Trends for April 30, 2001

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, April 30, 2001 | 8:35 a.m.

A legal of their own

So have you made plans for celebrating Law Day?

What? You say you didn't know that Tuesday has been set aside for honoring legal stuff? You can thank the American Bar Association and the website lawyers.com for this special day.

The site recently conducted a study of 1,001 Americans (don't ask us how they came up with that number) to determine how much time people spend finding and researching lawyers. The results probably ruffled the feathers of more than a few attorneys.

Apparently 67 percent of Americans spend two hours or less gathering information and researching before selecting a lawyer less time than they spend studying prior to purchasing a new appliance or piece of furniture.

Also, 50 percent of Americans let their fingers do the walking and turn to the phone book to find a lawyer.

When they finally find legal representation, 88 percent of people say it's important that they feel as though they can trust a lawyer so important that 25 percent of those polled said that they'd fire a lawyer if they felt there was a lack of trust.

Freebie forum

Maybe you'll spend Law Day on the Internet looking up, well, legal stuff. For legal advice on the cheap, visit freeadvice.com. To ask a question, stop by chatlawinfo.com. Need free legal forms? Go to lawsmart.com.

These sites are included in a section about what else? legal advice in the new book "Free Stuff & Good Deals on the Internet" (Santa Monica Press, $12.95). Author Linda Brown also penned the books "Free Stuff & Good Deals for Your Pet" and "Free Stuff & Good Deals for Folks Over 50."

Beyond law, Brown has compiled a slew of websites. Looking to simplify your wardrobe? See chicsimple.com/ask.html. Have questions about kosher foods? Head on over to koshersupermarket.com/ rabbidavis.htm and ask Rabbi Chaim Davis whatever you please.

It's a cover-up

Now that the weather is heating up, you might be inclined to strip off some clothing and bask in the sunshine.

Don't. In fact, leave everything on if you want to avoid developing skin cancer. And the folks at Rit are urging you to launder items with the company's newest product.

Rit Sun Guard is a laundry additive that its makers claim washes into fabric an agent that blocks at least 96 percent of the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, keeping them away from your skin.

The company also provided a frightening list of skin cancer facts: One of every three cancers diagnosed this year will be skin cancer. Meanwhile one death per hour is attributed to skin cancer.

Keep these things in mind when venturing into the sun: Ultraviolet rays are most intense between 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Don't be fooled by a cloudy sky up to 80 percent of ultraviolet rays pass through clouds and haze.