Money troubles can be embarrassing.  Some people take it as a sign of weakness, and many people don’t like to admit that they need help.  This is the main reason that people avoid contacting their mortgage lenders when they have cash flow problems that affect their ability to remain current on their mortgage payments.  This reasoning, however, can have devastating legal consequences.  As counterintuitive as it may sound, the onset of a financial hardship is precisely the time that you need to reach out and talk to your lender.Continue Reading Avoiding Foreclosure: First Talk to Your Lender

Although discovery is part and parcel of litigation, it is universally regarded as expensive and burdensome, and (sometimes) ripe for sharp practices.  One area where the legitimate fact-finding purpose of discovery runs up against the hardship of discovery is where a court orders discovery to proceed while a motion to dismiss that would, if granted, resolve the matter, remains pending.Continue Reading Staying Discovery Pending a Dispositive Motion to Dismiss

The statute of limitations is the deadline for filing a lawsuit. Federal law or the laws of a state or territory establish the amount of time an individual has to commence their lawsuit by filing their complaint.  If a party fails to file within the timeframe, in all but the rarest of instances, they will be barred from moving forward with their case, and it will be dismissed.Continue Reading Getting to the Court On Time!

Attorney Nycole A. Thompson with BoltNagi PC appealed her client’s conviction for aiding and abetting the unauthorized possession of a firearm. Thompson argued that the trial court’s admission, over her objections, of a certificate of non-existence of record (“CNR”) stating that her client did not have a gun license in District of St. Croix violated her client’s Sixth Amendment right to confront the witnesses against him because the person who prepared the certificate did not testify at trial and her client did not have the previous opportunity to cross-examine the person who prepared the exhibit.Continue Reading Confrontation Clause Bars Surrogate Testimony

Lawyer deregulation appears to be the current zeitgeist in the legal reform movement. Great Britain is experimenting with lawyer deregulation, which would make some basic legal services available at supermarkets. The Brookings Institution–somewhat surprisingly, to me–recently published a study recommending the deregulation of the legal industry in the United States as well. (Hat tip Futurelawyer.)Continue Reading “Brave New Lawyerless World”

A Florida circuit court judge has ruled that attorney and real estate investor, David S. Band, will stand trial a second time to decide if damages are owed to a fellow investor in the St. John Grande Bay condominium complex. Judge Charles E. Roberts’ order means that Band — who was exonerated in early May of defrauding investors in the soured Grande Bay deal — will face another jury as early as the end of the year. If that jury decides that Band does owe investor Harold Libby money, the award could top $1 million.Continue Reading St. John Grand Bay Investor Seeks Damages in Florida Court

It appears that Google is bringing its fearsome powers of information organization to the legal world:

Traditional lawyers may not like it, but venture capitalists are pouring money into one of the last industries to resist commoditization on the Web. Google Ventures today announced it is part of a group that infused $18.5 million into Rocket Lawyer, which bills itself as the “fastest growing online legal service.”

. . . . Rocket Lawyer provides online legal forms, from wills to Delaware certificates of incorporation, that non-lawyers can fill out and store and share on the Web. For $19.95 a month, consumers can also have their documents reviewed by a real lawyer and even get legal advice at no additional cost.
 Continue Reading I, For One, Welcome Our New Google Overlords.

The St. Croix Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands recently clarified whether a foreclosed property’s fair market value (as opposed to the price that is brings at a foreclosure sale) can serve as the basis from which a deficiency judgment is calculated. This is an important question, as it addresses an apparent conflict between the local judgment statutes and the American Law Institute’s Third Restatement of Property on Mortgages, which has the force of law in the Virgin Islands. Most important, it emphasizes that, under current law, foreclosed defendants cannot invoke the fair market value of their property to avoid or lessen their post-judgment obligations.Continue Reading “‘Fair Market Value’ of No Value When It Comes To Foreclosure Deficiency Judgments”