“Nothing ever goes exactly as you expect.” - The importance of an open estate planning

My father was always saying that our lives are defined by the sum of our choices. But it isn’t really our choices that mark who we are. It’s our commitment to them. From the moment we’re born, we’re drawn to form a union with others. This is owing to the abiding drive to connect, to love, to belong. In a perfect union, we find the strength we cannot find in ourselves. But the strength of the union cannot be known until it is tested.

It is usually tested when the undefeatable event of death comes into play and the decedent hadn’t anticipated and arranged for the disposal of her estate during her lifetime. All these years of my legal career, I have worked with a lot of families from diverse backgrounds. I really have enjoyed working with all of them, but especially I have felt more useful when I have to represent the interests of families in which their members are in conflict. In these situations, parents hadn’t conducted any estate planning or if they had, they did it behind closed doors. Under these circumstances, my role and goal is to keep the peace in the family and preserve the family wealth.

Most of the times, the problem starts from the parents. Sometimes, they have neglected about what is going to happen regarding their estate upon their death. Some other times, they have conducted estate planning secretly and without having discussed this with their children. I strongly believe and encourage to take a look at the other side of the coin.

My perspective is that the parents should talk openly with their children about what they are thinking of doing with their estates, what they expect to reach, and how their decisions will have an effect on the entire family. Adult children are often in an excellent position to give parents their views and feedback on plans that will finally have more effect on the children’s lives than on the parents’ lives. While parents are eventually accountable for their estate and charitable plans, talking openly with adult children seems sensible because these plans are concerning the children as much as they are about the parents--if not more.

Therefore, effective estate planning will reduce the family conflicts and the uncertainties over the administration of the probate. In addition, it will boost the value of the estate by eliminating taxes and other expenses. This process is not only sensitive but also very important because it is about the parents’ and the family’s legacy.

The estate planning can be conducted with the creation of a will that will reflect the testator’s wishes and will best serve the testator’s children and spouse. According to the Greek law, there are three kinds of wills; a) the public will, b) the secret will, and c) the hand-written will. Another Greek way of estate planning is through a parental gift (also known as "goniki parochi"), which can be utilized in situations when the parents/grandparents desire to convey property to their children/grandchildren.

Alternatively, according to the NY law, a will must be in writing and the testator must sign the will in the presence of two witnesses. The estate planning becomes even more crucial when we have to deal with insurance policies, annuities, retirement accounts and pensions. In these situations, the testator should designate the beneficiaries on these policies and accounts, as these assets cannot be allocated through a will.

Family is not just an important thing; it’s everything. It is the link to our past, the bridge to our future. Therefore, discuss and plan your estate with the people you love and care about most. This may also be a very good way to resolve some of the emotional and interpersonal issues that may exist in the family. Remember that the memories of our deeds will continue in others.

Πώς να δίνετε σωστές νομικές συμβουλές στους πελάτες σας

Υπάρχουν στιγμές που δεν είμαι τόσο σίγουρη ότι απλά δίδοντας τη νομική συμβουλή μου θα είμαι σε θέση να συνδράμω ολοκληρωτικά στις υποθέσεις των εντολέων μου. Καθώς η ζωή είναι τόσο πολύπλοκη και συνήθως έχω να αφοσιωθώ σε φυσικά πρόσωπα αναφορικά με τα προσωπικά τους αισθήματα, τις σκέψεις και τις ανησυχίες τους, όλο αυτό οδηγεί στο να γίνονται οι καταστάσεις συνήθως ακόμη πιο δυσχερείς. Ως εκ τούτου, στην απαρχή κάθε επικοινωνίας μου με τους εντολείς μου ξεκινώ να μιλώ για τις συνέπειες και τις προοπτικές της κάθε ενέργειας αντί να παρέχω μόνο μια γενική περιγραφή του νομικού ζητήματος.

Ως δικηγόρος, οι εντολείς προσδοκούν από μένα να τους διατυπώσω τις νομικές τους δυνατότητες και τα δικαιώματά τους, το νομικό πλαίσιο που αφορά τα ζητήματά τους, τους κινδύνους και τις πιθανές άμυνες, τι δύναμαι να πράξω για να τους βοηθήσω, και πάνω απ’ όλα να κρατήσω την επικοινωνία μας άκρως εμπιστευτική.

Τα νομικά ζητήματα σπάνια επιλύονται με μια απλή απάντηση. Κατ’ εξοχήν, φροντίζω να μεταφέρω την επιμονή και την αποφασιστικότητά μου στους εντολείς μου, έτσι ώστε να μπορούν να παραμείνουν ανέπαφοι κατά τη διάρκεια των δύσκολων καταστάσεων που βιώνουν με απώτερο σκοπό να αποκτήσουν το επιθυμητό αποτέλεσμα. Υπάρχουν και άλλες στιγμές που μπορεί να παρέχω μια συμβουλή και ο εντολέας μου να μην ανταποκριθεί θετικά ή να μην τον ικανοποιήσει.

Αυτό το γεγονός μου έχει αποδείξει ότι γνώμονας μας πρέπει να είναι το να προσπαθούμε να υποστηρίζουμε στους εντολείς μας με το να τους κατανοούμε και να προστατεύουμε τα δικαιώματά τους παρέχοντας τους αρχικώς μια αντικειμενική επαγγελματική κρίση, αλλά συγχρόνως και με το να τους καθοδηγούμε μέσα στα απότομα και συγκινησιακά μονοπάτια τους. Συνεπώς, θεωρώ ότι πρέπει να είμαστε ειλικρινείς μαζί τους και να τους συμβουλεύουμε σύμφωνα με το τι επιθυμούν να πράξουν και τι πρέπει να πράξουν. Είναι επίσης πολύ σημαντικό να αποφεύγουμε να κρίνουμε αυτούς και τις επιλογές τους και να καταβάλλουμε προσπάθειες να είμαστε επικοινωνιακοί μαζί τους. Κατά συνέπεια, πρέπει να τους συμπαριστάμεθα πρωτίστως με εντιμότητα και ακολούθως με τη χρήση του λόγου μας. 

Μέσα στο διάβα της ζωής μας, δεν είναι αναγκαίο πάντα να βρίσκουμε τις σωστές λέξεις. Ανέκαθεν πίστευα ότι οι πράξεις αντηχούν δυνατότερα από τα λόγια. Παρά ταύτα, αν έχετε κάτι να εξωτερικεύσετε, εκδηλώστε το, γιατί αυτή η φανέρωση μπορεί να επιφέρει μια σημαντική εξέλιξη στη ζωή των εντολέων μας.

How to give effective legal advice to your clients

There are times that I am not so sure that just giving my legal advice I will be able to totally help my clients. Life is so complex and I usually have to deal with individuals and their personal feelings, thoughts and concerns, and this makes things even more challenging. As a result, in the beginning of my every single attorney-client communication I start discussing the consequences and the prospects of an action instead of just providing a broad description of the legal problem.

As an attorney, my clients expect from me to give them their legal options and rights, the law as it relates to their legal matters, the risks and the possible defenses, what I can do to assist them, and above all to keep our communications confidential.

The legal issues are rarely resolved with a simple answer. For the most part, I try to convey my perseverance and determination to my clients so that they can be able to stay intact through their most difficult situations and obtain their desirable result. There are other times that I may give an advice and my client may not agree with or like it.

This has shown to me that the key is to try to assist the clients in understanding them and protecting their rights by giving an independent professional judgment but simultaneously by navigating them through their rough and emotional waters. Therefore, I deem that we need to be honest with our clients and advise them about what they want to do and what they need to do. It’s also very important to avoid judging them about their choices and try to be collaborative with them. So, be there for them with kindness instead of words.

In life, we do not always have to have the right words. I always believe that actions speak louder. But if you do have something to say--say it-- as it can make a world of difference in our clients’ lives.  

Legal Alternatives to Online Piracy

Intellectual property as an asset category is one of the strongest pillars sponsoring the world economy. Knowledge and ideas have always been the fundamental power in economic growth. This supremacy of ideas to lead economic development and progress is marked throughout the world. Principally, the present value of the intellectual property which represents those ideas from computer software and musical recordings to patented pharmaceuticals and information technologies is colossal. Along these lines, the development and embracing of economic innovation is the most prevailing reason governing a country’s underlying growth rate.

These innovations incorporate the development of not only new technologies, but also new materials and methods, modern ways of investing, promoting and allocating goods and services, and novel ways of overseeing a workplace and establishing a business. Over the last generation, a sequence of judgments have proved the imperative meaning of strong intellectual property rights. Given the massive value of economic innovations and the intellectual property embedded in them, it is not unforeseen that the original ideas are often stolen by those who pirate or counterfeit patented or copyrighted technologies and products. 

To guarantee there are right incentives for companies and individuals to keep on investing in the creation, production, promotion and marketing of software, film and sound recordings, international treaties and national laws grant the inventors and producers of software, film and sound recordings various exclusive rights. Any unlawful use of copyrighted material in a way that abuses one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it, signifies copyright infringement. 

There are many various ways copyright owners may uncover their copyright has been violated. Specifically, in the film and music industry, infringing activities embrace the piracy, which indicates the illegal copying of music products that have been circulated without consent from the copyright owner. Under copyright law, it is illegal to download or share copyrighted materials such as music or movies without the authorization of the copyright owner. Customary techniques of these illegal acts are by copying music onto or from a tape, compact disc, hard drive, or the Internet. 

The music and movie industry in latest years has taken a determined methodology to cease prohibited downloading and file sharing. This has placed many individuals worldwide at some legal risk. Every day, millions of people view or download software, music, and movies from various websites. Music, movies, and software are all obtainable from the source of peer-to-peer file sharing. Literally, millions of songs are accessible for download using peer-to-peer software and they are simple to get. Consequently, the act of downloading or sharing copyrighted material without the owner's permission breaks the law and arises suits by the copyright holders and significant financial and criminal penalties against the infringers. 

Music theft is a real, constant, and growing challenge. Both the capacity of music obtained illegitimately without disbursing for it and the subsequent decline in profits are overwhelming. Digital sales, while on the increase are not making up the disparity. Music has value for the artist and for everyone who produces in the industry. While downloading one song may not feel that serious of a crime, the increasing impact of millions of songs downloaded illegally and without any return to all the people who helped to produce that song and convey it to followers is distressing. Digital music theft has been a key factor behind the drop in sales over the past fifteen years. Despite the fact that the practice of peer-to-peer sites has crushed during current years, other methods of digital theft have appeared, embracing unauthorized digital storage lockers used to disperse copyrighted music, stream ripping programs, and mobile applications that facilitate digital content theft. 

There are three allowances to the copyright infringement rules, which permit one to reproduce another's work without obtaining a license or assignment of rights: a) the fair use doctrine, b) the public domain, and c) the non-copyrightable works. Fair use authorizes the reproduction of copyrighted material for the regulated purpose of teaching, reviewing, literary criticism and the like. Public domain infers to works which are no longer protected by copyright law. Non-copyrightable works indicate material that cannot be shielded by copyrights, such as facts or ideas.

Copyright infringements and piracy are not offenses without injured parties as many people believe; the real harmed persons are the producers, designers, writers, composers, songwriters, film directors and investors. Without these individuals, there would never be anything newborn. Technology has made digital copying more trouble-free than ever. But just because advances in technology make it feasible to copy music doesn't mean it’s always legal to do so. Downloading unauthorized music from file sharing systems is illegal even if it isn't for commercial purposes and just for personal use. This inference is based on a long series of court rulings internationally, which has made it very clear that uploading and downloading copyrighted music without permission on file sharing networks constitutes infringement and is a crime, which results in criminal and civil penalties. 

On the other hand, there are many legal alternatives that allow you access to songs on the Internet. For instance, instead of downloading music from file sharing programs, many online services allow the users to download and pay for individual songs or albums. Furthermore, most online marketplaces permit you to purchase music and video without constraints. Apart from this, the user can play the song she purchased on any device. By paying a monthly fee, the user can gain access to an extensive library of songs. In addition to these options, there are also many free services available on the Web, which offer access to music. Free online radio stations and other multimedia sites let the user to take pleasure in a broad collection of music. The number of legal alternatives to music piracy is developing every day. The internet subscribers should investigate these alternatives and avoid the music piracy. If someone downloads music illegally, her actions may sooner or later get closer to her. 

Numerous moral arguments for intellectual property have been presented. Specifically, intellectual property is a plus point for an individual and inspires social progress and future innovation. Besides this, intellectual property is rationalized based on merit and hard work. In particular, copyright law safeguards the value of inventive work and the ethical claims that are linked with individuality. As a result, when someone makes unauthorized copies of someone’s creative work, the actor takes something of value from the owner without her consent. Breaching intellectual property is no different morally than harming other property rights which concedes the very processes of existence and therefore constitutes an immoral act. However, some forms of copying are morally permissible, if the use is not for commercial purposes and the copying is based on legal ways and especially on exceptions to the copyright infringement rules. 

In conclusion, the only way to control and fight against online piracy is by first educating and directing the Internet users to legal alternatives rather than punishing them. Moreover, international cooperation and foundation of an Internet Copyright law that centers on social changes and exists autonomous of all other copyright laws are definitely required with a combination of robotics and human effort. Except for the aggressive governmental measures to strengthen global enforcement of intellectual property rights, the current copyright system needs to be brought into line with reality and the societal needs. FLOSS licensing, creative commons, and open sources are very remarkable movements in our times and have reinforced the rights of freedom of knowledge, education, culture and communication. Therefore, we shall persist supporting these alternative modern ways. Above all, the file sharing enterprises/websites should be accountable for controlling the content whose dissemination they facilitate and efficient punishment should be in place for the failure of such enterprises/websites to comply with their duties. There are ways that the whole piracy industry can ultimately fade away. Even though we have to deal with big challenges, it’s still doable.

Useful Hints of How to Avoid Email Mistakes

According to the Rules and Regulations of the State of New York, it is an annual requirement for all the attorneys who have been admitted to practice law in our State to receive Continuing Legal Education. CLE intends to give us professional development and to increase our competence as lawyers. In addition to that, because of the constant changes in our era's legal environment, it is important to us and our clients to stay abreast on recent legal issues and developments.

My mentor suggested me to attend a CLE workshop yesterday regarding tips for more effective emails. The speaker and distinguished coach, Ms. Marilyn Bush LeLeiko gave some interesting and valuable advice to me and to the whole audience about our everyday email communications. As the speech was very stimulating, I decided to share with you some of her guidelines.

According to an article of Wall Street Journal in 2002, it has been estimated that we receive every day approximately 300 to 500 emails. Because of the quick rhythms of our lives, we give priority to respond to emails based on the sender's identity and the subject line.

Pursuant to the speaker's advice, in order the sender not to cause difficulty or annoyance to the recipient, the email should be without typos, brief, to the point, and without using ALL CAPS or Exclamation Points. Especially, the subject line should be clear and meaningful to the reader. It's not appropriate to leave the subject line blank, change it without any reason, or state numbers, letters, or symbols in the subject line which may not make sense to the reader.

Bear in mind that the intended readers are not always attorneys. Therefore, we should adjust every email depending on the addressee and always provide the reader with a roadmap, using white space, bullets, numbered lists, headings, and in case of a non-attorney reader we should be alert and not state citations to the email's content.

In addition, an email should include the receiver's name, a "Thanks", a "Best Regards" or the like, a "Please" when it's appropriate and, of course, a signature block with the sender's name, position, firm's name, phone number, email address, and website URL. Apart from this, we should be careful with our attachments and always check the documents before sending them. Scandals and serious misunderstandings have been triggered due to Auto Correct option and false attachments. Moreover, we should always name our attachment and if it's not going to add more information in the substance of our email, we should eventually avoid sending it.

Over and above that, we should also be cautious when we send emails to our contact list or we use "Reply All". This can also cause trouble and if we want to keep confidentiality in a matter, it's wise to use the BCC option for all the email addresses. Moreover, it's not proper to redact an email. Hence, feel free to copy other people to an email after having taken their permission.

Be aware that even if you delete an email, this can remain in the system; it can be hacked; it can be forwarded or it can be electronically discovered in a litigation process. As for the IRS disclaimers, IRS has started to discourage attorneys from using these disclaimers in an email. To conclude, before sending an email, consider if this is the best way to communicate with your client or colleague and then check your email for the last time.

I agree with all the points that the speaker presented yesterday during the CLE workshop and accordingly I would recommend you to use your personal email for communication with your friends and family and you can just pick up the phone or communicate alternatively in case you need to keep a matter in confidentiality.

Be always professional, responsive, courteous and try to respond to your emails by the end of the day or in 24 hours. Life is a long process of growth and learning and as a result we will make mistakes. But, if we learn from them, we will become better persons and professionals.

P.S.: As we are too close to the upcoming elections in my country, I would like to urge all the voters to consider that governance is not about the next election, it's about our and next generations.