Commercial
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April 01, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Kriss & Feuerstein and Goldberg Weprin are among the law firms that worked on the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a period that included a pair of transactions for residential units at a Manhattan Fifth Avenue condo tower.
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April 01, 2024
Ore. Tax Court Upholds Nursing Home's $10.6M Valuation
The owner of an Oregon nursing home did not present enough evidence to change the $10.6 million valuation found by a local assessor, the state tax court said.
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April 01, 2024
High Court Won't Hear Mass. Residents' Tribal Land Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition by a group of Massachusetts residents seeking to reverse a ruling that allowed the Department of the Interior to take 321 acres into trust for the development of a billion-dollar tribal hotel and casino.
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March 29, 2024
Weed Investors' Money Shift Cost Co. Millions, Suit Says
A Michigan entrepreneur has hit his ex-partner with a $5 million lawsuit, accusing him of wrecking plans to buy a 10-acre marijuana grow facility near Ann Arbor by poaching the lead investors so he could fund his own Colorado cultivation.
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March 29, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Reps MTA In Grand Central Restaurant Deal
New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority signed restaurant Tracks Raw Bar and Grill to a 10-year lease at the MTA's Grand Central Madison in a deal in which the MTA was represented by Greenberg Traurig LLP, the firm announced.
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March 29, 2024
Lender Attacks Bid To Nix Its Victory In 3M Campus Suit
A lender urged a New York federal court to preserve its win over a loan guarantor accused of failing to make payments on $64 million in financing that was secured to fund a foreclosed 3M campus in Austin, Texas.
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March 29, 2024
NY Bar Assoc. Building Owner Says Ch. 11 Filings Legit
The company that controls the historic New York County Lawyers Association Building in Manhattan has asked a New Jersey bankruptcy judge to reject a lender's motion to dismiss its Chapter 11 proceedings, asserting that the cases were not merely filed to halt a foreclosure sale.
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March 29, 2024
Green Energy Credit Sales Spur Surge In Tax Insurance
A new way for project owners to monetize clean energy tax credits by selling them for cash has turbocharged demand for insurance policies to cover various risks tied to the transactions, which can often be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
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March 29, 2024
Rexford Buys $1B In Calif. Industrial Sites From Blackstone
Real estate investment trust Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. purchased 48 industrial properties in Southern California, totaling 3 million square feet, for a combined amount of $1 billion from Blackstone Real Estate, the REIT announced.
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March 29, 2024
Feds, Energy Cos. Clash Over Osage Wind Farm Damages Trial
The U.S. government and Enel Green Power North America Inc. are both pushing to shape a damages trial set for May after a federal judge ordered the ejectment of more than 80 wind turbines the companies installed on Osage Nation land in Oklahoma without required mineral leases.
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March 29, 2024
Atty Called A Flight Risk In $1.3 Billion Tax Fraud Case
An attorney serving a 23-year prison sentence for tax fraud in a $1.3 billion conservation easement scheme is a flight risk and should remain in federal custody while he waits for his appeal, the government told a Georgia federal court Friday.
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March 28, 2024
PE Group Seeks $32.4M In Serbia Real Estate Arbitration
A group of companies in Cyprus and an associated Rand Investments Ltd. executive that are entangled in international arbitration over allegations that Serbia expropriated real estate in Belgrade have argued that Serbia owes them €30 million ($32.4 million) for their share of the land's value.
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March 28, 2024
DOJ, FTC Weigh In On Another Pricing Algorithm Case
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission intervened in another alleged algorithmic collusion case Thursday with a statement of interest arguing that Atlantic City casino-hotels can't duck room rate price-fixing allegations simply by arguing there's no evidence they communicated directly or that pricing recommendations were binding.
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March 28, 2024
Q&A: Former Calif. Insurance Chief On Climate & Rate Setting
From intense wildfires to devastating floods, the effects of climate change on California's insurance market cannot be understated, a fact that experts point to often as regulators weigh how to bring insurers back to business in the Golden State.
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March 28, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A marine insurer confirmed it's cooperating with Baltimore authorities after an insured cargo ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge, music festival South by Southwest's class action coverage efforts were renewed, and North Carolina justices dismantled 30 years of intermediate appellate court adherence to "stacking" underinsured motorist policies.
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March 28, 2024
Fruit Grower Cleared To Leave Ch. 11 With $43M Exit Loan
California stone fruit producer Prima Wawona is set to wind down its packing and distribution division, hand ownership of the reorganized company to creditors and leave bankruptcy after a Delaware bankruptcy judge agreed to approve its Chapter 11 plan Thursday.
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March 28, 2024
Wash. Appeals Court Asked To Mull COVID Coverage Question
A Washington state court has halted litigation over the University of Washington's bid for COVID-19 business interruption coverage from a Liberty Mutual unit, asking a state appeals court to first determine whether the presence of COVID-19 satisfies UW's policies' direct physical loss or damage requirement and if a contamination exclusion applies.
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March 28, 2024
SL Green Borrows $205M Mortgage For NYC Office Property
Real estate investment trust SL Green Realty Corp. borrowed a $205 million mortgage from Wells Fargo for a 37-story Manhattan office building owned by a subsidiary, according to official property records.
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March 28, 2024
Silver Star Lands $135M Loan For Portfolio Liquidations
Real estate investment trust Silver Star Properties said it has borrowed $135 million so that it can liquidate its "legacy real estate portfolio" as it transitions to investing in the self-storage market.
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March 28, 2024
Investors Strike $42.5M Deal In Brookfield-GGP Merger Suit
Brookfield Property Partners LP has reached a tentative $42.5 million deal to bring an end to a yearslong battle with stockholders who alleged they were given misleading information about the global real estate company's 2018 acquisition of U.S. mall operator GGP Inc.
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March 28, 2024
Vaughan Baio Debuts ADR Team With Connell Foley Ex-Judge
Vaughan Baio & Partners has hired a retired New Jersey Superior Court assignment judge with more than 30 years of experience to join as of counsel and launch its alternative dispute resolution practice in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
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March 28, 2024
NJ Tax Court Says Barring Assessor's Testifying Is Premature
A New Jersey property owner cannot ask that the state tax court bar an assessor from testifying in court because the request is premature, the tax court ruled.
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March 28, 2024
Rental Proptech Co. Raises $45M, Planning Tech Development
Furnished rental company Blueground raised $45 million in its latest funding round, which the property technology company said will support its product development and growth plans.
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March 28, 2024
Law Firm Real Estate Report
Recent announcements from Sidley Austin LLP and Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC about plans to move their offices in Dallas and Pittsburgh, respectively, were among the biggest real estate moves for law firms in March.
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March 28, 2024
The Home Depot Buying PE-Backed SRS For $18.25B
The Home Depot said Thursday it has agreed to acquire SRS Distribution Inc., a private equity-backed distributor of roofing and building supplies, for $18.25 billion, inclusive of debt.
Expert Analysis
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Tackling Judge-Shopping Concerns While Honoring Localism
As the debate continues over judge-shopping and case assignments in federal court, policymakers should look to a hybrid model that preserves the benefits of localism for those cases that warrant it, while preventing the appearance of judge-shopping for cases of a more national or widespread character, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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How Attorneys Can Help Combat Anti-Asian Hate
Amid an exponential increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, unique obstacles stand in the way of accountability and justice — but lawyers can effect powerful change by raising awareness, offering legal representation, advocating for victims’ rights and more, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute
Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.
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As Sackett Trims Feds' Wetlands Role, States May Step Up
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extinguishes federal authority over many currently regulated wetlands — meaning that federal permits will no longer be required to discharge pollutants in affected areas, but also that state regulators may take a more active role, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model
Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.
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Trafficking Ruling Offers Liability Lessons For Hospitality Cos.
A California federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit accusing several national hotel chains of knowingly benefiting from sex trafficking at their premises, highlighting how hospitality leaders can protect their guests and staff, and shield their companies from liability and reputational damage, says Danielle Dudai at Hall Booth.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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What's Unique — And What's Not — In Trump Protective Order
A Manhattan judge's recent protective order limiting former President Donald Trump's access to evidence included restrictions uniquely tailored to the defendant, which should remind defense attorneys that it's always a good idea to fight these seemingly standard orders, says Julia Jayne at Jayne Law.
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Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.
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Justices Curb Fraud Theories, But That May Not Deter Feds
The U.S. Supreme Court’s opinions last week in Ciminelli v. U.S. and Percoco v. U.S. are the latest in a line of rulings aiming to limit the wire fraud statute’s application to state public corruption cases, but federal prosecutors will probably continue pursuing such cases using different charging language and other laws, says Alison Anderson at Boies Schiller.
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Good Faith Buyer Lessons From 5th Circ. Bankruptcy Ruling
The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Palm Springs II, affirming the sale of property to a senior lender, is notable for its guidance on Section 363(m), including the ability of a senior lender to remain a good faith purchaser despite squeezing out a junior lender, says Shane Ramsey at Nelson Mullins.
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Tips For In-House Legal Leaders In A Challenging Economy
Amid today's economic and geopolitical uncertainty, in-house legal teams are running lean and facing increased scrutiny and unique issues, but can step up and find innovative ways to manage outcomes and capitalize on good business opportunities, says Tim Parilla at LinkSquares.