Condo Media - July 2017 - 64

Ask a Busy Person
How did you get into condominium
law? I went to law school because I
thought that was a good way to get into
politics, which was my goal at the time. But I
decided to practice for a while after I graduated, and litigating cases became more
attractive to me than running for elected
office. One of the partners in the firm I had
joined was Richard Brooks. When he left
to establish a new firm, I followed him, and
I've been steeped in condominium law ever
since.
What do you like about it? I've
found myself on the tip of the spear for
my whole career, litigating challenging
issues and questions of first impression,
helping to define what condominium
law would be in Massachusetts. That's a
very exciting and interesting place to be.
Just about every week, an old question
is reaffirmed or a new question is raised.
The Drummer Boy case (upholding the
use of a rolling lien to collect delinquent
assessments) is a good example. The
rolling lien had been recognized for two
decades in Massachusetts, but then it
popped up as a new issue because a trial
court ruled the other way.
Is Drummer Boy on your list of the
most important cases you've tried?
Without question. The rolling lien gave
Massachusetts condominiums the most
powerful collection tool they could have.
Preserving it was crucial for the industry.
Persuading the courts to rethink how the
economic loss rule applies to condominiums was also important and intellectually
satisfying. For years, the courts had failed
to understand that community associations don't have the same opportunity
to protect themselves in a contract that
buyers have when they purchase a singlefamily home from a builder. Resolving
that opened the door for associations to
pursue construction defect claims that
wouldn't have been viable under the
traditional economic loss theory.
What have you found most difficult
or most challenging about your
work? Litigation is extremely stressful.

CONDOMEDIA

industry from adverse laws or court decisions. There's also a sense of collegiality
in CAI-NE that I find very appealing.
When I go to events, I always see familiar,
welcoming faces. Some of the attorneys
with whom I've competed for the past 25
years are among my closest friends in the
industry.

THOMAS MORIARTY
Principal, Moriarty Troyer & Malloy LLC
The pressure never ends. When one case
is over, you still have several others in
various stages. You wake up every morning realizing there are people being paid
to think about how they will undermine
your client's arguments, dispute your
facts, and leave you and your claims for
dead at the side of the road. You have
to get up, check your gut, put on your
helmet, and go to work ready to do battle.
You have to be wired a certain way to enjoy this. For me, it's the thrill of winning a
motion, prevailing on appeal, or knowing
I've done the best job anyone could have
done for a client. I don't think anyone,
even elite runners, say to themselves as
they're struggling to finish the final two
miles of a marathon, "I'm glad I became a
marathoner." If the thrill and the satisfaction you get from finishing the race don't
offset the pain, you don't become a marathoner. The same applies to litigation.
If the excitement and satisfaction don't
outweigh the angst, you get out of it.
How and why did you get involved
with CAI-NE? The things I enjoy
most about my practice have been
amplified here through my work on the
Legislative Action Committee and on
CAI's National Amicus Team. In both
arenas, I've been working on novel questions, trying to change laws or protect the

What do you see as the major legal
or legislative issues confronting the
condominium industry today?
The Federal Housing Finance Agency's
attack on the priority lien is probably the
most ominous prospect on the national
horizon. In Massachusetts, a lower court
decision, now on appeal, affirming the
inclusion of "poison pill" provisions preventing associations from suing developers, is a major concern. Allowing that
decision to stand would be catastrophic
for condominiums.
What would it surprise people to
know about you? People perceive
me as a hard-nosed litigator, but I'm
actually extremely sensitive. I don't like
conflict in my personal life.

What's the best advice you
ever got and from whom?
When I was dating two girls in college,
my dad told me I was going to get myself
shot. That was probably good advice. He
also discouraged me from becoming a
firefighter, which I thought I wanted to
do because he was one. He said I'd do a
lot better financially if I went to college.
That's the only professional advice he
gave me, and I followed it.
Did you follow the dating advice as
well? No, but at the time, I started
dating girls with bad aim.

Condo Media - July 2017

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