By Paul F. Alphen
My very patient and
understanding wife gets flummoxed by my insatiable appetite for attending
sporting events, and she has attempted to impose injunctions on arbitrary and
capricious ticket purchases. Nevertheless, when a certain Saturday morning in
December rolls around each year I can be found behind the keyboard waiting to
find reasonably priced tickets for games in America’s Most Expensive Ballpark.
Consequently, my Cousin Vinnie, the suburban real estate attorney, and I were
able to enjoy a nice spring evening in the ballpark watching the fourth highest
payroll in the MLB.
Vinnie was intrigued by
the lobster offerings now available inside the park. Me, not so much. I had
tried the fried clams twice, but I have since reverted to standard issue
hotdogs. Vinnie was stuffing lobster poutine (whatever that is) in his mouth
while monitoring the beer inventory accumulating under his seat. “Paulie”
Vinnie announced, “I finally figured out what makes our profession
unnecessarily difficult”. I couldn’t wait to hear the revelation. “People don’t
communicate. It became apparent to me today when I had a nice conversation with
Town Counsel for Podunk. Her client had asked her to look into the historical
conditions of approval related to my client’s property, and she called me
questioning if my client could proceed with his planned development. I
discussed the issues with her, and she listened. She asked questions, and she listened.
I described the case of Patelle v. Planning Bd. of Woburn [20 Mass. App.
Ct. 279, 480 N.E.2d 35 (1985)] and landowner’s ability to reconfigure lots
within a subdivision. She contemplated the situation, and said ‘I don’t think
there is a problem here.’ After we finished the phone conversation it occurred
to me that what had just happened had become a rarity. I was able to discuss the relevant law and
legal principals with counsel on the other side (as I never think of the Town
of Podunk as an ‘adversary’), and counsel listened, and we were able to agree
and move forward.”
I agreed with Vinnie
that the ever increasing practice of dropping e-mail bombs on opposing counsel had
weakened the overall camaraderie of the bar. We don’t get to see each other, or
even speak with each other, as often as we should. I told Vinnie that I don’t
think it is just a coincidence that when working on deals with attorneys that I
see at REBA meetings, or at meetings of the estimable Merrimack Valley
Conveyancer’s Association, that the conversations are always civil, and the
solutions forthcoming.
We watched Mookie Betts
hit a single, and Vinnie retrieved another beverage from his inventory. “I am not perfect” said Captain Obvious, “I
still lose my temper once a year when some jack-of-all-trades calls to tell me
how to practice law, but I am much more likely to take the time to consider the
views of opposition counsel when counsel is willing to engage in intellectual
discourse, as opposed to those who attempt to berate and bully me.”
Again, amazingly, I
found myself in agreement with Vinnie.
A
former REBA president, Paul Alphen currently serves on the association’s
executive committee and co-chairs the long-range planning committee. He is a partner in the Westford firm of
Alphen & Santos, P.C. and concentrates in residential and commercial real
estate development, land use regulation, administrative law, real estate
transactional practice and title examination .As entertaining as he finds the
practice of law, Paul enjoys numerous hobbies, including messing around with
his power boats and fulfilling his bucket list of visiting every Major League
ballpark. Paul can be contacted at palphen@alphensantos.com.
