The Law Offices of Brian Flieg, LLC

Be aware, scammers are always getting smarter.

Our new sign is up, and it looks great. We should be a little bit easier to find, now.

We hope you are all doing well during these very difficult days, and staying safe and practicing healthy habits under advisement from health officials. This is certainly an unprecedented time in at least the lives of all of us here at the Law Offices of Brian Flieg, but we're hopeful that we will pull through as a planet, and tackle the outbreak. We love all of you, and will see you hopefully soon.

Be aware, scammers are always getting smarter.

This is not how a Social Security Number works. The SSA is not going to call you and ask you to verify the last 4 digits of your social security number, and they are not going to ask you to verify your bank accounts. Please be vigilant, scammers are trying more things every day to access your information. If you should happen to fall victim to one of these scams, there is help out there. The best place to start is the IRS page regarding ID theft: https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams.

It is important for all Americans to have access to legal services they may need. This includes many Americans who are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, particularly members of our Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community. There are many barriers to members of the deaf community from obtaining those services, but one of the largest barriers is the ability, or lack thereof, to form effective communication between the lawyer and his or her perspective client. The ADA... requires certain accommodations to ensure effective communication is delivered to the client. In the case of deaf and hard of hearing individuals, this includes transcription services, real-time closed captioning, and qualified sign language interpreters. Due to the complex nature of legal services, effective communication therefore likely requires the employment of a skilled sign language interpreter. Part of the communication barrier lies in the complexity of the language of lawyers. The profession uses a separate dictionary Black’s Law Dictionary to help define certain terms that, without the ability to draw from context, may confuse attempts at delivering a message. Some already find it difficult to express legal concepts in layman’s terms, made that much more daunting by the fact that the client’s primary language is not English in an oral sense. To meet the needs of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community better, a lawyer needs to be willing to incorporate methods of effectively communicating with the client that would not normally be used in the firm. The lawyer should ascertain which auxiliary aids the client needs, and which are appropriate for the situation. The method of communication preferred by one client may be out of the question for another client. Indeed, some clients may require only that you slow your speaking down, remove distractions, or annunciate more with your lips. An exhaustive list of tips for successfully and effectively communicating with the client can go on for many pages, but I recommend that both perspective clients as well as other lawyers who are interested in serving the community review some of the guides that are available online, like this one created by Sharon Caserta, an attorney in Florida: http://www.mdjustice.org//Deaf-Hard-of-Hearing-Handbook-Ca

Our new sign is up, and it looks great. We should be a little bit easier to find, now.