News & Insights
April 19, 2024 By: Harris Eisenstein When the government wants to take private property for a public project, it must compensate the owner at fair market value. The just compensation concept comes from the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, which provides: “nor shall private property be taken for public purpose, without just compensation.” These twelve words…
March 29, 2024 By: William L. Hallam Real property tax certificate sales provide a way for taxing authorities to collect delinquent taxes without having to foreclose on properties and take ownership. When the purchaser of the tax sale certificate obtains the certificate, it pays the taxing authority the amount of delinquent taxes owed. If the…
By: Adam Baker and Jennifer Busse March 4, 2024 On February 20, 2024, the Baltimore County Council voted to approve the Baltimore County 2030 Master Plan. While the Baltimore County Charter requires the Master Plan to be updated every ten years, Master Plan 2030 was delayed several years on account of the COVID pandemic and…
February 29, 2024 Updated: March 8, 2024 By: Gabby Shirley, Amelia Miller, and Bobby Lindsey, Jr. Reporting under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”) became effective as of January 1, 2024. The reach of the CTA is extremely broad and it is likely that most small businesses will be deemed “Reporting Companies” required to register with…
February 1, 2023 By: William L. Hallam In its January 18, 2024 opinion in In Re Hilgartner, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit exhibited deference to U.S. Supreme Court precedent by forcefully rejecting an argument that the Fourth Circuit itself had previously accepted. Lee Andrew Hilgartner assaulted Ysuko Yagi. After Yagi…
December 27, 2023 By: William L. Hallam Nearly four years after the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, issues concerning the legal consequences of executive and legislative orders shutting down business operations are still working their way through appellate courts throughout the United States. Maryland’s second highest appellate court addressed some of these issues in its…
November 30, 2023 By: Harris W. Eisenstein and Amelia Miller Roughly a decade ago, then-Governor Larry Hogan nixed plans for a public transit project connecting East and West Baltimore known as the Red Line. Governor Wes Moore revived the Red Line project in June 2023, and in recent months, various media outlets have reported on…
November 2, 2023 By: William L. Hallam The scenario is fairly common. A bank makes a loan to a business. The owners of the business guarantee the loan. The business defaults. The owners blame each other for the failure of the business. When the bank demands payment of the loan, the more liquid owner who…
October 16, 2023 By: William L. Hallam News accounts of instances of stolen identity in which identity thieves incur debts in the names of innocent consumers are common. Given the structure of the consumer credit industry, it is difficult for consumers to know where to turn to try to fix the problem. The ostensible creditor…
September 20, 2023 By: William L. Hallam The scope of Bankruptcy Court jurisdiction has been the subject of numerous decisions, including multiple decisions by the United States Supreme Court since Bankruptcy Courts were created by the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978. Initially, Congress created Bankruptcy Courts as stand-alone courts and purported to give them exclusive…
