What we’ve done in lieu of shoveling…

• We’ve continued collecting and posting member checklists on practicelaw. For more information or to donate a checklist or other form, check out a previous post.
• The Legislature is hard at work. Keep up-to-date with feeds from the MSBA Advocacy site. We have a general feed on the practicelaw homepage and feeds on legislation impacting particular areas of practice on the forms pages for those areas.
• We’ve prepared and posted a new law firm guide, Launching a Law Practice in Minnesota, chock-full of information and resources for those hanging their shingle in Minnesota. For more information, see a previous post.
• The Appellate Practice Council is updating practicelaw’s appellate practice resources. A newly revised article “Appellate Motion Practice” detailing appellate practice in both state and federal court  is now posted.
• Today we added the blog of attorneys Teresa Thompson and Norah Olson Bluvshtein, netWORKed, to practicelaw’s legal blog roll. Their blog addresses workplace issues faced by employers as a result of today’s increasingly networked workplace.
• We posted a very informative “Tips for Effective Advocacy from Hennepin County District Court” authored by Judge Jay Quam.
• The Minnesota Uniform Conveyancing Blank Task Force revised two and drafted two new Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. These were adopted by the Minnesota Department of Commerce and posted on practicelaw.
  • Sheriff’s Certificate-Sale Under Decree of Mortgage Foreclosure UCB 60.4.1 (revised)
  • Sheriff’s Certificate-Sale Under Decree of Mechanic’s Lien Foreclosure UCB 60.4.2 (new)
  • Sheriff’s Certificate of Sale upon Execution, or Pursuant to Judgment or Order UCB 60.4.3 (new)
  • Affidavit of Identity and Survivorship UCB 50.2.2 (revised)

practicelaw staff also prepared and posted the corresponding Editable Conveyancing Blanks, ECB 6041, 6041, 6043, 5022.

 How we plan to spend our summer…

• Working with practitioner Bob McLeod on reviewing and revising the Guardianship & Conservatorship forms on practicelaw. We will post the first set of revisions in June and will continue rolling out revised forms into early 2012 (when we will be shoveling our roofs once again).
• Expanding the existing set of Civil Litigation forms 
• Drafting additional probate forms, particularly summary administration forms. Right now we are still using the “think method” to get that done, but hope to move to a more productive method later this summer. Let us know if you are interested in helping with this project.
• Partnering with Minnesota Lawyers Mutual to make some of their resources and forms available to MSBA members. First up, videos on disaster preparedness for attorneys.
• Adding At-a-Glance resources for advising distressed homeowners, blogging,and  managing student loans.

And last but not least…

replacing our soon-to-be-missed fearless leader, Greg Luce, who announced his departure in a recent post. Greg brought a lot of tech vision, expertise, ideas, energy, and good humor to the job. We wish him well.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2011. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Appellate Practice, Checklists, Civil, Legal Blogs, Practice Management, practicelaw, UCB

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The Department of Commerce Order indicates exactly what changes were made to which forms. The more significant changes, however, include:

• space to include the Well Disclosure Certificate number if it is electronically filed
• revised hereditament language to promote language consistency across forms
• revised conveyance language to include “and quitclaims” on Series 10.4, .5, and .6 (Trustee’s Deeds, Deeds of Distributions, Deeds of Sale, Conservator’s Deeds)

These 2010 forms replace the 2006 versions and are now posted on practicelaw and on the Department of Commerce website.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: practicelaw, UCB

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Practitioners, of course, benefit from uniform conveyancing forms; they essentially establish a “safe harbor.” If you fill them out correctly, they will be accepted for recording. In addition, the uniform forms reflect the combined thinking  and years of real property practice experience of the UCB Task Force members.

But one size does not fit all. Often a transaction calls for indivudually tailored forms. The dilemna: any alterations to the UCBs render them non-uniform.

The solution? Starting today, practicelaw is rolling out “ECBs” — Editable Conveyancing Blanks. These are Microsoft Word documents modeled after the UCBs, with some important distinctions:

• We have removed the Uniform Conveyancing Blank “label” and form number that normally appear in the upper right corner of a UCB.
• We have also replaced blank lines in the UCBs with bolded brackets and moved the instructions from the UCBs into the brackets.
• The new forms maintain a similar numbering system, although we have moved the form number to the lower left corner and have removed any decimal points A 2011 ECB form, for example, is modeled after UCB number 20.1.1.

These revisions make it easy for you to tailor the ECBs to your transaction. Also the different format makes it easy to distinguish betweeen the UCBs and the ECBs at a glance.

Compare the UCB style to the ECB Style

Like the UCBs, the ECBs are grouped into Series, and one Series will be rolled out every few weeks starting today. The first set, the 20 Series, is now posted on practicelaw. (Note: We did not start with the 10 Series, the Deeds, because the Uniform Conveyancing Blank Task Force is in the process of making some revisions to the Deed Series. We expect these revisions to be approved and the new documents posted within the next few weeks.)

We are excited about this new addition to practicelaw. Now users have a choice. The ECBs strike a nice balance by allowing individualization without compromising the uniformity of the UCBs. Let us know what you think.

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2010. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: ECBs, editable conveyancing blanks, UCB

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Minnesota’s TODD legislation provides that a “Grantor Owner” may execute and record a TODD which then transfers title to the grantee upon the death of the Grantor Owner. Title is not marketable, however, until the grantee records certain documents, including a Certificate of Clearance showing that the property is free from medical assistance claims and liens. To promote a quicker turnaround from the county, a practitioner may submit a partially-completed Clearance Certificate along with the application. County personnel then complete the Certificate and return it, so it can be recorded.(...)
Read the rest of TODD Clearance Certificate (75 words)

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: Medical Assistance, TODD, UCB

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I piled on hundreds of wet, sticky newspaper strips, one right after the other the night before the project was due, threw it in the oven to expedite the drying process, slapped on some green paint and… VOILA! A turtle.(...)
Read the rest of New UCB Foreclosure Forms (290 words)

© Nancy Hupp for Practice Blawg, 2009. | Permalink | No comments yet | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: foreclosure, UCB

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