AABANY CLE: Selling and Purchasing Real Property from an Estate

On Wednesday, April 3, 2019, Margaret Ling, AABANY Development Director and Real Estate Committee Co-Chair, and Pauline Yeung-Ha, Pro Bono Committee Co-Chair, presented a CLE and networking event entitled “Selling and Purchasing Real Property from an Estate.” The event was hosted by Flushing Bank at their Astoria branch and was co-sponsored by AABANY, KALAGNY, and Big Apple Abstract Corp.

Margaret and Pauline discussed the importance of doing your due diligence when selling or purchasing real property from an estate. They shared horror stories of clients trying to cut corners and scam the system. One story involved a separated husband and wife, where the wife claimed that the husband had passed away and tried to rush the closing on the sale of their house. After some investigation, it was discovered that the husband was alive and well in Greece. The moral of the story was that as real estate attorneys it is imperative to not blindly trust surrogates and extremely important to demand proof of death to prevent future liability and to protect your license.

Margaret and Pauline also discussed the tax implications and other liabilities that accompany the different types of estate structures, which included Joint Tenancy, Tenants in Common, Tenants by the Entirety, Life Estates, and Trusts. They advised that practitioners can save themselves a lot of trouble by taking the time to do their due diligence and by speaking to title companies.

We thank Flushing Bank and its staff for hosting the CLE panel for the evening. Thanks also to the speakers and everyone that attended. One CLE credit in the area of professional practice was awarded to attendees. To learn more about the Real Estate Committee, go to https://www.aabany.org/page/120.

AABANY CLE: Real Estate Fraud – Red Flags and War Stories

On March 6, 2019, Margaret Ling, AABANY Co-Chair of the Real Estate Committee, presented the CLE entitled “Real Estate Fraud – Red Flags and War Stories” The CLE networking event took place at Knights of Columbus in Brooklyn and was co-sponsored by AABANY, KALAGNY, Northfield Bank and the Brooklyn Real Estate Board. 

Pictured here from left to right: Debbie Lemma, Margaret Ling, Joanne Valerio, Geri Giancola, and Francis Chin of AABANY

Thanks to Margaret Ling for the write-up and photo for this post.

A Primer on U.S. Bankruptcy and Intellectual Property Transactions

On January 29, 2019, the IP Committee, along with the Asia Practice Committee and Commercial Bankruptcy and Restructuring Committee presented the panel: A Primer on U.S. Bankruptcy and Intellectual Property Transactions. The panel discussed the basics of intellectual property transactions involving distressed companies in the United States.

To learn more about each of the sponsoring committees, click on the links below.

IP Committee: https://www.aabany.org/page/145

Commercial Bankruptcy and Restructuring Committee: https://www.aabany.org/page/353

Asia Practice Committee: https://www.aabany.org/page/582

Access to Justice, Legal Needs, and APA Communities

On January 29, 2019, a CLE panel on Access to Justice, Legal Needs and APA Communities was held by AABANY at Cardozo Law School. The panel was organized as a part of an impressive collaborative effort between AABANY’s Academic, Government Service & Public Interest (GSPI), Pro Bono & Community Service and Student Outreach Committees. The panel came from a broad mix of public interest attorneys, law professors and private practitioners. The moderators for the panel were Academic Committee co-chair Suzanne Kim (Professor of Law, Rutgers University) and GSPI co-chair Jonathan Hernandez (Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society).

The panelists were:

Rina Gurung, Esq., Senior Court Attorney (Trial Part)
NYS Unified Court System

Donna Hae Kyun Lee, Senior Associate Dean of Clinical Programs & Professor
CUNY School of Law

Sussan Lee, Esq., Appellate Counsel
Center for Appellate Litigation

Beatrice Leong, Esq., Associate
Parmet & Zhou LLC; co-chair, AABANY GSPI Committee

Tiffany Ma, Esq., Partner
Young & Ma LLP

Pauline Yeung-Ha, Esq., Partner
Grimaldi & Yeung; co-chair, AABANY Pro Bono Committee

The event discussed how lack of access to income-based legal assistance and to the judicial system affects lower- and middle-income families and individuals, including New York City’s Asian & Pacific American communities that experience under-recognized poverty. Using multiple examples drawn from their own experiences as attorneys, the panelists discussed the impacts of this civil justice gap in family law, elder law, housing, employment law, domestic violence, immigration, language-access, and access to courts. The panelists also encouraged all concerned attorneys and law students alike to engage in pro bono work and community service.

Attendees at the event included AABANY President James Cho, numerous AABANY Committee Chairs, law students and attorneys from a wide range of backgrounds.  Attorney attendees also received 1.5 hours of CLE credit under the new Diversity, Inclusion and Elimination of Bias requirement.  After the panel presentation, Pro Bono Committee co-chair Karen Kithan Yau, made a direct appeal to all the attendees to support AABANY’s monthly Pro Bono Clinic, whether as volunteers or as donors or both, as ways to help tackle the many pressing issues discussed by the panel. 

Thanks to all of the speakers for a compelling and informative discussion. Thanks to all who attended and to Cardozo Law School APALSA and Cardozo Law School for hosting.

We thank Kevin Hsi, Co-Chair of AABANY’s Government Service & Public Interest Committee, for providing the photos and write up for this post.