Inquiries on Expat.com about legal matters

Hello pragmatist,

I have read your post and to be honest, I don't quite understand what you are enquiring about.

The forum is quite straightforward. Members posts their questions on the forum and if you wish you can subscribe to a thread or the whole forum to be notified whenever a post is published.

To don't need to be logged in, you can choose how and when to get notified in your account settings : email subscription

About legal matters, are you referring to Expat.com's legal policies or topics about legal matters.

If it is about Expat.com legal policies, you will find them at the very bottom of this page (terms and conditions).

For example, right now you posted on the Living in Europe forum, which is not suited for this post.... I am moving it to a more appropriate forum : Help us improve the website

Regards,

Bhavna

Hello Bhavna,

I have read your post and to be honest, I don't quite understand what you are enquiring about.

Please click on the link in the 2nd paragraph of my previous post. That shows the kind of assistance I'd like to provide when users ask about certain topics of law. The problem is that, for reasons explained in my previous posts, it takes several months for me to become aware that somebody has asked something where I can assist.

if you wish you can subscribe to a thread or the whole forum to be notified whenever a post is published.

That's exactly what I want to avoid. I don't want to be notified every time a post is published. I'm interested only in posts where people have a question about the law. I am not interested in the multitude of posts about finding a job, meeting people, finding a flat, and so forth.

About legal matters, are you referring to Expat.com's legal policies or topics about legal matters.

I'm referring to users' questions about legal matters (see above).

BTW, this thread should be restored to the forum where I posted. In fact, the user who moved it to here both reflects and admitted that she did not understand the post.

Users to whom I intend to help are not going to check Help us improve the website when they have questions such as the one I addressed several hours ago. Thus, relegating this thread to the "Help us improve" site will further deprive them of information when they most need it. Case in point: The post I addressed was created back in December, and its author evidently needed to have that information before the expiration of her deadline.

Some portions of this thread certainly entail a suggestion for improvement of the site. But the remarks (bullet points) are first and foremost directed to the community in the event that someone wants to bring to my attention his (or her) post.

The problem is that, for reasons explained in my previous posts, it takes several months for me to become aware that somebody has asked something where I can assist.

Let us do it step by step. So for this issue, have you checked your notification settings in your account ? If you are subscribed to the forum, you should be getting an email whenever a thread is posted. Have you checked your spam folder ?

P.S I just checked your email notification settings and you are not subscribed to any forum. As a test, try subscribing to the Luxembourg forum and see whether you get notifications (mails) whenever a thread is posted.

If you are subscribed to the forum, you should be getting an email whenever a thread is posted.

Again, that's exactly what I want to avoid. I already explained the reasons why.

What you propose is impractical because it would require me to pay attention to maybe dozens of emails each day that are entirely irrelevant to how I intend to help the community. The chances of me inadvertently bypassing a meritorious notification are much greater if I get an email whenever a thread is posted.

try subscribing to the Luxembourg forum and see whether you get notifications (mails) whenever a thread is posted.

No, because I don't want to get notifications when someone is looking for a room for rent, when you respond to him, when someone asks about what a .NET developer can expect to earn in Luxembourg, when others respond to him, when someone announces he is moving to Luxembourg, and so forth. None of these instances has anything to do with the legal expertise I can (and do) contribute for free and without commercial advertisements whatsoever.

No offense, but it is clear that you are not understanding even the basics of what I describe. Therefore, kindly restore this thread to where I originally posted. Otherwise, by relegating this thread to the hardly ever visited "Help improve website", you are suppressing others' chances to obtain legal information they need at a time they need it the most.

Pragmatist: I like your offer to help forum members in legal mattes. That is certainly welcome and needed in some country forums, where you have knowöedge of the local law (you did not mention which ones they are).

However, your demanding attitude towards the forum team is a bit offputting - it is what it is right now, and they neither have the time nor probably the motivation to re-program the software behind the forum just because of you. If you are as pragmatic as your user name suggests, then start a thread offering free legal advice about the topics you like (and mention that you rule out the others), ask the forum team to make it sticky (meaning it stay on top of the forum) and then subscribe to that thread, so you get notifications of new posts. You will still get some off-topic or not-welcome-topicones, but you are free to ignore those and respond only to those whhere you can add value.

Pragmatist: I like your offer to help forum members in legal mattes. That is certainly welcome and needed in some country forums, where you have knowöedge of the local law (you did not mention which ones they are).
However, your demanding attitude towards the forum team is a bit offputting - it is what it is right now, and they neither have the time nor probably the motivation to re-program the software behind the forum just because of you. If you are as pragmatic as your user name suggests, then start a thread offering free legal advice about the topics you like (and mention that you rule out the others), ask the forum team to make it sticky (meaning it stay on top of the forum) and then subscribe to that thread, so you get notifications of new posts. You will still get some off-topic or not-welcome-topicones, but you are free to ignore those and respond only to those whhere you can add value.
-@beppi

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

― George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman

MAc

@beppi

your demanding attitude towards the forum team is a bit offputting

Having to explain multiple times something this simple becomes frustrating.

they neither have the time nor probably the motivation to re-program the software behind the forum just because of you.

I've never expected the Expat.com team to re-program anything.

The thread literally starts with the question of whether there is an efficient way for xyz. That is a question about the site's current, existing functionality. I'm not a frequent visitor here, and I figured that maybe someone whose acquaintance with the site is better than mine could point out some functionality I'm not aware of.

At no point have I requested that a new feature be implemented.

start a thread offering free legal advice about the topics you like (and mention that you rule out the others), ask the forum team to make it sticky

I like that suggestion. I believe that would work well enough. Hopefully those threads will not be dumped to this site like it happened to this thread.

needed in some country forums, where you have knowöedge of the local law (you did not mention which ones they are).

Based on your experience with the site(s), could you tell on which country forums that type of questions arises more frequently? Any of those forums would be a good starting point for me to go ahead with your suggestion. If it matters, I am most proficient in contract law, although the post on the Luxembourg forum showcases an example that involves that country's labor law.

To a great extent, listing specific countries of expertise is unnecessary because a wide range of jurisdictions have many legal principles in common. Oftentimes the difference boils down to locating the statute where that specific principle is enacted. Most people don't know that and don't know how to identify those sources, but this is where I can help.

Dear Pragmatist,

Maybe you would look into the converting drivers license thingy here in VN, that seems to be becoming less clear than ever.

MAc

@Mac68 Thanks MAc,

I'm reading some threads on that topic to see what I can do. Any search will be easier if the VN regulations are available in English. So far it appears other users are knowledgeable about the issue, though.