The view from my chair in Butler Library on Monday, July 28, a day before the New York bar exam.
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Month: July 2014
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Even lawyers need copy editors
I’m walking through Central Park and all I can think about is that if one of those branches falls and hurts someone that person will have one year and 90 days to sue the city, according to the statute of limitations.
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About those media rights…
In New York, a lawyer cannot enter into, or even negotiate, any arrangement or understanding with a client or prospective client by which the lawyer acquires any interest in literary or media rights with respect to the subject matter of the representation or proposed representation, or transfers or assigns any such interest, according to the state’s rules for attorneys.
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Study aid
A path through the North Woods of Central Park, where I head to defrag my brain and lift my spirits.
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New York bar exam hopefuls…
Students head to a simulated exam, at the Javits Center, July 7, 2014.
Reviewed my notes Sunday evening at the Hudson River, as the sun set over New Jersey.
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From my notebook…
Questions/notes jotted during a morning walk through Central Park’s North Meadow, July 5, 2014:
1. Will a good-faith, unilateral mistake undo a contract?
2. Does a non-breaching buyer have a duty to cover under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code?
3. Review elements of strict liability for defective products…
4. Review contributory negligence…
5. Review intent requirement for trespass to land…
6. Review vicarious liability for automobile owner/driver…
7. Must a merchant’s firm offer be in writing?
8. What does a disclaimer look like when one disclaims the warranty of title?
Answers: 1) generally no; 2) no, though the buyer may cover; 7) yes; 8) e.g., a sheriff’s sale
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Happy Birthday America!
It’s about 9:00 p.m. on July 4. New York City’s annual fireworks display is slated to start in about 30 minutes. Here in Harlem, the sounds of bottle rockets began about 30 minutes ago.
I’m at my desk, trying to memorize the Rule in Shelley’s Case, which, funny enough, is a doctrine that we Americans inherited, like much of our law, from England. The rule, which has been abolished in most states, prevents a landowner from creating a so-called remainder in his heirs. (One who is alive, by definition, has no heirs.)
The rule seems to have originated as an estate-planning tool. It allowed landowners to convey land to their children through property law instead of by inheritance, thereby circumventing taxes owed to the British monarchy.
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If you will it…
The test for a duly executed will in New York:
1. The testator (a person who dies with a will) must be at least 18 years old.
2. The testator must sign the will either herself or by a proxy who signs in her presence.
3. The signature must be at the end of the will.
4. The testator must sign (or acknowledge her earlier signature) in the presence of two witnesses.
5. The testator must publish the will. That means the testator must communicate to the witnesses that they are witnessing a will and not some other legal document.
6. The attesting witnesses must sign.
7. The execution ceremony must be completed in 30 days from the date the first witness signs.