Condo Media - August 2017 - 56

Ask a Busy Person
Why did you decide on law as a
career? When I was a junior in high
school, a guidance counselor who hadn't
seen me in three years asked what I
planned to do. I hadn't really thought
about it, but I saw a poster for some law
school on the wall behind her, and said
I thought I'd go to law school. She told
me, "You are near the bottom of your
class academically, you don't behave, you
cause problems. You might want to set
your sights a little lower." I disagreed and
figured if I could focus academically in
college, my propensity for misbehaving
and causing problems would suit me well
as a lawyer, so I decided I'd show her. I
went to college and then to law school.
Did you ever consider any other
career options?
I wanted to be
a quarterback for
the Patriots-the
next Steve Grogan-
or a professional
golfer. But neither of
those ideas panned out.
How did you get involved in
condominium law? No one goes to
law school-or graduates-saying they
want to be a condominium lawyer (except perhaps Steve Marcus). I fell into it.
I'd been working for about seven years at
a law firm I'd joined after graduating from
law school, doing real estate and business
litigation. But I hadn't been paid in about
four weeks, so I needed a job. I responded
to an ad in Lawyers Weekly from a "South
Shore Law firm" looking for a litigator. In
the interview, they told me the firm did
condominium law. I said that would be
OK. And that's how I got into it.
What do you like most about the
field? In condominium law, especially
in the litigation arena, every matter is
different. I'm dealing with construction
defects one day, financial mismanagement or development rights the next,
and I like the variety. I also practice in
three different states with three different

56

CONDOMEDIA

documents and I ended up delivering
buildings.

EDMUND ALLCOCK
Partner, Marcus, Errico, Emmer & Brooks, P.C.
condominium acts and that makes it even
more interesting and challenging for me.
I've argued condominium related cases
before the Supreme Courts in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
What don't you like? What bothers
me most is knowing I'm legally correct on
a position, but having judges rule against
me, not because they are applying the law,
but because they are trying to achieve a
result they think is fair. Sometimes the
law will produce what is perceived on its
face as an unfair or inequitable result, but
if that's what the law says, that's the way it
should work.
Is there a case or a situation you've
handled of which you are particularly
proud? There are several, but one that
comes to mind: The firm represented a
condominium association fighting with
a developer who refused to turn over the
association documents. It was a phased
development, and the developer at the
time was building six more units. When I
reviewed the condominium documents,
I found that he had begun the project
15 years before and his development
rights had expired. The client sued and
the court decided that the partially
completed units belonged to the association. The board had asked me to deliver

How and why did you get involved
with CAI-NE? I think I just started
attending events and at some point,
I joined the Rhode Island Legislative
Action Committee (RILAC). The
more involved I got, the more involved
I continued to become. I'm on the
CAI-NE board of directors and on the
CAI national, College of Community
Association Lawyers (CCAL) board of
governors as well. I've gotten the most
satisfaction from the relationships with
other attorneys, association managers,
and other industry professionals. I've
learned a tremendous amount from
their stories and their experiences.
Is there a condominium-related law
you would like to see enacted, or an
existing statute that you think should
be repealed or revised? I'd like to see
the Massachusetts condominium act be
more closely aligned with the Uniform
Condominium Act, because it is more
modern and it deals with a lot of issues,
such as developer abuses and consumer
protection, on which the Massachusetts
Act is silent.
Is there a particular mistake that you
see condominium board members
make repeatedly? Allowing personal animus or feelings to influence
what should be business decisions.
What would it surprise people to
know about you? That I'm a foodie.
I love to cook and eat. I do a lot of
grilling-fish, steak, chicken-I cook
it all.
What's the best advice you ever got?
It came from my dad, who told me,
"Be yourself."
If you could give condominium
boards one piece of legal advice, what
would it be? Read your condominium documents and make sure you
understand them before you act.
Condo Media - August 2017

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