James S. Tupitza, Esquire is a practicing attorney in West Chester, Pennsylvania, under the firm name of Tupitza & Associates, P.C. He was born in Erie, PA in 1949. In 1976, he was admitted to the bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; 1981 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit; 1988 U.S. Supreme Court; 1990 U.S. Tax Court.

Education: Temple University (B.A. 1971); Delaware Law School of Widener University (J.D. 1975); Villanova University (LL.M., Taxation, 1984).

Mr. Tupitza’s practice is primarily related to real estate connected matters. His focus is in the areas of transactions and litigation. His clients are lenders, appraisal management companies, real estate licensees and property sellers, buyers and developers. With the development of numerous pipelines in Pennsylvania, he spends considerable time protecting property owners in cases of pipeline expansion, new pipelines, rail improvement and highway widening. (eminent domain cases).

Mr. Tupitza is called on to speak almost monthly on a variety of current topics of interest to the real estate community. These topics range from analysis of changes in the law, to nuts and bolts application of legal issues. He is consistently ranked as one of the best speakers at every conference in which he participates.

He has been a regular course planner, writer and lecturer for:

• The Pennsylvania Land Title Institute
• The Pennsylvania Bar Institute
• Various Mortgage Bankers Associations
• Conestoga College (Conestoga Title Insurance Company)
• Suburban West Association of Realtors®
• Lawyers Title Insurance Company’s Continuing Education Program
• Stewart Title Guaranty Company’s Continuing Education Program
• Commonwealth Land Title Insurance Company’s Continuing Education Program
• Security Title of Baltimore’s Continuing Education Program
• Ticor Title Insurance Company Continuing Education Program
• Chester County Bar Association’s Realtor®/Lawyer Committee

In addition he regularly speaks to groups in the Residential Real Estate Lending business, Commercial Real Estate business, Accountants, Financial Planners and Building Trade Groups.

He has been the Course Planner, author and principal speaker for three major Pennsylvania Bar Institute programs, which are each offered live at 3 locations every two years, by simulcast to 20 to 30 other locations, and by webcast:

• “Boundary Law,”
• “Who’s on First? , Lien Priority in Pennsylvania,” and
• “What’s on Second, Advanced Issues in Lien Priority and Lien Divestiture.”

He has spoken at many other Pennsylvania Bar Institute presentations including:

• “Litigating the Failure to Disclose Case”
• “Real Estate Broker and Agent Liability”
• “Tax Deferred Exchanges of Real Estate”
• “Residential Real Estate Documents”
• “A Practical Approach to Liens on Real Estate”
• “Essentials of Pennsylvania Practice”
• “Title Insurance from Commitment to Claim”
• “Current Issues in Title Insurance”
• “Ten Settlement Mistakes, Ethics in Title Insurance”
• “Title Claims Fraud, Flips and RESPA”
• “Title Insurance Underwriting Update”
• “A Day on Real Estate”
• “Using Cost Segregation to Address Cash Flow Problems”
• “Ethically Using the Scientifically Tested Tools of Influence”
• “Deeds, Good and Bad”
• He has been a regular speaker at each Annual “Real Estate Institute” held each December at the Philadelphia Convention Center.
• He spoke at the Gulf Coast CLE Conference in Marco Island , Florida sponsored by numerous state Bar Institutes.
• He was a speaker on Dodd Frank enforcement at the Annual Meeting of the New England Mortgage Bankers Association.

He has authored materials for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Pennsylvania Land Title Institute and others including:

• Dodd-Frank, Dirty Words in Many Circles
• Depreciation – Running Fast in a Slow World
• Disputes Between Adjoining Landowners
• Easements and Access to Landlocked Property
• Riparian Rights and Titles that Border Water
• How to Draft a Legal Description
• Deeds in Pennsylvania
• Documenting the 1031 Exchange
• Easements in Pennsylvania
• Judgments
• Federal Tax Liens
• Inheritance and Estate Tax Liens
• Litigating with the IRS
• Liens for Overdue Support Obligations
• Ethics for Title Insurance Agents
• The Ethical Use of Scientifically Tested Tools of Influence

He is a member of the Chester County (Chair, Real Estate Section, 1978- 2014) and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. He is a Master of the John E. Stively Inns of Court.

He is AVVO rated at “10.0 Superb,” and was selected as one of the five featured “Top Lawyers” for 2012 by Main Line Today.