© 2024 KALW 91.7 FM Bay Area
KALW Public Media / 91.7 FM Bay Area
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Your Legal Rights
Wednesdays at 6 p.m.

For more than 30 years, Your Legal Rights has provided KALW listeners with free legal information and guidance.  We carry on the work of the program's founding host, Chuck Finney, who passed away in February 2018.

Bay Area attorney Jeff Hayden talks with experts on various legal topics, with listener participation: (415) 841-4134.

Latest Episodes
  • Your Legal Rights
    The papers, TV, media of all sorts are blaming an apparent surge in property crime on Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that reduced the penalty for certain offenses, while ignoring the drop in more serious crimes in much of the state.Just how serious is this rise in property crime? Is Proposition 47 to blame?YLR hosts, Jeff Hayden and Dean Johnson are joined by Retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Eugene Hyman, Bay Area attorney Cherie Wallace, and Scott Sherman, Managing Attorney for the San Mateo County Bar Association Private Defender Program, here to tell you about these cases and just what is happening with these prosecutions.As this is an encore broadcast, we are not accepting calls tonight.
  • Your Legal Rights
    Tonight, on your legal rights: we again discuss elections, voting, and, after you cast your votes, just what happens to them.What we are doing right, just what are we doing wrong, and is there a path to fix it?YLR Host, Jeff Hayden, and tonight's co-host, Brent Turner, are joined by Chris Jerdonek, Vice-President of the San Francisco Election Commission, and Patrick Jones is the District Four Supervisor and Chair of the Board Of Supervisors Of Shasta County.Questions for Jeff, Brent and their guests? Please call, toll-free, at (866) 798-8255.
  • It’s that time of year. Are you ready to face the tax man? What should you do before years end?YLR Host, Jeff Hayden, is joined by tax attorney Cindy Ho of Cindy Ho Law, APC, in San Jose, and Attorney/CPA Frank Adam of Pacifica.Questions for Jeff and his guests? Please call, toll-free, at (866) 798-8255.
  • Your Legal Rights
    The Private Attorney General Rule has been with us for some 20 years, but few non-lawyers have heard of this powerful tool used to prevent and correct wrongdoing in the workplace. But why has its use become more prevalent? Is it fair and balanced, or does it tip the scales in one direction or the other? How does this coexist with such rules as arbitration agreements?Joining YLR Host, Jeff Hayden, and tonight's co-host, Dean Johnson, are employee-side attorney Leonard H. Sansanowicz of Sansanowicz Law Group, P.C. in Woodland Hills and employer-side attorney Walter Stella from Cozen O'Connor in San Francisco.Questions for Jeff, Dean and their guests? Call us, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.
  • Your Legal Rights
    The Year 2023 is coming to a close. New law coming in 2024 include a limit on your security deposit. What other changes are coming? What of the long-feared increase in evictions — has it happened?YLR Host, Jeff Hayden, is joined tonight by three of the best: Landlord-Tenant Attorneys Jessica Chylik, Sal Timpano and David Finkelstein.Questions for Jeff and his guests? Please call, toll-free, at (866) 798-8255.
  • Your Legal Rights
    Just 14 months ago, we noted the Securities and Exchange Commission expressed its intention to crack down on those cryptocurrencies which they contend are securities – which include most of them; and, while the best-known cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Ethereum – stand strong, others have not been so stable, or even collapsed, such as the case with three arrows capital.A fun on a major brokerage led to the collapse of FTX; it's high-flying founder has been convicted by a federal jury.Where is cryptocurrency headed? Has cryptocurrency’s time passed?Joining YLR Host, Jeff Hayden, and tonight's Co-Host, Dean Johnson are Chris Eberle, Chris Cooke, and a guest we know as Redbeard.Questions for Jeff, Dean, or their guests? Please call, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.
  • Your Legal Rights
    "Is my car in danger of repossession if I pay every month but I'm always behind." "I’m behind on my car payments and I’m afraid the lender will repossess my vehicle. I can't come up with the money to get completely current. What can bankruptcy do to save my car?" "My car was just repossessed. What do I have to do to get it back?" I’ve fallen behind in my credit card payments – what can I do? Joining YLR Host Jeff Hayden is Leon D. Bayer, from the Los Angeles firm of Bayer, Wishman & Leotta. Leon is a certified Bankruptcy Law Specialist, certified by the California Board of Legal Specialization, State Bar of California, and co-author of “The New Bankruptcy: Will It Work For You?” published by Nolo Press. As always, we take your calls and answer your questions, for Jeff and his guest, at (866) 798-8255.
  • The “Care Act” -- touted as both a new paradigm for mental health treatment and at least part of the solution to the problem of homelessness -- permits family members, first responders and unspecified others to ask the courts to create and enforce treatment plans for people who are thought to be mentally ill.How is care court different from conservatorship?Governor Newsom recently signed SB 43 which changes conservatorship laws – how will that affect conservatorship? and Care Court?Tonight, YLR Host Jeff Hayden, and tonight’s co-host Dean Johnson, are joined by Emma, the parent to a reluctant consumer of the mental health system, and Tal Klement representing the Mental Health Unit of the San Francisco Public Defender's Office.Questions for Jeff, Dean and their guests? Please call us, toll free, at (866) 798-8255.On November 8, we revisit our discussion of Bankruptcy Law, and on November 15, we will look at Cryptocurrency after the trial of SBF.
  • Tonight, an encore broadcast wherein we revisit legal issues affecting our military veterans, and what happens when veterans come into the criminal justice system, the specialized courts and resources devoted to helpfully lending a helping hand to those individuals to whom we owe so much . . . .Tonight, you will hear of an award-winning program, The Veteran’s Treatment Court Of The San Mateo County Superior Court.YLR host, Jeff Hayden is joined by an outstanding panel of guests, including Judge Michael Wendler, Judge of the San Mateo County Superior Court and Colonel in the United States Marine Corps Reserves, and Sean Noland, Management Analyst at the San Mateo County Superior Court.As this is an encore broadcast, please no calls for Jeff and his guests. We return live next week with a look at Care Court as well as new laws regarding Mental Health and Conservatorships. In two weeks, we look again at Bankruptcy, and especially what to do if you find you have fallen behind in your car payments.
  • The papers, TV, media of all sorts are quick to cover what an apparent surge in crime, and call upon pundits to blame Proposition 47, a 2014 ballot measure that reduced the penalty for certain offenses.Just how serious is this rise in crime? Is Proposition 47 to blame?YLR hosts, Jeff Hayden and Dean Johnson are joined by Retired Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Eugene Hyman, Bay Area attorney Cherie Wallace, and Scott Sherman, Managing Attorney for the San Mateo County Bar Association Private Defender Program, here to tell you about these cases and just what is happening with these prosecutions.Questions for Jeff, Dean and their guests? Please call, toll free, at (800) 798-8255.