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Changing the Rules of the Universe

There are certain things while studying for the Bar Exam that give a sense of calm once you learn them. I can't remember many of them now, but one that always made sense to me was Adverse Possession. It had to be hostile, lasting and continuous (time frame of 10 years), open and notorious. So what does New York State do 3 weeks before the Bar Exam this year? Change the rules to Adverse Possession. I about jumped out of my skin last night when I read that. You can't screw with the universe like that and not expect consequences. It can't be just a fence any more, or having mowed the lawn for 10 years, it's got to be a serious and important improvement. And of course, not being lawyers the journalists who covered this story gave the time period short shrift, so I was digging all over today trying to find if the time period changed. It didn't.

Now I don't mean to freak out the people studying for the Bar Exam, because by this point the exam questions have been written and printed, so it's not that big of a deal, but wow...going and messing with Adverse Possession just leaves me discomfited...and I'm not even a Real Estate attorney.

Full post as published by Screaming Bean on July 09, 2008 (boomark / email).