PLBT Bounces to 210!

After lingering in the two-eighties for months, Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk has suddenly jumped to number 210 in the AVVO list of most read legal blogs. Hopefully, this was no fluke and we can hold the position. Thank you readers! Look out, Above the Law!

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Jury Duty: Whom Do You Trust?

An eminent Harvard Economics Professor of high reputation complained loudly in his blog that he was struck from a jury panel in a medical malpractice case. Greg Mankiw stated that he wanted to know why being an economist disqualifies him for jury service and whether this says something about jury selection that ought to be fixed.

Fair question. I asked the same question myself when struck from a panel on a DUI case.

There is no single answer of course. The attorney who struck him from the jury might have disliked his personality. Some people can come across as a know-it-all or worse.

But, chances are, he was struck for the same reason that the DA struck me from the DUI jury. He can’t trust either of us, with our special expertise, not to unduly influence the other jurors.

Just consider some of his recent blog posts: “Can Better Prevention Save Healthcare Costs?“; “International Healthcare Comparisons”; “CBO on the Healthcare Bill”; “Is Increasing Health Spending Optimal?”.

Would you want a health care economics expert on your medical malpractice jury? Not me. No matter what side I represent, not me.

So don’t be offended, Professor. Take it as a compliment.

CLT

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Check out “Anticipate This” In the Blogroll.

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Bench Bar Week.

The middle week of June. The courthouse corridors have been empty. It is the week of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Bench Bar Conference. This experience has been an annual event for a generation, always at Seven Springs. It is the time and place where lawyers get to do one of their favorite things from dawn to early in the morning — schmooze.

It is the time and place when old friends who haven’t seen each other for too long (except in an occasional elevator) reminisce and get misty-eyed. This is the venue where you find out that your judge in that case years ago, the one you thought never had a clue, actually did. And it is the forge whereupon the bonds are created, link by link, that make the members of the Allegheny County Bar so exceptional.

Too bad I was too busy to go. Maybe next year!

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Its Starting to Happen at Dwelling House (and at Fort Pitt, too)..

The Trib reports that Dwelling House has raised over $1 Million in deposits and is hoping to raise more tomorrow (Friday June 19) after a rally at Hill House. Also, read the article in the Pittsburgh Courier.

Meanwhile, the Heinz History Center is saving the Fort Pitt Museum from closure by taking over the management from the State, which literally cut this priceless resource out of the budget.

Thats the way to go, Pittsburgh!

Category: Uncategorized

Compassion on the Supreme Court.

Judge Sonya Sotomayor’s pronouncement, “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life” has, like it or not, become the defining theme of her candidacy for the United States Supreme Court.

When she first used the “wise Latina” expression, in a 1994 speech, she explained that a woman with such experiences would tend to towards greater compassion in her decisions.

Compassion is a positive characteristic in a judge. It makes sense that one who has been required to endure the indignities that must have accompanied breaking ground as a double-minority lawyer and judge would create strong sensitivity to similar injustice to others.

But where does compassion fit among the qualities we want to see in a Justice on the Supreme Court? A good argument can be made that on a Court of last resort, compassion should not be permitted to prevail over other important considerations.

A trial judge rarely sets precedent. He or she usually has the opportunity to do justice to the litigants at bar without causing unforeseen consequences to others. Not so an appellate judge. Every word and nuance set down in an appellate opinion has the potential to change the outcome of countless cases to come. This factor multiplies by some large exponent when the United States Supreme Court is involved. As numerous justices have noted in their opinions, there is often a conflict between a just result in a particular case and a just rule of law to be applied in all cases.

In such a case, compassion must yield to reason.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Dwelling House Savings Update

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review published an update on the story of the catastrophic loss experienced by Dwelling House Savings and Loan Association. The story broke on Sunday in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and PLBT posted a comment early on Monday morning.

The Trib article added new information that the electronic theft of Dwelling House funds had occurred through ACH (Automatic Clearing House) transaction(s) by “another financial institution” and that Dwelling House is reportedly in the process of getting the funds back. Nevertheless, there has been a dramatic loss of capital by Dwelling House in the past year and it is not clear from the article whether all of the capital loss from over $3 Million to negative $500,000 is due to ACH transfers. Thrifts and other depositary institutions are required by regulation to maintain a minimum level of capital on hand at all times in order to continue to operate. The Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) has ordered Dwelling House to raise two million dollars in capital by the end of the month.

PLBT suggested that Pittsburghers who recognize that Dwelling House is a non-replaceable resource for the Hill District (and thus, for Pittsburgh and the region) should consider opening a savings account or purchasing a CD at Dwelling House. The FDIC now insures deposits up to $250,000, so your funds will be safe, regardless of the outcome.

Without being too sentimental, there is an obvious parallel here to that classic film “Its a Wonderful Life.” Uncle Billy absentmindedly left the Bailey Building and Loan Association’s bank deposit on the counter at the bank. Evil banker Mr. Potter, who was on the board at Bailey, pocketed the money and called the bank regulators. But when the people of Bedford Falls heard that George Bailey was in trouble, they poured into his front parlor with cash contributions and saved the day.

Dwelling House is a community resource worth saving. It is up to Pittsburghers to do it.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

When Will You Become a Millionaire? Here’s Your Timetable.

The Motley Fool recently posted a table which shows how long it takes to become a millionaire with specified yearly savings, rate of return and timetables. This is, of course, assuming we don’t have another international economic meltdown during the next 30 or 40 years.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Top Ten Reasons Not to Stay Up to Watch Letterman or Anybody Else.

10. You should be sleeping — something that will do you some good.

9. All your waking hours you are learning whatever gets your attention. Instead of learning something worthwhile or useful, you are learning about vacuous celebrities like A-Rod or Madonna.

8. Most of the jokes are not funny.

7. Many of the jokes are mean-spirited. They bully the target over human weaknesses.

6. Listen to enough mean jokes and you may adopt the same point of view. You may bully others over their human weaknesses without even realizing it.

5. If you truly cannot sleep it is a great time to read a book or a blog.

4. Letterman is being paid a large amount of money to tell mean jokes and you’re not being paid anything to listen.

3. Letterman’s guests are usually there peddling their latest movie or something else for you to buy that you don’t need.

2. If you think about it, you probably know several people you haven’t talked to lately who are twice as funny as Letterman and not mean at all. Make a lunch date.

And the Number One Reason not to watch Letterman or any of his late night cohorts:

You’re better than that.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

What Will It Take to Save Dwelling House?

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported on June 14 that Dwelling House Savings, a Pittsburgh landmark that serves the Hill District, has been told to raise two million dollars in capital by the end of the month or face closure or a regulatory merger.

The intriguing thing about this story is that the situation is not due to loan losses, but to a third party exploiting a weakness of some kind in the on-line security of the bank and drawing off funds. In other words, Dwelling House was the victim of a 21st century hold up. Whether authorities have a line on who committed this techno-heist — it is not an inside job we are assured — they don’t say, as well they shouldn’t.

The PG story states that Dwelling House usually does have greater than normal loan losses. However, these are the result of Dwelling House performing its mission of lending in a community where risks are higher, not because of poor underwriting practices or gimmicky loan products. Because of its higher risk, Dwelling House has traditionally reserved larger amounts on its books to cover such losses and the practice worked well until now.

Isn’t it strange that this is going on at a time when improvident lenders around the country have been rescued by TARP funds, liberally doled out by Treasury to the very no-goodniks who brought the world to the brink of economic collapse. Billions flowed to mega-operations, some of whom appear to serve no one but themselves. Meanwhile, nothing is available for a community bank that has provided countless opportunities for home ownership in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Pittsburgh for a very long time.

What will it take to save Dwelling House? Two Million Dollars in new capital. Two Million is doable. The people in this town will probably buy $2,000,000 worth of Penguins merchandise by the end of the week. Why not put a little of that surplus cash in a savings account or a CD? And deposits at Dwelling House are insured by the FDIC, you know.

Who will replace Dwelling House if it is closed? Who will do its work? Who will serve its customers and community with home loans at competitive rates? If it comes to that, probably no one. And that would be a crime.

CLT

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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.

1410 Posts and Counting

Categories

PLBT Bounces to 210!

Jury Duty: Whom Do You Trust?

Check out “Anticipate This” In the Blogroll.

Bench Bar Week.

Its Starting to Happen at Dwelling House (and at Fort Pitt, too)..

Compassion on the Supreme Court.

Dwelling House Savings Update

When Will You Become a Millionaire? Here’s Your Timetable.

Top Ten Reasons Not to Stay Up to Watch Letterman or Anybody Else.

What Will It Take to Save Dwelling House?

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