Boundaries and Easements Seminar
DISCLAIMER
Before purchasing, review the rules of your licensing or certifying entity. It is your responsibility to confirm this course meets your CE requirements. See the credit tab on the course page for details.
What’s Included: Full webinar recording, written course materials, expert instruction, a mandatory quiz, and a certificate upon completion.
Deliverability Timeline: All courses are generally available within 1-2 weeks after the live presentation.
CE Credits: AIA and/or LA/CES accreditation is available by request for courses recorded prior to March 11, 2026. All courses after that date include those accreditations by default, if applicable. With these accreditations, our courses qualify for credit in nearly all states for engineers, surveyors, architects, and landscape architects.
Learn more about the on-demand format in our FAQ or contact us at (715) 835-5900 or customerservice@halfmoonseminars.org
Agenda
Registration: 8:00 – 8:30 am
Morning Session: 8:30 am – 12:15 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:15 – 1:15 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:00 – 5:00 pm
Locating Land Boundaries on Paper (And on the Ground)
B. Holden
Interpreting land descriptions
– Metes and bounds
Closure – Precision vs. accuracy
– Types of surveys
• Staff compass & chain
• Transit & tape, stadia, EDM
• Compass & tape
• Total station
• GPS
– Bearing reference
• Magnetic north & declination
• True & astronomic north
• Grid north
• Compass attraction
– Town lotting maps
• Sources
• Referencing a town Lot
– Writing descriptions
• Dos & don’ts
• Tax maps & parcel data
Boundary location – Evidence & procedures
– Records
– Physical evidence
– Parol evidence
– Maps, surveys & sketches
– Interpreting a written description and locating it on the ground
Understanding and using geographic information systems (GIS)
– E911
– Vermont ANR Atlas
– VCGI
Solving land description and boundary location problems
Identifying, Classifying and Locating Easements
R. Fox
What is and is not an easement
Reviewing state law on easements
Creating easements: easements by necessity, easements by use, written easements
Identifying critical distinctions between easements in gross, easements appurtenant and prescriptive easements
Maintaining easements
Knowing when and how to terminate easements
Obstructing use of easements and determining remedies for obstruction
Defining Trespass and Adverse Possession
A. Lorraine
Defining trespass
Reviewing the history of adverse possession
Maintaining a claim for adverse possession
– Statute of limitations
– Elements of a claim
Defending against a claim for adverse possession
Examining recent adverse possession cases
Understanding Riparian and Water Rights
R. Fox
History and development of riparian rights
Determining land boundaries near the water line
Determining access rights to surface waters
Determining rights to groundwater
Complying with regulations restricting access to and use of surface water and groundwater
Understanding Utility Easements and Rights of Way
R. Fox
Current law on utility rights of way
– Federal laws and regulations
– State laws and regulations
Types of utilities affected
– Electric, water, natural gas, telecommunications, satellite communications
Basis for and definition of the easement
Encroachments and interferences
Maintenance
Environmental issues
Condemnation law
Current issues involving utility easements
Credits
Attorneys
7.0 Vermont CLE Hours
8.0 New York CLE Hours
Professional Engineers
7.0 PDHs
Land Surveyors
7.0 Vermont CEUs
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public and offers 7.0 CLE hours to Vermont attorneys. HalfMoon Education Inc. is an accredited CLE provider in Vermont.
HalfMoon Education Inc. is certified by the New York State CLE Board as an Accredited Provider of CLE programs. This traditional format course offers 8.0 CLE hours, consisting 8.0 Areas of Professional Practice hours, which are appropriate for new and experienced attorneys.
This course offers 7.0 PDHs to Vermont professional engineers to whom the subject matter is professionally relevant.
The Vermont Board of Land Surveyors has approved this course for 7.0 CEUs.
Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the seminar for most individuals who complete the entire event. Attendance certificates not available at the seminar will be mailed to participants within fifteen business days.
Speakers
Richard Fox
Richard J Fox PLLCFounder of Richard J Fox PLLC in ShelburneMr. Fox is a Vermont native and a graduate of Charlotte Centra lSchool and Champlain Valley Union High School. After leaving Vermont to attend Rutgers University and George Washington University Law School, Richard practiced law in Washington DC and Boston before returning to Vermont in 2004. He has been elected by Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, to the 2013, 2014, and 2015 Vermont Rising Stars list (for attorneys under the age of 40) and is a featured presenter at national andlocal continuing legal education (CLE) seminars on construction law, real estate law, landlord-tenant law, and title insurance for such providers of legal and professional education as the National Business Institute™, Lorman Education Services®, Institute for Paralegal Education™, Sterling Education Services,and NorthCap Educational Services. Mr. Fox lives in Shelburne with his wife and family, and when he is not serving his clients, he serves his community in a variety of roles.
Bradford Holden
in UnderhillMr. Holden is a seventh generation Vermonter who was raised in Underhill. He graduated from Paul Smith’s College of Artsand Sciences in 1988 with a degree in Land Surveying; he was licensed by the State of Vermont in 2000 and is currently the sole proprietor of a land surveying consulting business located in Underhill. Mr Holden has served on the Executive Committee of the Vermont Society of Land Surveyors and in that capacity served on multiple legislative advisory committees and represented Vermont throughout New England. He has volunteered his time in local government and continues to be an advisor to many surrounding municipalities. In his free time, Mr. Holden enjoys Vermont history, mountain biking and backcountry skiing.
Annette Lorraine
Annette Lorraine, PLCAttorney and owner of Annette Lorraine, PLC in MontpelierMs. Lorraine is an attorney licensed in Vermont and experienced in a variety of real estate matters, land conservation and related tax matters, nonprofits, small business, and other general practice areas. She is an approved attorney with Stewart Title Guaranty Co. Ms. Lorraine earned her bachelor of science degree from the University of San Francisco and her JD/MSEL degree from the Vermont School of Law. She lives in the northeast kingdom area of Vermont surrounded by trees, moose, frogs and other critters. She serves on her town selectboard, and fancies herself a weekend painter.