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D.C. Appellate Court hammers IRS (again) in Tea Party litigation

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

As many of our clients and blog readers know, we are proud to serve as local counsel for the only certified class action in the nation by Tea Party groups challenging the constitutionality and legality of the IRS’ actions in targeting Tea Party groups for additional delay and scrutiny in their tax exemption applications.

There are several other cases that have been filed, I believe all in the D.C. District Court, challenging the indefensible conduct of the IRS during that period that started in 2010.

Friday, the D.C. Court of Appeals issued yet another scathing opinion that the IRS lost in one of those cases, pointing out how completely illegal and unconstitutional the IRS’ conduct was, and how procedurally they have tied up the litigation in endless and pointless arguments and appeals.

Some of the language in this decision deriding the IRS’ claims of cessation of the illegal conduct, leading to their argument of mootness, is fun to read (pp. 16-21).

The decisions here.

Our latest win against the Ohio Elections Commission gets press

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

We wrote here about our important win against a state statute that harasses non-incumbent candidates for public office when they fail to place the word “for” between their name and the office sought.  It was a silly statute, and regulatory and enforcement scheme, until you realize how pernicious their work really was.

Read the Columbus Dispatch article .

Read the Court News Ohio article here.

This case is the third in a series of important wins against the statutes enforced by the Ohio Elections Commission that for years has resulted in endless harassment and intimidation of candidates for public office engaging in political speech.  Two of these cases went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court where we attained a reversal of the 6th Circuit and District Court decisions..

The OEC has basically hung out the “out of business” sign on more than 3/4 of its work regulating elections thanks to these important cases.

Finney Law Firm, LLC named semi-finalist for Goering Center Family and Private Business of the Year Award

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

Goering Website Header2

We are pleased to announce that Finney Law Firm, LLC has been named as a Semi-Finalist for the Goering Center Family and Private Business of the Year Award in the category of “Private Business – 1-25 employees.”  Read about this honor here.

Since our firm was formed on January 1, 2014, we have grown from eight employees to 22 today in both the law firm and the title company,  This has been possible because of the loyalty and hard work of our employees and the faith that our clients have placed in us to “Make a Difference” for them.

The awards are made on September 13 of this year.

We congratulate all the other nominees for this honor and their own accomplishments.

Regardless of the outcome, we are pleased and honored that our growth, our integrity and our accomplishments have been recognized in this important way.  This honor belongs to all of those who have participated in our growth and our success.

Science Magazine features our sexual discrimination case against University of Cincinnati

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

Science

Science Magazine has a thoughtful article that just came out today about the policy and practice of the University of Cincinnati to segregate male and female students from one another in science labs.

“Women and men should not be working together in science,” according to Teaching Assistant Mohamud El Demery.  This policy was ratified when Professor Larry Bortner met with our client, 19-year-old Casey Helmicki and confirmed it was the department’s practice.

Read the Science Magazine article here.

Read more about this case here.

 

Ohio election law: Attorney Curt Hartman triumphs in OEC action regarding “dark money” that targeted Christopher Smitherman

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Smitherman
Cincinnati City Council member Christopher Smitherman

 

This firm has been pleased to represent Cincinnati City Council member Christopher Smitherman in an action before the Ohio Elections Commission regarding some $300,000 secretly spent during the 2013 City Council election targeted towards the defeat of Smitherman.

In that year, Smitherman was running for reelection.  Smitherman is African American and was then the President of the Cincinnati Chapter of the NAACP.  Mysteriously, ads began appearing on Black radio accusing Smitherman of selling out the African American community and encouraging people to reject Smitherman at the polls.  Lots and lots of ads.  These were followed by printed flyers with similar messaging distributed primarily in the African American community.  The ads were placed by a group called “Cincinnatians for Jobs Now.”

However, Cincinnatians for Jobs Now had never existed before.  No one had ever heard of it.  And no one knew of its members.  Further, it filed no campaign finance reports as required by Ohio law to reveal its donors or the expenditure of its funds.  They had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars secretly in violation of Ohio law.

This firm was retained after the election to bring a formal action before the Ohio Elections Commission to pursue this matter.

The secretive group claims that it is no group at all and included no one from Cincinnati, but rather was a single individual named Jonathan White from Dayton.  White testified both in his deposition and at trial before the Ohio Elections, incredibly, that he set up a P.O. Box for the new PAC, but told no one of the P.O. Box address.  Magically, several checks signed by union leader Rob Richardson, Sr. totaling $300,000 then showed up in that P.O. Box.  This fiction was important for Cincinnatians for Jobs Now to maintain inasmuch as cooperation between two or more citizens constitutes a PAC that must report.  The failure to do so is a criminal violation.

 

The OEC refused to issue to Rob Richardson, Sr. a subpoena to force his deposition.  They did issue two subpoenas to force his participation in a hearing before the OEC, and yet, illegally, he refused to appear.

In the end, the OEC found that Cincinnatians for Jobs Now and Jonathan White had engaged in illegal conduct, ordered them to file their campaign finance reports and levied a $15,000 fine against them.

It took nearly three years to bring the matter to a hearing and to arrive at this conclusion.

Our thanks go to attorney Curt Hartman and to a steadfast client, Christopher Smitherman, who both saw this matter through to a successful end.

The Cincinnati Enquirer has this story on the case this morning.

When Should You Hire A Real Estate Attorney

Author By Paul S. SianPosted on

graphic of when should you hire a real estate attorney

When To Hire A Real Estate Attorney?

The buying and selling of real estate is one of those areas where you have many experts working to help you out at different points in the process.  A common though process that people may have is do I need an attorney to help me with my real estate transaction.  The answer is that it does not hurt to start a conversation with an attorney so that when the need does pop up the your attorney is up to speed and ready to help you.

Even where you have a transaction that is a simple purchase of a home where you have a real estate agent working for you, the seller has a real estate agent working for them and you will be closing the sale through a local title company an attorney can protect your interests by looking at things from your particular legal perspective.  That is not something you will get from anyone else but your attorney who is familiar with your situation.  There are other unique situations where having a real estate attorney help you out will be in your best interests as noted below.

For Sale By Owner

If you are selling your home For Sale By Owner (FSBO) then it is advisable that you contact a real estate attorney prior to your listing your home and have your attorney review any purchase offers that come to you from buyers. A purchase offer can be a simple document that offers to purchase a home for a certain amount of money. Once signed by both the buyers and sellers the written purchase offer becomes a contract and is a legally binding document on both the seller and the buyer. Problems do arise where the buyers and sellers agreed on one thing verbally but failed to capture it all in writing. By having an attorney check to make sure what is house key chain with keysbeing agreed to with the purchase offer is in the contract you reduce the chance of a lawsuit ruining your chances of completing the deal.

Failure to add language into a FSBO purchase offer with regards to inspecting the property for defects and a requirement that the property be appraised at or higher than the amount being loaned can leave the buyer in a bad situation. The language used by real estate agents in their board approved documents contains all the required terms that provide for inspections, appraisal requirements and more. By attempting to create a purchase offer document yourself or by using canned language you found on a website somewhere you might be setting yourself up for bigtime failure.

Websites on the internet providing documents to help you purchase a home don’t always have the required language that is required local laws.   By trying to save money and using canned purchase offer language you could be missing crucial requirements that prevent you from using an inspection as a reason to walk away from a home purchase. You may have an inspection performed on the home you are about to purchase but when you find out the foundation has major issues, if your purchase offer language was not correctly drafted you may still find yourself in a contract to purchase that home with the problems and all. Certainly you don’t have to close on the home, but the home seller can also turn around and sue you for failing to complete the terms of the contract. By sitting down with an attorney beforehand and discussing your goals and desires, you can have your attorney draw up a properly prepared purchase offer that protects you in the event there is something wrong with the home or with the purchase process.

Divorce

Going through a divorce is a process that may or may not be complicated depending on custody and asset division issues if there are any. Add into the divorce process the need to sell a house then things can get more complicated. Especially where there may be equity in the house or where both spouses are on the mortgage the need for a real estate attorney to assist in the process and represent each spouse best interests makes sense. If one has an attorney representing them the other spouse should also have their own legal representation in order to make sure their interests are adequately protected.

During a divorce emotions can be elevated and as a result clouds ones judgement as how best to proceed with regards to selling a home. One party may wish to keep the home but may not necessarily be able to afford the mortgage whereas the other spouse wishes to sell. If a mutual agreement is not happening between the spouses on how to deal with the home then the attorneys for each spouse can try and negotiate an agreement or they can request a judge make a determination. Either way by having an attorney help you with your real estate issue while going through a divorce you can rest easier knowing there is someone looking out for your interests.

Post Sale Problems

You have closed on your home purchase and now are encountering problems with your home. Some problems may just be routine problems that are commonly associated with home ownership. Clogged toilets and slow drains are nothing really to be concerned over and are considered something the new buyer should be able to take care of when they purchase a home. On the other hand if during a heavy rain storm you discover the sewer backs up into the basement and that this was in fact known to the sellers but they did not disclose the matter to you, you may have grounds for suing the sellers for the failure to disclose.

The facts and circumstances surrounding undisclosed home problem need to be explored further in order to determine if there is legal liability. If you as the buyers did not know about the problems and would not be able to learn of the problems when you were getting ready to buy the home this leaves it upon the sellers to disclose if they know about the issue. The seller’s failure to disclose a material fact that impacts the value of the home means the buyers can sue the sellers.

The types of seller failure to disclose issues you should discuss with a real estate attorney include mold contamination, water damage issues, foundation and structural issues, roof issues, and more. Especially where the problems are major and should have been disclosed but were not then sellers can be held liable for their lack of disclosure. Even worse a court can order punitive damages be paid by the sellers for their failure to disclose or a court could undo the purchase transaction and force the sellers to take back the home and return all monies to the buyers.

Commercial Real Estate Transactions

Whether you are selling, buying or leasing commercial space the protections afforded sellers, buyers and tenants in the commercial real estate area are much less than those found in residential real estate transactions. Having an expert real estate attorney review leases or purchase agreements for you ensures you are not unknowingly giving up rights or becoming obligated for something more than you intend to. Also by having an attorney relationship men in ties with hard hats looking at construction plansdeveloped ahead of time should the need arise for a quick legal review due to time tight frames involved your attorney should be able to provide you input pretty quickly. Whereas on the other hand if you wait until the last minute to consult with an attorney you have never met about an offer that expires soon you may not get the priority existing clients are offered.

Final Thoughts

With the large sums of money involved in real estate it is always best to discuss your plans and needs with a real estate attorney ahead of time. By establishing a relationship with your real estate attorney before an immediate need arises you are ensuring that your attorney knows your goals and can step in when needed to deliver timely input. The attorneys at Finney Law Firm are ready to help you with your real estate and other needs, contact us today so we can help you accomplish your goals.

Do you have any questions about the services above?

Paul Sian is a licensed attorney in the States of Ohio and Michigan.  If you feel you need the services of an attorney or have questions about any of the services named above feel free to contact me at paul@finneylawfirm.isoc.net or via phone at 513-943-5668.  Connect with me on Twitter and Facebook.

Our client prevails in another important First Amendment challenge

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on

First Amendment

The 10th District Court of Appeals today ruled in favor of our client in Magda v. Ohio Elections Commission, a case dating all the way back to the 2010 election.

That year, our client was a candidate for Ashtabula County Treasurer.  In most of her campaign signs and literature, she used he word “for” between the words “Kathy Magda” and “Ashtabula County Treasurer,” but on one piece of literature prepared by her husband, she omitted the word “for,” so the title she had not then earned appeared just after her name. That has historically been the basis an automatic finding of a violation of O.R.C. § 3517.21(B)(1).

Thus, when a political opponent filed such a Complaint — even absent any evidence of intent to mislead or that anyone was in fact misled — the Ohio Elections Commission dutifully found that a violation existed.

Our firm challenged that finding in an administrative appeal coupled with a suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for violations of Ms. Magda’s rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

[It is important to note that coupling of an Administrative Appeal under O.R.C. Chapter 119 along with a constitutional challenge under 42 U.S.C. §1983 is a somewhat unique approach in Ohio Courts. This decision provides solid support for such a challenge.]

In 2014, the Franklin County Common Pleas Court upheld the OEC decision and rejected our client’s constitutional claims.  It was that decision that was on appeal before the 10th District Court of Appeals.

The 10th District decision was a resounding victory for our client, both overturning the finding of a violation of O.R.C. § 3517.21(B)(1), but also declaring the statute to be unconstitutional and instructing the trial court to enter an order permanently enjoining its enforcement.

You may read the decision here.

Once again, our lead appellate attorney, Curt Hartman, led the team that won this effort.  Chris Finney handled the oral argument at the 10th District Court of Appeals.

This nearly six year journey — involving novel approaches to the law — is yet another example of how we “make a difference” for our clients.

Our own Curt C. Hartman is a delegate to the Republican National Convention

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Curt
Finney Law Firm attorney Curt C. Hartman is a delegate to the Republican National Convention

Today’s Cleveland.Com features an article on safety and security at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, featuring our own Curt C. Hartman.

We are very proud of Curt for this exercise in leadership — “making a difference” in our community and for our nation!

Read it here.

 

 

Adrien Broner given 30 days for contempt

Author By Christopher P. FinneyPosted on
Adrien-Broner-bearded-fukuda
Cincinnati and champion boxer Adrien “The Problem” Broner

 

As we reported here, this firm represented the victim of an armed assault by champion boxer Adrien Broner in his civil case.

Today, the criminal case came to trial, and Broner failed to appear.

The Judge locked him up for 30 days just for that.  Read that here.

Broker is know by his nickname given to him by his parents: “The Problem.”

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