Posts by Luci Prosapio

From the Real Estate section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). I represented a senior citizen, Linda, who was involved in a serious car accident in which she sustained a bad injury, putting her in a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Fortunately, there was a good…

From the Real Estate section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Two men entered into a written contract for the purchase/sale of an old industrial building for $600,000. They literally wrote the contract on a napkin. When the appraiser was performing the appraisal, which was required by the…

From the Real Estate section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Vince, an investor, purchased a commercial building that had been foreclosed upon by a bank. He bought it at a steep discount to its appraised value. Unfortunately, he (and probably the appraiser) overlooked one crucial aspect of…

From the Real Estate section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). A closing is simply a meeting of the buyer and seller of real estate at which the agreed-upon deal is concluded. Also present at this meeting will be one or more attorneys and/or paralegals*. Often the real…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” This advice may not apply to everything in life, but it definitely applies to applications for disability benefits under our federal Social Security program. If…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). To understand the role insurance commissions play you need to understand that insurance is legislated and regulated at the state level. There is a movement afoot to preempt state regulation of automobile insurance by…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). Donna was a young adult with minimal experience in business or insurance. She purchased a brand new personal watercraft (PWC) for several thousand dollars, and she financed the purchase through a bank. The bank…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). The law of most states requires that an automobile operated on the public highways have liability insurance coverage of minimum limits. For example, as of 2003, the law of South Carolina requires minimum limits…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). A client of mine, Robert, called me one day alarmed because he had been served with a lawsuit (the paperwork to begin a lawsuit is technically called a Summons and Complaint). His troubles began…

From the Land Mines in Accident Cases section of How You Can Avoid Legal Land Mines by Joseph S. Lyles (2003). An insurance policy is a legal contract, and on your side of the contract you agree to pay the charge or premium. In return, the insurance company’s side promises to reimburse you in money…