eCourses

Session 01: Land Use Case Law Updates, Part 1 - A roundup of recent land uses cases, including platting, zoning, takings, vested rights, development agreements, etc. Session 02: Land Use Case Law Updates, Part 2 - A roundup of recent land uses cases, including platting, zoning, takings, vested rights, development agreements, etc. Session 03: Legislative Update: Key Land Use Bills in the 89th Texas Legislature - With the 89th Regular Legislative Session still in full swing, this session reviews pending bills and their implications for land use regulation. Session 04: Hot Topics in Texas Land Use Law - A wide-ranging discussion of current issues: A Dallas response to gentrification and NIMBY-ism—will it work? Does the concept “gentle density” really increase housing stock? Why have so many parking spaces disappeared in Texas cities? And our perennial topic: how are Texas courts now addressing municipal regulation of short-term rentals, and have we learned anything new? These topics and more are addressed in this presentation.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

How to regulate solicitation in the form of an unattended donation bin. Zoning classifications versus distance buffers, and traps for the unwary regulator.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

A presentation on the social and economic population trends in Texas and its effects on services, infrastructure, and natural resources.

Includes: Video Audio Slides

As drone technology rapidly evolves, cities face unprecedented challenges in balancing innovation with public safety, privacy rights and existing land use frameworks. This presentation examines a detailed case study of drone operations in urban environments, analyzing how municipalities can develop adaptive regulatory approaches that accommodate beneficial drone uses while protecting community interests. Through examining real-world examples of commercial drone applications, from delivery services to building inspections, this presentation explores practical strategies for creating flexible yet robust land use policies that can serve as a model for addressing future technological disruptions.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

THIS MONTH: Is the Clock Ticking? A Discussion of TikTok's Legal Issues and the Platform's Future  • ​Interacting and Dealing with Difficult People: Ethically Working with All Kinds of Others • Demographic Trends and Characteristics in Texas • The Human’s Guide to Acquiring/Selling AI Companies: So What’s So Different? • Updated Texas Disciplinary Rules: What You Should Know

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

A panel discussion on the merits of voluntary annexation, disannexation and ETJ release under current law. This panel explores from a legal and practical standpoint the decision making, tools and negotiations that allow developers and cities to get to a win-win for proposed projects outside city limits.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Whether purposeful or unforeseen, well-intentioned zoning codes create nonconformities that must be respected while cities work toward the end goal of implementing their plans. This session looks at how case law treats nonconforming rights, the takings implications, and the notice requirements of SB929.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Legislative immunity and protection of P&Z Commissioners and City Council-members from forced testimony.

Includes: Video Audio Slides

How can cities, regions, and states plan and invest in transportation systems and regulate or deregulate land use in ways that give people more freedom to afford various lifestyle options?

Includes: Video Audio Slides

Chapter 212, subchapter C of the Local Government Code establishes the traditional method for municipalities to financially participate in developer construction contracts. However, there are other alternative methods for municipalities to participate in developer contracts through compliance with chapter 252 of the Local Government Code or chapter 2269 of the Government Code, which will be discussed.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

The population growth in Texas has led to increased demands on local governments to review and approve development projects. Streamlining processes and adopting new regulations for plats and infrastructure construction by developers can provide local governments with new methods for responding to these increased demands.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Discussion of current state and federal case law on regulatory takings, including the US Supreme Court opinion in Sheetz v. El Dorado County.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

A review focusing on the power of owner's associations to regulate and maintain communities.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Explore the essential role of burnout prevention in the legal profession and discover practical strategies to cultivate wellness for yourself and your staff. This session equips you with actionable tools for fostering a thriving, resilient legal team.

Includes: Video Audio Slides

Session 01: How Utilities Can Intentionally or Unintentionally Influence Land Use - A panel discussion with attorneys representing utilities, developers, and municipalities addressing conditions of utility service, the regulatory framework surrounding utilities on the ground and the interplay between land development inside and outside municipal limits when utility service is at play. Session 02: The PUC Electric Grid Resiliency Program and What It Means to Development - An overview of the State’s recent focus on grid resiliency, the investor-owned utility electric utility resiliency programs recently approved by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, and a discussion on how these initiatives could impact development.

Includes: Video Audio Slides

Session 01: The Future of Water in Texas: Sustainability and Supply Challenges - An examination of the current water system landscape in Texas, including its challenges, and how Texas can plan for the future. Session 02: Water And Development: It Should Mix if Properly Handled! - Overview of water issues related to land development.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Dealing with represented governmental entities, unrepresented governmental entities, and how to tell the difference.

Includes: Video Audio Slides

Session 01: Finaceability of Documents - Explore financeability requirements for documents in commercial real estate financing. Session 02: What Is Negotiable in Loan Documents - Discuss issues, motivations and explanations of the loan document provisions that are typically negotiated in a commercial real estate lending transaction. Session 03: Loan Modifications  Session 04: Contesting Property Tax Appraisals - The Property Tax Protest and Appeal process can be confusing. With fifteen-minutes as the average length for an Appraisal Review Board hearing, review strategies for what to do and not do before your values are set in the Summer, and tax statements arrive in the Fall. Session 05: Arrows in the Quiver: Remedies for Commercial Real Estate Secured Loans - Review of potential remedies available to enforce and collect commercial real estate secured loans. What are the requirements? What are the pros and cons?     Session 06: Give a Little, Get a Little - A push and pull open discussion of the interactions of lender counsel with the borrower, guarantor and equity counsels. Session 07: Title Insurance: Common Title Issues and Fixes - Hear a title insurance update including common title issues that arise in a transaction and how to clean up a title after a project as gone wrong. Session 08: Intercreditor Agreements: Avoiding Lender on Lender Violence in the Closing Process - An examination of intercreditor agreements from the perspective of each of the borrower, the senior lender and the mezzanine lender.  Session 09: Escrow Agreements - A review of the various uses, types of Escrow Agreements, Escrow Agent options, regulatory and drafting concerns and forms availability. Session 10: Follow the Money - How to Avoid Mortgage Fraud - The real estate and mortgage industry has seen an increase in fraud in the wake of the Pandemic. Learn to spot the red flags for avoiding mortgage fraud by getting to know your customers and going beyond the paperwork.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Session 01: Case Law Update – Part I - Discuss recent and significant Texas cases from the last year, with particular attention paid to cases involving new legal concepts or which materially alter or extend current jurisprudence. Session 02: Case Law Update – Part II - Discuss recent and significant Texas cases for the last year, with particular attention paid to cases involving new legal concepts or which materially alter or extend current jurisprudence. Session 03: Hot Topics - Hear about recent developments and hot topics in mortgage lending and related real estate matters.

Includes: Video Audio Paper Slides

Has Judgment Day come? Is Skynet about to destroy humanity? Nah…not yet. Until our computer overlords take charge, Generative AI can be a helpful new tool for sorting through the vast amounts of data and knowledge on the Internet. Walk through the basics of using Generative AI and hear some pointers on how you can make it work for you and your practice. 

Includes: Video Audio Slides