Tag: law colleges

HOA lawyers take heed! Federal judge chastises lawyers

The NY Times Opinion by retired federal Judge Luttig*, while speaking to the national Trump Era crisis, well applies to HOA lawyers. I am completely mystified by the lack of defense and silence by state attorney generals, constitutional think tanks like CATO Institute, The Heritage Foundation, The Federalist Society, and constitutional lawyers and law schools. Read on!

“Leaders of the legal profession should be asking themselves, ‘What role did we play in creating this ongoing legal emergency?’ But so far, there has been no such post-mortem reflection, and none appears on the horizon.  Many lawyers ‘have instead stood largely silent, assenting to the recent assaults on America’s fragile democracy.’

“More alarming is the growing crowd of grifters, frauds and con men willing to subvert the Constitution and long-established constitutional principles for the whims of political expediency. . . . Any legal movement that could foment such a constitutional abdication and attract a sufficient number of lawyers willing to advocate its unlawful causes is ripe for a major reckoning.”

The Opinion is concerned about what, if anything, is being done to rectify this attack on democratic institutions.

“The Federalist Society, long the standard-bearer for the conservative legal movement, has failed to respond in this period of crisis. . . . Principled voices [must] speak out against the endless stream of falsehoods and authoritarian legal theories that are being propagated almost daily. To do otherwise would be to cede the field to lawyers of bad faith. We have seen in recent years what the unchecked spread of wildly untrue and anti-democratic lies gets us.”

Addressing law colleges failure to educate students, a movement is called for.

“The movement will focus on building a large body of scholarship to counteract the new orthodoxy of anti-constitutional and anti-democratic law being churned out by the fever swamps. The Constitution cannot defend itself; lawyers and legal scholars must.”

In the past I’ve written about the failure of law colleges to include the numerous views and positions on the constitutionality of the HOA legal structure. See “Is CAI’s ‘lack of candor to the tribunal’ intentional?”

*          “The Trump Threat Is Growing. Lawyers Must Rise to Meet This Moment,” NY Times Opinion, Nov.23, 2023. By George Conway, J. Michael Luttig and Barbara Comstock.  “The writers are lawyers. Mr. Conway was in private practice. Mr. Luttig was a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit from 1991 to 2006. Ms. Comstock represented Virginia’s 10th District in Congress from 2015 to 2019. They serve on the board of the newly formed Society for the Rule of Law Institute.”

What makes for a good HOA member attorney??

First, what indeed does a lawyer  do?   There are family, corporate, injury, property, constitutional, etc. lawyers with  specialty in that  particular area. Of course, we see lawyers  saying they can represent you in many areas.  Ahem! Second, there is the level of expertise and competence in their chosen field. 

Now a homeowner needs to find a litigation attorney with expertise in the courts and lawsuits. You need a litigation attorney when dealing with a  rogue board that ignores the law and governing documents. (Please don’t be afraid to call it like it is).  Sitting down in a delusional kumbaya scenario is laughable to a rogue board (not aloud of course).  But going to court introduces another important element that has a direct bearing on the judge’s decision:  the specifics of the relevant HOA, contract, and property laws and precedent — decisions in prior related cases. And don’t forget the governing documents.

And guess who has the most credibility, as they frequently remind everyone, but good ol’ CAI.  And the local CAI attorney has the benefit of CAI Central’s collection, distribution, and advice on HOA related cases across the country.  So, which way will the judge lean when no one offers opposing arguments?  Towards the experts in HOA-Land law or towards the stumbling local run of the mill attorney?  Don’t miss understand me, I’ve witnessed some damn good, highly paid attorneys fall by the wayside.

Therefore, what must be done to achieve a balance and justice for you, the homeowner under the gun? Obviously, the attorneys must be educated, and those already educated and knowledgeable must speak out.  Where does it begin??  In the law schools across the country that have played their part by errors of omission  in failing to educate budding lawyers going forth in ignorance of HOA injustices.  

Failing to achieve substantive HOA reforms

Is there a way out?  Definitely yes!

It is not by going to state legislatures to be repeatedly rejected, or given token reforms but with no substantive redress of grievances. It is not by repeatedly expecting the courts to do homeowner justice in spite of the strong stare decisis precedent of pro-HOA laws and public policy favoring HOA-Land. It is not by expecting law colleges to provide a balanced educational program in law for students that includes HOA constitutionality.

And it is not by hoping that the media — granted special 1st Amendment protections to inform and educate the citizens on political matters — will measure up and so present the whole HOA truth that has been so long hidden from the public.

As a result of my 21 years of activism and advocacy for HOA constitutionality, and my education and detailed research, I have come to understand the greater social and political forces at work. These forces that have led to the current culture and environment surrounding the HOA legal scheme and structure. They are detailed in my “The HOA-Land Culture.”

Read more at Cult behavior within HOA-Land and Plan to Restructure HOA model.