What Is Wrong with this Picture?

No. 1,554

Category: Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

From the Junk Mail Bin: Don’t Deal With Those Other Scammers . . .

No. 1,553

I found the following classic in the junk mail.

Attn:Beneficiary,

I am Mrs. Anna Joy, I am a US citizen, 48 years Old. I reside here in New Braunfels Texas. My residential address is as follows.108 Crockett Court.Apt 303, New Braunfels Texas, United States, am thinking of relocating since I am now rich. I am one of those that took part in the Compensation in Nigeria many years ago and they refused to pay me,I had paid over $20,000 while in the US, trying to get my payment all to no avail.

So I decided to travel down to Nigeria with all my compensation documents, And I was directed to meet Reverend.Anderson ,who is the member of COMPENSATION AWARD COMMITTEE, and I contacted him and he explained everything to me. He said whoever is contacting us through emails are fake.

He took me to the paying bank for the claim of my Compensation payment.Right now I am the most happiest woman on earth because I have received my compensation funds of $800,000.00 Moreover, Reverend.Anderson, showed me the full information of those that are yet to receive their payments and I saw your name as one of the beneficiaries, and your email address, that is why I decided to email you to stop dealing with those people, they are not with your fund, they are only making money out of you.I will advise you to contact Reverend. Anderson. You have to contact him directly on this information below.

Name : Reverend.Anderson

Email: [email link has been deleted to protect the innocent or absent-minded]

Telephone: [ditto]

You really have to stop dealing with those people that are contacting you and telling you that your fund is with them, it is not in anyway with them, they are only taking advantage of you and they will dry you up until you have nothing.

The only money I paid after I meet Reverend. Anderson was just $355 Usd for the paper works, take note of that. Once again stop contacting those people, I will advise you to contact Reverend. Anderson so that he can help you to Transfer your Fund into your account, instead of dealing with those liars that will be turning you around asking for different kind of money to complete your transaction.

Thank You and Be Blessed.

Mrs. Anna Joy

Category: Amazing!, Life on the Internet, Phishing

One Hundred Years Ago: Leonard Bernstein Was Born.

No. 1,552

Image: leonardbernstein.com

One of the greatest American composers. He not only wrote classical music, but Broadway and Movie Music. West Side Story changed the Broadway stage forever and the movie became a great American classic.

Of course, he was a great conductor, performer and one of the most famous personalities of the 20th Century. Time Magazine published a story today about how he conducted performances by an orchestra comprised of holocaust survivors. There are a million Bernstein stories. Here’s one by Tom Wolfe about Bernstein’s 48th birthday.

CLT

Category: History, One Hundred Years Ago

Lawyer Marketing Idea: It’s a Keeper!

No. 1,551

Lawyers usually aren’t very creative about marketing their law practices. But there are plenty exceptions.

My friend Sam Zets sends me a wallet size tri-fold card every year around now, the beginning of football season. On one side, he places his vital info., surrounded by the Steeler schedule and other National TV pro football broadcasts. On the other side he has local college and one high school schedule.

Of course, lots of us will tuck it in our wallet for future reference. Then, when we take it out, we are reminded that Sam Zets provided this useful information, together with his address, phone number and areas of practice.

And of course, once your the wallet, it will probably stay there until next August, when we will replace it with the 2019 schedule.

Its a great form of low budget advertising for a lawyer.

Category: Advertising
Tags: lawyer advertising > Sam Zets

Take That, You Dirty Cockroach!

No. 1,550

Today was Landlord-Tenant Day in Arbitration. They only have two of them in July and two in August. The assembly room for litigants was packed to capacity. Suddenly, a cockroach ran out into the middle of the floor. To say that it caused an uproar is an understatement. All rise! Everyone snatched their briefcases and other baggage from the floor.

Cries of “step on it! Step on it!” were heard everywhere. Someone actually gave it a heavy stomp, but there was no apparent effect. Perhaps it was because we were on carpet. But no one was surprised. After all, cockroaches are indestructible.

It ran under the coat rack. The coat rack was moved. A woman tried to crush it with the rubber foot of her cane. No luck. By then, I was rooting for the little fellow. And then the speedy insect just vanished into nowhere.

What an exciting story it had to tell back in the nest! Hundreds of giant monsters screaming and trying to kill me!

So how does a cockroach turn up on the seventh floor of the City-County Building with no obvious food supply? The building is 102 years old. Did some distant ancestor begin the upward trek a century ago? One of those Great Mysteries of Life.

CLT

NOTE: No, I am not attaching a photo to this post. I’ve seen enough.

Category: Courthouse Scenes
Tags: creepy crawlies > roaches > vermin

Real Estate Alert: Beware of Title Wash of Deed Reservations on Unseated Lands by tax sale deeds.

No. 1,549

HERDER SPRING HUNTING CLUB v. KELLER et al., 143 A.3d 358 (2016).

WOODHOUSE HUNTING CLUB, INC. v. HOYT et al., 2018 Pa. Super 78 (2018).

CORNWELL MOUNTAIN INVESTMENTS, LP et al. v. PROCTOR HEIRS TRUST et al., 2017 Pa. Super 74 (2017)

Image: state impact.npr.org

There is an exception to the black letter law principle in Pennsylvania that an exception and reservation in a deed of the “mineral estate” or parts of it cannot be divested or abandoned by operation of law.

It seems that there was a statute enacted in 1806 that required that such a severance of title be reported to the County Commissioners, so that it could be taken into account in the land tax assessments. When the owner of the reserved parcel failed to do so, a subsequent tax sale would convey the full interest, including the reservation, which would thereby be divested. This phenomenon is called a “title wash.”

As the Supreme Court noted in Herder Spring, this issue became worthy of dispute with the development of Marcellus Shale.

If you have a potential title wash back in your chain of title, you may want to study Herder Spring and the two Superior Court cases that follow it, linked above.

CLT

Category: fracking, Oil and Gas, Trends in the Law
Tags: exception and reservation in a deed > Herder Spring > Herder Springs > Marcellus Shale > oil and gas reservations > Title Wash

What is the Story Behind this Picture?

No. 1,548

A bear can run 40 miles per hour, you know. And where was the photographer standing?

Image: Atlas Obscura

Category: Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Family Feedback — What a Concept!

No. 1,547

I was over at the Family Division building (formerly the jail) today. I don’t go there much, so I never noticed the feedback machine on the way out. It may have been there for years or installed today. This one uses four emoji to ask you one question. Its brilliant. People get a chance to be heard and the court finds out whether the message is getting through. I gave it a top rating. The person I saw there was friendly, helpful and I think I understood everything she told me. No, she wasn’t an emoji judge as pictured here.

Wouldn’t you like to have one of these around the house? Well, maybe not.

Category: Courthouse Scenes, Family Law, Signs of the Times

Apple is Thinking Different Again. But Why Would I Want to Buy at a Glance?

No. 1,546

Impulse buying just got easier.

Applepay is very cool. Several years in, cashiers and people behind me in line are still acting astounded when I pay for groceries with my watch. But do I really, really want to get groceries with the new facial recognition capabilities in the newest iPhone?

Unlocking the phone with facial recognition wouldn’t be bad at all, though. It would be an extra level of security. If you are a lawyer, you can’t have too much security. Then again, people mistake me all the time for Judge Lutty. Could Judge Lutty unlock my phone? Or buy groceries with it? I doubt whether holding up my picture would do it. Apple would have thought of that long ago.

According to the post in 9 to 5 Mac, link below, a publication that is for true enthusiasts, Apple doesn’t care what Boomers and other oldsters think about the new technology. The folks who are running a series of youth-oriented TV commercials don’t care whether our brains are befuddled by their outrageous but riveting ads. You can look at them in the post below. I’ll bet you have already seen one or two of them and if you are a grown up, you just let it all blow by.

According to 9 to 5 Mac, Apple discounts what our old brains think because our brand preference are cast in concrete. If you are an older Android user, you’re not too likely to switch to Apple no matter what they broadcast on TV. The war is for the minds and brand loyalties of the young. Once they have you, its for life. Or so they think.

On one level its true.

At the moment, I wouldn’t switch to any non-Apple product if it were free. But we have seen the world turn upside down over and over in the past 50 or 60 years. I have books that are not too old that declared with certainty that Microsoft had won the final victory over Apple. Not so fast. We live in a world that may completely change and we won’t even know it for years.

Check with in a couple of months. Maybe I’ll be using facial recognition. Or maybe I’ll be using some technology that doesn’t exist today.

And by the way, don’t count on the law to save us from the future. As I’ve said before, we don’t know much about the future, except that it starts today.

Here’s the link to 9 to 5 Mac.

CLT

Category: Advertising, Amazing!

Landlord-Tenant: Is August 7 the Busiest Day of the Year?

Image: buzzfeed.com
Litigants have already started assembling for Landlord-Tenant day at Arbitration in Allegheny County.

No. 1,545

As of 9 AM this morning, there are 45 Landlord-Tenant cases scheduled to be heard tomorrow, August 7.

Arbitration takes a vacation in July and August, but 2 days are set aside in each month for Landlord-Tenant cases. Cases have been backing up and now we are going to have one very long day. I’ll be packing a lunch, no kidding.

The trial list takes a couple of months off, too. In an effort to keep the cases being appealed from Arbitration from filling up the September list, cases were assigned to judges to be scheduled and heard during the summer. That makes sense.

Perhaps the time has come to recognize that LT arbitration panels should meet a little more often in the summer.

CLT

Category: Landlord and Tenant law and litigation, Trends in the Law

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Welcome

CLIFF TUTTLE has been a Pennsylvania lawyer for over 45 years and (inter alia) is a real estate litigator and legal writer. The posts in this blog are intended to provide general information about legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus. However, this information does not constitute legal advice and there is no lawyer-client relationship created when you read this blog. You are encouraged to leave comments but be aware that posted comments can be read by others. If you wish to contact me in privacy, please use the Contact Form located immediately below this message. I will reply promptly and in strict confidence.

Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

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