No. 700: We Haven’t Forgotten.

No. 700

Martin Luther King Memorial, Washington

The Martin Luther King Memorial was to be dedicated this past Sunday, the 48th Anniversary of the “I Have a Dream” speech. The hurricane forced a postponement of the dedication ceremony . The new date has not yet been announced. It will not be Sunday, September 11, 2011.

This Sunday will see the dedication of new memorials at Ground Zero and Shanksville. There will also be other 9/11 memorials dedicated in many places around the country.

September 11 Memorial, Shanksville

September 11 Memorial, Ground Zero

Category: The continuing American Revolution

One More Weather Map.

No. 699

What is wrong with this picture?

Category: Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Pitt Law and Age Discrimination.

No. 698

A part-time law professor, who had once been a full-time faculty member at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, has filed an age discrimination suit . William Brown began to teach at Pitt Law in 1968. However, he had left the law school for another opportunity in 2000. Several years ago, he returned to teach part-time. However his contract was not renewed in 2010. The former faculty member claims that he had been lured back to the law school with a promise of tenure, but that a much younger faculty member had been hired instead.

William Brown, 73, stated in his U S District Court complaint that he has been passed over for a woman in her thirties because the law school administration was concerned that the average age of the faculty was too old.

There is no maximum age limit to protection under ADEA. As a matter of fact, experience is usually a valuable asset in a teacher, especially when it may take decades to acquire the knowledge and expertise needed to be at the top of the profession.

On the other hand, the other candidate may well turn out to have exceptional qualifications. Similar suits have been filed against othe law schools.

CLT

Category: Civil Litigation, News Commentary
Tags: law professor

Committing Check Fraud? There’s an App for That!

No. 697

Fidelity National Title Insurance Company issued a Bulletin to its Agents warning about a new way to commit check fraud. At a recent closing in Florida, a seller walked out of the closing room with a large proceeds check. A minute later, he returned and requested a wire instead. The title agent took back the check, marked it “Void” and initiated a wire. Later, after the wire had cleared, the title agent learned that the check had cleared, too. How could that have happened? After all, the agent still had the check and it was marked void. Right?

Not quite. It took less than a minute for the seller to deposit the check. Yup, you guessed it! There’s an app for that.

Remember the last time you went to Walmart and the cashier handed you back your check? There were no marks on it — no way to tell that anything had happened. Well, you can get a cell phone application that will deposit a check by the user taking a photograph and emailing it to the bank. With a little practice, a con man could probably to do it in front of your face — provided. of course, you don’t know what you are looking at.

A variation might be for a party to bring back the check, asking for it to be made out to a different payee.

And, of course, there is always an opportunity for embezzlement here, too. An employee can fill in a blank check from the back of the checkbook, photograph it, deposit it and destroy it.

One way to protect yourself is to control the amount of cash in an account at any time. If the wire or the check (whichever was presented second) was for a large amount and the account did not have enough in it to clear them both, then the second to be presented will be returned.

CLT

Category: Consumer Protection, Criminal Law, Legal Technology
Tags: check fraud

No, This is Not the Weather Channel Blog.

No. 696

Looking over the list of recent posts, I noticed that there have been a few about the weather. Actually, I probably wrote more about the weather in July and August than I have during the entire three years and almost 700 posts on this blog. I have also written a fair number of posts about history and news events, none of which strictly qualifies as law.

What I am trying to do here is to have an interesting conversation. While I’m not a weather freak, certain events have been happening lately that have grabbed everybody’s attention. If I think I have something interesting to say, I’ll say it. Now back to your regular programming.

CLT

Category: Blawging

Good Night, Irene, Good Night, Irene, I’ll See You in my Dreams.

No. 695

Sometimes I live in the country,

Sometimes I live in the town,

Sometimes I take a great notion,

To jump into the ocean and drown.

I remember Hurricane Hazel in 1954. We rode it out at my Grandfather’s house near the Chesapeake in Virginia. It was cool eating food cooked over fondue candles and walking around the dark house with an oil lamp. It seemed that the rain would never stop, but when it did, the weather was clear and beautiful without a trace of humidity. Trees and electric poles had to be removed from country roads before we could go anywhere or turn on the lights. What an adventure!

CLT

Category: News Commentary
Tags: Irene

Did you feel the earthquake?

No. 694

That’s what everybody is asking today.

It appears that you had a better chance of feeling the tremor if you were sitting. In Pittsburgh, it felt as though a ghost shook your chair for a couple of seconds. And that was it.

This is the second quake I have felt in these parts. A number of years ago, I was sitting in a courtroom in the Beaver County Court House when it felt like the boiler was acting up. I happened to be leaning against a railing that shook rather decidedly. Court was adjourned almost immediately (it was time for lunch anyway) and I was impressed that everyone was leaving the building in an orderly but rapid manner. We didn’t know that there had been an earthquake until we turned on the radio while driving home. On that occasion, no one in Pittsburgh seemed to have felt the tremors, which came from Canada.

So, I hear that nobody was hurt this time and damage was minimal. Nevertheless, it is good to reflect on the power of nature and our good luck in staying out of its way when on a rampage.

CLT

Category: News Commentary, Pittsburgh
Tags: earthquake

Just in Case You Think You Are In Charge . . .

No. 963

. . . the past few days have seen a flash flood on Washington Boulevard with four dead, another rock slide on Route 28 that deposited a giant boulder on the hood of a car, an earthquake that was felt here (slightly) and a potential big time hurricane pointed in this direction.

Its not a bad time for a little prayer.

CLT

Category: News Commentary
Tags: earthquake > hurricane > lash flood > rock slide

Wettick Suggests Possible Two Step Introduction of 2012 Reassessment.

No. 692

Judge Stanton Wettick, who is supervising the implementation of the 2012 reassessment that he has ordered, asked the County assessors to report on what would be the outcome if the reassessment effort were concentrated on the City of Pittsburgh and Mt. Oliver (which is part of the City School District) first.

The assessors reported at Wettick’s status meeting a month ago that the preliminary numbers would not be ready until January and that it would take two months to hold informal hearings. Wettick is apparently contemplating putting the City properties through first, since the City and its School District generally send out bills in January.

Wettick asked the County Assessor to report on the outcome if such a plan were adopted. He has also asked the City School District and another school district to provide a financial person and a lawyer to paper at the next meeting on September 7 to report on how their district’s budget planning would be affected.

There was some discussion that school districts that may see a reduction in assessed values, such as Duquesne or Wilkinsburg, would need to know the outcome of their assessments at an early date.

The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reported that the original deadline for preliminary values was last month, but it has been pushed forward in stages to early next year.

The County assessor stated that hiring of both full time and part time employees, plus contract labor, has pushed the process forward. The residential assessments are 98% complete, while the commercials still have a greater amount of work to be done.

Category: Property Assessments, Real Estate
Tags: 2012 reassessment > City of Pittsburgh > Judge Stanton Wettick

Facing Up to the Reality of Social Media.

No. 691

What ethical issues are there for lawyers who do or don’t invade adversary’s Facebook pages looking for evidence? I have heard various pronouncements that it may be malpractice for a lawyer to fail to investigate the opponent’s Facebook Page. But what about the subterfuge that might be required to gain access? I am assuming that the adversary would not admit you as a friend if she knew exactly who you are. So, is it ethical to disguise your identity or to engage a spy to friend your enemy?

Yet, some people do let their legal adversaries through the electronic door. And that door swings both ways. Tell your client to shut down the page for the balance of the litigation. Even then, with the techniques available in recovering metadata during electronic discovery, it may be too late. Expect interrogatories that will probe the existence of websites, present and past. And consider requesting the information from the other side. Its a new world, baby.

Personally, I have no interest in setting up a Facebook page, ever. There are only so many hours in a day.

CLT

Category: Civil Litigation, Criminal Law, Evidence, Family Law, Legal Technology

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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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