More Real Estate Coverage
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November 03, 2023
Utah Title Agent's Insurer Won't Cover $900K Mortgage Theft
A professional liability insurer told a Utah federal court Friday that it shouldn't pay to defend or indemnify a title agency accused in underlying litigation of releasing $900,000 from mortgage lenders to a man who used his knowledge as a title agent to steal the money.
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November 03, 2023
Chicago Pol Faces Trial Over Allegedly Extorted Legal Work
The trial of one of Chicago's longest serving and most powerful local politicians, former Alderman Edward Burke, is set to kick off in Illinois federal court on Monday.
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November 03, 2023
Property Plays: Spruce Capital, GMH, Weill Cornell Medicine
Spruce Capital has loaned $60 million for a Florida mixed-use project, GMH Communities has paid $70 million for a Florida student housing community and Weill Cornell Medicine has leased another 100,000 square feet in New York.
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November 03, 2023
Cemeteries Say Pittsburgh Stormwater Fee Is Illegal Tax
A group of cemeteries should not have to pay the Pittsburgh stormwater fee because the fee constitutes an illegal tax levied by the city sewer authority, the group asserted in a complaint filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas.
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November 03, 2023
Miles & Stockbridge Adds Enviro, Real Estate Vet In Va.
Mid-Atlantic firm Miles & Stockbridge PC announced the latest addition to its fast-growing Richmond, Virginia, office with the hire of an experienced environmental and real estate attorney as a principal.
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November 02, 2023
Biden Admin Yanks Gulf Of Mexico Oil And Gas Lease Sale
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management on Thursday pulled the plug on a controversial Gulf of Mexico oil and gas lease sale, saying a court challenge to the sale needs to play out before it moves forward.
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November 02, 2023
Simpson Thacher Adds V&E Partner To NY Energy Team
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP has hired a former Vinson & Elkins LLP telecommunications infrastructure lawyer who joins the firm's New York office as an energy and infrastructure partner, the firm announced Thursday.
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November 02, 2023
Brookfield Amasses $6B For Record Infrastructure Debt Fund
Private equity shop Brookfield Asset Management has completed the fundraising for its third infrastructure debt fund after racking up over $6 billion in capital commitments, making the fund the largest private infrastructure debt fund in the world, the firm announced Thursday.
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November 01, 2023
Ex-Sheppard Mullin Client's Suit Alleges Undisclosed Conflict
A former client of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP sued the firm in California state court Tuesday alleging it failed to disclose representing a party on the other side of the client's real estate deal in unrelated matters, ultimately costing the client a 50% ownership interest in a Long Beach shopping center worth $135 million.
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November 01, 2023
Barnes & Thornburg Adds Environmental Pro In Grand Rapids
A former Warner Norcross + Judd LLP partner has joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP's Grand Rapids, Michigan, office, bolstering the firm's environmental department with his PFAS experience, the firm said.
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November 01, 2023
DC Judge Tosses Conn. Tribe Recognition Suit
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday tossed a Connecticut-based Native American tribe's lawsuit targeting the Bureau of Indian Affairs' allegedly glacial federal recognition process, finding the agency has already formally denied the tribe acknowledgment.
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October 31, 2023
Wash. Judges Affirm Ban On Unpermitted Vacation Rentals
A Washington appeals panel ruled Tuesday that four owners and operators of short-term rentals cannot claim they ran legal but unpermitted rental properties in the state prior to the enactment of a local zoning law banning them, finding that none of the vacation properties were lawfully established and that the owners failed to show they have "a vested right to continue their uses."
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October 31, 2023
Va. Landowners Want Verdict Reinstated Against Pipeline Co.
Virginia landowners fired back Tuesday at Mountain Valley Pipeline's contention that their appraiser's testimony lacked credibility, telling the Fourth Circuit that the record supports the jury's verdict in their favor and that the district court was wrong to slash their award in litigation over compensation for easements.
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October 31, 2023
Texas Church's $1.3M Storm Damage Suit Gets Trimmed
A Texas federal judge tossed a church's extra-contractual claims Tuesday in a coverage dispute against its insurer over storm damage, finding that the church failed to produce sufficient evidence that the insurer unreasonably denied payment.
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October 31, 2023
10th Circ. Urged To Reverse Biden's Monument Decisions
Utah and some residents are asking the Tenth Circuit to revive suits challenging proclamations that redesignated large southern swaths of the Beehive State as parts of the Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, saying President Biden exceeded and now aims to "raze" limits of the Antiquities Act of 1906.
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October 31, 2023
Solar Tech Lender Hits Ch. 11 With Prepack Sale Plan
Solar technology financing company Sunlight Financial Holdings Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection late Monday in Delaware bankruptcy court with a prepackaged plan to sell its business to a group of industry investors in less than three weeks.
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October 30, 2023
Divided FERC Stands By Redo Of LNG Project Approvals
The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission stood by its prior decision to re-approve two proposed liquefied natural gas export terminals on the Texas Gulf Coast, despite one Democratic commissioner's concerns over whether the agency fixed the legal deficiencies flagged by the D.C. Circuit.
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October 30, 2023
Energy Company Can't Revive $1.1B Angola Power Plant Suit
A D.C. federal court judge has refused to revive Aenergy SA's lawsuit against Angola over a canceled $1.1 billion power plant project, rejecting the Angolan company's argument that new evidence shows the African country isn't an adequate forum for the dispute.
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October 30, 2023
Ft. Lauderdale Lands $120M Federal Loan To Combat Flooding
Fort Lauderdale, Florida, which experienced an epic flooding incident in April, is receiving a $120 million loan from the federal government to help the city advance stormwater management projects and improve climate resiliency in its most flood-prone neighborhoods, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Monday.
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October 30, 2023
Energy Dept. To Invest $1.3B In 3 Power Line Projects
The U.S. Department of Energy said Monday it plans to commit up to $1.3 billion to support three power transmission projects spanning six states in a push to boost grid capacity, resilience and reliability and bring more renewable energy to market.
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October 27, 2023
Texas High Court Urged To Review Royalty Fraction Row
A Texas oil and gas company joined others in calling on the Texas Supreme Court to upend an Eighth Court of Appeals' decision declaring that a 7-decade-old deed associated with 6,800 acres of land conveyed a floating 1/16th royalty interest, as they hash out their mineral royalty dispute with two Reeves County landowners.
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October 27, 2023
UPDATE: Developer Behind Kansas City Fed Building Who Sued Investors Withdraws Suit
A Colorado-based developer has asked the state court to withdraw his lawsuit that claimed an investment entity owes him millions of dollars after it agreed to buy a majority stake in his $154 million plan to turn the former Federal Reserve Building in Kansas City, Missouri, into an Embassy Suites hotel
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October 27, 2023
Property Plays: Easterly Government, Kairoi, Related Group
Easterly Government Properties has purchased a courthouse in Virginia, Kairoi Residential has dropped $161 million on a Denver apartment community, and Related Group is teaming up with a family investment arm to launch a Miami co-living project.
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October 27, 2023
2nd Circ. Affirms Irish Developer's €18M Clawback Verdict
A Second Circuit panel affirmed an €18 million ($19 million) split jury verdict Friday against an Irish real estate developer for improperly transferring tens of millions of dollars of assets to his former spouse during bankruptcy.
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October 27, 2023
Feds Must Rethink Oregon Grazing Plan, 9th Circ. Rules
Federal wildlife officials issued a flawed analysis of the potential harm a cattle grazing plan could have on endangered frogs in Southern Oregon, according to a Ninth Circuit panel ruling that handed a partial victory to conservation groups challenging the proposal.
Expert Analysis
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Carbon Cost Injunction Signals Hurdles For Biden Plans
A Louisiana federal court's unusually expansive injunction preventing the Biden administration from using its social cost of carbon estimates in future regulatory guidance may be a sign that the president's environmental agenda will face more aggressive court challenges going forward, say attorneys at WilmerHale.
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Why I'll Miss Arguing Before Justice Breyer
Carter Phillips at Sidley shares some of his fondest memories of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer both inside and out of the courtroom, and explains why he thinks the justice’s multipronged questions during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments were everything an advocate could ask for.
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How US Trade Obligations Apply To Biden's Infrastructure Law
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act could require some state agencies that receive federal funding for infrastructure to consider for the first time whether U.S. international treaty obligations prevent the application of Buy America preferences for certain government purchases, subjecting them to new liability risks, say attorneys at Akin Gump.
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NY, NJ Lease Auctions Highlight US Push For Offshore Wind
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's upcoming auction of new lease areas for wind farms off the coasts of New York and New Jersey demonstrate the Biden administration's desire to foster the U.S. offshore wind industry — and interested parties should track the agency's plans for other coastal areas, says attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Infrastructure Law Is Not All Good News For Construction Cos.
The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will help strengthen the construction industry and create jobs, but heightened material costs, conflicts between state and federal law, and environmental concerns must be considered by entities wishing to take advantage of the increased development, say Gary Strong and Madison Calkins at Gfeller Laurie.
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High Court's Return To Wetlands Debate May Bring Clarity
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to revisit the reach of the Clean Water Act, in its forthcoming consideration of Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, may help lift the clouds of uncertainty that have plagued jurisdictional wetlands determinations for decades, says Bryan Moore at Balch & Bingham.
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Electricity Market Competition Helps Consumers And Climate
Lawmakers looking to combat climate change and increase consumer choice should encourage and expand competitive electricity supply markets, to free customers from inefficient and often corrupt vertically integrated monopoly utilities, says Todd Snitchler at the Electric Power Supply Association.
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What Infrastructure Act Means For Transmission Line Projects
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act gives the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authority to supersede state siting decisions for electric transmission projects, but environmental review requirements make a sudden acceleration of transmission line construction unlikely, say attorneys at Winston & Strawn.
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DOI's Vision For Offshore Wind: Obstacles And Opportunities
The U.S. Department of Interior's recent announcement of its intent to open the U.S. coastline to large-scale offshore wind projects is promising, but wind developers must be ready to confront distinct technical and regulatory challenges in each coastal region, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Jones Act Compliance Strategies For Offshore Wind Projects
Offshore wind developers can use a number of strategies to get projects done while meeting the challenges of complying with Jones Act requirements for the use of vessels built, owned and operated by U.S. persons, say Jonathan Wilconis and Carl Valenstein at Morgan Lewis.
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Biden's Infrastructure Funding Comes With Strings Attached
The bipartisan infrastructure funding bill enacted last November creates new jobs and business opportunities, but its changes to domestic preferences and Made in America enforcement also give rise to new compliance hazards for unwary manufacturers and government contractors, say Jeffrey Belkin and Grecia Rivas at Alston & Bird.
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NIMBYism Is Endangering America's Clean Energy Future
The U.S. has made remarkable strides in recent years toward a cleaner, more sustainable energy future — but further progress is threatened by a not-in-my-backyard cancel culture that seeks to thwart every type of major energy development, says Albert Wynn at Greenberg Traurig.
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Science-Based Definition Of US Waters Won't Pass In Court
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently proposed a science-backed definition of "waters of the United States" for the Clean Water Act, but the U.S. Supreme Court is unlikely to be persuaded that science trumps a constitutional or statutory limit on the EPA's and the Corps' authority, says Jeffrey Porter at Mintz Levin.