Land Laws
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 – 12:30 pm
Lunch (On your own): 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Afternoon Session: 1:30 – 4:30 pm
Practical Guide to Zoning and Land Use Law
G. Michael
Roadmap for navigating the approval process
• Authority for land use decisions
• Local, regional and state approvals
Master plan or “comprehensive plan”
Regional impact: extraterritoriality and growth
management; regional planning commissions
Subdivision
Rezoning: zoning changes or amendments
• The permitting process
Building code
Permits and environmental review
State and federal provisions: wetlands, shoreland protection
Hazardous waste and excavations
Limitations based upon anticipated use
• Vested rights and estoppel
• MoratoriaLegislative update
Boundary Law
P. Hastings
Understanding basic principles of boundary law
• Determine the intent of the grantor
• Follow the steps of the original surveyor
Evaluating boundary evidence
• Legal descriptions, natural monuments, artificial monuments,
adjoining boundaries, surveys and maps, statements and testimony
Resolving boundary disputes
Ethical Issues in Land Transactions and Development
R. Tilsley, Jr.
Accommodating the interests of land owners and communities
Enforcing environmental protections
Local control: is it necessary and who benefits?
State and Federal Site Contamination Law
R. Head
Discovering existing soil and/or groundwater contamination
Understanding applicable rules and regulations
Understanding liability issues
Exploring remediation and brownfield redevelopment
The Law of Easements
G. Michael
Understanding the legal concept of easements
• Types of easements
Creating easements
• Drafting easements
Terminating easements
Understanding conservation easements
Credits
Attorneys
6.5 New Hampshire CLE Hours
7.5 New York CLE Hours
6.5 Vermont CLE Hours
Professional Engineers
6.5 PDHs
Land Surveyors
1.625 CEUs (6.5 Hours)
Foresters
6.5 CEUs
Architects
6.5 HSW CE Hours
6.5 AIA HSW Learning Units
Continuing Education Credit Information
This seminar is open to the public. It offers continuing education credits to attorneys, professional engineers, land surveyors, foresters, and architects.
This course offers 6.5 CLE hours to New Hampshire attorneys. (Courses are no longer pre-approved.) HalfMoon Education is a Vermont-approved CLE sponsor, and this course offers 6.5 CLE hours. HalfMoon Education is a New York-approved CLE provider, and this course offers 7.5 Area of Professional Practice CLE hours suitable for new and experienced attorneys.
This program offers 6.5 PDHs to New Hampshire engineers, 1.625 CEUs (6.5 hours) to New Hampshire land surveyors, and 6.5 CEUs to New Hampshire foresters. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in New Hampshire. These professionals seeking continuing education credit in other states need to refer to specific state rules to determine credit eligibility.
This course offers 6.5 HSW continuing education hours to architects. It is approved by the American Institute of Architects for 6.5 HSW Learning Units (Sponsor No. J885). Partial attendance cannot be reported to the AIA.
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
Philip Hastings
Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A.Philip M. Hastings is president, director and shareholder of Cleveland, Waters and Bass, P.A., in Concord, where he focuses his practice in real estate development and finance, land use and zoning, commercial transactions, commercial lending, and leasing. He graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. degree from Connecticut College in 1988 and earned his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1993. Mr. Hastings is admitted to practice in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He is an agent for First American Title Insurance Company, Fidelity National Title Insurance Company and Old Republic National Title Insurance Company.
Richard Head
Rath, Young & PignatelliRichard W. Head is of counsel to Rath, Young & Pignatelli in Concord, and of counsel to SL Environmental Law Group in San Francisco, CA. He focuses his practice on environmental law and environmental and commercial litigation. Mr. Head has experience in both the public and private sector with issues involving environmental compliance, permits, approvals and litigation. He also worked for the New Hampshire Department of Justice where he held multiple senior leadership roles throughout his tenure. As an associate attorney general, he was the director of the Division of Legal Counsel and oversaw the management of the Civil and Transportation Bureaus and the Charitable Trust Unit. As a senior assistant attorney general, he served as the Bureau Chief of the Environmental Protection Bureau and the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau. Prior to working for the Department of Justice, Mr. Head worked in the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services after spending 10 years in private practice as a litigator. He earned his B.A. degree from Clark University and his J.D. and M.S. degrees in Environmental Science from Indiana University.
Gregory Michael
Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A.Gregory E. Michael is of counsel to the Manchester law firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer & Nelson, P.A., where his areas of practice are real estate, municipal law and land use. He has spoken previously on topics related to his areas of practice, including presentations for the New Hampshire Municipal Law Lecture Series and the New Hampshire Bar Association. Mr. Michael is a member of the New Hampshire and Massachusetts bar associations. He earned his B.S. degree from the University of New Hampshire and his J.D. degree from Suffolk University Law School.
Roy Tilsley
BernsteinShurRoy W. Tilsley, Jr., is a shareholder with BernsteinShur in Manchester. Mr. Tilsley is a member of the firm’s Business Law and Real Estate Practice Groups and is the managing shareholder of the Manchester office. His practice focuses on real estate law including the acquisition, financing, leasing and development of real estate; business transactions; and related litigation. Mr. Tilsley regularly appears before various municipal boards on behalf of real estate developers. He has litigated complex boundary line disputes, tax abatements and municipal reassessment cases. Mr. Tilsley regularly represents clients before state regulatory agencies. He is currently vice-chair of the State Board of Auctioneers. Previously, he was a member of the State of New Hampshire Transportation Appeals Board. He obtained his JD degree from Cornell Law School, cum laude, in 1992.