Yearly Archives: 2017
Free Speech in Texas Depends on Where You Stand, Literally
Have you watched the recent town hall meetings? Congressmen and senators getting yelled at by either paid protestors or angry constituents. Is this democracy? Do you have a right to address your leaders? Must you be civil or can you exercise a little Civil Disobedience à la Thoreau? Do you, like me, have a… Read More »
Vetting Exceptions to the Texas Public Information Act is No Simple Task
The Texas Public Information Act, which governs public access to information held by governmental bodies in Texas, begins with the following policy statement: Under the fundamental philosophy of the American constitutional form of representative government that adheres to the principle that government is the servant and not the master of the people, it is… Read More »
How To Write An Investor-Friendly Real Estate Contract
If you’re a Texas real estate investor, you will have many occasions when you will have to use the TREC form that most realtors use exclusively. But if there are no brokers involved, or they don’t mind if you and your seller use a different contract form, you should offer to submit the contract form… Read More »
The Art of Boring Legal Writing
I recently read an article about artificial intelligence (AI) computers drafting legal documents, mostly boilerplate language in contracts, but the use of AI in the legal field is rapidly expanding with it being able to gather data and analyze verdict decisions, for example. Computers are reviewing and analyzing law, predicting outcomes, and performing drafting… Read More »
Will Writing: Have You Lived a Simple Little Life?
What would you do as a lawyer if your client, an astronaut, was in an accident while in space that prevented his return and he called you wanting a will? This was a real question asked on my exam in law school for my Will and Trust class back in the early 1980s. I… Read More »
Real Property Descriptions Marking Location, Location, Location
The interests one may own in real property vary considerably—for example, one may own an undivided fractional interest, a leasehold, a life estate, or fee simple, just to name a few—but one constant is that the property so owned must be described such that it can be identified with reasonable certainty, separate and apart… Read More »
How May a Home Rule City Annex Land?
Everything is bigger in Texas, they say, and sometimes cities grow in size by annexation. Such an expansion is governed by sets of procedures under state law as well as city charter for home rule cities. A home rule city may manage its own affairs and looks to state law to see what it… Read More »