If your ministry asks potential volunteers or employees about any criminal record, do you need to throw out your application and start anew in light your state’s “ban the box” law? This post addresses how religious employers should be aware of “ban the box” laws and the changing legal landscape of considering criminal history in hiring.

At the Colorado Court of Appeals, any party can ask for the chance to present their case before the court at oral argument. But should you? While ultimately the decision whether oral argument is granted is up to the court, the initial decision of whether to ask in the first place brings up an even bigger topic. Does oral argument really ever makes a difference in the case?

Waiving an argument on appeal is usually a bad thing. Here are seven things NOT to do if you want to set your case up for success on appeal. We’ve also included some practice tips to help avoid these pitfalls in future cases.

You raise several questions. The only one I’m going to get to today relates to how to prepare missionaries to go overseas—what kind of vision statement or consent to danger and difficulty would we recommend? Perhaps the most practical approach would be to have a waiver more like the legal documents that we’re familiar with, but have a paragraph in the waiver refer to the missionary’s own vision statement and acceptance of risk as part of that vision statement. Then each missionary could explain what he or she hopes to accomplish, why he or she is called, and why (or whether) such a calling is worth encountering disease, violence, or other disasters.