Author: TSA Press

Life
expectancy
refers
to
the
number
of
years
a
person
can
expect
to
live
and
it
is
based
on
an
estimate
of
the
average
age
that
members
of
a
particular
population
group
will
be
when
they
die.

According
to
the
Zimbabwe
National
Statistical
Agency
(ZIMSTAT)
2022
Population
and
Housing
Census
(PHC)
Preliminary
Report
on
Mortality
and
Orphanhood
released
on
Tuesday,
people
live
longer
in
urban
areas
than
in
rural
areas.

The
Report
on
Mortality
and
Orphanhood
was
presented
by
ZIMSTAT
director
general,
Taguma
Mahonde.
He
said:

During
the
height
of
the
HIV,
and
AIDS
pandemic,
Zimbabwe’s
life
expectancy
fell
to
44
years
in
2002.
It
jumped
to
60
in
2012
and
then
now
stands
at
64.7
in
2022.

Life
expectancy
at
birth
was
higher
in
urban
areas
(65.5
years)
than
in
rural
areas
(63.3
years).

Life
expectancy
at
birth
was
64.7
years
for
both
sexes
combined.

Females
had
a
higher
life
expectancy
(68.0
years)
than
males
(61.2
years).

ZIMSTAT
said
the
Crude
Death
Rate
in
2012
was
10
per
1
000
and
in
2022
and
now
it
stands
at
8
per
1000
people.

Crude
death
rate
indicates
the
number
of
deaths
occurring
during
the
year,
per
1000
population.

United
Nations
Population
Fund
Zimbabwe
Programmes
Specialist
for
Population
and
Development,
Piason
Mlambo,
said
life
expectancy
increase
could
be
due
to
the
decrease
in
death
rate.
He
said:

Life
expectancy
is
computed
from
mortality
or
death
rate.
So,
if
the
death
rate
is
coming
down,
from
the
data
which
has
been
presented,
then
life
expectancy
is
increasing.

The
explanation
is
life
expectancy
is
increasing
because
the
mortality
or
death
rate
is
decreasing.

Mlambo
said
Zimbabwe’s
population
growth,
which
rose
from
13
million
in
2012
to
15
million
in
2022,
is
attributable
to
health
interventions
such
as
the
introduction
of
ARVs,
alongside
immunisation
and
vaccination.
He
said:

When
life
expectancy
took
a
dip,
which
was
in
2002
when
we
were
at
the
peak
of
our
Aids-related
deaths
and
it
(life
expectancy)
was
at
around
45
years.

But
from
there
with
the
introduction
of
ARVs,
people
are
now
living
longer
with
the
condition.

Factors
that
are
contributing
to
the
increase
in
life
expectancy
include
the
declining
HIV
prevalence
and
several
coordinated
socio-economic
interventions
involving
scaling
up
of
early
infant
diagnosis
and
access
to
paediatric
ARVs
treatment.
This
has
now
seen
a
gradual
rise
in
life
expectancy.

Post
published
in:

Featured

President
Chamisa
stressed
the
need
for
political
tolerance,
peace
and
justice
in
the
country.

Zanu
PF
agents
are
tormenting
suspected
CCC
members
and
supporters
across
the
country.

On
Wednesday
President
Chamisa
wrote
on
Twitter:

“ZIMBABWE
IS
TOO
DIVIDED
A
NATION…

Toxicity
and
hate
dominate
us.
Many
are
too
wounded
and
bitter.
We
need
each
other.

We
must
have
a
forgiving
spirit,
that
heart
of
forgiveness.
And
true
leaders
must
lead
and
heal
the
nation
into
peace,
reconciliation,
prosperity
and
happiness!
Peace
is
simple!”

Post
published
in:

Featured

Ed.
Note:
Welcome
to
our
daily
feature

Trivia
Question
of
the
Day!

The
beginnings
of
LexisNexis
can
be
traced
—
in
part
—
from
a
1965
initiative
of
which
state
bar
association
to
create
a
legal
research
system
for
its
lawyers?

Hint:
When
introduced
in
1973,
the
Lexis
service
offered
the
full
text
of
two
states’
codes
and
cases
(including
the
answer
to
this
question),
the
U.S.
code,
some
federal
case
law,
and
a
tax
database
from
the
American
Institute
of
Certified
Public
Accountants.

See
the
answer
on
the
next
page.

As
mentioned
in
a
previous
article,
some
clients
might
actually

prefer
paying
higher
rates
to
lawyers
since
they
might
think
they
are
getting
better
service
in
return
for
higher
compensation.
People
naturally
equate
price
with
quality,
and
this
applies
to
a
number
of
different
industries
other
than
the
legal
profession.
Along
similar
lines,
some
clients
like
to
know
that
law
firms
have
a
solid
office,
a
strong
workforce,
and
other
attributes.
This
might
help
a
client
feel
like
they
are
dealing
with
a
robust
operation
that
has
the
resources
necessary
to
complete
any
given
task
for
a
client.

Many
small
law
firms
try
to
keep
their
overhead
low
since
any
additional
cost
just
means
that
there
is
less
money
available
to
go
into
the
pockets
of
the
partnership.
My
own
firm
uses
a
virtual
receptionist
and
other
services
in
order
to
cut
down
on
our
overhead,
which
helps
us
run
a
lean
and
mean
operation.
A
virtual
receptionist
is
a
person
who
works
for
a
company
and
takes
calls
for
numerous
businesses
and
then
sends
them
messages
about
the
calls
or
transfers
the
call
to
someone
who
works
at
that
business.

One
time,
a
client
told
me
that
he
had
given
a
message
to
my
“secretary”
which
kind
of
confused
me.
I
do
not
have
a
secretary,
and
it
was
likely
that
the
client
had
confused
my
virtual
receptionist
with
someone
who
worked
at
my
firm
full
time.
The
client
seemed
impressed
that
a
small
operation
such
as
my
firm
would
have
a
secretary,
and
this
definitely
impacted
my
client’s
perception
of
the
firm.
Of
course,
I
told
my
client
that
this
person
was
likely
our
virtual
receptionist,
and
the
client
was
kind
of
confused
with
this
concept.
In
any
event,
the
perception
that
my
firm
had
the
resources
to
hire
a
permanent
secretary
definitely
improved
our
image.

Clients
also
like
to
think
that
a
law
firm
has
an
office
even
though
the
firm
shares
space
or
has
a
virtual
workplace.
Numerous
small
law
firms,
both
before
and
after
the
pandemic,
have
secure
virtual
offices
in
order
to
lower
their
overhead.
Attorneys
do
not
need
to
work
at
an
office
as
much
as
they
used
to
and
far
fewer
attorney-client
interactions
are
happening
in
person
because
of
concerns
related
to
COVID-19.
I
secured
a
virtual
workspace
about
a
year
before
the
COVID-19
pandemic,
and
I
have
been
a
huge
proponent
of
this
for
years.
A
virtual
workspace
gives
me
a
phone
line,
fax
line,
an
address,
and
many
other
amenities
at
a
fraction
of
the
cost
of
a
physical
office.

Even
though
virtual
offices
make
sense
for
many
law
firms,
clients
often
like
law
firms
to
have
physical
offices
in
the
traditional
sense.
Numerous
clients
of
mine
have
expressed
how
cool
it
is
that
I
have
an
office
that
is
centrally
located
and
near
a
lot
of
the
important
sites
in
my
area.
Of
course,
I
always
correct
clients
on
the
difference
between
a
virtual
workspace
and
a
physical
office.
Some
clients
think
that
it
is
cool
that
my
firm
has
a
virtual
workspace,
but
most
are
more
impressed
when
they
think
that
I
have
a
more
traditional
office.

Letterheads
and
logos
can
be
a
huge
deal
for
clients
as
well.
Not
only
is
this
an
important
way
for
a
law
firm
to
distinguish
itself
in
the
legal
marketplace,
but
letterhead
and
logos
can
project
a
positive
image
that
can
have
a
substantial
impact
on
clients.
One
time,
my
printer
ran
out
of
color
ink,
and
I
started
printing
pretty
much
everything
in
black
and
white.
This
includes
retainer
agreements
and
other
documents
that
were
sent
to
clients.

I
have
a
mentor
who
is
an
old-school
lawyer,
and
he
found
out
that
I
was
doing
this.
He
told
me
to
immediately
stop
printing
client
documents
in
black
and
white
and
that
I
should
use
nicer
paper
when
sending
letters
to
clients.
He
explained
that
it
looked
chintzy
that
I
was
printing
things
out
in
black
and
white
and
that
our
firm
logo
is
much
more
powerful
if
it
is
seen
in
color.
He
explained
that
clients
are
much
more
likely
to
respond
positively
to
a
law
firm
if
they
know
that
the
firm
took
the
time
to
use
expensive
paper
and
has
the
resources
to
make
sure
that
even
the
little
things
were
taken
care
of.
Although
I
believe
that
certain
types
of
clients
might
not
care
much
about
whether
retainer
agreements
are
printed
on
plain
paper
and
whether
documents
are
sent
in
black
and
white,
it
is
definitely
true
that
this
might
make
the
difference
for
some
clients.

All
told,
clients
naturally
want
to
know
that
they
have
chosen
resourceful
counsel
that
has
the
trappings
of
success
within
the
legal
profession.
Accordingly,
law
firms
should
definitely
invest
a
little
money
in
the
types
of
things
that
are
going
to
project
a
solid
image
to
clients.

---

Jordan
Rothman
is
a
partner
of



The
Rothman
Law
Firm,
a
full-service
New
York
and
New
Jersey
law
firm.
He
is
also
the
founder
of



Student
Debt
Diaries,
a
website
discussing
how
he
paid
off
his
student
loans.
You
can
reach
Jordan
through
email
at



jordan@rothmanlawyer.com.

On
August
22,
2022,
Gov.
Gavin
Newsom
of
California
signed

AB-2495,
which
codifies
certain
embryo
donation
protocols
into
state
law.

Donors
Are
Just
Donors

Specifically,
the
new
Golden
State
law
promotes
embryo
donation
by
ensuring
that
donors
are
never
considered
the
legal
parents
of
children
that
are
born
from
their
donations.
For
instance,
Section
7613
of
the
Family
Code
now
includes:

(d) (1) A
provider
of
an
embryo
for
use
in
assisted
reproduction
to
an
intended
parent
who
is
not
the
provider’s
spouse
or
nonmarital
partner
is
treated
in
law
as
if
the
provider
is
not
the
natural
parent
of
a
child
thereby
conceived
unless
the
court
finds
satisfactory
evidence
that
the
provider
and
the
intended
parent
intended
for
the
provider
to
be
a
parent.

So,
unless
the
donor
really
means
to
be
a
parent,
California
law
is
now
clear
that
the
donors
of
donated
embryos
are
not
the
legal
parents
of
children
resulting
from
the
donated
embryos.
So
far,
there’s
not
much
controversy
on
this
idea.

Consent
Of
Egg
And
Sperm
Providers
Required

Another
new
section
to
the
Family
Code
provides
that:

(2) If
the
provider
of
ova,
semen,
or
embryos
is
not
the
original
source
of
the
ova
or
sperm,
each
original
provider’s
written
consent
to
the
donation
is
required
unless
that
person
has
executed
a
writing
to
consent,
waive,
or
relinquish
their
right
to
the
genetic
material,
or
as
otherwise
ordered
by
a
court
of
law.

This
provision
addresses
the
need
for
appropriate
consent
from
the original
providers
of
the
eggs
and
sperm
that
formed
the
embryos
for
donation.
Many
embryos
being
donated
are
formed
by
a
couple
who
used
their
own
eggs
and
sperm
with
in
vitro
fertilization
(IVF)
procedures
to
build
their
families
and
then
were
later
in
a
position
to
help
others
by
donating
their
remaining
embryos.
Other
embryos
for
donation,
by
contrast,
were
formed
with
the
assistance
of
an
egg
or
sperm
donor,
or
both,
where
the
now-embryo
donors
were
previously
recipients
in
an
egg
or
sperm
donation.

An
egg
or
sperm
donor
may
very
well
have
strong
feelings
about
their
reproductive
tissue
being
further
donated
from
the
original
recipients
to
others.
So
it
seems
appropriate
that
the
new
law
provides
clarity
that
the
original
sperm
and
egg
providers
should
necessarily
be
providing
consent.

Why
This,
Why
Now? 

I
spoke
with
California
attorney
and
assisted
reproductive
law
specialist, Deborah
Wald
about
the
origin
of
the
bill.
Wald
is
the
president-elect
of
the
Academy
of
California
Adoption-ART
Lawyers
(ACAL),
the
force
behind
the
bill.
She
explained
that
ACAL
has
regularly
advocated
for
years,
with
success,
to
update
the
Family
Code
when
advances
in
technology
and
changes
in
family
formation
practices
merit
such
an
update.

Wald
and
ACAL
view
this
expansion
of
the
California
Family
Code
now
explicitly
including
embryo
donation,
in
addition
to
egg
and
sperm
donation,
as
a
natural
and
noncontroversial
update.
Wald
pointed
out
that
the
bill
was
carried
by
Assemblyperson
Jim
Patterson
and
received
bipartisan
and
unanimous
support.
Not
a
single
“Nay”
was
lodged
against
the
bill
at

any
point in
its
legislative
process.

More
Work
To
Be
Done

Wald
explained
that
the
new
law
is
a
good
starting
point.
Including
“embryos”
in
the
law
is
a
substantive
and
helpful
building
block
for
the
law
to
address
more
complicated
legal
issues
in
the
future.
Namely,
Wald
described
a
current,
reoccurring
issue
that
courts
have
struggled
with
—
the
question
of
what
to
do
when
there
are
multiple
claims
and
competing
interests
as
to
any
given
embryo.
Wald
mentioned
a
recent
case
that
she
worked
on
where
a
divorcing
couple
had
embryos,
but
no
children.
The
embryos
presented
the
only
possibility
of
a
genetically
linked
child
for
one
of
the
parties,
but
the
other
refused
consent
for
her
use
of
the
embryos.
Wald
explained
that
California
courts
have
routinely
acted
in
favor
of
the
party
wishing
not
to
reproduce
over
a
party
wishing
to
use
the
disputed
embryos
for
conception
purposes.

Congratulations,
California,
on
joining
the
short
list
of
states
to
update
their
laws
to
provide
specific
recognition
and
protection
for
a
common
family
building
practice.
Embryo
donors,
recipients,
and
the
resulting
children
are
each
a
little
more
protected
by
your
efforts.

---

Ellen
Trachman
is
the
Managing
Attorney
of Trachman
Law
Center,
LLC,
a
Denver-based
law
firm
specializing
in
assisted
reproductive
technology
law,
and
co-host
of
the
podcast I
Want
To
Put
A
Baby
In
You.
You
can
reach
her
at babies@abovethelaw.com.

A
seat
on
the
D.C.
Circuit
deserves
to
be
filled
by
a
high-calliber
and
impartial
jurist,
and
thankfully
we
have
that
in
Judge
Pan.

—
Senate
Majority
Leader
Chuck
Schumer,
in

comments
given
on
the
Senate
floor
just
prior
to
a
52-42
vote
in
favor
of
U.S.
District
Judge

Florence
Pan’s elevation
to
the
D.C.
Circuit.
Pan
will
take
Justice
Ketanji
Brown
Jackson’s
recently
vacated
seat
on
the
appellate
court.
Pan
will
be
the
first
Chinese
American
to
serve
on
the
D.C.
Circuit.

---

Staci
Zaretsky is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law,
where
she’s
worked
since
2011.
She’d
love
to
hear
from
you,
so
please
feel
free
to

email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
comments,
or
critiques.
You
can
follow
her
on

Twitter
or
connect
with
her
on

LinkedIn.