An Old Idea is New Again: Borrow from a Community Bank or Credit Union!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Spring is in the air, interest rates are becoming more attractive every day and a young man or woman’s fancy turns to thoughts of refinancing that mortgage. Good idea. And here is another good idea to go with it.

When you pay off that Countrywide/Wells Fargo/Bank of America — you name it — mortgage loan, the one that was re-sold immediately on Wall Street, don’t go back to the same old place. This time, go to a Community Bank or Credit Union, preferably one that keeps its own residential loans in portfolio.

They still exist, you know. You don’t have to look very far. You probably pass a half dozen branches of Community Banks or Credit Unions on your way to work. None of them are getting bail-out money from the government. And if you check their financial statements, you will almost certainly find that they don’t need it. Community Banks and Credit Unions are, as a group, safe and sound. For the most part, they had nothing to do with the conditions that created the meltdown of ’08. But they probably have a great deal to do with bringing about economic development and home ownership in the town where you live. So why not do business there? Why not indeed!

Nothing is inherently wrong with big banks. There are even several with deep roots in Pittsburgh that are in excellent financial condition. They perform vital roles in arenas that smaller financial institutions cannot. We need them, but we need Community Banks and Credit Unions just as much. Do business with a Community Bank or Credit Union and you’ll be doing a favor for yourself, your family and the whole neighborhood.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

High Official Immunity has a Long History in Pensylvania.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Dismissal of a suit in federal court against former Washington County District Attorney John Pettit serves as a reminder that you can’t sue City Hall, not for tort damages at least, not in Pennsylvania, when a high public official is acting within the scope of his employment.

In a case involving a suit against a prosecutor, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, in Durham v. McFlynn, 772 A.2d 68 (2001), summed up the gist of the law on the subject as follows:

“It has long been held that high public officials are immune from suits seeking damages for actions taken or statements made in the course of their official duties. This common law doctrine existed before the enactment of the Political Subdivision Tort Claim Act . ..”

Sometimes a case will turn on whether the public official in question is “high” enough. District attorneys, who make policy, are clearly high public officials. But what about the assistant district attorney? In Durham the Supreme Court held that ADA’s were essential to the DA in doing his job. The immunity was not for the purpose of protecting the official, but benefitting the public. It would serve no public purpose if the DA were immune from suit while the ADA who handled the case was required to defend.

Other cases may turn on the question whether the official was acting within the scope of her authority. See Testa v. City of Philadelphia.

A member of the State Legislature, while making a speech on the floor of that body, is privileged to slander anyone.

When a public official is deemed not to be a high public official, qualified immunity may still be available. The United States Supreme Court recently decided an important qualified immunity case (mentioned last Fall in PLBT before oral argument), creating a significant change in the law. But that is a subject that deserves a whole new post. Maybe more. Stay tuned.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Allegheny County Court Filing Fee Increases: More than Might Meet The Eye.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Fees increased in the Allegheny Department of Court Records and Department of Real Estate on February 2, 2009. As a public service, Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk hereby publishes the fee change notices for the Department of Real Estate ( its still “Recorder of Deeds” everywhere outside Allegheny County). Last week, it cost $45.00 to record a deed with 4 pages and no extra names. Take $65.00 with you next time.

Across Ross Street, the same situation holds in the Department of Court Records. But the increases, at least this time, are not quite so steep. The Civil/Family Division will only charge $114.50 to file a Complaint. This is just six dollars more than the $108.50 it cost in January.

In 1973, when I filed my first Complaint at the Prothonotary (they called it Prothonotary until 2008) I paid $15.50. I distinctly remember that the impecunious I could afford to advance that trifling cost, and the sheriff’s service fee, too. Now, 36 years later, it costs almost ten times more. For a comparison, this is just about double the increase in the price of residential real estate during the same period. Last summer, Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk reported that a fifty thousand dollar sales price in 1973 translates into $217,837.00 in 2008. Filing fees rose twice that. Too bad you can’t invest in court filing fees futures.

However, a word of caution: most of the Department of Court Records hasn’t increased the fees on its posted fee schedule yet. Be sure to click on the pdf file above the fee schedule to get the correct fee. Better yet, bring an extra check to the counter.

Same story with Criminal Division. Use the numbers in the pdf, not the chart.

However, Orphans Court and Estate Administration filing fee changes have been incorporated into the posted fee schedule.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Criminal Law: Ashley Anger is on the Loose!

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Just like in the Wild West, the Allegheny County Sheriff has a rogues gallery of “Most Wanted”.

Among this bunch of dangerous dudes did you notice one “Ashley Anger”? Did you notice the charges that earned her a place on the “Most Wanted”?

That’s right! She gave the law a false ID.

And what phony name did she give them? Ashley Anger, or so it appears. And judging from the fact that she made the “Most Wanted” on very light credentials, she is not the only one who is angry.

Meaning no disrespect to law enforcement, we just can’t hold it in: “Go Girl!”

Category: Uncategorized

Bizz Bam Buzz: If you are an entrepreneur or wish you were, you may want to check it out.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Bizz Bam Buzz has been added to the Blogroll of Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk [ look right, scroll down].

If you are from Pittsburgh, you probably can’t get get enough Steeler appreciation stories. So you can start off reading Bizz Bam Buzz’s version.

Entrepreneurship is all about imagination. Sewickley Pennsylvania Lawyer Anthony Ceriminaro exudes both. In this blog, he is part business coach, part house counsel and part gadfly. Nevertheless, if you are the type of person who dislikes surprises, disdains the unusual and considers entertainment a waste of time, this blog is not for you. You should be reading the dense, serious and tedious stuff put out by large law firms (a.k.a. Big Law in the Blawgs) and their wanabees on their websites. Uptight, Bizz Bam Buzz is not.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Rumpole’s Advice for the Ages: “Never Plead Guilty!”

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

“I, Horace Rumpole, barrister at law, 68 next birthday, Old Bailey Hack, husband to Mrs. Hilda Rumpole (known to me only as She Who Must Be Obeyed) and father to Nicholas Rumpole (lecturer in social studies at the University of Baltimore, I have always been extremely proud of Nick); I, who have a mind full of old murders, legal anecdotes and memorable fragments of the Oxford Book of English Verse (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch’s edition) together with a dependable knowledge of bloodstains, blood groups, finger prints, and forgery by typewriter; I, who am now the oldest member of my Chambers, take up my pen at this advanced age during a lull in business (there’s not much crime about, all the best villains seem to be off on holiday in the Costa Brava), in order to write my reconstructions of some of my recent triumphs (including a number of recent disasters) in the Courts of Law, hoping thereby to turn a bob or two which won’t be immediately grabbed by the taxman, or my clerk Henry, or by She Who Must Be Obeyed, and perhaps give some sort of entertainment to those who, like myself, have found in British justice a life-long subject of harmless fun.”

With those words, Horace Rumpole, elderly junior barrister, one of the most vividly portrayed characters in English literature, commenced his fictional memoirs. It is a fascinating story, told episodically in collections of short stories and novels appearing in print and on television from the mid-seventies until 2007. The recent passing of Mr. Rumpole’s creator, Sir John Mortimer, only signified that the story was fully and finally told. For the great Rumpole will never die.

If you need to be persuaded of this great barrister’s singular stature, observe the performance of Leo McKern as Rumpole addressing the jury in the last of some 44 episodes broadcast by the BBC and brought to America on public television.

True, in his fictional time and place, poor Rumpole was little appreciated, except by members of the Timson family, a large and industrious clan of petty criminals who, for all their human shortcomings, recognized effective courtroom advocacy. Most of the barristers at the Bailey, with the exception of a few of Rumpole’s prodigies, demonstrated an astounding absence of energy and devotion to their clients’ cause. This is a arresting idea to ponder, if you happen to be a client. When the trial is about to begin, how do you find out whether you have the dogged and resourceful Horace Rumpole or the hapless and unimaginative Claude Erskine Brown on your brief? There are several ways to obtain the answer to this vital question. The Timsons were informed by the best method, experience.

Rumpole’s career, however, was not an unbroken series of courtroom triumphs. He received quite a few judicial lumps, resulting in quite a few trips for his clients from Old Bailey to Brixton Prison. The criminal court bench, those cold-blooded old darlings, were usually inclined to view Rumpole’s best defense efforts as an obstruction of justice. But judges, for all their power, do not always have the last word. The genius of the English system of justice is the jury. Rumpole is the master of addressing the jury.

The creator is gone, but the creation remains. Over and over, Rumpole will tell his story to another generation of readers and demonstrate the art of addressing the jury to a new gallery of viewers. He will continue to teach, to inspire, to advise present and future barristers. And he will always say to them (well almost always): Never Plead Guilty!

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Links to the Past, and Last Week

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

While browsing the web, I discovered a few article I wrote years ago popping up. Among them was a pretty interesting 1990 article on sexual harassment in Management Review, the magazine of the American Management Association. Click here.

Here’s one that the Beadling Soccer Club reprinted from the Mt. Lebanon Magazine. And another that the MLM ran about Italian class: qui.

Earlier this month a writer for City Paper called and asked a few questions about the City of Pittsburgh Ordinance regarding mandatory reporting of missing guns. Here’s what he wrote.

Category: Uncategorized

Interesting Links

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Technology savvy thieves can clean you out very quickly. Click here.

Pittsburgh-based K&L Gates is growing and posting gains for 2008. But how much is due to frugality in bathroom supplies? Click here.

“The parties are advised to chill” and other interesting judicial utterances. Click here.

Are rip-off team fight songs copyright infringement? Probably, but who is suing? Here’s one Steeler fans might like from You Tube, courtesy of Pitt Law Professor, Mike Madison.

As everybody around this town says at the end of everything we say and write: “Go Steelers!”

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Back Talk Requested: Guantanamo — Rhymes with Geronimo.

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

Once again, I listened to the afternoon talk shows while driving to the court house. The topic of the day: closing the military prison at Guantanamo Bay.

Perhaps you’ve forgotten, but this facility was erected on an old naval base that the United States acquired in 1903, in the aftermath of the liberation of Cuba in the Spanish American War. As I understand it, the primary purpose for imprisoning the enemy combatants in a location outside the United States was to postpone trials indefinitely. The problem was and is that prosecuting suspected terrorists involves disclosing classified information, at least to the suspect and his attorney, and possibly to the world. But that justification for an offshore prison has been stripped away, primarily by decisions of the United States Supreme Court.

Nevertheless, it seems that a lot of Western Pennsylvanians are afraid of having these prisoners housed anywhere on the same continent. The fear was expressed that any such prison would be a target for terrorists. I didn’t listen long enough to hear whether the concern extended to jail breaks.

So, why not (as Conressman Murtha suggests) support the local economy by inviting a few long term guests to inhabit our region? If one of them did escape, it is pretty likely he would head for the border — not stick around to commit acts of terrorism. So, if you don’t live in Mexico or Canada, what’s the big deal? Back Talk Requested.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

Check out Gadgeteer on the Blogroll

Posted by Cliff Tuttle

No, Gadgeteer has nothing to do with Pittsburgh or Legal. But it is a great site worth visiting. The well-written and profusely illustrated reviews will put you on to gadgetry you would never know existed and steer you away from buying some products that are not quite ready for market. Especially useful: accessories for popular products like ipod, blackberry. Links to prior reviews of related items are also helpful. Some of the gadgets, by the way, are rather low tech. You will be plesantly surprised by some of the stuff that turns up on this unique site.

Gadgeteer will be on our blogroll permanently, but you can also visit by clicking here.

CLT

Category: Uncategorized

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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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An Old Idea is New Again: Borrow from a Community Bank or Credit Union!

High Official Immunity has a Long History in Pensylvania.

Allegheny County Court Filing Fee Increases: More than Might Meet The Eye.

Criminal Law: Ashley Anger is on the Loose!

Bizz Bam Buzz: If you are an entrepreneur or wish you were, you may want to check it out.

Rumpole’s Advice for the Ages: “Never Plead Guilty!”

Links to the Past, and Last Week

Interesting Links

Back Talk Requested: Guantanamo — Rhymes with Geronimo.

Check out Gadgeteer on the Blogroll

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