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Author Archives: Christopher P. Finney

Ohio real estate law: Treble damages available for “recklessly” damaging another’s trees or other vegetation

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

A powerful statute exists in Ohio for damage to trees and vegetation on the property of another.

Indeed, while one commonly would think that such a litigation tool would only be available to those injuring trees, the statute broadly covers damage to a “vine, bush, shrub, sapling, tree, or crop.”

Revised Code Section 901.51 provides, very simply:

No person, without privilege to do so, shall recklessly cut down, destroy, girdle, or otherwise injure a vine, bush, shrub, sapling, tree, or crop standing or growing on the land of another or upon public land.

In addition to the penalty provided in section 901.99 of the Revised Code, whoever violates this section is liable in treble damages for the injury caused.

Thus, any “reckless” damage to another’s vegetation of virtually any type or size can result in damages three times the value of the property damaged.

The referenced Revised Code Section 901.99 then also places criminal penalties for so damaging the vegetation on the property of another, making it a a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

 

Appellate advocacy: Some wisdom from a former U.S. Solicitor General

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Robert H. Jackson, the only man to serve in all three roles as U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Solicitor General, and U.S. Supreme Court Justice

The Solicitor General of the United States is the attorney for the government who presents briefs and oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court.  The person who holds this position, thus, makes more frequent — and more important — appellate arguments than just about anyone.

Often, the U.S. Solicitor General is later appointed to the United States Supreme Court, the earlier job being both a proving ground for that important position, and a place from which the holder can become known to the President of the United States, who makes such appointments.

Thus, I got a chuckle out of this quote from former Solicitor General Robert H. Jackson, who himself was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court by President President Theodore Roosevelt.  (As a side historical note, Jackson is the only man to have held all three jobs as U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Solicitor General and Supreme Court Justice.)

“I used to say that, as Solicitor General, I made three arguments of every case. First came the one that I planned–as I thought, logical, coherent, complete. Second was the one actually presented–interrupted, incoherent, disjointed, disappointing. The third was the utterly devastating argument that I thought of after going to bed that night.”

This is, of course, precisely what appellate advocacy is like.

Judge Curt C. Hartman is sworn in to office today

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

Today, former Finney Law Firm attorney (of counsel) Curt Hartman took the oath of office as a Judge on the Hamilton County Common Pleas bench.  The oath was administered by  Judge Melba Marsh.  Judge Hartman was appointed by Governor John Kasich to the bench to fill the unexpired term of Judge Beth Myers, who last fall won a seat on the Court of Appeals.

Immediately afterwards, Judge Hartman’s parents — Carl and Barbara Hartman — formally “robed” the Judge.

Our own Chris Finney served as Master of Ceremonies.

It was a joyous occasion. Congratulations, the Honorable Curt C. Hartman!

Ohio Open Meetings Law: Our client writes of recent win against the City of Milford

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Judge Jerry McBride presided over State ex rel. Richardson v. City of Milford

Our client, former Enquirer reporter Rachel Richardson, tired of its repeated violations of Ohio’s Open Meetings Law sued the City of Milford.

The City decided to defend the case with vigor, claiming that Richardson could not prove her case that impermissible topics were addressed behind closed doors, inasmuch as what occurred in those illegal closed meetings was subject to attorney-client privilege.  In other words, because what they said was secret, we could not prove it violated Ohio law.

Once Judge McBride ruled that the City could not keep their illegal deliberations secret, the case quickly settled.

Read Rachel Richardson’s guest editorial about our “win” in today’s Enquirer.

At our core we are a Cincinnati real estate law firm, but we offer depth of experience in a broad array of areas of law

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

As we have grown, the vision of the Finney Law Firm is sharpening for our clients and the public: A broad array of services offered in one firm, each practice area delivered in a quality fashion.

At our core, we are a real estate firm, with experienced transactional attorneys, a title insurance company that insures residential and commercial titles, and commercial litigators who can address virtually every aspect of disputes relating to real estate: Eviction, foreclosure, title disputes, easement disputes, construction disputes and mechanics lien claims, as well as complex real estate litigation.

Beyond that, we offer quality estate planning and probate administration and our transactional team rounds our its services with corporate formation and development, including acquisitions, dispositions and financing.

Isaac T. Heintz, Kevin J. Hopper, and Eli Krafte-Jacobs, along with paralegals Tammy Wilson and Misty L. Winkler, and Richard P. Turner at the title company, lead our transitional team day in and day out.

Our litigators are well-known for our public interest practice — handing legislative and regulatory matters aggressively, confronting government officials who would illegally interfere with their life, their business and their fortune.  Three times we have ascended to the U.S. Supreme Court, and three times we won the relief we sought with 9-0 victories there.   We apply this same sophistication and vigor to commercial litigation, personal injury, wrongful death and medical malpractice matters.

Bradley M. Gibson, Stephen E. Imm, Julie M. Gugino, and Casey A. Taylor along with paralegal Brandy E. Fitch are our quality litigation team.

Finally, we are proud to recently have expanded our litigation services to include labor and employment law with experienced litigator Stephen Imm.

When a client asks “do you do that,” I am proud to respond “yes, and we do it well.  Let me introduce you to …..”

Let us know how we we can help with your business or personal opportunity or challenge.  It is with you in mind that we have assembled this team of quality practitioners.

Ohio real estate law: April 6 changes closings to require wires for monies over $1,000

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

Effective April 6, changes to Ohio’s Good Funds Law will require that all funds coming into and out of a title company trust account be wired funds with just two exceptions: (i) funds of $1,000 or less can be by personal check or cashier’s check and (ii) funds coming in from a Realtor’s escrow account (usually the earned money) are also permitted by check.

This change is significant in that if a buyer (or seller) is not prepared to pay their monies into a closing via wire, the closing could be delayed or the buyer (or seller) in placed breach of the contract.  We have been informed that out-of-town banks with no Ohio presence may require the account holder to appear in person at their bank branch to initiate a wire, and thus a trip out of town can be necessitated if arrangements have not been made in advance.

These new rules appear to be a result of ramped-up, sophisticated and aggressive wire fraud problems associated with real estate closings, and the State of Ohio is working to assure good funds in accounts to send behind each closing.

Realtors, lenders, buyers and sellers are all advised to be aware of the new good funds requirements and to plan ahead to assure your closing is not interrupted.  For additional information regarding Good Funds, please contact Ivy Pointe Title at info@ivypointetitle.com.

SCOTUS Blog highlights Judge Gorsuch’s 1st Amendment Jurisprudence

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

 

President Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee Neil Gorsuch

Our firm practices extensively in the First Amendment arena.  Thus, it was with great interest that we saw this article on the SCOTUS Blog on U.S. Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch’s First Amendment jurisprudence.

A quick summary:

In many ways, Gorsuch’s opinions in this area are similar to those of the late Justice Antonin Scalia – with the possible exception that Gorsuch has been more willing to find not only that the First Amendment has been violated, but also that defendants were not entitled to qualified immunity in those cases.

It appears the First Amendment will continue to have solid backing from SCOTUS with Justice Gorsuch on the Court.

Curt C. Hartman is appointed to Hamilton County Common Pleas bench

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Soon-to-be-Judge Curt C. Hartman

We are pleased to pass along this press release from the office of Governor John Kasich that was just posted a few minutes ago.  It tells us that our very own Curt C. Hartman — “of counsel” to this firm since its inception — is being appointed to the Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

Mr. Hartman is an extraordinary litigator.  He primarily has handled this firm’s appellate practice, including convincing the United States Supreme Court three times to accept cases of this firm, and winning each 9-0.  He also has handled numerous cases before the Ohio Supreme Court, Ohio’s many appellate Courts, and 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“We are sad to lose such a capable litigator from our ranks,” said Finney Law Firm owner Christopher P. Finney.  “But we are thrilled for the people of Hamilton County to have such a capable judge on the bench.  It is to the considerable credit of Governor Kasich that he recognized the talent of Curt Hartman and elevated him to this important position.  Congratulations to our own Curt C. Hartman!”

Mr. Hartman will be sworn in before month’s end.  Stay tuned for details of the ceremony.

First American issues yet another wire fraud alert

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

First, we hear pretty regularly from Realtors, investors, and lenders of incredibly ingenious and devious wire fraud attempts.  And indeed some of these endeavors  succeed.  These are happening with greater and greater regularity in every community in the nation by fraudsters throughout the globe.

Second, we got this alert from our underwriter, First American Title Insurance Company today:

Fridays before holiday weekends represent an exponentially higher risk to fall victim to WIRE FRAUD.

Criminals know our business and have learned to take advantage of a busy agent’s desire to provide customer service and quickly move transactions to conclusion before the banks close for a long weekend.

NEVER ACCEPT WIRE INSTRUCTIONS VIA EMAIL without utilizing call-back verification procedures to a known, safe phone number. Don’t fall victim to wire fraud.

Enjoy a safe and secure holiday weekend.

So, to our clients and friends, we caution you to be safe out there!

 

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