Pittsburgh Legal Back Talk

Legal topics of interest to lawyers and consumers with a Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania focus.

1410 Posts and Counting

Scavenger Wars

If you have an old unpaid credit card, you should be aware that it is becoming a common practice for the lenders to bundle up delinquent accounts and sell them in bulk to investors. These accounts are typically sold for pennies on the dollar. The new owners of these accounts will then carpet bomb the debtors with phone calls, hoping to get lucky. There is a reason we call them scavengers.

Branding for Lawyers.

People ask lawyers all the time, “what kind of law do you practice?” My short answer: “I’m a real estate litigator.” Of course, that’s not all all I do, but its a pretty concise nugget and it gives the them something to think about. Sticky? Yes, but not as sticky as Generic Lawyer. Nobody forgot that one.

Born to Lose: Goldman Sachs’ Abacus 2007 – AC1 and its victims.

What would have happened if these victims had been given disclosures that the people who put together the terms of the transaction actually expected them to default? Armed with that explosive fact, how many subprime borrowers would have decided to pass on the offer? We’ll never know.

Another Encore Post on Roethlisberger, from March 10.

Be patient. Think of it as a spellbinding mystery story, a real page turner, still in the early chapters, at a time when most of the clues have not been revealed.

Encore Post: Here’s What I said About the Roethlisberger Case On March 7.

Recently, the story of an accusation of sexual assault at a nightclub in a Georgia college town hit the news before there was any substantive news to hit. The fact that one of the participants in the events of that evening was Ben Roethlisberger set off big time news coverage, despite the fact that no official accusation has been made by the police. No one has been arrested and no one has been charged.

Another Change at the Supreme Court

Stevens was not the longest serving member of the Court. That would be William O. Douglas, the “Liberal Lion” who authored a lion’s share of the most important opinions of the 20th Century. His tenure on the Court was almost 37 years. Stevens replaced Douglas in 1975 and that might have been on his mind when he first announced retirement. If Stevens didn’t retire soon, in a couple of years he would surpass Douglas in longevity on the Court. Is that what a man like John Paul Stevens would want to do? I don’t think that he would.

Deportation or Jail? The Padilla Case.

The allegation of ineffective assistance of counsel is a primary avenue to a new trial following guilty plea or a conviction. A waiver of trial by pleading guilty must be knowing and courts frequently make queries on the record to establish that a guilty plea was given with full knowledge. Advice as to collateral matters, such as deportation, has not ordinarily been considered by courts in determining effective assistance. But now it must.

Scrabble on the iPad

As an avid Scrabbler, I can’t wait to try it on the iPad.

Picture this: the iPad is the board — the full board. Using a special iPhone app, you draw and shuffle your letters on your iPhone. Then you flick your word onto the board.

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.

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