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

Boundary Law
J. Shumadine

   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

Understanding Riparian and Water Rights
B. Leoni

   History and development of riparian rights
   The Colonial Ordinance’s effects on boundaries
   Surveying tips to reduce ambiguity
   Determining access rights to surface waters
   Overview of regulations restricting access to and use of surface water and groundwater

The Law of Easements
J. Shumadine

   Understanding the legal concept of easements
      • Types of easements
   Creating easements
      • Drafting easements
   Terminating easements
   Understanding conservation easements

Understanding Adverse Possession/Prescriptive Easements
B. Leoni

   The history of adverse possession and prescriptive easements
   Statutory law vs. common law
   Case law on adverse possession and prescriptive easements
   Comparison to boundary by acquiescence
   Maintaining a claim for adverse possession and prescriptive easements
      • Statute of limitations
      • Elements of a claim
   Defending against a claim for adverse possession
   Helpful pointers for surveyors

Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
M. Bosse

   Understanding eminent domain powers
      • Source of eminent domain powers
      • History of the exercise of eminent domain powers
      • Types of eminent domain “takings”
   Participating in the condemnation process
   Appealing a condemnation decision
   Understanding regulatory “takings” and inverse condemnation

Credits

This seminar offers 6.5 PDHs to Maine professional engineers and land surveyors.


Continuing Education Credit Information

This seminar is open to the public and offers 6.5 PDHs to professional engineers and land surveyors in Maine. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Maine.

Engineers and land surveyors seeking continuing education credit in other states will be able to claim the hours earned at this seminar, in most cases. Refer to specific state rules to determine eligibility.

Attendance will be monitored and reported, as required. 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

Michael Bosse

Bernstein Shur

Attorney, Bernstein Shur in PortlandAfter clerking for Maine Supreme Court Justice Robert Clifford for a year after law school, Mr. Bosse dove straight into construction law, defending architects and engineers in construction cases at a small Portland insurance defense firm. Since joining Bernstein Shur a decade and a half ago, Mr. Bosse has had the pleasure of representing the full panoply of participants construction projects: developers, owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, lenders, and sureties in everything from contract negotiation and administration to construction claims, collection efforts and litigation. He has quickly grown to the chair of the firm’s Construction Practice Group, building his practice into a truly regional one, covering primarily Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Mr. Bosse also has had experience with eminent domain matters, including litigation at the State Claims Commission, the trial courts in Maine and the Maine Supreme Court. In service to his firm, he ran for and was elected to the firm’s Compensation Committee and has served for the past five years in that capacity, and he also serves as the co-chair for the Litigation Practice Group.

Ben Leoni

Curtis Thaxter

Attorney, Curtis Thaxter in PortlandMr. Leoni focuses on land use and general civil litigation. Since 2011, he has represented clients in some of Maine’s largest boundary and water access and water rights cases. Mr. Leoni was co-counsel for landowners in the first phase of Almeder et al. v. Town of Kennebunkport, known as the “Goose Rocks Beach case,” which dealt with claims for prescriptive easements and easement by custom. He is currently lead counsel in the second phase of the Goose Rocks Beach case, which deals with water boundary descriptions tracing back to the mid-1600s. Mr. Leoni also successfully represented coastal owners against public prescriptive claims in what is known as the “Cedar Beach” case in Harpswell and he currently represents Acadian Seaplants, a seaweed harvesting company, in a landmark case concerning whether the public has the right to harvest living intertidal seaweed from the intertidal zone. He regularly handles boundary dispute claims, including adverse possession claims. Mr. Leoni earned his B.A. degree from Bates College in 2005 and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Vermont Law School in 2011.

John Shumadine

Murray Plumb & Murray

Partner with Murray Plumb & Murray in PortlandMr. Shumadine represents abutters, developers and towns in connection with all land use issues, from shoreland zoning, to Department of Environmental Protection regulations, to subdivision concerns. He has represented developers seeking subdivision, site plan, building permit and other approvals; landowners challenging proposed abutting development or rezoning, as well as those seeking tax abatements; and towns seeking zoning, subdivision and other land use advice.Mr. Shumadine’s practice also focuses on more general disputes involving land and roads, both public and private. He has extensive experience addressing zoning, subdivision and other similar issues before Maine’s Land Use Regulation Commission and presenting arguments before planning and zoning boards, as well as the Superior Court and Law Court. Mr. Shumadine is a member of the Maine State, Cumberland County and American Bar Associations.

CD/Manual Price: $289.00

Currently, our self-study products DO NOT qualify for AIA, LACES, ASLA or CLARB credit.

HalfMoon will mail you these materials via USPS. Please allow 5 weeks from the date of purchase to receive your product. If the live seminar is in the future, please allow 5 weeks from the date of the live seminar.

The CD/Manual package includes an audio recording of a live seminar on CDs, along with a bound copy of the manual that was distributed at the seminar. The manual contains written materials prepared by the seminar speaker(s).

The CDs contain embedded number codes, which you are required to document and return to HalfMoon if you wish to obtain a certificate of completion for the program. The acceptance of self-administered continuing education activities vary widely between states and professions. Before undertaking any self-study effort, you should review the rules of your licensing/certifying entity.

HalfMoon Education guarantees its products. The self-study products are recorded from a live seminar and there are circumstances where an audio recording is not available. HalfMoon will contact you and issue a full refund if the product you ordered is not available. If you are not happy with a product you receive, you can return the product for a full refund. However, refunds will not be issued if completion certificates are requested.

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