SECTION UPDATE
Real Estate Section
By Joseph Farrell
Quirk & Quirk, LLC
[email protected]
When I gave up law to go into real estate, my mother said,
‘How can you give up the law?’ But she lived long enough to
see the Bulls win all six championships. She would wear all
six pendants at the same time. She could barely stand up.
~Jerry Reinsdorf, Owner of Chicago Bulls and Chicago
White Sox
eal Estate Section Chair, Cory Thompson of Kutak
Rock LLP continues to hammer the ambitious agenda
he set out at the beginning of his tenure. Comprised
of several hundred lawyers, the Real Estate Section consists
of a diverse group of professionals practicing real estate law,
dedicated to various aspects of work related to real estate,
or interested in this complex area of the law.
R
The Real Estate Section continues to host its regular monthly
breakfast meetings, which include presentations for which
members can earn CLE credits. In a recent meeting, a starstudded panel of top real estate litigators Josh Huckaby of
O’Kelley & Sorohan, LLC; John “JT” Thomson, Jr. of Cohen,
Pollock, Merlin & Small, P.C.; and Charles “Chuck” Van Horn
of Berman, Fink and Van Horn, P.C. Hon. Arch
McGarity of Henry County Superior Court also
joined the panelists and gave invaluable insight
from the “top seat”. Among other topics, the
panelists covered included the slippery issue
of getting attorney fee’s in real estate litigation
and the ethical and legal boundaries of filing a
lis pendens based on recent Georgia caselaw.
In addition to education and earning CLE credit,
the breakfast meetings also provide a means to
socialize with other attorneys in the Section.
the Real Estate Section educates and assists unrepresented
landlords, many of whom find themselves acting as landlords
due to changed economic circumstances rather than by
choice and to further the Atlanta Bar Association’s goal
to be lawyers who serve. If you wish to volunteer, please
contact Jonathan Neville, Arnall Golden Gregory LLP, at
[email protected].
Our fearless leader Cory Thompson hit a hole-in-one when
he scheduled a social outing at TopGolf in November.
Attendance soared, conversation flowed, and members of
the section and their guests enjoyed good food, beverages,
and golf in a format many had never experienced. The state
of the art facility in Midtown has indoor decks, and participants
shoot into designated targets for points with clubs provided
by TopGolf. All of the shots are saved electronically. Stay
tuned for three more social events will be scheduled in 2016.
The Real Estate Section’s sponsors are Bennett Thrasher,
Bull Realty, Inc., and First American Title Insurance
Company. We are grateful for their support and encourage
our section members to utilize their services.
As part of its effort to serve the community,
the Real Estate Section continues to partner
with the Court Administrator’s Office of Fulton
County State Court to provide pro bono counsel
to unrepresented residential landlords. Every
month, members of the Real Estate Section
volunteer on-site at the Self-Help Center at the
Fulton County Courthouse on designated dates
and times to provide counsel on a walk-in and
scheduled basis. Through this pro bono initiative,
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
December 2015
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
29