Virgin Islands Law Blog : Virgin Islands Lawyer & Attorney : BoltNagi Law Firm : St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Water Island, US Virgin Islands

One of the first recommendations that the BoltNagi Real Estate & Financial Services Group makes to a purchaser of real estate is to obtain a survey and “walk the land”.

For just about any real estate purchase, your real estate attorney's standard advice will be to "get a survey, get a survey, and get a survey!" This is not conspiracy to drive up the cost of your real estate purchase. It is common sense, though, particularly for a big-ticket purchase like real estate. Obtaining a land survey of the property you plan to purchase will identify potential problems and give you peace of mind.

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The New York Times recently ran a couple of articles that highlight current changes in the practice of law. One article discussed the use of analytical computer tools to simplify discovery in complex litigation. Rather than firms having to dispatch an auditorium full of young associates to wade through mountains of documents, firms can now set specific search parameters and isolate relevant documents and phrases more quickly and more cheaply. The other article noted that law school applications are down more than 12% from last year, with the number of people sitting for the LSAT down more than 16%. The article suggests that a dawning recognition that law school is not a quick path to riches accounts for this decline.

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Luis “Tito” Morales, President of the United Steelworkers Union – Local 8249, made good on this challenge to Governor John P. deJongh and the 29^th Legislature, when the main group of unions in the U.S. Virgin Islands petitioned a court to block the government's plan to cut the pay of government workers across the board by eight percent.

The Central Labor Council argues that the cuts would not be needed if the government improved the collection of taxes. The CLC is seeking an injunction from the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands enjoining the Governor from implementing the cuts. Governor deJongh announced the cuts last week, saying the option would be to lay off over 600 workers. The new law also creates incentives for government workers to retire early.

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U.S. Virgin Islands attorney Tom Bolt,  Managing Attorney of the St. Thomas law firm of BoltNagi PC,  was appointed earlier this week  to the influential Scope and Program Committee of the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Law at the organization's120th Annual Meeting in Vail, Colorado by ULC President Michael Houghton.

The Scope and Program Committee reviews and makes recommendations on all proposals for new  uniform and model acts drafted by the Uniform Law Commission (ULC). Bolt, who has served as a U.S. Virgin Islands Commissioner for over 23 years, is also a member of the Legislative Council of the Uniform Law Commission.

During the ULC Annual Meeting, the organization approved four new acts dealing with issues ranging from a new law that will authenticate official state and territorial online legal material to a new act establishing a certificate of title system for boats.

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There are significant legal restrictions on how you can solicit investors. Federal and U.S. Virgin Islands securities laws require that any stock, limited liability company membership interest, note, or similar investment that you sell to raise capital for your business must be either registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Virigin Islands Division of Banking & Insurance or be exempt from registration.

There are limitations on how you can solicit investors and who may invest if you are relying on an exemption from registration. So your first step before talking to any prospective investors should be to meet with your legal counsel to learn the rules of the game.

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