Congratulations to Lars Schuller for his recent victory before the Court of Appeals, wherein the court summarily affirmed the Sevier County Chancery Court’s judgment for Defendants in a complex boundary line and real property dispute, Webb v. Sherrell, et al. The case dealt with land bordering on the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. At trial, Lars represented the lead defendant, the other subdivision developers, and the current owners of many affected subdivision lots. The plaintiff neighbor claimed that significant portions of a mountainous subdivision and its roads encroached over a family boundary established in 1879, and onto other lands which the neighbor claimed to have owned. However, the trial court disagreed, accepting the defendants’ boundary line, and holding that the plaintiff failed to prove ownership of any of the defendants’ subdivision. The trial lasted nearly two weeks, involved hundreds of exhibits, including ancient deeds and archival materials from the establishment of the National Park, disputed surveys, and the testimonies of numerous fact witnesses and several expert witnesses. The appellate opinion reflected Lars’ argument that the Plaintiff’s appeal was frivolous, and the appellate court awarded damages to the defendants.
Lars Schuller joined the firm as special counsel in 2006 as the manager of the firm’s Sevierville office. He now practices in the firm’s Knoxville office, principally in the areas of real estate litigation, real estate title law, real estate transactions, and related matters. He has obtained defense judgments for sellers, title agencies, title insurance companies, and flood insurance data providers in state and federal court actions, and he has prosecuted actions, obtaining judgments and decrees to remedy title defects on behalf of owners and lenders. Also, he has successfully litigated matters involving issues of contract, tort, professional liability, construction law, products liability, premises liability, fraud, insurance coverage, governmental liability, employment law, and landlord and tenant rights.