Attorneys

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In A Canyon, In A Cavern

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 11.20.2009 | Business

Read More: Unemployment Numbers, Attorneys, Mortgages, Small Business, Mortgage Lenders, Unemployment, New York Real Estate, Economy, Housing-Bubble, Real Estate, Recession, Housing Crisis, Business News

I wanted to enjoy my fleeting feelings of karmic payback, knowing how many toxic loans were closed in these cavernous offices. Instead, I pondered: how many jobs in our altered real estate landscape were lost and gone forever?

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And They Call It Ponzi Love

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 11.05.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Crisis, Subprime Mortgage Market, Mortgages, Mortgage Lenders, Bank Lending, Subprime Mortgages, Mortgage Crisis, Ponzi Scheme, Banks, Real Estate Bubble, Real Estate, Economy, Business News

If buyers can't buy, the real estate market stays in a sinkhole. Can't the assholes in Washington understand that they really, really need us to save the market?

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You Don't Buy Clothes When You Get Foreclosed

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 10.22.2009 | Business

Read More: US Economy, Attorneys, Retail Industry, Foreclosure Crisis, Unemployment, Employees, Economy, Economic Crisis, Stores, Foreclosure, Real Estate, Housing Crisis, Home Foreclosures, Business News

My foray back into stores after a long, involuntary hiatus was disturbing. The parking spaces and aisles were vacant. I guess, when you lose your house to foreclosure, your closets go too.

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Nightmare On Elm and Maple Streets

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 09.23.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Stress, Tax Credits, First-Time-Buyer, Homeowners, Real Estate, Housing Crisis, Short Sales, Home Foreclosures, Business News

Since Labor Day passed, I have felt less like a real estate lawyer and more like a character actor in an awful horror movie.

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Even the Losers Get Lucky Sometimes

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 11.16.2009 | Living

Read More: Attorneys, Stress, Foreclosure Crisis, Therapy, Housing Prices, Housing Market, Homeless, Mortgage Crisis, Homeowners, Real Estate, Housing Slump, Home Foreclosures, Living News

A former client sadly related that her home is "worth less than $600,000 and we owe close to $800,000. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't believe what I've lost."

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There's a Kind of Hush

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 09.18.2009 | Business

Read More: Stress, Attorneys, Housing Market, Retail Sales, Real Estate, Schools, Back-to-School, Recession, Housing Slump, Housing Crisis, Economic Recession, Financial Crisis, Law Practice, Business News

My heart and head are certainly enjoying the continuing sounds of real estate silence in August 2009 but my wallet protests loudly each and every day.

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Let's Go Fly A Kite!

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 09.12.2009 | Living

Read More: Attorneys, Self-Employment, Small Business, Work-Life Balance, Business, Recession, Relaxation, Pursuit of Happiness, Saving Money, Happiness Tips, Happiness, Recession Fears, Financial Crisis, Contentment, Living News

The kite-flying cavorting couple on the beach were light-years ahead of me in realizing that aspiration and achievement are not always the same thing.

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inherent Vice

Gershon Hepner | Posted 09.06.2009 | Entertainment

Read More: Attorneys, Michiko Kakutani, Thomas Pynchon, Poetry, Inherent Vice, Sixties, New York Times Book Review, Entertainment News

"Inherent Vice not only reminds us how rooted Mr. Pynchon's authorial vision is in the '60s and '70s," writes Kakutani, "but it also demystifies his work, underscoring the similarities that his narratives share."

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I Keep on Singing the Same Song

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 09.01.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Housing Market, Housing Crisis, Profit, Showtunes, Investment, Real Estate, Business News

I often ask with genuine curiosity how and when some investors are planning to recoup their outlay and turn a profit. In reply I get a shrug and a "who knows?"

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Kiss The Deals Goodbye

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 08.20.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Law Practice, Real Estate, Recession, Economy, Home Sales, Business News

While buyers dally, sellers fret. They can't realistically make offers on move-up homes or retirement villas or pay off their creditors.

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Roiling On The Rivers Of Real Estate

Lita Smith-Mines | Posted 07.25.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Mortgage Crisis, Speculators, Real Estate, Short Selling, Housing Slump, Housing Crisis, Foreclosure News, Business News

There's definitely a bottom to the real estate market, but the bottom is not clearly visible through yesterday's floating wreckage and today's murky transactions.

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The Five Sneakiest Lawyer Tricks

Jim Randel | Posted 07.11.2009 | Business

Read More: Attorneys, Lawyers, Trickery, Title Insurance, Business News

Bulking up billable hours is probably the #1 complaint against attorneys. The fact is that there is no way for someone to know for sure the exact amount of time an attorney spends on a matter.

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How Are Lawyers Like Politicians?

Rick Shenkman | Posted 06.26.2008 | Politics

Read More: Ignorance, Politics, Stupid, Lawyers, Myths, Attorneys, Misinformation, Voter Disenfranchisement, Voters, Democracy, Politics News

Lawyers have to appeal to juries the way pols have to appeal to voters. But there's one difference: you can't squeeze all of America's voters into a jury box to hear your opening and closing statements.

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In Obama's America, Road to Power No Longer Runs Through Law Firms

Glenn Hurowitz | Posted 06.22.2008 | Business

Lawyers will soon have to choose: spend your career serving your country, or spend it serving your corporation. But we have to make sure that those who embrace public service can make a decent living.

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Another Corporate Gimmick -- Arbitration

Dave Johnson | Posted 06.22.2008 | Business

Read More: Deregulation, Mediation, Tort Reform, Corporations, Courts, Arbitration, Attorneys, Corporate Power, Business News

More and more consumer-oriented contracts have clauses specifying that disputes must go to arbitration rather than our civil justice system. But 98.8% of arbitrations end in favor of the corporations.

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