Legal White Papers

On September 19, 2008, Congress enacted Federal Rule of Evidence 502, which was intended to resolve issues regarding waiver of the attorney-client privilege and work-product doctrine when disclosure is inadvertent and/or involuntary, and, to some extent, address the scope of required disclosure when made voluntarily. The Rule was also intended to reduce the costs of reviewing documents before production to protect against disclosure and waiver. See Fed. R. Evid. 502, Advisory Committee's Note; see also Adam K. Israel , “To Scrub or Not to Scrub: The Ethical Implications of Metadata and Electronic Data Creation, Exchange, and Discovery,” 60 Ala L. Rev. 469, 480-81 (2009). The concern regarding cost is heightened in cases involving electronic discovery which can be massive. See, e.g., Hopson v. City of Baltimore, 232 F.R.D. 228, 244 (D. Md. 2005) (electronic discovery may encompass "millions of documents" and to insist upon "record-by-record pre-production privilege review, on pain of subject matter waiver, would impose upon parties costs of production that bear no proportionality to what is at stake in the litigation"). Rule 502 states that it applies to all cases filed after September 19, 2008, and, "insofar as is just and practicable," to all actions pending on that date.

This paper will discuss the purposes of professionally produced video, the various video formats and their appropriate uses, an overview of the applicable law and considerations when retaining a videographer.

Land titles are for the most part the creature of state laws: Public land records administration, purchase agreements and conveyances, and civil litigation concerning their enforcement are governed by the statutes of the state in which the land is located. In contrast to the insular historical context of property laws, American society is
increasingly mobile, with individuals and institutional investors  domiciled in one jurisdiction acquiring, financing and contesting real property in another. Under circumstances where the laws of two or more states affect, directly or indirectly, ownership and conveyance of real estate, the law of the state where the land is located
and the state of the owner‟s domicile, which laws govern matters relating to the title of the land? In addition, certain lands are governed by Congressional Act, Executive Order, Indian tribal law, treaty, or a combination thereof, and as a result, the title to these lands require an analysis of the kind not readily available to the parties.

A program about using the Internet for title insurance applications could easily be a full day affair. The resources available are limited only by our imaginations. It is beyond the scope of these materials to teach basic use of the Internet. Help in that regard can be found in any number of instruction books on Internet use. What we will focus on in these materials are the types of resources which I have found useful in my function as a real estate professional. I will also list a number of web sites for your reference.

The attorney-client privilege is a testimonial privilege growing out of the law of evidence. It appears to be the oldest of the evidentiary privileges, going back at least to the 17th century and probably before. The purpose of the privilege is to protect confidential communications between an attorney and his client, by preventing the attorney from being required to testify against the client and thereby divulging matters told to the attorney by the client in confidence. The policy underlying the privilege is the desirability of encouraging frank, free and open communications between lawyers and clients. It is thought that an attorney can only give sound legal advice to a client if the attorney has full knowledge of the facts involving the client's matter, and that the client will divulge the full facts concerning his situation only if the client can be assured that those facts will be held by the attorney in confidence and that the attorney cannot be forced to disclose those facts in a subsequent proceeding.

Fair Debt Collection Practices Act

The Florida Enforcement of Foreign Judgments Ace follow the Uniform Enoforcement of Foreign Judgements Act. It was adopted in 1985. This is distinguished from the Uniform Out-of-Country Foreign Money Judgment Recognition Act, which involves foreign nation judgments.

In jury selection it is critically important to focus on who and what type of witness the legal professional plans on putting in front of the jury. Often times the choice between professional and layperson during a jury selection is essential to winning the case.

When using an expert witness...
Start preparing the jury in jury selection for this fact. Legal professionals don't want to surprise the jury by calling expert witnesses without their knowledge. Often, jurors can be leery of expert witnesses. They may feel that they are being fooled somehow by someone who knows much more on a topic than they do. Jurors expect to hear from people that have a direct involvement in the case before them. If unprepared for expert testimony, jurors can assume that you don't have any 'real' witnesses and are trying to bamboozle them with professional witnesses.

When using a lay witness...
Who you are calling as factual witnesses plays a critical role in how you pick a jury. Sometimes, you may spend a disproportionate amount of time in jury selection dealing with this sole issue. For instance, if you have a child witness playing a large factual role, you need to make sure you have jurors who will both pay attention and listen to a child. Again, use your juror biographical sheets as an investigative tool. Does a juror have her own kids or teach at a school? Is the juror young and likely inexperienced with young kids? Who has grandchildren?