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Marvin J. Nodiff, a pioneer in the field of community association law, shares the history behind the law that informs today’s attorneys and provides insight into how they advise your community.
Creating Community Association Law should be required reading for every attorney joining the field. It also will delight, inform, and educate any community association board member, manager, and business partner interested in learning more about why community associations operate the way they do and why it’s always a good idea to contact your attorney.
Through his unique storytelling, Nodiff deftly captures the recollections of his fellow pioneers.
A young Atlanta lawyer started his practice in civil rights law; searching for his first home, he bought a condo unit. An attorney in New Jersey began his practice in criminal defense. A solo practitioner in Boston started with a side business: managing condos.
None of these attorneys—and two dozen others scattered across the country—endured years of self-torture known as law school with the intent of practicing community association law. With few court decisions or articles, no books, and no courses or instructors, this field of law didn’t even exist when they started practicing in the 1970s and early 1980s. And only 10,000 associations existed in the entire U.S.
But these legal pioneers created a new body of law, no small feat indeed. Recounting their achievement is important and timely as they enter retirement, move off the grid, or sadly pass on.
Digging into this story, Nodiff tracked down some 20 pioneers and asked for their recollections and insights on life in the early years.
What were they thinking? How did the first generation of community association lawyers become the accidental pioneers of this new body of law? Were they bright individuals with keen vision? Or did they inadvertently stumble into it? Or both?
“Tell us your story,” Nodiff asked.
While the content is history, Creating Community Association Law is a human-interest story that reflects the innovation and creativity that was necessary in the early days and that is still on display today in the ever-changing, always-challenging world of community associations.
Contents
In Memoriam
Author’s Note
Foreword
Chapter 1: The Accidental Pioneers
Chapter 2: By the Seat of Our Pants
Chapter 3: The Value of Sharing
Chapter 4: A New Body of Law
Chapter 5: Legal Issues or People Problems?
Chapter 6: A Culture of Collegiality
Chapter 7: Moving Forward
Appendix: Recognizing Lifetime Contributions
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Marv Nodiff is a pioneer in community association law (now retired), a founding member of CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL), and a university law professor. He also leads a double life as a novelist, capturing all the foibles of community association living in his humorous and engaging mysteries.
Early praise for Creating Community Association Law
“WOW, what an amazing and comprehensive story! I never imagined that this book would contain the scope and depth of material that it does.
Marvin hit the ball out of the park with this piece and, just as American history is important to modern events, the history of community association law plays a vital role in how all of us do our jobs today.
I found the book to be extremely valuable. Each and every community association lawyer has benefitted from the work of Wayne Hyatt and other pioneers in our industry. I think it is only fitting that their work be memorialized.”
—David W. Kaman, 2021 president of CAI’s College of Community Association Lawyers (CCAL) Board of Governors
“Creating Community Association Law presents a concise historic overview in a warm, relatable way. I almost didn’t want it to end. This is incredibly important material that helps us understand how we got here and why we do what we do. If for no other reason, it reminds us that most of us have in common the fact that we came upon community association law somewhat by accident (or at least we didn’t set out to be community association lawyers).
—Matt D. Ober, a past president of the CCAL Board of Governors
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