the information on it, I'm going to take that route. Um, but they, the, defense showed various pictures of the rounds that they were using for this gun. And there were live rounds mixed in with dummy rounds, like more than just this.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:And they say, they say you never do that. if you're a Hollywood expert, you say, if you're the armor that can never happen.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:yeah, which is crazy. I feel like that probably is somewhat on the armor, but I don't
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah. That, That, I think that fact is what really, I think, got the armor or the fact that she had live rounds in the ammunition case or wherever they put it. So
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:that? That's so bad. Yeah. I
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:yeah, he's got, it's, trial, he's in the middle of trial right now. Um, the, one of the interesting things is there was a motion before the trial and the prosecution wanted to say that he was a co producer. So be, as a co producer, he has this greater responsibility over the filming and the set and the defense objected to that. And the judge ruled that fact could not be brought in
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:And that's interesting. I wasn't aware because obviously we don't practice entertainment law. We could really even get close to that. So I wasn't aware that carried specific, but like liability concerns when it came to shooting movies is interesting. Yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:they wanted to show that he exerted this type of control. Are you a fan of Alec Baldwin? do you like
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I don't like his face. like his face just bothers me. And that's not because of like his political opinions or anything. I know he's become more vocal with that recently. I just really don't like his face. So
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, he has a reputation for being a real jerk. Is what I've heard. And they've got some footage of some crazy stuff that he's done. I guess he's a
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I, think my favorite thing that I've seen, like there actually had, there have been some things from Alec Baldwin that I've enjoyed. My favorite things I've seen for him is I loved when he did Trump on SNL. Like did such a good, like a parody of it. It was, I
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I, I, a hundred percent agree with that. One of, one of the greatest movies of all time, if you're in sales, in real estate sales, have you ever heard of the movie Glen Gary Glen Ross?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:No.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay, it's a movie, I want to say it was shot in the late 80s, early 90s, all star cast, Alec Baldwin is in it, And he does this monologue of he's the top salesman, he does this monologue of coming down to the sales office and giving a motivational speech for real estate agents. It's an incredibly inappropriate movie. I'm not even sure it could be made. at this time, I think it makes fun of a lot of Indian people, like sales people trying to sell real estate to Indian people. So, there's a lot of racist stuff in there that I don't think people tolerate
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:no, I think the equivalent for my generation is, DiCaprio's Jordan Belfort, in Wolf of Wall Street, I think, giving his, sa I think that's the equivalent for my generation.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:movie.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:yeah, so Alec Baldwin, I think he's a good actor. I'd be interested to see how this trial comes out. I think it's a raw deal. I, I've said this before. We covered this on our previous show. You're dealing with guns. You're the actor. The assumption is they hand you a gun. You're acting. You assume the thing is not live. so it's
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:there's been, absolutely nothing that's come up about any animosity that Baldwin had towards this art, towards this like person who was killed or injured or anything of the sort. So I don't know. I don't think I, again, I don't really like the guy. I also don't think you should go to prison for this.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I I agree with that. We don't know all the facts. I wonder if he was a more popular, lovable person if he would have even been arraigned.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:not.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:So I. Yeah, I don't like if Taylor Swift were to do a show when there was a prop gun in it. I don't even think
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I mean, I don't think, to be honest, if I was the prosecutor who would have authority, jurisdiction over that case, I would not bring it for fear of my own life. I do not, I would I would be swiftly moved from life to death.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I think Taylor Swift could probably shoot someone intentionally
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Oh, probably.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:prosecuted for
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Trump's whole thing about like, I could shoot someone on the street and no one would care. No, I actually think that's true for Taylor Swift. There would of people who would be totally fine with it. It's just crazy, but
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, we're going to see what happens in this Alec Baldwin case. It's unfolding now. So you've got it. We're not criminal lawyers, but manslaughter in New Mexico. all right, let's move on and answer some legal questions. And we've got the dog bite thing. So when is the owner of a dog liable for a bite in Texas? if you're a dog lover out there, you have a dog, and I always feel bad for these people, Austin, where They're walking their dog and they've got the dog on the leash and yeah, who knows maybe the dog sees another dog a person oh, you've always got that guy out there with the dog is like just you basically walking the owner and Trying to get all in the you if you're like me and you don't have a dog you say I walk around the dog, especially if it's like a pitbull or a Rottweiler or something like that, but
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Wait, but you have a problem with the pit babies?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Aggressive breed dogs. Some people that are really like Pitbull fans or Rottweiler fans are like there are no aggressive breeds out
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:only the odors! It's the odors! Yeah, okay, yes, that's exactly right. Yeah, that's why I see so many Chihuahua rampages through the country. I don't know, man. I, uh
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I've had dogs before. I do like dogs. We don't have dogs anymore because the kids basically can't clean up after themselves. So my rule is if the kids can keep, From dropping things on the floor and leaving them there for a period of two weeks, then I will get them a dog and they have been unable to even do that task. dad does not want to take care of a dog again. But, so the idea, what's the law Austin, if you were to describe the Texas law on the one bite rule, are you familiar?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:yeah, I can describe it. So in the words of our illustrious former president, George W. Bush, if you fool me once, you can't be fooled again. Okay. So the dog bite liability has to be, it deals with what's called the one bite rule, right? If the dog has bitten someone in the past. Or you have another reason to know that your dog has the propensity to act aggressively or to bite people. And you do not take preventative measures to stop that from happening, then you're very likely liable. Now, if your dog has never done that in the past at all, Or is, and again, there are some breeds that just have a propensity to act aggressively, for instance, pit bulls, et cetera. Pit bulls and some other dogs like that can even bypass this one bite rule, right? If you have a dog like that, who is just considered aggressive. then you can be liable for the first one if that is the sort of breed there and the situation.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:See I didn't know that and I'm because I own a property management company We also we have a real estate practice. We don't do personal injury. We've had some we have Being connected to real estate a lot of this stuff happens on property. So it's real estate related we have done some dog bite cases and I think it's interesting whether The plaintiff could submit evidence that Rottweilers and pit bulls are more aggressive and that somehow would automatically make the owner negligent.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:It's not an automatic thing, but it is factored into the consideration,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:something the jury can hear. The jury can hear statistics on pit bulls and Rottweilers being aggressive, maybe, and that goes to Perhaps creating a lower standard for the plaintiff to prove that burden of negligence
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah, and we have a case here, Marshall V. Raine, in 19 74 in Texas, which established that the owner's prior knowledge of a dog's dangerous propensities is crucial for that liability. And so if the dog, if the owner was aware that like Rottweilers or pitbulls have a propensity to be especially dangerous, that could be hell against
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, so if you have a dog out there and it's bit someone, you really are almost, if the dog bites someone again, you're basically guaranteeing liability on the second or third, even the third time. So that's that rule.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:these are not like, usually, if something like this happens, it's not a small thing, right? These are some major medical bills, et cetera, like pain and suffering. if you have a dog that you're aware of, that has a propensity to do this, I think you're really not protecting yourself if you keep that dog around.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah. Now, there, there's something called comparative negligence. And this is the concept. this came up in the outline. The idea, let's say, Austin, you're walking your dog, you're,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:walking my, or, or, or let's say you're walking your dog. You are walking your four, your two pit bulls and two Rottweilers. Okay. walking those and they're on the leash or you're holding them. You're walking them on a Sunday morning. And I come over and I've never interacted with these dogs before in my life. I run over and I start trying to pet all four of them on the head at the same time. Okay. And then I get viciously mauled. There's probably some comparative negligence there.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. and that, Yes, and what, in Texas, if you're the plaintiff, you cannot be more than 51 percent liable or 51 percent at fault and recover. You can be a little bit at fault, right? so in Austin's example, let's say I'm just an idiot. and maybe, oh, here's Austin walking his pit bulls and I go and pet them. Yeah, maybe the jury finds that I'm only 25 percent at fault because, hey, I was petting some random pitbulls. or hypothetically, let's say I decide that I like to wear chicken bones as a necklace around my neck, right? I walk out of the house with a chicken bone necklace on and then I go pet the pitbulls and the pitbulls maul me. I'm probably over 51 percent negligent there at fault, so I'm prohibited from recovering in the state of Texas.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah, that does make sense. Yeah, the comparative negligence thing comes up a lot more often in car crashes. comparative negligence all the time, right? Especially with rear end, right? It's someone like pulls out in front of someone and they get rear ended. Normally, the liability is on whoever hits them from the back, right? But if someone just jerks out and goes in there, and then the person who hit them from behind tries to sue, to try, the person who pulled out in front of them tries the people who hit them from behind, there, it's gonna be a little bit harder to argue that they were not more than 51 percent liable.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. And I have another interesting fact about this, the one bite rule and animal liability. We just, Austin, you may remember, we just finished doing a piece on the Ten Commandments. So it got me back into Exodus and I was reading Exodus and I'm convinced that this rule is one of this law. The one bite rule is one of the oldest laws that we've had, because I found it
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:put this up in classrooms.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I don't think they would have, maybe they would not object to this one so much. Okay, so Exodus 21, 21st chapter, verses 28 through 29. If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. If, and this is the one bite rule. If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned, but has not kept it pinned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is stoned and it's owner is also to be put to death.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:So I, that's very interesting. I did not remember this law, in the Old Testament law. But, man, I gotta feel sorry for everyone who was trying to stone the bull. can we please have a more efficient way of exterminating the bull? Can we please just cut
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:oh, it's, oh, it's a, it's, I see. it's an animal cruelty thing.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Not necessarily, I'm not even worried about the bull. Look, if the bull is goring people, I don't care about animal cruelty, okay? just saying, an efficient way to kill the bull, I'm just imagining all these Israelites over here, Ugh! Keep throwing stones at the bull!
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:it does seem like it would take a long time to stone.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:time man. These guys are getting a workout, okay?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Of course, with all the transgressions that resulted in stoning, you probably, The community right, our,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:quite good at
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:right, our, our, our people have gotten excellent at stoning. I, it's the, there you have it. Moses, that was about the time of Moses. So you figure Moses about 1500 BC. And then, excuse me, about 3, 500 years ago, we've had this law. Now we're no longer putting people to death. Although I guess it could
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:we don't do that here. In some other countries we do.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, I guess it could be criminal, I mean we were talking civilly. Right? Like a plaintiff sues you and you're, the defendant is liable. that's money owed. If you're talking about, criminal, you've got this vicious pit bull and you let it loot. I can see that being criminal. I don't know what the punishment was. Probably not death. It's probably not a capital.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:come to that. I don't think it's ever been a capital punishment, yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:you can probably create, a scenario where your pit bull could be
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:as a weapon, if you're using the pitbull as a weapon or something, um, then yes, absolutely there. But
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah. so personal injury, dog bite rule. That's a lot if you're a dog owner out there. If you're a landlord and your tenant has dogs, it also comes into factors there in negligence cases. There you have it. All right, let's get into something totally unrelated. And we, this sounds like a really boring and dry topic. And it's all about mail and U. S. Postal Service mail. And we're going to run through this really quick because I think people need to know this. and we as lawyers use the mail all the time. People are still using the mail. It's the digital age, right? People are still using
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:also like we're talking about biblical things. This is also biblical, right? one of the very first verses, back in Genesis, God created the male and female,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Ah, yes. Ah, that excellent tie in. I, if there were any better of a segue to that. I don't know. I don't know what it would
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Exactly.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:he, here's the most interesting thing to me. don't read it, Austin, but did you know the difference between regular male and first class Male?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I guess in my mind, my concept is that first class mail is faster.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah. You're a hundred percent right? First class. First class mail is usually quicker. Standard mail is slower. But here's the interesting thing. Almost all envelopes are always set first class mail, sent first class mail because the, the same postage rate applies for anything one ounce or under.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Oh, okay.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:So anytime you get something in the mail that's under an ounce, it's probably first class mail. I don't know who uses regular mail anymore. I guess if you're sending something that's over an ounce and you want to save money. then regular mail. as attorneys, we do send first class and regular mail oftentimes because we send out the next thing we're talking about certified mail and certified mail return receipt, right? So when we send out demand letters, Austin, you typically send them certified mail return receipt requested, right?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Typically. Yep.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, and that, that's just a tracking. You send it certified mail, it means that the USPS, United States Postal Service is going to track it. But if you send it return receipt requested, then you're asking the, the recipient to, to sign for it. That's that green card. And then the green card
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:a different green card from like immigration.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:yes, not,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah. You can have both
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Austin used to be an immigration attorney. So we're doing. We're talking about the green card. lawyers, we like to send things certified mail return receipt requested so we get the green card back. Now, you know this, Austin. A lot of times if we send something certified mail return receipt requested, it oftentimes will not be signed and it won't be picked up. And why is that?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:because people don't like receiving mail from lawyers.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yes, or anything certified.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah. We're anything certified. Yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay, the general public out there believes that if they were to receive something certified, mail, that something bad is going to happen to them.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:doesn't work the same way with like, getting, if you get service of, let's say, for instance, a notice of a default judgment, okay? If you get a notice of a default judgment, and you ignore it, okay, that does not make the default judgment go away. Okay? P. S. A. Yes.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yes. please go down and get your certified mail return receipt. it's not a dog is not going to jump out of the envelope and bite you. your dog is not going to jump out of the envelope.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:previously, you may be entitled to compensation.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:It's better to know and address the problem head on. But so as lawyers, when we send out things, when we send out demand letters, our clients will say, how you said, we send it certified mail return received requested. We also send it. I'd say regular, but most likely first class mail because it's under an ounce. that way, if there's ever a question of did they get it, we'll tell the judge. Or judge, we send it to him, certified mail return receipt requested. We send it to him, regular mail or first class mail, and we emailed it to him, judge. And that's going to satisfy the judge that some diligent effort has been made to, to get them whatever we're trying to get
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Especially the same email the court's been communicating with them, and with them as well, and they've been responding to that email, and then they tell the court, oh, we never got this! the court's nah, nah, you got it.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:so there's all kinds of laws where you're, where attorneys are still required to mail things or people that are trying to comply with things. We've got a couple examples here. Notice to vacates and eviction. if you're doing an eviction, Texas property code section 24. 005, it just says the notice has to be delivered in person or by mail. Doesn't specify how, but just by mail. So when you do those, Austin, how do you typically send them? Probably,
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:mail return receipt requested and again, that's not because it's part of the law, but it's always an element in these eviction cases, whether or not they received the notice to vacate, just showing proof that it was
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Another example, as attorneys, oftentimes we do lien filings and on real estate to perfect liens on real estate, we often have to send notices by mail. There's been a recent change, so that code has required certified mail with return receipt. there's a recent update where it said you can send by another form now as long as it's traceable. So that's allowed for things like FedEx or UPS if you want to, if you want to send that, send it that way. So look, that's the mail. I don't have a lot more to say about that, but that's what I wanted people to know and just cruise right through that. So hopefully that helps people a little bit on. If you get something certified, just go out there, just get it. It's better to know than not know.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Sadly, the people who do that, they'll probably don't listen to this podcast,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:yeah, all right. But this brings us to our next legal question, which it doesn't really bring us to anything. We're not going to do any awkward segues. We're just going to go, just going to go right into it. The legal term that's tongue in cheek, but hurt. Okay.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Okay.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:And this comes up all the time because it's. I had never heard this before, but
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:You had never heard this before until this week?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:no, I had never heard this until we started having subcontractors and contractors that work on real estate as clients.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:ah, okay.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Cause I, and I first heard it when I started practicing and working with guys who work on real estates, typical, they're great clients, good guys. And they, they'll say, Oh, Phil, this sub that I was using, he just got butthurt because I didn't want, and I didn't say anything about it. First of all, I've never heard that term. What does butthurt mean? And I, it came up again this week because I was having coffee with my wife. And my wife was like, what does, I don't know how it came up. I was, I think I started to use it and she was like, I'd never heard that. And I was like, really, you've never heard that site. I emailed our, our producer and I said, put this in the show. We have to tell people what butthurt means.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I feel like 99. 9 percent of our discussion topics, for either rant or raves or immediately preceding, are just sprung from conversations with your wife. It's very funny.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Oh, is that right? It's it could be. so basically my wife gives us all of our topics and then you love to apply them to Asian peoples. So that's.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I think that's you at this point, but sure.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Hey, your walk up song to the podcast was a Korean rapper. I'm just going to remind you of that.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:yeah, that is
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:my, so when I was emailing, I voice dictate because I guess I'm old. I had a, do you voice dictate, do you voice dictator? No.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Like I will voice dictate maybe once every two weeks.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay. I voice dictate all of my texts and all of my emails and messages just because. My thumbs don't work as fast as Austin's, but as I was voice dictating to Aaron about putting butthurt in the show. And what is what does butthurt mean, Austin? I'm just give us so we can educate people.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:It means upset
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Well, yeah, but it's more like he was overly sensitive and he got his feelings hurt.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:may mean it means unreasonably upset like about something that they shouldn't have been upset about basically.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:that's exactly what it is. But you I mean, am I correct that it's typically used? by tradesmen and maybe less. do you hear professional educated people use the term butthurt very much?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:No, I did have an opposing counsel use it once and I was very confused. but no, I mean, I guess I don't have a lot of interactions with that, demographic you gave just there. That may be the case. I've never associated it with anyone who has, a lower level of education or anything like that. I've just associated it with more, Course discussion, like more course talk.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Okay, that's interesting. All right
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:and not like in the levels of like profanity or anything like that, but I just don't generally use it in everyday conversation because I think it does come off as a little bit lowbrow, so
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:okay, so if you were in front of a judge arguing a motion and you were trying to say that the Opposing party had no real damages and they were just butthurt. you probably wouldn't
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I would not say that I would say the opposing party is, this is a completely frivolous case and they for it. And they're just upset because of this. Yeah.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yeah, it You It was a little quite my wife at the time when I was voice dictating Aaron. She said, don't talk about that in the show because I think you don't know what you're doing and it might have something to do with sodomizing another man. I was like, I don't think that's all. So I, I
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:that probably would hurt in the butt area, but no, I, it has nothing to do with
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I told Aaron to research it just in case and it turns out that he could not find anything.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:really hope that messed up Aaron's like Google search recommendations now. and he's getting some very interesting ads.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Nothing, not just for the record, nothing to do with sodomy. Okay. But
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Going back to Exodus. Yeah, no, nothing to do with that.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Oh, that's, I look, I'm not, I don't, I think the show can still be, have the non, The we don't have to put inappropriate content disclaimer on this show anymore. I don't think so. All right, let's go ahead and get onto our favorite section of the show rant and rave section. Talk about minimum wage disparities in the U. S. This is been in the news recently. You're always hearing a lot of politicians. Let's raise the minimum wage or is the federal minimum wage. recently you've heard Trump's tax proposal where he wants to not tax tips. And Austin, you may know in Texas. Anyway, you can pay something like 2 an hour to your waiters and waitresses. And then, they get the rest of it in tips.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Which inappropriate. Sane, you should never have the onus on the customer to pay the employees a living wage. That is the job of the employer. It's crazy to me. So crazy.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:we talked a little bit about that on tipping, but That's a Trump proposal is and I think what he's trying to do. I don't know if that's really gonna go very far I think he's trying to get young the young vote because he knows that so many people out there Young people are doing hospitality and service. So by floating that he hopes to get a little more young vote. I it would basically when you do, when you set policy like that tax policy, that's going to incentivize all businesses out there to try to pay via tips to decrease that tax burden for their employees. the policy will have ramifications. but minimum wage, federal minimum wage is 7. 25 an hour. Very few jobs actually pay the minimum wage. That's under the Fair Labor Standards Act. There's been a lot of, states out there that have set high minimum wage, out of a policy standpoint, thinking all people should have a decent, livable wage. What are the top five highest minimum wages? Do you have that in the
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah, I do. So Washington DC, and that's just Washington DC proper. That's not the area around it. 17 an hour, very small area. Washington state is 16. 28. I wonder how they come up with it.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:That, that's probably a, that's probably a CPI
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:I'm sure they paid someone way more per hour to come up with
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:ha.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:California is 16 per hour. Massachusetts, where you are right now, yes.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yes.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Massachusetts is 15 an hour. and you said Gabe got a job. Is he making minimum wage?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Yes. And it's crazy because if he were, if he's working at a grocery store, stack, sacking groceries, if he were working at that same store in Texas, he'd get seven 25 an hour. But up here in Massachusetts, I, he works up here and I pay for them to live, obviously. So he's making Massachusetts minimal wage on zero expenses. So
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:nice.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:it's a great deal. And then New Jersey at 15.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:again, they probably paid someone way more to do this, but it's 15. 13 per hour.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:Alright, and then what are our five lowest states for minimum wage?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:states, alright, Georgia is 5. 15, so they are below the federal minimum,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:right. which the FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act, preempts their state minimum wage. That's probably just an antiquated law and they haven't changed it. 7. 25. And then you've got Wyoming at 5. 15. Our home state of Texas at 7. 25. Alabama, Louisiana, both at 7. 25. your conservative state's lower minimum wages. Your liberal states, your higher minimum wages, here's the rant on this and politicians. I'm sure we've got some politicians that listen to the show. I don't know if there's any like high profile politicians, but, maybe some
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:hope any politicians listening to this have the wherewithal to come up with their own policy positions,
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:have you heard the Excel spreadsheet challenge for politicians out there? So a lot of the Wall Street bankers are giving Congress the Excel spreadsheet challenge of, look, we're running this huge deficit, which is a long term problem. Yes, we're the United States, so maybe not a short term problem. But here's your Excel spreadsheet. Policy aside, you plug in the numbers on how to balance the budget and not run a deficit. You just show us where, how this works. Just show us the math. And the joke is that we don't know that any of the politicians have ever actually used Excel before. I'm sure there, I'm sure there's a few, but Alright, so the rant on this is setting a high minimum wage does not work from a policy standpoint. If you set higher wages everything else comes up too. So if you're thinking you're doing people a favor by paying them 15, 16 an hour, all that's going to mean is everything gets more expensive in the state. So they still can't afford to live.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Yeah, I think it all like all the tension I think comes from people having completely differing opinions as to what minimum wage should be, right? Some people, most people, mostly people on the left, right? Believe that minimum wage should be. Quote unquote, a livable wage, right? That should be like something that someone can make and live and sustain themselves on it, right? No one could sustain themselves on seven 25 an hour, right? even in Texas, maybe in some rural areas, but like in any major city area, no way, there's no.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:no. And and in places like Massachusetts or California, if the minimum wage is 15 an hour, they're still not sustaining themselves.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:prices go up. Yes, absolutely. and so it's people trying to address. Symptoms without addressing root issues. and you're always going to have things like this when that happens.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:we bring our show to a close on and this is, this political stuff of the minimum wage setting. You just got to let the free market do its thing. sometimes I'm not saying capitalism needs to run unchecked all the time. But generally speaking, when you let capitalism do its thing, the laws of supply and demand will work this out and clear, clearly the policy setting of the minimum wage in this instance is not getting the job done because as Austin pointed out, everything else just gets more expensive. The final statistic I want to leave you with and to highlight this point, the Big Macs, we always use McDonald's as a barometer of cost of living. And recently, Austin, you may have seen in the news that fast food companies are just currently in a fight because the cost of food is so high and our lowest income earning people are getting really still hammered with inflation. And remember, yes, inflation is running slower. The Fed is trying to get it back to two, three percent inflation or whatever, but we still already have all of the inflation that's already happened. You still have 15, 20 percent. rise in cost post pandemic, that's still already out there. So stuff is still expensive. The rate of growth of inflation is now just slowing. So you still have our lowest income earners still struggling. So the fast food companies out there are, that's why McDonald's recently started a 5 menu. And then you've got these other fast food companies that are following suit, trying to appeal to their lowest income earners. Who are the people that go. and buy fast food. So we always use McDonald's as a barometer of how much things should cost and where the most expensive Big Mac. Have you looked at the outline? Don't look at the prices, Austin. If you had to, I want you to guess. Most expensive Big Mac, which state? And how much?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:um, I probably say Maryland.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:You're close. It's expensive in Maryland. Most expensive Big Mac is around 8 in Massachusetts. A Big Mac will cost you 8. 09 in a place called Lee, Massachusetts. And the cheapest Big Mac, Austin, in Oklahoma, I don't know how to pronounce this. I think it was Stigler, Oklahoma or something like that. I don't know what it was. Oklahoma will cost you 3. 49 for that same Big Mac in Oklahoma. And the minimum wage is 7. 25.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Have you ever eaten a Big Mac?
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I haven't had one since I've maybe been like 10 maybe. So it's been a long time. Have you?
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:never had a Big Mac. I stopped eating at McDonald's 15 years ago.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:well, nothing against McDonald's. I tried to eat at a McDonald's yesterday and I walked into a McDonald's. They have a little kiosk now and I eat very healthy. I needed food. I tried to find one thing that was not fried and the McDonald's did not sell. They used to sell like a salad, a chicken sandwich. That is all stopped. You cannot buy one thing that is not fried at McDonald's. Yeah, at least at the one I went to, yesterday.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:that's crazy.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:to illustrate the point, if you look at the cost of that Big Mac in Massachusetts costing you eight bucks, the minimum wage in Massachusetts is 15. So you're, approximately two fold the minimum wage in Oklahoma. Your Big Mac also costs you. about twice as much as well.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:And it's not a bigger Mac. It's same Mac size, okay? It's just big. It's not anything that small.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:So our politicians, I don't know why they can't do basic math. I challenge all the politicians out there, take the Excel spreadsheet challenge, look at these costs of Big Macs, look at your minimum wage policy, take the policy out of it, take the policy out of it, and take the politics out of it, and you figure out in the spreadsheet. How you're going to balance the budget and how you're and how you're going to set economic policy.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Phil, you are way too optimistic, right? You think that they actually care about any of this. You think that they don't already know all this. I guarantee you, like 99. 9 percent of them already know everything that we're saying here. They know it's not going to fix anything, but their constituents, the ones who they're trying to get their vote, They don't. And so they're able to go and say, look at what I did. I raised the minimum wage to this and they don't care. They don't care about fixing anything.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:either that or they're so out of touch with regular people. The best illustration of politicians being out of touch is three or four years ago, There was a race to be mayor in New York City, okay? And they just randomly asked the guys running for mayor how much should a house cost in Brooklyn? And I kid you not, several of them answered like$150,000 for a house in Brooklyn. There, there was a, in the Wall Street Journal, mansion section, like a couple weeks into this past Saturday, it, there was, the brownstones in Brooklyn were costing, eight, nine,$10 million. And the people running for mayor thought you could buy a place in Brooklyn for 150 grand.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:That is a good argument for, if you don't know something, say you don't know it.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:I think during the debate, they should ask both, the next debate, they should ask both Donald Trump and Joe Biden how much a gallon of milk costs.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Nah, I think that would be too hard hitting. I think they need to focus more on their golf game.
phil-silberman_4_07-11-2024_134226:They could have a debate about it. Alright, we have to wrap this up. That brings our show to a close. I've been your host, Phil Slipperman. Austin Black has been my co host. Like us, follow us, review us, wherever you get your podcasts. Reminder, nothing in this show is, can be considered legal advice, not legal advice. This is all for entertainment purposes only. If you have a legal question, email us at info at sylb law firm. com. That's I N F O at sylb S I L B like boy law firm. com. Tell us you want it publicly answered in the podcast. We'll do the best we can. Everybody have a great rest of your day.
austin_4_07-11-2024_124226:Thanks guys. Bye.