Agenda

Webinar instructions will be emailed before the date of the webinar.

Please log into the webinar 15 – 30 minutes before start time.

Tuesday, December 20, 2022
8:30 am – 4:15 pm MST (including a 60-min. break)

 

Presented by
Quinn Scott Simons
Stephen S. Hamilton
Matt Armendariz
Ryan Hetrick
Thomas L. Wyman
Melissa L. Martin

Agenda
Identifying, Classifying and Locating Easements
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

Eminent Domain Law
Understanding eminent domain powers
• Source of eminent domain powers
• History of the exercise of eminent domain powers
• Types of eminent domain “takings”
Just compensation: valuing “taken” property
Privatization of eminent domain and other current issues

Understanding Utility Easements and Rights of Way
Current law on utility easements and rights of way under New Mexico law
• 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
Current issues involving utility easements

Mineral Development and the Rights of Surface Owners
Fee vs. state vs. federal ownership
Rights of surface estate vs. rights of mineral estate
Reasonable use of surface for mineral exploration
Accommodation Doctrine
• Surface Owner Protection Act
• Notice requirements
• Proposed compensation agreement
• Cause of action

New Mexico DOT Condemnation Process
Special Alternative Condemnation Procedures, NMSA 1978, Sections 42-2-1 through 42-2-24
Feasibility studies and authorizations to enter
Total or Partial Takes, Construction Maintenance Easements (CME) and Temporary Construction Permits (TCP)
Waiver, simple and complex appraisals, negotiating in good faith
What’s the date of taking for an appraisal’s “effective date”?
County of Dona Ana v. Bennett 1994-NMSC-005
Preliminary orders of entry, granted ex parte
Legal objections to preliminary orders of entry and conversion into permanent orders of entry
Highway ROW certifications to the FHWA, Levels 1, 2 and 3

  

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.

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Credits

Professional Engineers:
6.0 PDHs

Land Surveyors:
6.0 PDHs

Attorneys:
6.2 General CLE Credits

Title Insurance Producers:
Pending

 

Continuing Education Credit Information
This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 6.0 PDHs for professional engineers and land surveyors in New Mexico. The New Mexico Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Professional Surveyors does not pre-approve courses or providers.

This webinar has been approved by the State Bar of New Mexico
for 6.2 general CLE credits.

This webinar has been submitted to the New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance’s continuing education committee for review and accreditation, which is currently pending.

Visit this course listing at www.halfmoonseminars.org for updates on pending credits.

Completion certificates will be awarded to participants who complete this event and earn a passing score (80%) on the quiz that follows the presentation (multiple attempts allowed).

Speakers

Matthew T. Armendariz

Attorney/Shareholder, ScottHulse
Matt Armendariz is a real estate, corporate finance/lending, and general business attorney. An experienced lawyer, he advises a variety of clients on real estate, leasing, commercial lending/secured transactions, and general corporate and business matters.

His practice areas include Real Estate and Water Rights, Finance/Lending, and Corporate and Business Transactions. Matt’s real estate practice focuses on the representation of a diversity of clients, including owners, developers, homebuilders, investors, utilities, and financial institutions. In addition, Matt has extensive experience with commercial lending and general business and corporate transactions in a variety of industries.

Prior to joining ScottHulse, Matt worked in the corporate finance practice group at the Dallas office of a multinational, Vault Law 100 firm. There, his practice concentrated on a broad range of acquisition and commercial lending transactions including the representation of agent banks and commercial borrowers in connection with asset- and reserve-based financings within many different industries, including the upstream energy space.

Matt has been named a “Texas Rising Star” from 2017-2020 by Thomson Reuters. Matt is a member of the Texas Bar, the New Mexico Bar, the American Bar Association, and the Texas Young Lawyers Association.

Matt earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D.) from Stanford Law School where he was an associate editor for the Journal of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. He was also a member of the executive board of the Stanford Latino Law Students Association (SLLSA). He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from Yale University.

Stephen S. Hamilton

Of counsel, Montgomery & Andrews Law Firm
Stephen S. Hamilton is a trial lawyer with 36 years of experience in a wide range of civil litigation. His practice is currently primarily concentrated in the fields of condemnation and eminent domain, real property rights, commercial litigation, the representation of governmental entities and personal injury defense. He also is an experienced mediator of litigated cases.

Ryan Hetrick

Partner at Antus & Patton LLP of Midland, Texas
An experienced oil and gas attorney, Ryan Hetrick received Board Certification in Oil, Gas, and Mineral Law from the Texas Board of Legal Specializations in 2016. His practice focuses on providing clients with accurate and timely title opinions, as well as due diligence for their acquisitions and divestitures. He has considerable experience in oil and gas title issues, and has rendered countless Surface, Drilling, Division Order and Acquisition Title Opinions. Mr. Hetrick regularly advises and assists clients with interpreting and drafting deeds, assignments, and all other manner of instruments affecting title.

Mellissa L. Martin

Melissa Martin is an associate attorney in ScottHulse’s transactional and litigation sections. Ms. Martin is a legal generalist whose practice focuses on real estate, corporate and securities, probate and estate planning, and business litigation. Prior to joining ScottHulse, Melissa Martin served as corporate and litigation counsel for a financial investment firm.

Ms. Martin earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence and Master of Arts in International Relations from the American University in Washington, DC. While in law school, she was a judicial extern at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Melissa Martin was also a member of the National Security Law Brief and researched international and domestic labor laws as a Research Fellow. While pursuing her master’s degree, she served as an Editor of the Journal of International Service.

Ms. Martin attended the University of California, Los Angeles, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Anthropology with a minor in Middle Eastern and North African Studies. As an undergraduate, she was a research assistant for the UCLA Center for Middle East Development and a reporter for The Daily Bruin.

Quinn Scott Simons

Partner, The Simons Firm
Quinn Scott Simons was born and raised in Santa Fe and is a fourth generation New Mexican. After attending undergraduate school at Colorado College (B.A. 1997), Quinn, an avid mountain climber, attempted an unclimbed route on a remote, 25,245’ peak in the Tibetan Himalayas. Due to an unexpected storm and highly technical climbing conditions at high altitude, Quinn suffered severe frostbite, costing him his fingers and feet. Undaunted by the challenges and adversity that ensued, Quinn started and ran a successful construction company in Santa Fe for several years, before moving to Kentucky to train horses.

After years in the horse business, Quinn reunited with his high school girlfriend, Veree, and chose to settle down and raise his family in Santa Fe. Quinn attended the University of New Mexico School of Law (J.D. 2013), and now maintains a successful law practice focused on construction and real estate law and litigation, general business law and litigation, and insurance law. He is licensed to practice in both New Mexico State and Federal courts with an emphasis on trial practice. 

Thomas L. Wyman

Deputy General Counsel with the New Mexico Department of Transportation (NMDOT)
Thomas L. Wyman is responsible for the Right-of-Way (ROW) Section of the legal department. The ROW Section provides legal support for all issues touching or effecting highway public ROW including acquisition of additional real property, access, fencing, public utility permits and ROW Use permits for private businesses, mobile cell towers and fiber-conduit facilities. The ROW Section also provides legal support for the Highway Beautification Act, enforcement and Outdoor Advertising permits covering billboards legible from the ROW and on-premises signs. Thomas has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering as well as his Juris Doctorate and has worked at the NMDOT for six years of his twelve years of practicing law. Thomas worked in ranching, construction and engineering for many years before law school.