substantive
Flowers v. Bessent: The Fight Over FinCEN’s Real Estate Reporting Rule Continues
Earlier this year, a federal district court in Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent vacated FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Reporting Rule. The court concluded that FinCEN exceeded its authority under the Bank Secrecy Act when it attempted to impose nationwide reporting requirements for certain non-financed residential real estate transfers involving entities and trusts. The federal…
Read MoreA Different Kind of Unclean Hands
Most lawyers are familiar with the doctrine of unclean hands, which prevents a party from obtaining equitable relief when that party has engaged in wrongful conduct. The North Carolina Court of Appeals recently decided a case involving a very different kind of unclean hands. In this case, the witnesses’ hands were literally dirty, and that…
Read MoreTexas Federal Court Vacates FinCEN Real Estate Reporting Rule
A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas has temporarily upended FinCEN’s new residential real estate reporting regime. In Flowers Title Companies, LLC v. Bessent, the court granted summary judgment in favor of a Texas title company and vacated FinCEN’s “Residential Real Estate Rule” nationwide. FinCEN’s rule, finalized in…
Read MoreAssault with a Deadly Sandwich
Sometimes a case comes along and reminds us that truth is often stranger than fiction. Consider for example the case of the man who was indicted and tried for throwing a sandwich at a federal agent. The defendant, Sean Dunn, an Air Force veteran and former Justice Department paralegal, said he was protesting the federal…
Read MoreThe Justice Gap
Nearly a century after Gideon v. Wainwright affirmed the right to counsel in criminal cases, most Americans still face civil legal problems like evictions, custody disputes, domestic violence, and debt collection without any legal help. In 2022, the ABA reported that self-representation rates exceed 90% on many dockets nationwide, and a Legal Services Corporation study…
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