Residential

Expert Analysis

• How To Deal With Difficult Clients, Practically And Ethically

  

  Meredith Stoma at Lewis Brisbois discusses common obstacles for counsel working with difficult clients and provides guidance on ethically managing or terminating these challenging relationships — as, for example, counsel for Ye have recently done.

• A Game Changer For Mortgage Foreclosure Cases In NY

  

  A New York appeals court's recent ruling in Federal National Mortgage Association v. Jeanty establishes that a borrower's partial payment on a mortgage in foreclosure resets the clock on the statute of limitations to foreclose, meaning loans previously considered time-barred may now be recoverable, say Adam Swanson and Jessie Bonaros at McCarter & English.

• Federal Courts Should Adopt Supreme Court's Amicus Stance

  

  The federal courts of appeals should adopt the U.S. Supreme Court's new approach to amicus curiae briefs, which allows the friend-of-the-court submissions to be filed without consent from the court or the parties, says Lawrence Ebner at Atlantic Legal Foundation.

• Mortgage Lenders Must Prioritize Anti-Bias Compliance

  

  The Biden administration has recently accelerated its anti-discrimination campaign against financial institutions that provide insufficient mortgage credit in minority communities, but legal exposure can be reduced via strong compliance programs that originate in the C-suite and permeate throughout the company, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

• 3 Pricing Trends In Law Firm Use Of Litigation Funding

  

  As BigLaw firms increasingly include litigation funding as a financing option for clients, internal pricing groups are taking the lead on standardizing and centralizing firm processes, and aggregating risk budgets, says Brendan Dyer at Woodsford Group.

• Safeguarding Attorneys' Greatest Asset: Our Mental Health

  

  Attorneys who understand that mental fitness is their most valuable characteristic should prioritize mental health care accordingly, including with certain activities they may not realize qualify as self-care, says Wendy Robbins at Holland & Knight.

• NYC's New Law Is A Game Changer For Short-Term Rentals

  

  On Jan. 9, strict new regulations controlling New York City's short-term rental industry will take effect, likely giving landlords the upper hand in addressing what has been one of the city's least-regulated industries, say Adam Lindenbaum and Collin Chipetine at Rosenberg & Estis.

• Fla. Insurance Suit Trends To Look Out For After Hurricane Ian

  

  There will likely be tens of thousands of property insurance lawsuits filed in the wake of Hurricane Ian, and carriers and insureds will need to view claims through Florida's Valued Policy Law, the concurrent cause doctrine and anti-concurrent cause provisions, say David Levin and Spencer Leach at Baker Donelson.

• Law Schools Are Right To Steer Clear Of US News Rankings

  

  By opting out of participating in the U.S. News & World Report annual rankings, law schools abandon a profoundly flawed system and free up their resources to adapt to the tsunami of changes overtaking the profession, says Nicholas Allard at Jacksonville University College of Law.

• How CRE Buyers' Counsel Should Help Negotiate Sales

  

  With commercial real estate deals becoming increasingly difficult for buyers in the current economy, it is crucial for buyers' counsel to understand how to push for specific representations and warranties in purchase and sale agreements without jeopardizing the deal, says Etan Moskovic at Cassin & Cassin.

• Litigation Funders Seek Transparency In Disclosure Debate

  

  Litigation funders want to correct the record on calls for funding disclosure in the name of transparency, as this purported justification obscures the disclosure's adverse effects — prejudicing plaintiffs' cases and discouraging the assertion of meritorious legal claims, say Dai Wai Chin Feman and William Weisman at Parabellum Capital.

• 5 Principles For Better Professional Development Programs

  

  The pandemic and ensuing "great resignation" have resulted in a more transient legal work force, but law firms can use effective professional development programs to bridge a cultural gap with new associates and stem associate attrition, says Matthew Woods at Robins Kaplan.

• My Favorite Law Prof: How I Learned To Practice With Passion

  

  First Circuit Judge Gustavo Gelpí recalls how Suffolk University Law School's Joseph Glannon taught the importance of the law as both a tool and a profession, and that those who wish to practice law successfully must do so with love, enthusiasm and passion.