section update
Real Estate Section Update
By Michael E. Leavey
Dorough & Dorough, LLC
O
[email protected]
n May 1, 2012 bar associations across the country
will be commemorating Law Day and, in particular,
emphasizing the importance of the courts and their
role in ensuring access to justice. By providing counsel
throughout the course of a dispute, a lawyer assists in
ensuring the opportunity for such access for both parties to
the dispute, not just for the lawyer's client. It is in this spirit
that the Real Estate Section continues its pro bono project
of providing counsel to unrepresented residential landlords
on a walk-in and scheduled basis at the Fulton County State
and Magistrate Court Self-Help Center. Through this pro
bono initiative, the Real Estate Section seeks to educate and
assist unrepresented landlords in landlord-tenant disputes.
Although it may seem counterintuitive, assisting landlords
in this manner may benefit tenants as well. For example,
by ensuring that a landlord knows the proper statutory
procedures before trying to evict a tenant or suspend utilities,
any dispute is more likely to be pursued within the court
system and resolved in accordance with the rule of law. The
Section encourages its members to become involved with
this pro bono project. Interested attorneys do not need prior
experience with landlord-tenant issues and do not need to
volunteer more than a few hours of time.
Gregory, LLP, and Charles Van Horn, Berman Fink Van
Horn PC. The participants painted a vivid picture of how a
mediation session may transpire, the reasons a party to a
dispute may or may not want to enter mediation, and the
various issues that may arise during mediation.
In addition to its special projects, the Real Estate Section
continues to hold its regular monthly breakfast meetings.
On March 1, 2012, the Real Estate Section and the Dispute
Resolution Section hosted a joint presentation of "What
Exactly Is Barbeque Anyway? A Mock Mediation for the Real
Estate Practitioner." Rex D. Smith of Henning Mediation
& Arbitration Service, Inc. mediated a "dispute" between
Herbert H. Gray III, Ragsdale Beals Seigler Patterson &
Gray, and Robert N. Dokson, Ellis Funk, P.C., that arose
when Mr. Gray, as the owner of a barbeque restaurant,
alleged that Mr. Dokson, as the landlord, breached a
protective exclusive use clause in the lease when he allowed
another tenant to sell "barbeque" chicken wings. The parties
were "represented" by Jonathan L. Neville, Arnall Golden
Anyone interested in becoming more involved with the
Section or its activities may contact Tanya Windham at
[email protected]. ■
22
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
April 2012
The Section's monthly breakfast meetings continue on
Thursday, April 12, 2012 with a panel discussion about
"Retail Development in Atlanta and Beyond: Rising from the
Ashes of the Great Recession." The panel will be moderated
by Andy Akin of Fidelity Bank and will include Enrique R.
"Quito" Anderson, Esq., Sutherland; Leslie G. Callahan
III, CCIM, First Colony Financial Corporation; and Jan
Saperstein, The Equinox Group, Inc.
The Section holds monthly breakfast meetings, usually
on the first Thursday of each month, at 7:30 a.m. at The
Buckhead Club, 3344 Peachtree Road, where real estate
industry professionals give presentations on topics of interest
to the Section. CLE credit is typically available for Sect [ۂ