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AASPO's LEGAL RESOURCE CENTER A finding of the American University Kogod College of Business Administration's study was overwhelming support -- more than 90% of those surveyed -- for a legal foundation. We had suspected strong interest but had not gauged its depth and breadth. We've known that small property owners are increasingly under legal assault. We've also known that small property owners are more and more forced to seek legal help to reverse, or at least mitigate, local laws, regulations and even administrative practices that can make being a small landlord too costly. Out of this, came our proposal for a Legal Resource Center. Our concept for a Legal Resource Center is to create a powerful data base on laws, regulations and policies with which small property owners have been afflicted around the country. The Center will provide a one-stop source of information for AASPO members on case law, law firm payment processing services, legal trends and precedents. It will serve as an information source on how others have dealt with specific legal issues. We will also track and inventory pending litigation in which our members are involved. All this will be available online. To create the data base, we have formed an alliance with a global law firm who is a pioneer in utilizing technology and software for the delivery of legal services. For starters, we are currently providing AASPO members will free legal consultation utilizing the services of this firm. In addition, the AASPO Legal Resource Center will be pro-active. We have already filed briefs as amicus curiae in several precedent-setting cases before the United States Supreme Court. In 1998, the high court handed us a victory on IOLTA. Currently, we are involved in several cases. In July 2001, AASPO filed an amicus brief before the Supreme Court on a petition for certiorari in Galland v. City of Clovis, an important due process case. A copy of the brief is posted in the member's area of our web site. The brief was written and filed by AASPO's president who is an attorney and member of the Supreme Court bar. On September 19, 2001, we filed in the Supreme Court a brief as amicus curiae on the merits of a major property rights case, Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. More than a dozen AASPO association members signed on as co-amici, adding strength to our presence. The Tahoe-Sierra brief was prepared for AASPO by Martin Kaufman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the New York-based Atlantic Legal Foundation. A copy of the brief is available in PDF. We will also work with private attorneys who have demonstrated a commitment to property rights and constitutional principles. We are tracking several cases that are in the lower courts and which will need AASPO's help shortly. In the future, the Legal Resource Center will create a legal defense fund for aggrieved property owners. We will also develop model laws, statutes and regulations in those areas that are typically most vexing for local law makers and needlessly damaging to small property owners. In a nutshell, the AASPO Legal Resource Center will be the central information source and action center to which small property owners can turn for information and assistance. |
