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Travel Watch: Countries With U.S. Extradition Treaties

Posted on December 14, 2009 by Lina Maini

In light of recent international  legal jurisdictional issues  (e.g., accused child rapist Roman Polanski, the 6’9″ , 250 lb. Serbian thug,  Miladin Kovacevic‘s flight to his homeland after beating 135 lb. Binghamton University student, Bryan Steinhauer into a coma… ) , we thought it important for Americans to know the countries with which we have extradition treaties.

From Wikipedia:

The following is a List of United States extradition treaties :

Country Date signed Entered into force
Albania March 1, 1933 November 14, 1935
Antigua and Barbuda June 3, 1996 July 1, 1999
Argentina June 10, 1997 June 15, 2000
Australia May 14, 1974
September 4, 1990		 May 8, 1976
December 21, 1992
Austria January 8, 1998
May 19, 1934		 January 1, 2000
September 5, 1934
Bahamas March 9, 1990 September 22, 1994
Barbados February 28, 1996 March 3, 2000
Belgium April 27, 1987 September 1, 1997
Belize March 30, 2000 March 27, 2001
Bolivia June 27, 1995 November 21, 1996
Brazil January 13, 1961
June 18, 1962		 December 17, 1964
December 17, 1964
Bulgaria March 19, 1924
June 8, 1934		 June 24, 1924
August 15, 1935
Burma December 22, 1931 November 1, 1941
Canada December 3, 1971
Jun. 28, July 9, 1974
January 11, 1988
January 12, 2001		 March 22, 1976
March 22, 1976
November 26, 1991
April 30, 2003
Chile April 17, 1900 June 26, 2002
Colombia September 14, 1979 March 4, 1982
Congo January 6, 1909
January 15, 1929
April 23, 1936		 July 27, 1911
May 19, 2029
September 24, 1936
August 5, 1961
Costa Rica December 4, 1982 October 11, 1991
Cuba April 6, 1904
December 6, 1904
January 14, 1926		 March 2, 1905
March 2, 1905
June 18, 1926
Cyprus June 17, 1996 September 14, 1999
Czech Republic July 2, 1925
April 29, 1935		 March 29, 1926
August 28, 1935
Denmark June 22, 1972 July 31, 1974
Dominica October 10, 1996 May 25, 2000
Dominican Republic June 19, 1909 August 2, 1910
Ecuador June 28, 1872
September 22, 1939		 November 12, 1873
May 29, 1941
Egypt August 11, 1874 April 22, 1875
El Salvador April 18, 1911 July 10, 1911
Estonia November 8, 1923
October 10, 1934		 November 15, 1924
May 7, 1935
Fiji December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
August 17, 1973
Finland June 11, 1976 May 11, 1980
France April 23, 1996 February 1, 2002
Gambia December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Germany June 20, 1978
October 21, 1986		 August 29, 1980
March 11, 1993
Ghana December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Greece May 6, 1931
September 2, 1937		 November 1, 1932
September 2, 1937
Grenada May 30, 1996 September 14, 1999
Guatemala February 27, 1903
February 20, 1940		 August 15, 1903
March 13, 1941
Guyana December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Haiti August 9, 1904 June 28, 1905
Honduras January 15, 1909
February 21, 1927		 July 10, 1912
June 5, 2028
Hong Kong (PRC) December 20, 1996 January 21, 1998
Hungary December 1, 1994 March 18, 1997
Iceland January 6, 1902
November 6, 1905		 February 19, 1906
India June 25, 1997 July 21, 1999
Iraq June 7, 1934 April 23, 1936
Ireland July 13, 1983 December 15, 1984
Israel December 10, 1962 December 5, 1963
April 11, 1967
Italy October 13, 1983 September 24, 1984
Jamaica June 14, 1983 July 7, 1991
Japan March 3, 1978
August 5, 2003		 March 26, 1980
Jordan March 28, 1995 July 29, 1995
Kenya December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
August 19, 1965
Kiribati June 8, 1972 January 21, 1977
Korea June 9, 1998 December 20, 1999
Latvia October 16, 1923
October 10, 1934		 March 1, 1924
March 29, 1935
Lesotho December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Liberia November 1, 1937 November 21, 1939
Liechtenstein May 20, 1936 June 28, 1937
Lithuania October 23, 2001 March 31, 2003
Luxembourg October 1, 1996 February 1, 2002
Malawi December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
April 4, 1967
Malaysia August 3, 1995 June 2, 1997
Malta December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Mauritius December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Mexico May 4, 1978
November 13, 1997		 January 25, 1980
May 21, 2001
Monaco February 15, 1939 March 28, 1940
Nauru December 22, 1931 August 30, 1935
Netherlands June 24, 1980 September 15, 1983
New Zealand January 12, 1970 December 8, 1970
Nicaragua March 1, 1905 July 14, 2007
Nigeria December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Norway June 9, 1977 March 7, 1980
Pakistan December 22, 1931 March 9, 1942
Panama May 25, 1904 May 8, 1905
Papua New Guinea December 22, 1931 August 30, 1935
Paraguay November 9, 1998 March 9, 2001
Peru July 26, 2001 August 25, 2003
Philippines November 13, 1994 November 22, 1996
Poland July 10, 1996
April 5, 1935		 September 17, 1999
June 5, 1936
Portugal May 7, 1908 November 14, 1908
Romania July 23, 1924
November 10, 1936		 April 7, 1925
July 27, 1937
Saint Christopher and Nevis September 18, 1996 February 23, 2000
Saint Lucia April 18, 1996 February 2, 2000
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines August 15, 1996 September 8, 1999
San Marino January 10, 1906
October 10, 1934		 July 8, 1908
June 28, 1935
Seychelles December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Sierra Leone December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Singapore December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
June 10, 1969
Slovak Republic July 2, 1925
April 29, 1935
August 28, 1935		 March 29, 1926
Solomon Islands June 8, 1972 January 21, 1977
South Africa September 16, 1999 June 25, 2001
Spain May 29, 1970
January 25, 1975
February 9, 1988
March 12, 1996		 June 16, 1971
June 2, 1978
July 2, 1993
July 25, 1999
Sri Lanka September 30, 1999 January 12, 2001
Suriname June 2, 1887
January 18, 1904		 July 11, 1889
August 28, 1904
Swaziland December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
July 28, 1970
Sweden October 24, 1961
March 14, 1983		 December 3, 1963
September 24, 1984
Switzerland November 14, 1990 September 10, 1997
Tanzania December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
December 6, 1965
Thailand May 17, 1991
December 30, 1922		 December 14, 1983
March 24, 1924
Tonga December 22, 1931 August 1, 1966
April 13, 1977
Trinidad and Tobago March 4, 1996 November 29, 1999
Turkey June 7, 1979 January 1, 1981
Tuvalu June 8, 1972 January 21, 1977
April 25, 1980
United Kingdom March 31, 2003
June 8, 1972
June 25, 1985
December 23, 1986		 January 21, 1977
Uruguay April 6, 1973 April 11, 1984
Venezuela Jan. 19, 21, 1922 April 14, 1923
Yugoslavia[1] October 25, 1901 June 12, 1902
Zambia December 22, 1931 June 24, 1935
Zimbabwe July 25, 1997 April 26, 2000

L – List treaty
DC – Dual criminality treaty

Conversely, as horribly exemplified  in the Amanda Knox trial and conviction, when Americans are overseas, we shouldn’t presume our personal and legal rights as we enjoy them here in the United States,  translate equally in foreign legal systems.   One should always be aware of the local American embassy, consulate or missions contact information in destiny and travel  locations.  US Department of State Embassy global listing,

As always, travel  safe, especially during this holiday season.

Filed under: General Information, International Travel, justice, Uncategorized | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Familial DNA An Inadvertent Informant?

Posted on September 6, 2009 by Lina Maini

We hope you are enjoying this unofficial last weekend of the summer! 

labor day

 

 

 

 

 

Back on topic, we’ve been monitoring the development of a relatively new investigation tool  in law enforcement and litigation closely; that of prosecutors, the FBI and other investigative/authorized agencies using the DNA samplings of relatives to locate potential criminals/defendants.

In the majority of familial DNA usage cases,  the jurisdictional agency will run a suspect’s genetic material through the FBI’s 6 million+ DNA samples database.   States are scrambling to legislate procedure for this investigative tool.  The ABA cites California as having already set up familial DNA usage protocol.

In unusual cases, (see: NPR reports of matching familial DNA in capturing the BTK (Bind, Torture and Kill) murderer) normal, routine medical samples (in the BTK killer case, his daughter’s pap smear test) are being subpoenaed for testing within the FBI’s DNA database.

Furthering compounding the issue are potential situations of identical DNA, such as has occurred in the German case involving identical twins, ultimately released without being charged, as it could not be determined which brother had perpetrated a massive jewelry heist. 

Strap in tight.  It’s going to be a bumpy road, folks.

BNI Operatives: Street smart; Web Savvy.

Our wishes for a healthy, sane and relaxing Labor Day!

As always, be safe.

TIP OF THE WEEK FOR OUR SUBSCRIBED READERS:  How to confirm the death status of a subject, without his/her SSN.

Filed under: crime, dna testing, evidence, fbi, forensic, invasion of privacy, privacy | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

100 Useful Niche Search Engines You’ve Never Heard Of

Posted on July 27, 2009 by Lina Maini

Well, it’s probable that you have heard of a few of the niche search engines mentioned by our friends from Social Blog 100+ Useful Search Engines.  Aside from using megasearch engine Google, though, have you really surfed the more drilled down search sites?  I’m sure you can find use from at least a few in the list.  Below, we’ve selected one or several from each category that we find particularly useful.

Extracurricular

Search blogs, games and even forum postings for information and fun.

Bloglines:  Find “billions of articles” and posts going back to 2003 from blogs, comics and more.

FindSounds:  This search site finds sound effects in all kinds of file formats, channels and resolutions.  Very useful for making presentations  impactful.

 

Quick Answer Guides

Have a specific question you need answered quickly? Go here.

Answers.com: Type in your question to this search box or answer other users’ questions about politics, automotive issues, TV shows and pop culture, health, technology and more.

AskMeNow: Use this site to do a quick Wikipedia search from your mobile phone.

eHow:  This is the gold standard know-it-all site with literally an answer for any question you can think of.

Lexxe: Type in your question to this search engine, which pulls answers from its database of URLs added by users.

 

City Guides and Travel

Get to know your  town a little better, or plan a vacation or study abroad trip with these search engines.

Google Local: Many don’t realize that this popular site is also a search engine. Find local businesses and addresses here.

MSN City Guides: Click on a city to get started or type in a general location or activity to let this search engine find fun things for you to do in your area.

CitySquares: the premiere hyper-local search site in New England, New York City and eastern New York State.

Kayak.com: This aggregate travel search engine finds the lowest air fares, cruise vacations, car rentals and hotel stays available through the Web that match your travel requests.

Trabber: Trabber.com searches 31 different websites to bring up cheap flights based on the schedule you submit.

 

Shopping Search Engines

Find customer reviews, product information and shopping sites with these search engines.

MySimon: This fun site lists shopping specials and gift ideas for holidays, and it lets you search within a specific category or conduct a general search.

Shopzilla: Shopzilla is super easy to use. Enter in the keywords or product description for the item you’re shopping for, or browse the categories on the right, to bring up results from online retailers like Amazon.com.

PriceGrabber: Conduct an advanced search by shopping different categories or type in exactly what you’re looking for on PriceGrabber.com.

Bing: This comprehensive site lets you first browse by category to narrow your search or type in keywords to bring up something more specific.

 

Business

Those interested in staying current on business news and trends can take advantage of these niche search engines.

Bloomberg: Bloomberg.com connects you to business news through its search engine, breaking news articles and market data updates.

IFACnet: Accountants can use this search engine for industry news and “access to global resources and information.”

Business.com: Entrepreneurs can browse categories like software, startup, transportation, office management, real estate and health care to “quickly find anything for [their] business”.

 

Academic and Reference

Find reliable and authoritative reference sites here.

Librarian’s Internet Index: This site brings together “websites you can trust,” on subjects like media, law, communications, consumer research, health and more.

Scirus: This scientific search engine claims to be “the most comprehensive scientific research tool on the web” and indexes over 450 million science-related resources.

Google Scholar: Search journal articles, abstracts, academic papers and bibliographies, and other scholarly publications here.

Intute: Social Sciences: This division of the online search tool Intute connects you to quality information about government policy, geography, law, economics, anthropology, business management, social welfare, psychology, politics, women’s studies and more.

CiteSteer: Great “scientific literature digital library.” For computer science and IT needs.

 

Social Media and People

User-generated content and user-driven sites like these often result in more relevant search results for you.

wink: wink is “where people find people.” Search by location, name, interests, school or any other category to help you reach old friends and family members.

 

Multisearch

These search engines offer more than just ordinary searches. Enjoy using features like shared searches, saved memory and specific search options.

Trexy: Trexy can help you “blaze search trails” by saving your search memory, share your searches with the Trexy community, and add a TrailBar button to your toolbar for fast searches.

 

TV, Video and Radio

Look up video clips for presentations or discover new radio sites and web streams through these search tools.

veoh: Find millions of online videos by searching this site.

blinx: blinx digs into the Web to find “over 26 million hours of video” and bring up relevant results.

Radio-Locator: Search for over 10,000 different radio stations and 2,500 web streams from radio stations all over the world.

Snipp.TV: Find video and audio content from this easy-to-use beta search engine.

 

Medical and Health Search

Research authoritative journals and publications.

PubMed: This search tool is sponsored by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

OmniMedicalSearch.com: This site has been named a Top 5 Medical Search Engine by About.com and is lauded by The Washington Post. Search the Web, images or forums to get connected to quality health and medical information.

American Hospital Directory: Find a nearby hospital fast by typing in your telephone area code, zip code, city or state.

MedicineNet: This organized search engine displays your results according to different categories, like News, Symptoms, Procedures and Tests, and Medications, so you can quickly find the most relevant results.

 

Law

Gain access to court rulings, history and political sciences resources, and other law material here.

eLaw: Find cases, attorneys, motions… on this super search site.

FindLaw: Find attorneys and answers to your law questions by searching here.

Meta-Index for U.S. Legal Research: Search judicial opinions, federal regulation, legislation and more on this site.

 

Metasearch and Megasearch Engines

The following search engines work extra hard to bring you information from other search engines at the same time, including Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and others.

Dogpile: Find information from “all the best search engines” here.

Excite: This metasearch engine also shows you the latest sports scores, stock ticker, featured games and videos, and more.

HotBot: This search engine can pull information and material from Yahoo!, IyGO.com, and MSN.

 

Photos, Images and Visual Search Engines

Make your search a more visual experience by checking out these tools.

Grokker: Grokker searches Wikipedia, Yahoo! and Amazon Books, and then displays your results in an outline view or a map view.

Picsearch: Use Picsearch when you need to add images to a project or presentation.

 

News Searches

Stay current on business, technology, cultural and political news.

News Lookup: Find news stories from all over the world, or just search a particular country or news topic.

AlltheWeb: Use the News search tool on this site to find relevant stories from newspapers, TV stations and other news sites. 90.Yahoo! News: Search sports, entertainment, business, technology, world and U.S. news here.

 

Jobs and Real Estate

Turn to these search engines to help you with your search for an apartment, domestically or internationally.  You may even find  time shares,  home swaps and interns for your business.

Hotpads.com: Find homes and apartment listings for sale or for rent around the country with this tool.

trulia: This smart search engine finds homes for sale by zip code or city and state. You can also find movers, moving tips and more on this comparative shopping site.

Internship Programs: Look or post for interns after you log on.

There’s a wealth of information out there in the etherworld.  The megasearch engines, like Google or Yahoo are fine but they operate strictly on algorithms and ad revenue so the response you will receive to a search query may not be the best answer for your situation.  Poke around a bit.

BNI Operatives: Street smart: Web savvy.

TIP OF THE WEEK FOR OUR SUBSCRIBED READERS:  PUT YOUR VERY OWN FIRM’S TOOLBAR ONTO YOUR CLIENTS’ BROWSERS. FREE. 

As always, stay safe.

Filed under: General Information, Search Engines | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Planning On A Flat Growth Year? Outside The Box Legal Marketing

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Lina Maini

From sole practitioner to a large, multi-city law firm, just about every lawyer is always looking for ways to bring in new business or continue with good clients. 

First, a primer from those legal marketing gurus at The Rainmaker Institute:

Now. let’s identify and resolve several common challenges to achieving your firm’s elevated financial objectives:

Challenge 1:  Legal advertising rules are so onerous (especially in NYS) as to make almost all legal marketing ads appear the same. 

Resolution: Study your competitors’ advertising and do something different.

DON’T use tired phrases such as “25 years of combined experience”, “our competitive team of attorneys” and “we’re here to help you”.   

DO use unique phrasing, e.g., “Injured? Before you talk to an insurance adjuster or hire a lawyer, email or call us for our free pamphlet/book/DVD on what to do if you are injured.  An informed client does better for himself.”

 

CHALLENGE 2 :  Differentiating yourself from the rest of the legal crowd.

Resolution:  Write a book (even one of 10 pages). 

DON’T make it full of terms that laypeople don’t really understand, such as “former prosecutor” or “I’m a member of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association”. 

DO initially use self-publishing companies.  (LuLu and Cafepress come to mind.)  They will accommodate you with everything from POD (print on demand), PQN (print quantity needed) to issuing copyright-protecting ISBNs ( International Standard Book Number).  Include your contact info on the inside back cover.  (Don’t presume people will Google you.)

 

CHALLENGE 3: Taking on C and D quality clients to pay the rent.

Resolution: Curb the number of these cases you take on.  It’ll expend time better spent on bigger cases.

DON’T take on more than you can handle. There is a marketing ROI standard that has withstood the test of time: 80% of your business will come from 20% of your clients. (This includes repeats, referrals, networking… )  Also, don’t immediately offer a free consultation in these cases.  Do you really have the time?

DO make potential C and D clients work for your representation.  If they are serious enough, they’ll take the time to educate themselves by going through your materials (have a packet handy) and make it absolutely clear that you are a legal advocate, not the Library of Congress or the help desk to be called 10 times a week.

 

CHALLENGE 4:  Making yourself appear to be King/Queen of the Hill in your niche field.

Resolution:  Let the words speak for you.

DON’T declare yourself an expert. (Let your writing, appearances, bragging rights… do it for you.)

DO publish a monthly newsletter.  List your highest award settlements (obviously observing the client privacy regs).  Keep yourself  in the public eye.  Create mini videos (about 3 mins. is the average online attention span) addressing your area of law without appearing as an “As Sold On TV” commercial.  Put several vids up on your site.  Offer to speak, gratis,  as an expert (don’t use the word) on radio, tv, online shows.

With the long holiday weekend coming up, there’ll be plenty fo time to review this marketing advice.  It works.   I published this post, I’m prepared to back it up.  Just email editor@beaconbulletin.com  and we’ll send you a free marketing checklist.

BNI Operatives: Street smart: Web savvy.

Have a safe, healthy and relaxing Fourth!

4th of july

Filed under: legal marketing | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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