Law Blog

I recently spoke with a friend who lives in Texas. The catastrophic snow storm left his family without power or running water for several days. Oddly, he did not complain about how miserable his situation was. Instead, he told me all of the new and fun things he was doing with his kids to make the most out of his situation. He was so filled with gratitude that it m...

Many people exist on the surface. By this I mean they know a little about a lot, but not the opposite. This can create a short conversation, but no chance to really learn more on a subject. The more knowledge you have on a subject, the better chance for you to be viewed as an expert and someone people look to. Whatever you do for a living, people are looking for yo...

I heard someone being interviewed and they mentioned a goal to destroy apathy. Given that apathy is the lack of motivation, this makes sense. It can seem pervasive at times with your children, younger employees and others. You know you have felt it too. I heard this statement and thought “that’s right, we need to destroy apathy” and show people the steps to s...

Most anybody who works in real estate knows what a mortgage is.  Simply stated, a mortgage is a lien against property given by the property owner to a lender to secure the repayment of a loan made by the lender to the property owner.  Clearly, such a loan transaction is far different from a sales transaction, whereby the property owner, as the seller, conveys the...

Owning a piece of land without any means of accessing it is akin to owning a car without the keys.  While the absence of access to land, like the absence of keys to a car, does not have any impact on the fact of ownership, it obviously has a huge impact on the value of what is owned.  With that in mind, let’s consider the several ways that a landowner may have ...

Comfort is a killer of creativity and improvement. When you’re comfortable, there is a feeling you can coast, doing the same old, same old, and it causes many people to stagnate personally or professionally. That doesn’t mean they won’t be happy or maintain their position and role, but they will be stuck under a false glass ceiling they created. When you come...

Lisa M. Paine is a featured speaker at the Maricopa County Bar Association Seminar: EPPT Fundamentals II: Basic Estate Planning What: This on-line seminar will include an overview of estate planning including wills, trusts, living wills and powers of attorneys. It covers Arizona law, community property, trust funding and family considerations. Where: Live virt...

I have previously written about the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on force majeure provisions in a commercial contract. A force majeure clause may excuse a party from performing its contract because of an unforeseen disaster. Whether it does depends on what the clause says and the particular facts and circumstances of each case. See “Does Your Con...

It’s Friday. I like to post new blog posts in the middle of the week when readers are likely ready for a short break from the work in front of them. We all are too focused and busy on Mondays, and by Friday, we are trying to get things done before people shut down for the weekend. I missed that window this week. I could list the reasons this happened, but, if I�...

The Trademark Modernization Act of 2020 (the “TMA”) was buried in the enormous COVID relief and stimulus bill (i.e., the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2021), signed into law on December 27, 2020. The TMA amends federal trademark law in several significant ways of which trademark owners should take note. Rebuttable Presumption of Irreparable Harm. One ...