Real Estate & Property Law

Planned Law Firm Office Building Sparks Architectural Debate

A plan to demolish a historic building in Kansas City, Mo., in order to build an eight-story glass office building anchored by the Polsinelli Shughart law firm has sparked an ongoing architectural debate. Even after the initial plans announced were modified to preserve the facade of the original Spanish-style balcony…

Sep 13, 2010 9:00 PM CDT

Closing Attorney Faces 27 Counts in Federal Mortgage Fraud Case

A Massachusetts lawyer accused of serving as a closing attorney on multiple deals in a Boston-area mortgage fraud case has been charged with a total of 27 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Michael R. Anderson, 41, allegedly worked with a developer and a bank manager, in…

Sep 10, 2010 11:59 PM CDT

Meet Julia Morris, Sole Female Associate at Conn. Firm Who Became Its Managing Partner

When Julia Morris started work at O’Connell, Flaherty & Attmore in 1994, there were 16 lawyers at the Hartford, Conn., firm. But she was the only woman among them. Six years later, she became the firm’s first female partner. And in 2008 she became its managing partner, recounts the Connecticut…

Sep 10, 2010 7:19 PM CDT

Lawyer Initially Represented Woman Now Suspected of Slaying Him

In 2005, attorney Mark Hafen represented Verginia Turner in a case brought by a former boyfriend who was seeking–and got–a restraining order against her. By 2009, Hafen was seeking court help himself. After allowing Turner to move in with him around September of that year, the California family law, bankruptcy…

Sep 8, 2010 5:18 PM CDT

Proskauer Partner Offers Solution to 1952 Leases with Ice Delivery Riders

Proskauer Rose partner Ronald Sernau has been busy negotiating a new New York lease for the law firm and developing software to standardize commercial leases. Sernau couldn’t divulge the cost of the lease on 13 floors of a new glass building across from the Port Authority Terminal. But he tells…

Sep 7, 2010 2:19 PM CDT

Sometime Girlfriend Arrested on Suspicion of Murdering Attorney, After Eviction Filing

A woman who reportedly had an on-again, off-again relationship with a California attorney found dead in his home earlier this week has been arrested on suspicion of murdering him. Mark Hafen, 58, had filed an eviction case against Verginia Turner, 42, early this year when she refused to move out…

Sep 3, 2010 6:45 PM CDT

Banks Gone Wild

Unlucky homeowners sue after being left out—literally

Sep 1, 2010 5:10 AM CDT

Historic Military Flag Tied to Tea Party Tests Limits of Ariz. Flag-Flying Law

A historic ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ flag dates back to the American Revolution, but is now associated with the modern-day Tea Party movement. So an Arizona man is having a tough time convincing his homeowner association that he should be allowed to fly the historic military flag, reports the New…

Aug 31, 2010 8:10 PM CDT

Lawyer Gets Nearly 4 Years in Fraud Case Over Refi of His Own Home

A Hollywood, Fla., lawyer was sentenced to three years and 10 months in federal prison for embezzling $1.6 million in loan proceeds, including $1 million in a refinancing of his own home. Instead of paying off the prior lender on his home as he claimed to have done, however, Peter…

Aug 30, 2010 11:14 PM CDT

Ex-Lawyer Agrees to Pay Clients $1M Restitution Over ‘Phony’ Foreclosure Suits

A Los Angeles lawyer who resigned from the California Bar last year has agreed to pay $1 million in restitution and another $125,000 in penalties for an alleged scam to bilk homeowners seeking help in avoiding foreclosure. Mitchell Roth admitted no wrongdoing, under terms of the settlement, and now resides…

Aug 27, 2010 5:58 PM CDT

Feng Shui Makes Closings More Difficult, Lawyer Says

In New York’s Chinatown, office condos on the eighth floor of one building are a hot property, sometimes selling for a $100,000 premium. The reason: In Chinese, the number eight has the same pronunciation as the word for getting rich, the New York Times reports. The number four, on the…

Aug 25, 2010 12:54 PM CDT

Judge OKs Highrise ‘Superblock’ Plan for Fordham U School of Law

A state-court judge in New York has given the green light to a controversial 25-year campus building plan at Fordham University School of Law. Under the proposal, which is opposed by some community groups, bigger and taller buildings will be added to the campus to create more dormitory, academic and…

Aug 19, 2010 11:51 PM CDT

City’s Graffiti Suit Seeks to Force Parent to Pay for Damage Done by Son

In a lawsuit that may be the first of its kind in Texas, a town is suing to try to force the parent of a teenager to pay for damage done by his son’s graffiti. The suit by the city of Corpus Christi seeks to obtain $7,000, plus attorney’s fees…

Aug 19, 2010 11:09 PM CDT

Condo Owners with Religious Objections to Tree-Killing Risk Losing Unit

A Chicago-area mother and daughter risk losing their condo in a tax sale because of their objections to an alley paving project that violated their religious beliefs. Padma Rao and her 72-year-old mother refused to pay the $635 tax assessment for the 2007 project, resulting in a legal fight that…

Aug 19, 2010 2:06 PM CDT

Couple Sues Lawyers Over Foreclosure, Saying Owner Received $74K Owed to Lender

Stunned by a foreclosure notice concerning a loan they say they didn’t know was secured by their home, a North Carolina couple has sued the lawyers who represented them in the original purchase and two refinance transactions. Carol and Joseph Hannah originally used owner financing for the Canton home they…

Aug 18, 2010 6:13 PM CDT