Laws Laws Everywhere Laws

There seems to be a law that governs all our actions so I never make plans.

Greta Garbo

Have you ever thought about how pervasive the law is in our lives? 

• When you woke up this morning, did you turn on a radio? Or a TV? The federal communications commission regulates the content that we hear on the radio, as well as the content we see (and don't see) on our televisions. 
• Did you drive your car? State laws determine who may be licensed to drive a car. State and local laws set speed limits and other traffic laws. 
• Do you have your garbage picked up? Local ordinance governs when and how my garbage should be put at the curb. 
• Did you stop and buy coffee this morning? You probably paid sales tax.
• Do you have school-aged children? The federal department of education enforces regulations governing the services that children receives at school.
• Do you have a job? The federal department of labor enforces regulations affecting your employment, and the Internal Revenue Service (an agency of the federal department of the treasury) gets its cut of your paycheck.

The examples I've listed are just the tip of the iceberg. Each of those examples interact with other laws and layers of laws. Our paychecks not only show deductions for federal income taxes, but also state income taxes. The sales taxes on that cup of coffee are not just county taxes, but also state sales taxes. 

I went to law school. I studied the standard array of topics: torts, contracts, property, criminal procedure, civil procedure and constitutional law. I also studied more specialized topics, such as administrative law, family law, business law, conflicts of law, agency law, products liability and wills and estates. I learned legal research and writing. I participated in moot court.

Then, I took the bar exam in Illinois, and I passed. I got a job with a legal publisher, and I've worked there for more than 20 years now. In the beginning, I worked on a product that reported on aviation law. I transferred to another department and worked on a computer law product. I also audited an intellectual property class at the local law school. Somehow, I ended up reporting on tax law. I've now been doing that for 18 years.

A little over 21 years ago, I became a mother, never realizing how much I would use my law degree as I raise my two daughters. I learned how child care facilities are licensed and regulated. Later, I had to learn some family law. As my daughters grew, it also became necessary to learn about special education law and No Child Left Behind.

Most importantly, however, I know how to find the information that I need. I love to research to find the answers to my questions, and I understand how laws fit together like a puzzle.

That brings us to this blog. I want to use my skills as a researcher to explain the laws that we encounter everyday. Sometimes, the law doesn't seem fair. Sometimes, it doesn't seem right. But, the law is the law, and my goal is to clarify law for the average person. Sitting in meetings with my child's teachers, I've sometimes wondered, how difficult it must be for the average parent who doesn't have a law degree to negotiate for special services. 

It is for these reasons that I plan to use this blog to look at the wide variety of laws that most of us, encounter every day. Please feel free to post comments with ideas.