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Adams and Reese Partner Malcolm Meyer, in the firm’s New Orleans office, participated in Southern University Law Center’s Journal of Race, Gender and Poverty second annual symposium, “We’re Taking Your Property: Expropriation and Property Rights,” held March 17th on the school’s campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The symposium was featured in the April issue of The Greensboro Echo, a newsletter produced by the Winston County Self Help Cooperative, based in Louisville, Mississippi.
While on the panel, Meyer said one of the most critical means the state has stripped minority property owners of their land was by partitioning property through heirship laws, and he explained how complex heirship laws make it difficult for impoverished minorities to gain a good title on to their property.
The Journal’s purpose of hosting an annual Symposium is to provoke critical discussions on subjects that remain extremely relevant to society, but fail to receive adequate coverage in mainstream law journals. The Journal achieved this purpose when they brought speakers from across the United States to contribute to diverse discussions on property rights and land loss by minority property owners. This year’s symposium covered a wide-range of topics. Those topics included; environmental justice, expropriation, the Uniform Partition of Heirs Property Act, and other significant issues related to property ownership and civil rights.
At Adams and Reese, Meyer represents real estate transactions and title insurance as part of the Transactions and Corporate Advisory Services Group. He has more than 30 years of experience in real estate, banking and finance, corporate law and business counseling.
Meyer has devoted hundreds of hours of pro bono work focusing on Heirship Property issues in Louisiana. This work led to the enactment of a new law, Act No. 81, lowering probate and title-clearing costs for many low-income homeowners and protecting heir property owners from land loss, affording them better disaster recovery options, and increasing access to the wealth generating tools commonly associated with home ownership. He has received several awards and recognition for his pro bono work including "Leadership in Law" by New Orleans CityBusiness; "Good Apple Award" from Louisiana Appleseed; and both the Pro Bono Publico and Century Award from the Louisiana State Bar Association.
Meyer was an adjunct professor at Tulane Law School, teaching Louisiana Real Estate Transactions and Legal Ethics. He has qualified as an expert witness in the areas of Ethics and Real Estate. His book, “Meyer’s Manual on Louisiana Real Estate,” is the acknowledged treatise on Louisiana real estate law.
He previously chaired the Louisiana State Bar Association Title Standards Committee from 1990 to 2002, which drafted the first real estate title standards for the state. He speaks frequently on real estate and insurance issues for attorney CLEs through the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, the American Bar Association, the Louisiana Bankers Association, and the Louisiana Land Title Association.
Adams and Reese is a multidisciplinary law firm with offices strategically located throughout the southern United States and Washington, DC. American Lawyer includes Adams and Reese on its distinguished list of the nation's top law firms - "The Am Law 200". The National Law Journal also includes the firm on the "NLJ 250" list of the nation's largest law firms.