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St. Thomas attorney, Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC and a Delegate at Large to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, addressed the House at its Midyear Meeting on February 11th in Los Angeles, California on "issues of concern to America’s territories." 

In the midst of pitched primary battles and the looming 2008 election,  the American Bar Association House of Delegates challenged the traditional way states and territories handle congressional and legislative redistricting, calling for a new process further removed from the politically charged atmosphere of local legislatures. In a vote by its policy-making body, the ABA urged each state and territory to assign the process to an independent commission, leaving it to each jurisdiction to configure the commissions and set suitable redistricting criteria.


Continue Reading Virgin Islands Attorney Addresses ABA House of Delegates

St. Croix, VI – Friday afternoon Luis Diaz, Agent for the National Labor Relations Board, announced the union election results by the workers of the St. Croix Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurants at Frederiksted, Orange Grove and Sunny Isle. Diaz declared that the workers voted 28-5 in favor of rejecting Our Virgin Islands Labor Union to represent them.

Juan Mujica, Vice President of Operations for Kazi Foods of the Virgin Islands Inc. stated that he is “very pleased with the results of the election and that the workers are giving Kazi Foods, the franchise owner, a chance to show its commitment to its employees”. Mujica stated that “the workers made an informed decision and now Kazi Foods will be able to work directly with its employees.”Continue Reading St. Croix KFC Workers Defeat Union

Tom Bolt, American Bar Association Delegate at Large, announced on Wednesday that the The American Bar Association Division for Public Education’s National Online Youth Summit. The program offers students in the Virgin the chance to study, research, and analyze an issue, and discuss it online with high school students throughout the United States. The theme of this year’s Youth Summit is “Environmental Law & Public Policy: From Grassroots to Government”. 

Bolt who has served as a member of the ABA’s House of Delegates for over twenty years said “This topic is of great interest to all people, especially today’s youth in the Virgin Islands.  The program will focus on grassroots and government efforts to create a national environmental policy, current environmental laws, and some of the political and social responses to resource management and environmental change across time.  Our students will have the opportunity to analyze key legislation and Supreme Court decisions dealing with the environment, and global warming in particular, as well as the role of the Executive branch in administering environmental laws."Continue Reading Virgin Islands Attorney Announces National Youth Summit

The Salvation Army commemorated an “International Day of Prayer for Victims of Sexual Trade Trafficking” this past Sunday at the call of General Shaw Clifton, its international leader.  “I called the Army to prayer once again for those exploited and irreparably damaged as victims of this dreadfully evil trade. The matter is a core issue for the Salvation Army today, just as much as it was in our early days.” Clifton said.

 

St. Thomas Salvation Army Advisory Board Chairman, local attorney Tom Bolt, noted to those gathering at the local corps headquarters on Sunday, “The United States government has declared one of the greatest threats to human dignity is human trafficking: the commodification of human beings.  Human trafficking is a term used to describe all forms of modern-day slavery. No longer is this a term from the past, but a horrific reality in our present and, unfortunately, our future.  The forms of trafficking are many and varied, but commonly involve victims entrapped in commercial sexual exploitation such as prostitution, or labor exploitation in sweatshops, domestic servitude, construction and agriculture.” Bolt said.Continue Reading Salvation Army Commemorates Victims of Sexual Trade Trafficking

Martha I. Walters, President of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws, a 116 year old legal organization that advances laws common to all states and territories, has appointed Attorney Tom Bolt, a Uniform Law Commissioner from the U.S. Virgin Islands, to assist her and the national leadership in advancing a legislative strategy for the organization.

Bolt, who serves as a member of NCCUSL’s Legislative Council, met with its officers and other leaders this past weekend in Chicago to review current legislative strategy, as well as various other aspects of the work of the Conference including working with drafting committees and reporters, developing a public information program for NCCUSL, establishing a working relationship with various external organization and with state and territorial drafting adgencies.Continue Reading NCCUSL President Taps Virgin Islands Attorney

Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of Tom Bolt & Associates, PC and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Virgin Islands Corps of the Salvation Army, met Friday in Chiciaco with Carol Garrity Komon, Vice President of Field Services, and Stephanie N. Dragatsis, Director of Field Services, for America’s Second Harvest – "The Nation’s Food Bank Network".

Currenty the St. Thomas Corps of the Salvation Army provides a feeding program for the homeless on St. Thomas.  "In addition to the Salvation Army, currently there are over 1000 meals served daily on St. Thomas and St. John." Bolt said.  "There is a tremendous amount of waste in the food service industry.  One large hotel on St. Thomas takes over a truck load of good food to the Bovoni Landfill every day.  What couldn’t we do if we could rescue this food, repackage it and get it to those in need.  Just think of all of the food that is disposed of daily by the hotels, restaurants, and grocery stores, not to mention the cruiseships." Bolt said.  "With all this food, there is no reason for anyone to go hungry in St. Thomas."Continue Reading Salvation Army Advisory Board Chair Meets with America’s Second Harvest

Attorney Tom Bolt, Chairman of the Children’s Trust led a delegation from the Trust on Tuesday to meet Commissioner of Education Nominee Lynn Spampinato.  The Children’s Trust is a fund of the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands whose mission is to advocate on behalf of the children of the Virgin Islands.

Earlier Tuesday, Commissioner nominee Spampinato told members of the Rotary Club of St. Thomas Sunrise that of all the persons that she has met in the Virgin Islands not one of them has said that they "want to talk about the children."  Children’s Trust Chairman Bolt began the meeting in Spampinato’s office at Roosevelt Park on St. Thomas by saying, "We are here to talk about the children!"Continue Reading Children’s Trust Meets Commissioner of Education Nominee

Tom Bolt, Delegate at Large to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, secured an amendment to Resolution 116B which was before the body on Monday at it Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California.  The Resolution sponsored by the ABA’s Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities urged the United States Congress to establish a panel to review the government response to Hurricane Katrina and develop programs and policies to address the needs of property owners in disaster prone areas.

"The resolution as originally presented," Bolt said, "would have only included programs and policies for persons in the Gulf States affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  We needed to include those in the Virgin Islands where we are consistently threatened by hurricanes, as well as those in Florida and other disaster prone areas.  My amendment would extend the scope of the resolution to include all persons in disaster prone areas."Continue Reading Virgin Islands Attorney Secures ABA Support for Hurricane Relief

Tom Bolt, Managing Attorney of Tom Bolt & Associates, P.C., in St. Thomas, was among the 250 attorneys, judges, law professors, legislators and other state officials – all lawyers – participating in the 2007 Annual Meeting of the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), recently concluded in Pasadena, California. Mr. Bolt was first appointed a U.S. Virgin Islands Uniform Law Commissioner in 1988 and serves as Chair of the Virgin Islands Bar Association’s Committee on Legislation and Law Reform. He is currently Co-Chair of the ULC Committee on Liaison with the American Bar Association, and a member of the ULC Legislative Committee. He was also Chair of the drafting committee on the Uniform Money Services Act.

Now in its 116th year, the Uniform Law Commission is comprised of more than 300 commissioners appointed by every state, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to draft and promote enactment of uniform laws that are designed to solve problems common to all the states and territories of the United States. Commissioners donate their time as a pro bono public service.  Bolt has served as Division Chair for the Conference for the past two years and is a member of the Conference’s Legislative Council.Continue Reading St. Thomas Attorney Participates in Uniform Law Conference

For the first time in nearly a decade the federal minimum wage will increase Tuesday, July 24, 2007 from $5.15 per hour to $5.85.   The $0.70 increase is scheduled to continue each summer for the following two years and will stop at $7.25 per hour in 2009.

           

Attorney Ravinder S. Nagi, Chair of the Labor and Employment Practice Group at Tom Bolt & Associates P.C., noted that most Virgin Islands employers and employees are not affected by the increase this year, because since January 1, 2007 the Virgin Islands’ minimum wage was increased to $6.15 per hour- higher then the impending $5.85 federal minimum wage increase.  Continue Reading Federal Minimum Wage Increase Will Not Immediately Impact VI