Law Office of Elizabeth A. Lawrence Blog

When considering moving forward with the adoption process, it’s obviously important to have a crystal-clear understanding of your rights as a prospective parent. To help you understand whether adoption is the best choice for you and your family, we will outline key rights you will have as the birth parent of an adopted child.

When an individual is going through a divorce, there are many personal and financial details that must be ironed out between each partner before the split is finalized. When couples with children are preparing to split, one of those critical details is child support logistics. Both parents are required to support their children after divorce in the state of Maryland, but how is child support obligation actually calculated?

Note: The 2023 Diversity Visa Lottery is now open and closes November 9, 2021.

Visas exists to provide foreign born individuals the right to reside in the United States for an extended period of time.  The US government typically grants two types of visas: immigrant visas and nonimmigrant visas. As you likely expect, there is one major distinction between these two visa types:

Whether temporary or permanent, working in the United States is a desirable opportunity for many people who are not citizens of the country. However, anyone entering the country for employment purposes must first qualify for a working visa. There are many types of visas available, and we’ve decided to create this blog as a guide in selecting the choice that best fits your situation.

Divorce is a nuanced, and often lengthy process that will ultimately lead to the dissolution of your marriage. After the dust settles, the last thing you’ll want to discover is that a financial mistake or oversight could affect your financial situation for years to come. As such, let’s go over the most common mistakes individuals make throughout the divorce process.

If asked to picture the divorce process, what would you imagine? Most people think of a court setting overseen by a judge who determines the outcomes of critical decisions like alimony, child support/ custody, and property division. While divorce court may be common, it’s worth keeping in mind that there are several alternatives that may be better suited for your family’s needs.

Drug charges vary greatly in the state of Maryland based on several relevant factors. Generally, penalties can include jail time, probation, and indirect consequences like difficulty securing future employment. In this blog, we’ll look at the main factors that determine the severity of the punishment resulting from drug possession charges.

If you have been accused of any crime, it’s important to have a grasp of the Sixth Amendment, which grants you the right to a speedy trial. The purpose of this amendment is to ensure that citizens do not spend an unreasonable amount of time waiting for the chance to defend themselves and resolve their case in court. If you have been arrested or indicted, you have the right to a speedy trial. There is no set-in stone timeline that has to me followed when scheduling a trial. Instead, our courts rely on four factors established in the case of Barker v. Wingo to decide whether a trial has been unlawfully delayed.

Finding out that the police have a warrant out for your arrest can be very alarming, but there is a course of action you can take. Understanding the proper measures to follow after finding out you have an active warrant can protect you and keep you from having any unnecessary interactions with the police without an attorney present.

As technology continues to become more intertwined with our everyday life, we’ll continue to notice more and more instances of conventional crimes manifested in the digital world. These days, cyberattacks, identity theft and online predators are becoming commonplace. Naturally, bullying has also made its way to the web. Under the following three statutes, cyberbullying can be considered a crime in the state of Maryland.