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Real Estate
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July 31, 2025
Home Sellers Defend $110M In Broker Fee Deals To 8th Circ.
Home sellers are defending $110 million in settlements cut with several real estate brokerages in the sprawling litigation targeting the National Association of Realtors' broker commission rules from objections in a series of Eighth Circuit appeals.
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July 31, 2025
Judge Questions Gov't Objection To Shielding FEMA Funds
A Massachusetts federal judge Thursday questioned the Trump administration's assertion that it has not redirected funds allocated by Congress for natural disaster mitigation efforts toward other Federal Emergency Management Agency programs, even as the government was objecting to states' narrow request to protect the funds for now.
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July 31, 2025
Energy Co. Tells 4th Circ. Land Access Needed For Power Line
A Public Service Energy Group unit trying to build a 67-mile transmission line in Maryland asked the Fourth Circuit to deny property owners' bid to keep it off their lands, arguing it has a right to complete surveys needed for regulatory approvals.
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July 30, 2025
NY Woman Cops To $30M Scam That Used Trump Event As Bait
A New York woman pled guilty Wednesday to conspiring to defraud investors out of more than $30 million in a real estate fraud and illicit campaign finance scheme, which included using illegal foreign political donations to access a fundraiser for President Donald Trump to woo investors.
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July 30, 2025
2nd Circ. Backs Live Well Founder's Bond Fraud Convictions
The Second Circuit affirmed convictions for Live Well's founder for inducing lenders to extend credit by jacking up bond valuations to increase its debt and borrow against it, ruling Wednesday jurors had enough evidence to determine he misrepresented the value of collateral to secure loans and did so with fraudulent intent.
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July 30, 2025
U.S. Co. Defends $1B Suit Over Nixed LNG Facility In Canada
A U.S. company making a $1 billion claim against Canada over a stymied liquefied natural gas facility in Québec is urging an international tribunal not to toss the case on jurisdictional grounds, saying the country's objections are without merit.
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July 30, 2025
Newmark Seeks Del. Nod For Ex-Broker Equity Sanctions
Global commercial real estate giant Newmark Holdings Inc. has sued for a Delaware Court of Chancery declaratory judgment confirming cancellation of cash, stock or restricted shares potentially earned by a Midwest contractor and his company, alleging secret handoffs of prospects and deals to a competitor.
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July 30, 2025
Calif. Tribe Says 70-Acre Casino Land Fight Must Continue
The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are fighting a bid by a fellow California tribe to pause their challenge to the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to take 70 acres into trust for a casino project while a sovereign immunity order is appealed to the Ninth Circuit.
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July 30, 2025
Davis Polk, King & Spalding Build $2.35B AccuLynx Sale
Data analytics and technology company Verisk, advised by Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, on Wednesday announced plans to acquire software-as-a-service company AccuLynx, led by King & Spalding LLP, in a $2.35 billion cash deal.
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July 30, 2025
Wash. Condo Group Seeks $10M In Water Damage Coverage
A condominium association said its Country Financial insurers must provide coverage for an estimated $10.4 million in hidden water damage, telling a Washington federal court the insurers have failed to make a coverage determination in the two years since the association submitted its damage claim.
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July 30, 2025
Truist Triggered Employee Exodus, Not Ex-Execs, Court Told
Three former executives who helmed the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. and their new employer are seeking a pretrial win in the bank's poaching case, telling a North Carolina state court judge they aren't to blame for Truist's alleged bad business decisions.
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July 30, 2025
Buddhist Group's Suit Against Everglades Project Advances
A Florida Buddhist center's suit against an Army Corps of Engineers project in the Everglades will continue after a district court judge determined the center plausibly argued that the potential impacts of the project's construction didn't become clear until at least 2022.
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July 30, 2025
Wiggin And Dana Adds Real Estate Partner From Polsinelli
Law firm Wiggin and Dana LLP said Vasiliki Yiannoulis-Riva has joined as partner from Polsinelli PC in its real estate, environmental, construction and facilities department.
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July 30, 2025
Barnes & Thornburg Adds Morris Manning Real Estate Team
In the latest example of the mass exodus from Morris Manning & Martin LLP, five real estate attorneys, including two partners from the struggling Atlanta firm, have made the move to Barnes & Thornburg LLP, according to a Wednesday announcement.
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July 30, 2025
Family In Row With McCarter & English Wants $4.6M Set-Aside
A deceased Connecticut shopping mall developer's family members want McCarter & English LLP and the estate of Laurence Rubinow, a lawyer with connections to the firm, to set aside $4.6 million in case they prevail in a lawsuit alleging mismanagement of the developer's estate and trust.
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July 30, 2025
Rising Star: Gibson Dunn's Eric Meer
Eric Meer of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP guided RXR Realty through major recapitalizations and loan modifications on New York City office properties amid a tight rate environment as the Manhattan office market continued to take a beating, earning him a spot among the real estate practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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July 30, 2025
Housing Groups Want $30M Grant Case Kept In District Court
A coalition of housing advocacy groups challenging the termination of $30 million in federal antidiscrimination grants asked the First Circuit on Wednesday to let the Massachusetts federal district court keep jurisdiction over the case, if only to keep it alive long enough to figure out next steps.
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July 30, 2025
CoStar Claims Zillow Stole Copyrighted Property Photos
CoStar Group Inc. and CoStar Realty Information Inc. alleged Wednesday in New York federal court that property listings giant Zillow stole and profited off of more than 46,000 of CoStar's copyrighted real estate photos.
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July 30, 2025
RealPage, Landlords Ask To Toss NJ's Antitrust Case
RealPage and a group of building owners urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a case brought by state enforcers accusing them of scheming to use software to raise rents, calling it one in a series of "baseless" lawsuits that fails to allege there was any kind of conspiracy.
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July 30, 2025
Ore. Clarifies Info Disclosure For Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks
Oregon specified which of a business's records are exempt from disclosure when applying for an enterprise zone property tax exemption and clarified eligibility requirements under a bill signed by the governor.
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July 30, 2025
Landlords Not Covered For Lead Exposure Suit, Insurer Says
An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify property owners accused of negligently renting out an apartment with hazardous levels of lead that injured a child, the carrier told an Illinois federal court, saying the owners' policy bars coverage for bodily injury caused by lead.
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July 30, 2025
Calif. Residents Urge Justices To Take Up Jury Trial Question
A group of Humboldt County, California, property owners is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the group's appeal over the dismissal of its Seventh Amendment claim for a jury trial in a suit against the county alleging the county wrongly targeted the owners for illegal cannabis growth, saying the justices should reject the county's argument that the question is not ripe.
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July 29, 2025
Airbnb Says Slim Odds Of Shooting Don't Create Tort 'Duty'
The chances of being shot at one of Airbnb's short-term rentals are only slightly greater than the odds of being struck by lightning, so the company could not foresee or be held responsible for events like a 2022 mass shooting at a Pittsburgh rental, counsel for Airbnb told a Pennsylvania judge Tuesday during an oral argument.
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July 29, 2025
11th Circ. Upholds Toss Of Sea Island Clean Water Act Suit
The Eleventh Circuit has affirmed the toss of a suit filed against Georgia's Sea Island resort for allegedly misleading the Army Corps of Engineers about a wetlands filling project, finding that the resident and environmental groups who filed the suit failed to show a wetland on the property satisfied the test for "waters of the United States."
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July 29, 2025
REIT Shareholders File 'Improper Lending' Suit Against Execs
Two Arbor Realty Trust Inc. shareholders hit several of the real estate investment trust's executives, including its president and CEO Ivan Kaufman, with a derivative suit on Tuesday alleging they made the REIT use "improper lending practices" that saddled the company "with a severely distressed loan portfolio."
Expert Analysis
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Texas Bill Could Still Boost Property Rights In Gov't Disputes
The passage of a bill in Texas that would provide litigants with access to a greater swath of judicial remedies in immunity disputes with government entities and officials would be an invaluable boon for property rights, says Nathan Vrazel at Munsch Hardt.
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Indemnity Lessons From Mass. Construction Defect Ruling
The Massachusetts high court's decision in Trustees of Boston University v. CHA, holding that a bespoke contractual indemnity provision means that a construction defect claim is not subject to Massachusetts' statute of repose, should spur design and construction professionals to negotiate limited provisions, says Christopher Sweeney at Conn Kavanaugh.
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Va.'s Altered Surcharge Law Poses Constitutional Questions
Virginia's recently amended consumer protection law requiring sellers to display the total price rather than expressly prohibiting surcharges follows New York's recent revision of its antisurcharge statute and may raise similar First Amendment questions, says attorneys at Stinson.
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Series
Volunteering At Schools Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Speaking to elementary school students about the importance of college and other opportunities after high school — especially students who may not see those paths reflected in their daily lives — not only taught me the importance of giving back, but also helped to sharpen several skills essential to a successful legal practice, says Guillermo Escobedo at Constangy.
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Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways
Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.
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Ore. High Court Ruling Widens Construction Defect Coverage
A recent Oregon Supreme Court decision, Twigg v. Admiral Insurance, dispels the myth that a contractor's liability for defective work is uninsurable if pursued as a breach of contract, say attorneys at Stoel Rives.
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4 Strategies For De-Escalating Hospitality Industry Disputes
As recent uncertainty in the travel business exacerbates the risk of conflict in the hospitality sector, industry in-house counsel and their outside partners should consider proactive strategies aimed at de-escalating disputes, including preserving the record, avoiding boilerplate clauses and considering arbitration, say Randa Adra at Crowell and Stephanie Jean-Jacques at Hyatt.
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Series
Law School's Missed Lessons: Appreciating Civil Procedure
If you’re like me, law school’s often complex and theoretical approach to teaching civil procedure may have contributed to an early struggle with the topic, but when seen from a practical perspective, new lawyers may find they enjoy mastering these rules, says Chloe Villagomez at Foster Garvey.
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Calif. Bar Exam Fiasco Shows Why Attys Must Disclose AI Use
The recent revelation that a handful of questions from the controversial California bar exam administered in February were drafted using generative artificial intelligence demonstrates the continued importance of disclosure for attorneys who use AI tools, say attorneys at Troutman.
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Spoliation Of Evidence Is A Risky And Shortsighted Strategy
Destroying self-incriminating evidence to avoid a large judgment may seem like an attractive option to some defendants, but it is a shortsighted strategy that affords the nonspoliating party potentially case-terminating remedies, and support for a direct assault on the spoliator’s credibility, say attorneys at Mandelbaum Barrett.
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In 2nd Place, Va. 'Rocket Docket' Remains Old Reliable
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia was again one of the fastest civil trial courts in the nation last year, and an interview with the court’s newest judge provides insights into why it continues to soar, says Robert Tata at Hunton.
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SEC Signals Opening For Private Fund Investment Reform
At SEC Speaks in late May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made clear that it's considering allowing registered funds of private funds to be offered broadly to true retail investors, meaning existing funds should review their disclosures focusing on conflicts of interest, liquidity and fees, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.
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Parsing A Lack Of Antitrust Info-Sharing Enforcement Clarity
Information sharing among competing firms has recently faced dramatic changes in antitrust agency guidance, while courts grapple with the permissible scope of pricing algorithms, leaving companies in limbo, but potential Trump administration changes could offer some reprieve, say attorneys at Axinn.
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Operating Via Bank Charter Offers Perks Amid Industry Shift
As bank regulators become more receptive to streamlining barriers that have historically stood in the way of de novo bank formation, and as fintechs show more interest in chartering, attorneys at Goodwin outline the types of charters available and their benefits.
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How Attorneys Can Become Change Agents For Racial Equity
As the administration targets diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and law firms consider pulling back from their programs, lawyers who care about racial equity and justice can employ four strategies to create microspaces of justice, which can then be parlayed into drivers of transformational change, says Susan Sturm at Columbia Law School.