For over fifty years, the Sullivan & Ward law firm has represented rural electric cooperatives and generating electric cooperatives in the state of Iowa, as well as several electric cooperatives from across the country. Our attorneys, including John Ward and Michael Joynt, have gained national recognition for their expertise in the area of rural
Current Affairs
Employers Use Google to Find Scoop on Employees and Applicants
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Current Affairs, Employment Law
Seattle, Washington lawyer D. Jill Pugh recently wrote an interesting blog post regarding the fact employers are increasingly using Google to find out information about employees and applicants. Employers are able to find out all kinds of information on the Internet including the sorts of information that are illegal to ask in an interview. (Such…
SPAMMER REINVENTS HIMSELF: MOVIE TO FOLLOW?
By Rush Nigut on
SPAMMER TO REINVENT HIMSELF: MOVIE TO FOLLOW?
I recently read an article about the The State of Texas and Microsoft filing a lawsuit against one of the world’s worst purveyors of spam, Ryan Pitylak. Pitylak apparently admitted to sending out 25 million spam emails a day at the height of his business operation. Pitylak was…
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Current Affairs
BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING
Tech companies are getting ready for a big fight. The Bush administration is calling for Internet and telephone companies to keep detailed records of customers’ online activities for a period of at least two years. Frankly, that is scary.
The government wants more than just terrorism and child porn searches. According…
DES MOINES UTILITY FRANCHISE TAX CASE HEADED TO TRIAL
By Rush Nigut on
DES MOINES UTILITY FRANCHISE TAX CASE HEADED TO TRIAL
Last week, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling on a franchise tax issued by the City of Des Moines on utilities. Des Moines had been sued in District Court by Lisa Kragnes seeking to declare the utility franchise tax illegal. She won in…
Casey Blake Taking the Majors by Storm
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Current Affairs
Casey Blake Taking the Majors by Storm
As my loyal readers know I am a huge baseball fan. I follow the box scores every morning of Indianola, Iowa native Casey Blake. As of this morning, Casey was leading the American League in hitting. He also now owns a 13 game hitting streak while hitting .366…
Lawyers Beware!
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Current Affairs
Lawyers Beware!
A recent Forbes article pointed out that lawyers are increasingly subject to lawsuits – not from their clients – but from third parties who may have been injured from the lawyer’s legal advice. The article said, "It has become routine for lawyers to sue lawyers."
Traditional malpractice suits are holding steady although the…
Watch Out for Resume Fraud
By Rush Nigut on
Watch Out for Resume Fraud
Recent news stories show resume fraud presents a big problem for your business. Recently, the Minnesota Vikings Director of Player Personnel was fired for inaccuracies on his resume. Iowa State University has had multiple cases where coaches and faculty have lied on their resumes. Could this happen to you?
Chances…
TouchPlay Dead
By Rush Nigut on
Posted in Current Affairs, Events
TouchPlay Dead
Yesterday a Polk County District Court judge rejected Plaintiffs’ request for an injunction in the TouchPlay lottery cases. A federal court judge previously ruled in a similar manner. The Plaintiffs had requested an injunction to lift the legislative ban of the machines which goes into effect today at 8:00 a.m. The court ruled…
Are You Motivated?
By Rush Nigut on
Are You Motivated?
Yesterday I attended the Get Motivated Seminar in Des Moines. Here are some sample tidbits from the seminar. Most are common sense but as someone once said, "Common sense is not all that common."
Here are five cornerstones of success as told by Suzie Orman.
1) Think Great Thoughts – have a…