Poll results: Should abortions be legalized in T&T?

I found the results to be very interesting... I'm pro-choice. 

Salary and benefit payments during business closure

Q: If a business is closing down and I am about to go on maternity leave do they still have to pay me as well as I have two weeks’ vacation pending do they have to pay me for that as well?

A: You have to receive your salary/wages as long as they can afford it. This all depends on how the business is closing down and then the priority of debt payments. There are a few terms involved in this process; i.e. insolvency (compulsory or voluntary), receivership, liquidation, bankruptcy and administration. So it depends on the category which the company falls under when closing down.

Winding-up

Salaries have secondary priority to the government debts (taxes, NIS, etc.). According to the Companies Act 1995, as amended-s.435(1)(b):

all wages or salary (whether or not earned wholly or in part by way of commission or for time or piece work) of any employee, not being a director, in respect of services rendered to the company during four months next before the relevant date;

Bankruptcy & Insolvency

If the company is bankrupt, wages have 4^th place priority according to The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, 2006 - s.127(d):

excluding severance, claims for wages, salaries, commissions or compensation of any employee for services rendered during the six months immediately preceding the bankruptcy, together with disbursements properly incurred by a traveling salesman in and about the bankrupt’s business, during the same period, so as not to exceed such amount as may be prescribed by Order in each case;

The law is not explicit as to whether unused vacation and maternity leave are included in debt payments, but it's a unique matter that I would love to put to the test.  

Law students: How to specialise in an area of law

Q: How do I specialize in a specific area of law?

A: In law school we're taught all of the main subjects, but specializing in one or two areas is a great thing because it makes you a Master in that field. This can be done in 4 ways (all of these are what I did):

v  Do a first degree in your chosen area before doing the Graduate LL.B./G.D.L./C.P.E. (In America I started off doing business… back when Corporate law was my focus, but after moving to London, I identified a niche area to bring back home)

v  Do specific electives during the LL.B./G.D.L./C.P.E. (I finished my business degree and went to law school and began to focus on employment law)

v  Do a Master's degree in the area (I also did modules in Human Rights and Immigration as they both relate to Employment)

v  Focus your legal career on your specific area(s) (I started a boutique consulting firm that focuses only on Employment issues www.jbemploymentconsulting.com). 

I don't trust lawyers who claim that they do everything... recently, an employment matter came to me where after taking $40,000 from his clients to send 4 letters, this south lawyer told the clients that he did not know what next to do beyond sending those letters. 99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name. 

Any Lawyer can choose to specialize in any of the following areas:

• Administrative law
• Advertising law (a real niche that needs someone in Trinidad and Tobago)
• Animal law
• Antitrust law (or competition law)
• Aviation law
• Banking law
• Business law (or commercial law); also commercial litigation
• Communications law
• Constitutional law
• Construction law
• Consumer law
• Contract law
• Copyright law
• Corporate law (or company law), also corporate compliance law and corporate governance law
• Criminal law
• Cyber law
• Employment law 
• Energy law
• Entertainment law
• Environmental law
• Family law
• Human rights law
• Immigration law
• Insurance law
• Intellectual property law
• International law
• Labour law
• Land Law
• Maritime law
• Military law
• Juvenile law
• Music law
• Patent law
• Poverty law
• Privacy law
• Sports law
• Tax law
• Tort law
• Trademark law