I especially enjoyed the broad assortment of topics (including ethics, easements, water law, and the latest developments in foreclosures).
Kudos to the Real Property Section of the Virginia State Bar, the folks at Virginia CLE, Larry McElwain, and the other individuals involved in organizing the seminar.
Highlights of the weekend included:
- During his presentation about foreclosures, Ron Wiley facilitating an interesting discussion about who, in Virginia, does have the legal standing (and who should have the legal standing) to demand to see the originals of the promssory note and security intrument (and the assignments (and assignments, and assignments, and assignments) thereof).
- William Amhrein's historical overview of water law in Virginia, and the sometimes ambiguous overlap of statutes and case law in determining the extent of a riparian owner's rights to the water and the land beneath it.
- Gus Bauman's animated summary of Justice Scalia's concurring opinion in last year's Supreme Court decision in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida. Try as he might, Scalia couldn't get either Breyer or Kennedy to rise to the bait of his pointed critiques on the issue of judicial takings!
- At Friday night's scrumptious dinner: talking with Barbara Goshorn and learning about her work on the invaluable Virginia Forms books. I loved hearing Barbara talk about how she came to the project and how it has evolved through the years.
And it always feels good to be on the banks of the James River...
