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.


Friday, September 26, 2025

8:30 am – 4:00 pm EDT


Agenda:

Locating Land Boundaries on Paper (and on the Ground)
Presented by Timothy Cowan

  • Interpreting land descriptions
    • Metes and bounds
    • Lot and block
    • Do’s 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 Private Easements
Presented by David G. Carpenter

  • What is and is not an easement
  • Reviewing Vermont law on easements
  • Creating easements: easements by necessity, easements by use, written easements
  • Identifying critical distinctions between easemenets 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

Boundaries and Access to and on Lakes and Ponds
Presented by Liam Murphy

Boundaries and Access to and on Rivers and Streams
Presented by Liam Murphy

Defining Trespass and Adverse Possession
Presented by Rodney E. McPhee

  • 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 eminent domain cases

 

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
6.5 PDHs

Land Surveyors
Pending

Attorneys
6.5 CLE Hours

APA/AICP - American Planning Association/American Institute of Certified Planners
6.5 CM

 

Continuing Education Information

This webinar is open to the public and is designed to qualify for 6.5 PDHs for professional engineers and land surveyors and 6.5 CLE hours for attorneys in Vermont. 

Continuing education activities for Vermont engineers are not subject to pre-approval requirements. This course has been submitted to the Vermont Board of Land Surveyors for pre-approval, which is currently pending. Visit this course listing at www.halfmoonseminars.org for updates on pending credits.

HalfMoon Education Inc. is an accredited sponsor with the Vermont Mandatory Continuing Legal Education Board. This course is designed to qualify for 6.5 CLE hours for Vermont attorneys.

HalfMoon Education is an approved CM Provider with the American Planning Association. This course is registered for CM | 6.5 for Certified Planners.

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

David G. Carpenter

Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC in Burlington

Mr. Carpenter brings a distinct client-centric perspective to the practice of law, shaped by more than a decade as in-house counsel and in executive leadership roles. He understands what clients expect, and strives to leverage his own experience and DRM’s deep bench to provide efficient solutions and practical risk management. Mr. Carpenter has represented clients and developed a wide variety of infrastructure and industrial projects in markets across the northeast, overseeing development of nearly 100 renewable energy projects from Maine to Michigan to Maryland; siting, permitting and defending solid waste operations in every state between New York and Maine; and permitting and defending quarry operations in upstate New York and Vermont. He has extensive experience with hazardous site cleanup and redevelopment as well, representing responsible parties at federally listed hazardous waste sites as well as redeveloping brownfields into productive commercial sites and renewable energy projects. Throughout all of these activities – whether as an attorney or client – respectful, honest communication (leavened with a healthy dose of humor) is the guiding principle of Mr. Carpenter’s professional code.

Timothy Cowan

Licensed Land Surveyor at Civil Engineering Associates, Inc., in Vergennes

A native Vermonter, Mr. Cowan graduated from University of Vermont in 1980 with a B.A. degree in Geography. Since that time Mr. Cowan has been continously employed in the field of land surveying in Vermont and northern New Hampshire. After earning his professional license in 1987, Mr. Cowan was appointed to the Vermont Board of Land Surveyors in 1989, where he served for over nine years. Upon completition of his terms on the board he was named a Board Member Emeritus. Mr. Cowan serves on the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying on the committee which writes, prepares, and adminiters the standard examination for land surveyors. His experience includes boundary surveys of large woodland tracts for forest product companies and conservation groups, as well as subdivision and engineering surveys in urban and suburban settings. Recent interests include providing land surveying consultation services to engineers and other design professionals, and providing assistance in boundary location problems.

Rodney E. McPhee

Facey Goss & McPhee P.C. in Rutland

Mr. McPhee was born and raised in Rutland, Vermont, where he lives with his wife Nicole and their two children. He earned his B.A. degree, with great distinction, from Castleton State College in 1987. He was the first graduate to complete the Honors Program in History while at Castleton State College. He received his J.D. Degree from Vermont Law School in 1990 and graduated cum laude. While attending law school, Mr. McPhee served as a member and development notes editor for the Vermont Law Review.

Liam Murphy

MSK Attorneys in Burlington

Mr. Murphy has a broad practice grounded in all types of real estate matters. His litigation practice focuses on property law, including disputes involving title and boundary issues, easements, adverse possession and prescriptive easements; public and private road issues; title insurance claims; land use, zoning and Act 250; construction, condemnation and tax appeals. In the course of his practice, Mr. Murphy has represented landowners, developers, municipalities and neighborhood groups in matters before the United States District Court for the District of Vermont, the Vermont Supreme Court, Vermont Superior Courts, the Vermont Environmental Court, the Vermont Environmental Board, the Water Resources Board, multiple Act 250 District Environmental Commissions, and various municipal zoning and planning boards. His transactional practice focuses on representing property owners and developers to establish and manage their operating entities; to acquire, finance, permit, manage, lease and/or sell (including “1031 exchanges”) a wide variety of commercial, residential, hotel, recreational, office and shopping center properties; and to establish condominiums and common interest communities.