Co-hosts Mike O’Donnell and Bethany Abele kicked off the third season of Title Nerds by welcoming special guest Bushnell Nielsen, author of the well-regarded treatise Title and Escrow Claims Guide, which Mike and Bethany noted they and every title insurance attorney in the country regularly refer to. Bush provided tips on finding and working with expert consultants for title insurance cases, from hiring to trial.

He gave advice on the timing in a case when you should find the expert, asking specific questions to discern if the expert knows what you need the expert to know, how to assess if the expert is a procrastinator, and other procedural tips.

He also took us through the process of working with an expert to draft the report, as well as using an expert to understand and dissect the opposing expert’s rebuttal report.

Mike then interviewed Kevin Hakansson, an associate in our Title Insurance practice, about Pillai v. Scalia, 103 Mass. App. Ct. 1122 (2024), a case at the intersection of family law, real estate and joint tenancy. Title to the property at the center of the case originated in joint tenancy between three parties, but questions arose after a divorce, a death, a resale and a refinancing, at which point a possible title defect was uncovered. Kevin explains the facts of the case that resulted in the Appeals Court making it clear that it would always look to the surrounding circumstances to re-establish the joint tenancy where the parties’ intent dictated.