Class Descriptions
Legal Pitfalls for Practicing Surveyors (full day)
Liability Issues and ALTA Surveys: Professional liability is based on a “legal theory” that combines the concepts of negligence, contract law, and professional responsibility. This course will begin by defining these concepts in a surveying situation, along with a discussion of defenses such as privity of contract and statutes of limitations. The class will then discuss the ALTA survey environment, with special emphasis on the surveyor's role in complex real estate transactions and on the role of the title company. We will spend time discussing the modern title insurance industry and its effect on the types of title research surveyors often rely on, as well as its relation to state surveying standards. We will then cover the most recent ALTA standards in some depth, discussing especially the legal traps involving boundary research and encroachment locations. The class will include several real world examples of common problems encountered while performing ALTA surveys.
Easements and Rights of Way: This class covers the concept of an easement, and of a public right of way, as a property right with certain similarities to a contract. We will begin by analyzing what makes an easement adhere to property, with an explanation of the common blunders people make in drafting easements. The class will cover written easement descriptions using modern case law. We will then cover the differences between rights of way in fee and as easements. All the common law methods of creating easements and rights of way will be covered, ending with a discussion of the difficulties in interpreting older strip description deeds. We will use examples of older railroad conveyances that have been analyzed in court, to learn how to recognize an easement, as opposed to a fee, and the extent of the easement rights. With the railroad deeds we will discuss the effect of marketable title acts.
Appearing as an Expert Witness: This is a class for the surveyor who expects to appear in court, either to explain his own survey or to analyze another survey. The need for expert witnesses, and the reasons a surveyor should expect to be able to explain his surveys in court will be analyzed. We will cover the evidence and civil procedure rules that affect surveyors, both while performing their daily work and while preparing for court. We will cover the limitations of statistical evidence as it affects surveys, and look at examples of effective exhibits. We will also cover tips for effective testimony and surviving cross-examination. This class will help you gain the confidence to explain surveying to a non-technical audience.
Legal Issues Important to Surveyors Working with Metes and Bounds Descriptions (full day)
Transferring Rights in Real Property by Deed: All land surveyors have to interpret metes and bounds descriptions. The law that governs these interpretations grew mostly from a set of common law principles, which are often quite different from the federal statutory principles that govern PLSS descriptions. The common law of property boundaries can be best understood by analyzing the high priority it places on the protection afforded by notice in the real property records, or from notice afforded by monuments on the ground. We will use the legal concept of "notice" to gain a better understanding of the rules we all learned for interpreting legal descriptions. We will cover all kinds of conveyances, sequential as well as simultaneous, and discuss the relative differences between the various rules that surveyors use to guide them in laying out a boundary on the ground. We will extensively explore the parol evidence rule and when and how it applies in surveying situations. The class will also learn how and when recording, marketable title, and registration affect their actions as property surveyors. When you leave this class you will have a new respect for the difficulty of analyzing common surveying principles such as “junior-senior” rights.
Easements and Rights of Way: This class covers the concept of an easement, and of a public right of way, as a property right with certain similarities to a contract. We will begin by analyzing what makes an easement adhere to property, with an explanation of the common blunders people make in drafting easements. The class will cover written easement descriptions using modern case law. We will then cover the differences between rights of way in fee and as easements. All the common law methods of creating easements and rights of way will be covered, ending with a discussion of the difficulties in interpreting older strip description deeds. We will use examples of older railroad conveyances that have been analyzed in court, to learn how to recognize an easement, as opposed to a fee, and the extent of the easement rights. With the railroad deeds we will discuss the effect of marketable title acts.
Unwritten Rights: Property surveying involves gathering evidence of land boundaries. Common law creates land boundaries by deed, but also by the unwritten means. This class will cover the theories of Adverse Possession, Acquiescence, Parol Agreements, Common Grantor Theory (or Uncalled-for Monuments) and Estoppel. The class will discuss the surveyor's responsibilities in evaluating evidence for each situation. We will also cover the situations where it is important for a surveyor to recognize that a transfer by one of these common law methods may have already occurred. We will study, in depth, the times when a surveyor should be gathering evidence of unwritten ownership in addition to his or her gathering of evidence to interpret the deed.
Appearing as an Expert Witness: This is a class for the surveyor who expects to appear in court, either to explain his own survey or to analyze another survey. The need for expert witnesses, and the reasons a surveyor should expect to be able to explain his surveys in court are analyzed. We will cover the evidence and civil procedure rules that affect surveyors, both while performing their daily work and while preparing for court. We will cover the limitations of statistical evidence as it affects surveys, and look at examples of effective exhibits. We will also cover tips for effective testimony and surviving cross-examination. This class will help you gain the confidence to explain surveying to a non-technical audience.
Legal Issues Important to Surveyors Working with the Public Lands System (full day)
The Legal System: This class provides a basic analysis of the importance of reading court cases to aid in understanding statutory law. We will cover three famous federal cases to explore how the courts, in striving to settle disputes between individuals fairly, may make pronouncements that change our understanding of common legal principles in general. This class will change the way you read "legal principles".
Local Corners, Bona Fide Rights, and Evidence of Original Corners in the Public Land States: This class involves a discussion of the evolving interpretations of the BLM Manual rules for evaluating evidence and tracking older surveys. We will explore several recent federal cases that flesh out the Manual rules for testing found monuments that might, or might not, represent perpetuations of original PLSS corners. We will discuss taking oral evidence, evaluating bearing trees, the weight of topo calls, and many other issues using specific courtroom examples. Finally we will discuss how to handle situations that don't fit the more commonly used rules in the Manual, such as how to subdivide sections where there is little reliable evidence of the original survey but loads of more recent activity in the form of surveys and occupation. This portion will include examples, both from common experience and from court cases, of dealing with locally set section and quarter corners, locally set subdivision corners, and the bona fide rights of patentees.
Easements and Rights of Way: This class covers the concept of an easement, and of a public right of way, as a property right with certain similarities to a contract. We will begin by analyzing what makes an easement adhere to property, with an explanation of the common blunders people make in drafting easements. The class will cover written easement descriptions using modern case law. We will then cover the differences between rights of way in fee and as easements. All the common law methods of creating easements and rights of way will be covered, ending with a discussion of the difficulties in interpreting older strip description deeds. We will use examples of older railroad conveyances that have been analyzed in court, to learn how to recognize an easement, as opposed to a fee, and the extent of the easement rights. With the railroad deeds we will discuss the effect of marketable title acts.
Appearing as an Expert Witness: This is a class for the surveyor who expects to appear in court, either to explain his own survey or to analyze another survey. The need for expert witnesses, and the reasons a surveyor should expect to be able to explain his surveys in court will be analyzed. We will cover the evidence and civil procedure rules that affect surveyors, both while performing their daily work and while preparing for court. We will cover the limitations of statistical evidence as it affects surveys, and look at examples of effective exhibits. We will also cover tips for effective testimony and surviving cross-examination. This class will help you gain the confidence to explain surveying to a non-technical audience.
Liability Issues, ALTA Surveys, and Local Corners: An Analysis of Case Law and Surveying Responsibilities (full day)
Liability Issues and ALTA Surveys: Professional liability is based on a "legal theory" that combines the concepts of negligence, contract law, and professional responsibility. This course will begin by defining these concepts in a surveying situation, along with a discussion of defenses such as privity of contract and statutes of limitations. The class will then discuss the ALTA survey environment, with special emphasis on the surveyor's role in complex real estate transactions and on the role of the title company. We will spend time discussing the modern title insurance industry and its effect on the types of title research surveyors often rely on, as well as its relation to state surveying standards. We will then cover the most recent ALTA standards in some depth, discussing especially the legal traps involving boundary research and encroachment locations. The class will include several real world examples of common problems encountered while performing ALTA surveys.
Local Corners, Bona Fide Rights, and Evidence of Original Corners in the Public Land States: This class involves a discussion of the evolving interpretations of the BLM Manual rules for evaluating evidence and tracking older surveys. We will explore several recent federal cases that flesh out the Manual rules for testing found monuments that might, or might not, represent perpetuations of original PLSS corners. We will discuss taking oral evidence, evaluating bearing trees, the weight of topo calls, and many other issues using specific courtroom examples. Finally we will discuss how to handle situations that don't fit the more commonly used rules in the Manual, such as how to subdivide sections where there is little reliable evidence of the original survey but loads of more recent activity in the form of surveys and occupation. This portion will include examples, both from common experience and from court cases, of dealing with locally set section and quarter corners, locally set subdivision corners, and the bona fide rights of patentees.
Mock Trial (3 to 4 hours)
A 3 to 4 hour mock trial, followed by discussion, providing insight into witness preparation, attorney's interrogation techniques, preparation of exhibits, and surveying issues. Several sample cases are available, including a surveyor's negligence case, a boundary dispute using area descriptions, a disputed quarter corner case, and others. This is a good class to end a conference or seminar series. This class requires more preparation time than other classes. We can either provide two presenters, who will act out the various parts, or we can provide a text for one "volunteer" from the presenting society to read from as a participant. Some additional stage setup is necessary. If you are interested in this presentation contact the presenter directly to discuss the logistics and obtain the materials.
Jerry is a licensed surveyor in Washington and Idaho , and has had his own practice since 1989. He is also an attorney licensed to practice in Washington , and before the federal courts. He has a BA degree from the University of Texas and graduated first in his law school class at the University of Puget Sound School of Law.