Tag Archives: legal
Legal Boundaries: Deed Interpretation
Last time around we discussed the Rules of Construction, court-made rules for the interpretation of written documents when they are confusing, uncertain, ambiguous, or in conflict. Piggybacking that discussion, this time around we will talk about some basic deed interpretation, which often requires application of the rules of construction. The three primary forms of deeds...
Rules of Construction
Legal Boundaries What are the Rules of Construction, and why do we need to know about them? The Rules of Construction are court-made rules that have been developed over the centuries for the interpretation of legal documents. The courts use them when the interpretation of a document is confusing, uncertain, ambiguous, or in conflict. The...
Legal Boundaries: Monuments and Corners
Is there a difference between a monument and a corner? Many surveyors use these two terms interchangeably as if they were synonymous. Technically speaking they are not the same, but in many instances a monument will be the physical manifestation of the true corner location. This is the ultimate surveying question, is that monument actually...
Surveyors and Appellate Court Opinions
Why should we care about appellate court opinions? I have had this question posed to me on numerous occasions. I suppose it has its roots in the old surveyor’s saw: “We don’t need to read court decisions, because you can never know what the judge is going to do.” While this may have a grain...
Legal Boundaries: The Ultimate Issue
What is the “Ultimate Issue Rule” in civil litigation? The Ultimate Issue Rule refers to Rule 704 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. The Federal Rules of Evidence (the Rules) were submitted to Congress by the Supreme Court in 1973, approved and enacted in 1975. They were intended to bring uniformity across all federal courts...
Policing the Profession
In my last column we touched on the idea of “unchecked incompetent practice” and how that is a problem for the land surveying profession. This time around we are going to dive a little deeper with that idea. In a 1969 article entitle “The Professional Status of Land Surveyors,” Curtis Brown wrote, “professional liability is...
