William A. Miller, Esq.

I just sent in my annual money for registration of a vintage car I own to the great State of California. I drive it too much, yet I cannot bear to drop the California plates. The car is classic, just like my memories of California. It is where I was born, but I was raised in Arizona. Back then in the 60’s and 70’s, we did things right in Arizona. Self made men. No excuses for failure. No social climbing needed. You fight, you win. You quit, you lose. That is it! “Buckle down kid”, that is what my dad said. Yet, California went French on me over the last few years.

California is now in a French-like bind: unable to afford a welfare-type state, and unable to overhaul it. “The people say they want all these programs, then there’s nothing they want to pay for,” says Hector De La Torre, a Democratic assemblyman. “The schizophrenia in the legislature reflects the peoples’.” Let us pray that Arizona stays true to Goldwater type freedom and self reliance.

We do not take wimpy cases at the law firm of William A. Miller in Scottsdale. No coffee burn scams. No the-teacher-was-mean-to-my-kid nonsense. But, if you really have been injured by a real estate or stock scam, give us a call at 480-948-3095. We will strive to make things right the old fashion way. The Arizona way.

When I broke the NCFE (http://articles.latimes.com/2008/nov/01/business/fi-poulsen1) fraud back in 2002, the first thing I did was sue the third-party professionals, the lawyers, accountants and financial firms, who helped NCFE commit their crimes. My favorite law school professor Charles Ayers always said, “go for the deep pockets.” Well, it is now time for the Minnesota accounting firm of McGladrey & Pullen to give back some of the money they got for helping Bernie Madoff. The firm has just been sued in both Madoff’s and Tom Petters’ Ponzi schemes.

Last week, an investment fund that placed $280 million with Madoff sued in Connecticut state court saying its auditors — Goldstein Golub Kessler in 2006 and McGladrey & Pullen in 2007 — failed to detect the fraud. And, in October, the Ellerbrock Family Trust filed a similar suit in federal court in Minnesota saying that McGladrey & Pullen failed to conduct thorough audits or take other actions that would have uncovered alleged fraud by Petters’ companies.

OK, it’s now 2009 and we are all looking for a fresh start. We settled three significant matters at the law firm of William A. Miller in Phoenix, Arizona, over the last 30 days. I like to say, “I am a patriot first and a conservative second” and this quote from Cicero in 55 BC is as timeless as the saying of the Bible.

“The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance.”

Sounds like there is nothing new under the sun. Good Luck to our President-Elect in 2009.

At the law firm of William A. Miller in Scottsdale, Arizona, we use technology to its fullest.

In one of my first trials, I had 10 yellow note pads, nothing else. That is old school.

Now, high stakes litigation requires movie-like demonstrations. When movie producer, J. Katzenberg and Goodyear went to court last year in a dispute over replacing defective Goodyear heating hoses at Katzenberg’s vacation home, they both turned to visual technology to support their positions. The battle provides a glimpse into how trial technology can be used to show jurors not just the structure and mechanics of a multimillion dollar home, but also the craftsmanship and rare wood that went into it — an important issue when the two sides couldn’t agree on how to repair leaking pipes in A.E., Inc. v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Inc., No. 05-CV-01317 (D. Colo. 2007).

There is no way ‘old school’ trial presentation is going to cut it, so use the law firm of William A. Miller in Phoenix if you want a jury to see your position from all sides.

A San Francisco landlord for defunct white shirt law firm Heller Ehrman won a key court ruling earlier this month that means bankruptcy is now possible. What this means is the landlord accelerated all future rent due and has tied the Heller Ehrman partner hands from a midnight move or fire sale of its assets.

A Superior Court granted the landlord, 333 Bush Associates, a writ of attachment for $48 million on Dec. 19. The move makes the landlord a secured creditor, freezes a portion of Heller’s assets for the landlord, and leaves other unsecured creditors at a disadvantage, essentially waiting in line behind the landlord for dibs on leftover assets. This is ultimate hardball and is a tactic available in Maricopa County Superior Court under certain circumstances.

“The fact that they have reached the point where the landlord has gotten a writ, has obtained legal process to take their money on this scale, means that it is very likely they will file bankruptcy or be forced into bankruptcy,” said William McGrane, of McGrane Greenfield, who represented the three landlords that forced Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison into bankruptcy in 2003. Who would ever hire a law firm who cannot even pay its rent? This is a shame. At the law firm of William A. Miller in Scottsdale, Arizona, we applaud the landlord for playing hard ball against a powerful law firm. We handle all landlord tenant matters and can be reached at 602-319-6899.

My dad always used to tell me that ‘luck only happens once.’ What he meant was if someone is truly successful, it is not because of luck, it is because of hard work, street smarts and good planning. Not simply luck! Well, by Madoff standards I ain’t done much, but for a boy who grew up on 40th street in Phoenix, I have been lucky blessed indeed.

Anyway, I think this advice is the only time my dad was wrong. I got lucky twice. First, I married Andra.

The next stroke of luck was working for Tom Stoops, Esq. He is and has always been a top real estate lawyer in Phoenix. He is a true gentleman lawyer and faithful Arizonan committed to our cowboy roots. He taught me to prepare cases beyond what was expected. He told me to trust my instincts, not the books that would tell me how to think. He told me to be honest and faithful to the concept of justice. He told me to stay faithful to my Christian faith and defend the poor.

He taught me how to cowboy up when the white shirt law firms and their big money attack the little guy. We put real estate con or two out of business back in those days. One crook sold bogus lots in Northern Arizona at The “Grand Canyon Estates” to European visitors. A thousand bucks down & hundred bucks a month. The problem was, the lots had no water, roads, sewer or nor could they even be found. One German who looked like Otto in Malcom in the Middle bought the same lot about 15 times. Tom taught me how to stand up to these type of cons.

I just went to Tom’s Christmas party. It was full of his long time friends and business associates. There was a ton of good cheer. I was kind of surprised that I knew some of his folks after so many years of not seeing Tom. His staff still worked with him. 

So, I now will tell my kids that luck can happen twice.

I also tell them that every successful guy I know sticks with his friends and business partners. Jerry C. who owned the Phoenix Suns still has his secretary Ruth. Bob Russell has the same accountant for 40 years. Mike Dorn still works with his accountant and lawyer after 30 plus years. The Van Arsdale brothers do not quit on their partners or contractors, nor does Bob Fraley, Skip Hancock, Howie Basuk, The Tangs, The Gongs, Andrew Cohn, Bob Alpert, Chris Peacock, Tim Louis, Mark Stein, Jim Harrison, Ezri Namvar or a whole host of multi-bill/mill-ionaires I know and work with.

Mom told me you know a person by who their friends are. I’ll amend that too mom, you know a business guy based on who still hangs around him after 25 plus years. To Lou P., Erv S., John H., Steve S., etc. thanks for sticking in there with the Law Firm of William A. Miller and God Bless you Tom.

The Valley’s median resale price for detached single-family homes fell by more than 7 percent from October to November, bringing the year-over-year median-price decline to about 35 percent, according to Arizona State University. November’s 3,370 resale transactions represent a 31 percent increase from the 2,580 transactions in November 2007. In addition, there were 3,095 foreclosures, up about 178 percent from 1,115 foreclosures a year earlier.

This is not as good of news as the bottom fishers may think! This statistic is totally flawed because mainly distressed properties are in the sample. So, take those who are NOT ABOUT TO SELL, put their values in the pool and the percentage shoots way back up. Those who are waiting out the market may be in for a surprise when the capital markets free up.

Despite being a defendant in the case, state Treasurer Dean Martin is backing a new Arizona lawsuit challenging the state’s decision to raid nearly $30 million from local municipalities to help fix Arizona’s budget mess. This is in spite of already being challenged by my fellow farmers for ‘stealing’ some Arizona County farm set-asides.  WOW!

Martin, claiming the state’s action was unconstitutional, sent a letter directing the Attorney General’s Office from Phoenix to file a legal brief in support of the lawsuit. The Maricopa County Court must rule in favor of the Plaintiff’s in order to promote the rule of law. In essence, Martin is saying to the Plaintiff- you win!

He urged the Maricopa County Courts to rule that budget bills, narrowly passed by the Legislature and signed into law by Democratic Gov. Janet Napolitano, violate a clause in the Arizona Constitution that prohibits raising taxes or boosting spending without two-thirds approval from both the House and Senate. Martin said he wanted the court to expand the case to toss out other budget provisions related to items such as surcharges for defensive-driving school and fees for traffic-camera tickets.

 The law firm of William A. Miller, Esq. in Scottsdale supports 100% Martin’s decision as well as the farm law suits pending. Call Bill for your legal needs at 602-319-6899.

I have a buddy who is going through a huge legal battle. He is into the case for over $100,000.00 and there is not even a trial date. He is using one of the biggest law firms in Arizona. So what is the problem? The two lawyers who are billing him for every thought they have had over the last year, have never once actually tried a jury trial. The first question you must ask a prospective lawyer when facing a lawsuit in Arizona, is how many cases have you tried? If it is not over 25, then run, do not walk, out of the office. At the Law Firm of William A. Miller in Scottsdale, we exceed 25, most with very good results and a few disappointments. Some of the issues covered under trial work and business law that our firm regularly handles involve:

Breach of contract, Non-compete agreements, Non-disclosure agreements, Employee theft and embezzlement, Insurance purchases and enforcement of policy coverage, Negotiation and/or enforcement of commercial leases, Negligence and gross negligence resulting in losses, Intentional acts causing a company to suffer damages, Tortious interference with contractual relationships, Unjust enrichment, Real Estate fraud, Consumer fraud, Conversion/Theft, Intentional and/or negligent misrepresentation, Business torts and Real estate title & escrow.

If you could invest in a law firm, this would be a good time. According to the WSJ, the number of consumers with delinquent mortgages is poised to almost double by the end of next year, hitting its highest level in at least 16 years, according to a leading credit bureau.

TransUnion LLC, which analyzed about 27 million consumer records in its database, predicted that the proportion of consumers with mortgages that are 60 days or more past-due will hit 7.17% in the fourth quarter of 2009.

That would be the highest level reached since the Chicago credit bureau — which is releasing the data on Tuesday – started keeping track. I wonder how many of these defaults are occurring because the lenders have told the shaky borrowers that the must miss payments  before they can rework the loan. As my kids say, this is just great. There is little doubt this will lead to many more Arizona lawsuits.