Agenda

Webinar instructions will be emailed 24-48 business hours before the date of the webinar.
Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.


Thursday, November 13, 2025

8:30 am – 4:30 pm CST


Agenda:

Locating Land Boundaries on Paper (And on the Ground)
Presented by J. Cole Helfrich

  • Interpreting land descriptions
    • Metes and bounds
    • Lot and block
    • Dos and don’ts for writing descriptions
  • Applying principles of boundary location
    • Collecting and evaluating all types of boundary evidence: documents, physical evidence, people, surveys
    • Locating the described land on a map
    • Locating the described land on the ground
  • Understanding and using geographic information systems (GIS)
  • Solving land description and boundary location problems

Identifying, Classifying and Locating Easements
Presented by Bryan P. Lynch

  • 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
Presented by Brian J. Fischer

  • 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

Resolving Boundary Disputes
Presented by Anthony “Tony” M. Gregory, PS

  • Types of boundary disputes
    • Adverse possession, easements, boundaries
  • Obtaining and reviewing boundary evidence
  • Methods for establishing disputed boundaries Participating in dispute resolution techniques
    • Litigation, arbitration, mediation, agreements, title insurance
  • Examining boundary dispute case studies: exploring techniques for resolving sample disputes

Understanding Utility Easements and Rights of Way
Presented by Brian J. Fischer

  • 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

 

Webinar Instructions 
 
All attendees must log-on through their own email – attendees may not watch together if they wish to earn continuing education credit. HalfMoon Education Inc. must be able to prove attendance if either the attendee or HalfMoon Education Inc. is audited. 

Certificates of completion can be downloaded in PDF form upon passing a short quiz. A link to the quiz will be sent to each qualifying attendee immediately after the webinar. The certificate can be downloaded from the Results page of the quiz upon scoring 80% or higher. 

Webinars are presented via GoToWebinar, an easy-to-use application that can be run on most systems and tablets. Instructions and login information will be provided in an email sent close to the date of the webinar. It is highly recommended that you download, install and test the application before the webinar begins by clicking on the link in the email. 

GoToWebinar App requirements:  
Windows 10 or higher, macOS 11 or higher, Linux, Google Chrome OS 

Web Browser:  
Google Chrome (most recent 3 versions) 
Microsoft Edge (most recent 3 versions) 

Internet connection: 1 Mbps or better 

Hardware:  2GB of RAM (minimum), 4GB or more of RAM (recommended) 

For more information, visit the Support section at www.gotowebinar.com 

Credits

Engineers
7.0 PDHs

Land Surveyors
7.0 PDHs

Attorneys
7.0 MCLE General Credit Hours

 

Continuing Education Information

This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 7.0 PDHs for professional engineers and land surveyors in Illinois. Educators and courses are not subject to preapproval in Illinois.

This webinar has been approved by the MCLE Board of the Supreme Court of Illinois for 7.0 MCLE general credit hours.

Attendance will be monitored, and attendance certificates will be available after the webinar for those who attend the entire course and score a minimum 80% on the quiz that follows the course (multiple attempts allowed).

*On-Demand Credits*

The preceding credit information only applies to the live presentation. This course in an on-demand format is not pre-approved by any licensing boards and may not qualify for the same credits; please consult your licensing board(s) to ensure that a structured, asynchronous learning format is appropriate.

Speakers

Brian J. Fischer, PLS

Director of Surveying with THD Design Group, Inc. in Chesterfield, MO

Mr. Fischer has over 30 years of experience in the survey field, performing a variety of survey types for residential, municipal, commercial, industrial and government agency clients. He has experience in survey instrumentation and computer aided drafting (CAD) programs, as well as office and survey programs such as Trimble Office, Carlson and Civil 3D. Management experience includes overseeing drafting and field crews, as well as a branch office for an Oil and Gas services firm in southeast Texas. A former adjunct faculty member for the Engineering Department at St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley, he holds professional land surveyor licenses in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Mississippi and Texas.

Anthony “Tony” M. Gregory, PS

Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering Technology and former Department Head at Purdue University Northwest

Mr. Gregory is a Professor Emeritus of Civil Engineering Technology and former Department Head at Purdue University Northwest in Hammond, Indiana. He is registered as a professional surveyor in Indiana and Illinois and consults as a Project Surveyor at Abonmarche through their Hobart, Indiana office. Mr. Gregory has presented numerous seminars on various land surveying topics to professional land surveyors, surveying technicians, attorneys, title company officials, and real estate professionals through various settings. He is a member of the Indiana Society of Professional Land Surveyors (ISPLS), the Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association (IPLSA), and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS). Mr. Gregory previously served on the ISPLS Board of Directors and is a past society president. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of NSPS and chairs the NSPS Education Committee.

J. Cole Helfrich

Principal Land Surveyor with Koru Group PLLC

Mr. Helfrich has been principal land surveyor with Craig R. Knoche & Associates, P.C. and its successor Koru Group PLLC in the Chicago area for the last 30 years. Mr. Helfrich first picked up a plumb bob in 1971 for Webster & Associates. From tape-and-transit to GPS, mortgage surveys to shopping centers, he has his seal on billions of dollars of commercial, residential and institutional developments and transactions in 23 counties in Illinois together with consulting and managing projects in 15 other states. Mr. Helfrich has enjoyed working with countless prominent developers, attorneys and other professionals in the field and the office. His specialties include real estate law, boundaries and boundary law, easements, rights-of-way and other encumbrances and servitudes, statutory and common-law plats, ALTA surveys, topography, building and site layout, construction- and project-management as well as land development consulting. He has presented classes and co-written manuals with the Illinois Institute For Continuing Legal Education along with classes at the University of Illinois and HalfMoon Education. Mr. Helfrich is a member of the National Society of Professional Surveyors and the Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association.

Bryan P. Lynch

Owner of the Law Office of Bryan P. Lynch, P.C.

Mr. Lynch, owner of the Law Office of Bryan P. Lynch, P.C., concentrates his practice on representing owners of commercial, industrial, residential, and agricultural property affected by the power of eminent domain and the condemnation legal process. In his role protecting property owners’ rights, Mr. Lynch routinely opposes state, county and municipal taking agencies, such as IDOT, the Illinois Tollway, CTA, City of Chicago, and Public Building Commission of Chicago. In addition to being a leading Illinois eminent domain attorney, Mr. Lynch has presented seminars for organizations such as the Chicago Farmers workshop and National Business Institute and was appointed by several presidents of the Illinois State Bar Association to serve on its Real Estate Section Council. He has been interviewed by the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Business Journal regarding eminent domain and has written articles published in such periodicals as the Chicago Law Bulletin.