William A. Miller, Esq.

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.

An affinity fraud is one in which a member of a religious or ethnic group, works over members of that same group. It can be a church or high school booster club. At the Scottsdale, Arizona based real estate and litigation law firm of William A. Miller we have seen this happen over and over again. In the Madoff fraud, it was the Jewish community. Investigators dug through financial records at Bernard Madoff’s investment firm as the list of victims of his alleged Ponzi scheme widened to include real-estate magnate Mortimer Zuckerman, the foundation of Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, Sen. Frank Lautenberg and a charity of movie director Steven Spielberg. Talk about the powerful.

The Madoff scandal reverberated around the world, with banks including Spain’s Grupo Santander and France’s BNP Paribas saying on Sunday that their clients and shareholders together face billions of euros of losses. At the Miller law firm in Phoenix, Arizona we often tell even well heeled clients to remember what your dad told you, ‘if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.’

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.

A judge denied bail on Thursday for a New York lawyer accused of selling sham investments to hedge funds. Hmmm… a shyster lawyer selling worthless real estate to a ‘hedge fund’. Can you say ironic? Things like this happen in Phoenix too and since the Charlie Keating days we have been involved in fighting a number of these con men in the Maricopa County Courts.

The case against Marc Dreier, founder at the 250-attorney law firm Dreier LLP in New York, has stunned the city. The Harvard Law School graduate is a 30-year veteran lawyer, whose firm has specialties in bankruptcy, litigation and employment law. They handled a case or two in Federal Court in Phoenix over the years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Streeter said in court the actual monetary losses in the case may now exceed $380 million.

He said the fraud has likely been going on since January 2006. Dreier was ordered to remain in custody. He was arrested on Sunday for what authorities called a “stunning” and “brazen” scam.

Streeter said Dreier had been fooling some of the world’s most sophisticated investors. He is accused of scheming to market fake debt from a New York-based real estate developer to hedge funds and other institutional investors. Prosecutors say he cajoled his way into real estate and pension fund offices and created fake documents to try to convince investors that the worthless debt securities he touted were real. So, the next time you see a well dressed outsider ‘using’ your conference room, watch out, he may be claiming to be your company CEO, while he is actually signing away the deed to your building with some bogus financing instrument.

At the Law Firm of William A. Miller located in Phoenix, Arizona we specialize in these type of cases. Feel free to call at 602-319-6899 if someone has ripped you off in the greater Phoenix area in a real estate scam or hoax.

Greetings:
My new phone and fax numbers are:
480-948-3095- phone
480-948-3137- fax
The cell is the same.
Thanks and Merry Christmas!

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.

The meltdown of title-insurance company LandAmerica Financial Group Inc. has left scores of real-estate investors and entrepreneurs scrambling to recover money in what were supposed to be a short-term and no-risk arrangement. The investors, from Arizona retirees to a public company, had $400 million on deposit with the LandAmerica subsidiary to take advantage of a real-estate strategy known as a 1031 exchange. A 1031 exchange, named for a section of the U.S. tax code, lets investors delay capital-gains taxes on the proceeds from recently sold property, as long as the investor lets a third party hold the funds. They must reinvest the money in a new property within six months.

At the law firm of William A. Miller in Phoenix, we often tell client’s to go ahead and pay taxes now because the tax rates are historically low and buying again, may well not be wise. Yet, here is a reputable title-insurance company holding 1031 money until such time as the investor decides to reinvest it and poof, it’s gone.

If a lawyer does this in Arizona he loses his license and likely goes to jail. Why; because in Arizona lawyers cannot co-mingle funds. This is a historic wrong and once again, blood will flow in the streets and the lawyers will make a small fortune. What a mess. Someone needs to serve time based on these poor folks losing their hard earned money.

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.