Commercial

  • April 10, 2024

    Ex-Trump Finance Chief Weisselberg Jailed For Perjury

    A New York state judge on Wednesday sentenced former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg to five months in jail for lying under oath in the attorney general's civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his business associates, imprisoning a close ally of the former president on the eve of his hush-money trial.

  • April 10, 2024

    Macy's, Activist Firm End Board Fight, Takeover Talks Proceed

    Macy's and activist investment firm Arkhouse Management Co. said Wednesday they have settled their proxy dispute by appointing two independent directors to the retailer's board, paving the way for further negotiations regarding a prior $6.6 billion acquisition proposal submitted by Arkhouse and Brigade Capital Management LP.

  • April 09, 2024

    Six Firms Vie To Lead NY Community Bank Losses Suit

    Six firms seek to represent a proposed class of investors in a consolidated proposed class action alleging New York Community Bank misled investors about its struggles following its 2022 acquisition of Flagstar Bank and its 2023 acquisition of certain Signature Bank assets.

  • April 09, 2024

    NYC Developers Get $270M In Financing For Brooklyn Project

    The Gotham Organization, Monadnock Development and the Christian Cultural Center obtained $270 million in construction financing for the first phase of their mixed-use Innovative Urban Village project in Brooklyn, New York, according to an announcement.

  • April 09, 2024

    NYC Developers Blame Tax Break Loss For Apartment Slump

    The foundation application filings for multifamily housing in New York City declined significantly in March, which signifies a decline that began after the city's 421-A tax break expired in June 2022, the NYC developer trade group Real Estate Board of New York stated.

  • April 09, 2024

    Suburban Retail A Bright Spot In Southern Florida

    Retail property vacancies in suburban markets offered a high point in the Southern Florida real estate market, while industrial space continued a gradual cool-off that has been underway since last year, according to data for the first quarter of 2024 released by Colliers. 

  • April 09, 2024

    4th Circ. Tosses Duty To Defend Case Over Oil Co.'s Objection

    The Fourth Circuit said Tuesday that a West Virginia oil and gas company lacked standing to continue an appeal that was originally brought by a green grower, which had sought coverage from its insurer for an underlying $4 million land use dispute with the extractor.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-Ecuadorian Official Denies Laundering Construction Bribes

    Ecuador's former comptroller on Tuesday denied accepting and laundering $10 million in bribes in exchange for eliminating fines imposed against a Brazilian company for constructing a shoddy hydroelectric plant, telling a Florida federal court he was charged with crimes because the project's corrupt manager lied to avoid prison time.

  • April 09, 2024

    Trump Opposes NY Monitor Probe After Exec's Perjury

    Attorneys for Donald Trump argued against allowing a court-appointed monitor of the Trump Organization to look into supposed discovery lapses in the New York attorney general's civil business fraud case related to a perjury plea by the company's former longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.

  • April 09, 2024

    Pittsburgh Schools Sue To Force Countywide Reassessment

    The school district serving the city of Pittsburgh has filed a lawsuit in state court to compel Allegheny County to conduct a countywide reassessment of real estate values, arguing that taxation starting from a 12-year-old base level is putting homeowners in some neighborhoods at an unfair and unconstitutional disadvantage.

  • April 09, 2024

    SF Office Sector Shows Signs Of Growth In Q1, CBRE Says

    San Francisco's office market showed some signs of recovery in the first quarter after four years of decline, with CBRE finding that the square footage sought by office market tenants rose sharply, in a metric that's a precursor to completed leases in the future.

  • April 09, 2024

    EPA Outlines New Ways To Destroy, Dispose Of PFAS

    Waste managers, government regulators and the public should use methods such as underground injection to destroy or dispose of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances and PFAS materials, guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says.

  • April 09, 2024

    Macy's Sued In Del. To Block 'Dead Hand' Buyout Defense

    A Macy's Inc. pension fund stockholder has sued for a Delaware Court of Chancery order barring the retailer from holding its May 17 annual meeting or impeding a board proxy contest launched by two investor funds after a hostile response to their company takeover offer.

  • April 09, 2024

    Cozen O'Connor Adds General Counsel To Real Estate Group

    Cozen O'Connor PC's real estate practice group has added former Kushner Cos.' general counsel Jennifer Nellany, who told Law360 she's bringing her experience on the client side and hospitality expertise to the new role.

  • April 09, 2024

    Fund Managers Want Ga. Attys' Tax Shelter Fraud Suit Tossed

    A fund manager accused of misleading investors into an illegal tax shelter want a Georgia federal court to throw out the proposed class action against them, claiming the facts alleged in an updated complaint still aren't specific enough for court.

  • April 09, 2024

    Polsinelli Adds 2 Real Estate Pros In Denver, Kansas City

    Polsinelli PC hired two transactional real estate attorneys as shareholders for its real estate teams in its Denver, Colorado, and Kansas City, Missouri, offices, the firm announced Monday.

  • April 09, 2024

    Blue Owl Targets Real Estate Finance After $170M Prima Buy

    Asset manager Blue Owl Capital Inc. on Tuesday unveiled plans to launch a real estate finance strategy following its $170 million purchase of real estate lender Prima Capital Advisors in a deal crafted by three firms, marking the firm's second acquisition in two weeks meant to broaden its service offerings.

  • April 08, 2024

    7th Circ. Won't Demolish Obama Center Approval

    Federal agencies properly reviewed the environmental impacts of building the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago's Jackson Park, the Seventh Circuit ruled Monday, once again rejecting opponents' attempts to stop construction of the campus set to open in 2026.

  • April 08, 2024

    Idaho Land Deal Would Sustain Legacy Of Pollution, Tribes Say

    A group of Idaho tribes is urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling granting a partial win in their challenge to a land transfer for a fertilizer plant's expansion, arguing that if allowed to go forward, it would continue a decadeslong legacy of contamination for their communities.

  • April 09, 2024

    Tech Poised For Key Role In Real Estate Recovery

    As the clouds recede from two years of economic headwinds, an anticipated real estate upturn could benefit from enormous advances taking place in technological innovation, according to the many key players who attended the 2024 Real Estate Technology Conference in New York.

  • April 08, 2024

    Mich. Judge Not Persuaded Wineries' Agritourism Is Speech

    A Michigan federal judge has found a local ban on wineries hosting weddings is not a commercial speech restriction despite the advertising potential of such events, again trimming a contentious zoning dispute ahead of trial. 

  • April 08, 2024

    NYC Real Estate Week In Review

    Kane Kessler and Nixon Peabody are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City deals that hit public records last week, a slow period that saw only three deeds at or north of $20 million hit records.

  • April 08, 2024

    2nd Circ. OKs Turnover Order In HNA $185M Award Feud

    The Second Circuit on Monday affirmed an order forcing a subsidiary of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group to turn over its most valuable North American asset to an SL Green Realty Corp. affiliate owed about $185 million, following a dispute stemming from the affiliate's $148 million investment in a Manhattan skyscraper.

  • April 08, 2024

    NY Bar Assoc. Building Owner's Ch. 11 Dispute Gets Mediator

    A New Jersey bankruptcy judge on Monday ordered mediation for two Chapter 11 cases tied to the owner of the historic New York County Lawyers Association Building in Manhattan, naming longtime bankruptcy lawyer Albert Togut to referee the process.

  • April 08, 2024

    FDIC Wants Developer's $85M Suit Over Bad Deals Tossed

    The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has urged a New York federal court to dismiss a developer's $85 million suit against a bank that is under FDIC receivership.

Expert Analysis

  • How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks

    Author Photo

    The continuing underperformance of the U.S. commercial real estate market has significant implications for the financial performance and disclosure requirements for various banks, especially regional ones with large debt exposures, say Atanu Saha and Yong Xu at StoneTurn.

  • Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts

    Author Photo

    As material price escalation clauses have remained popular in construction contracts despite an easing of recent supply chain issues, attorneys representing owners should understand key considerations for negotiating such clauses, and strategies to mitigate potential exploitation by contractors, says H. Arthur Black II at Brooks Pierce.

  • Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11

    Author Photo

    After years of financial trouble and the recent announcement that it has substantial doubt that it would be able to continue as a going concern, WeWork may have a bankruptcy filing in its future that would have a significant impact on landlords and other stakeholders who are owed money by the company, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

    Author Photo

    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing

    Author Photo

    While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

    Author Photo

    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

    Author Photo

    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play

    Author Photo

    Pickleball's burgeoning popularity in Florida is catalyzing a transformation in the state's commercial real estate market, but investors must take steps to navigate legal challenges related to noise, insurance and community dynamics, says Emmanuelle Litvinov at DarrowEverett.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
    Author Photo

    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance

    Author Photo

    While a California appeals court's recent decision in Lucas v. City of Pomona affirms the city's use of a statutory exemption for its commercial cannabis overlay permit program, the ruling does not mean that all applicants seeking similar approvals are exempted from state environmental compliance obligations, say Whitney Hodges and Barbara Machado at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rare Reg A+ Fines Reflect New Era Of SEC Enforcement

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement of civil penalties against 10 microcap companies for violations of Regulation A+ shows that as the SEC continues to expand its enforcement efforts, its focus remains on protecting investors of all sizes — including those investing in the historically less-scrutinized Reg A+ issuers, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Factors To Consider When Structuring Data Center Contracts

    Author Photo

    Data center leases and service agreements grant very similar rights and impose similar obligations, but they also hold notable differences and a range of factors that are important to consider when selecting which form of agreement to use, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling

    Author Photo

    The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.