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Real Estate
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May 09, 2024
GE Dropped From Louisiana Factory Contamination Suit
A Louisiana federal judge has dropped General Electric from property owners' suit alleging widespread contamination caused by a now-closed manufacturing facility, finding an earlier merger by a subsidiary did not make the company a liable successor.
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May 09, 2024
Designer, Hotelier Sued For Allegedly Duping EB-5 Investors
Chinese investors in a luxury California hotel for green cards lodged a potential class action Thursday against a prominent interior designer and her hotelier husband for allegedly duping backers into believing Marriott would manage the hotel.
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May 09, 2024
Nossaman Scores New Land Use Partner For Seattle Office
Nossaman LLP announced it has hired an attorney with experience advising and defending clients in environmental matters as a partner for its environment and land use team in the firm's Seattle office.
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May 08, 2024
BIA Tells 8th Circ. Energy Co. Can't Revive Lease Suit
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs has asked the Eighth Circuit to uphold a North Dakota federal judge's dismissal of Prima Exploration Inc.'s oil and gas lease termination suit, saying the lower court correctly dismissed the case for failure to exhaust administrative remedies.
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May 08, 2024
Water-Damaged Conn. Hotel Sues Insurer For More Coverage
A Connecticut hotel took Sompo America Insurance Co. to state court after the insurer only partially covered substantial water damage that forced the newly opened lodge's closure and purportedly offered "nonsensical" justifications for denying full coverage.
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May 08, 2024
99 Cents Beats Creditor Objection To Get OK On $61M DIP
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved discount store 99 Cents Only's full $60.8 million Chapter 11 financing deal after rejecting a group of noteholders' objection to the relief, finding an intercreditor agreement barred the group from blocking debtor-in-possession funding.
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May 08, 2024
Labaton, Boston Pension Win Bid to Lead NYCB Investor Suit
A New York magistrate judge appointed Boston's municipal pension plan and its attorneys from Labaton Keller Sucharow LLP to lead a proposed securities class action against New York Community Bancorp Inc. after the pension plan successfully showed that the plaintiff with the greatest losses bought their shares too late.
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May 08, 2024
Upstate NY Cities Aim To Join Rent-Regulated Ranks
After a 2019 tweak to state law allowed localities beyond New York City and its surrounding counties to opt into rent stabilization for the first time since the original legislation was passed in 1974, a smattering of upstate cities have attempted to do just that, to varying degrees of success.
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May 08, 2024
SEC Fines Real Estate Developer Over Unregistered Offering
A real estate development company and its owner will pay $250,000 to settle the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's claims they sold investors $1.4 million in promissory notes in an unregistered offering.
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May 08, 2024
Coldwell Banker's Lockboxes Draw BIPA Suit
Coldwell Banker has been sued in Illinois state court by a proposed class of employees who claim it violated Illinois' biometric privacy law by failing to get their informed consent before requiring them to scan their fingerprints to access biometric lockboxes that store keys for rental units shown to potential customers.
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May 08, 2024
NAR Magazine Subscribers Drop Data-Selling Claims
A proposed class has mediated and permanently dismissed claims in Michigan federal court accusing the National Association of Realtors of illegally selling, exchanging and renting the personal data of subscribers to the NAR's Realtor magazine.
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May 08, 2024
Homebuyers Can't Stop NAR's $418M Settlement Hearing
An Illinois federal judge said Wednesday she won't derail a final settlement hearing for the National Association of Realtors' $418 million deal with home sellers, despite a class of homebuyers' claims that the deal interferes with their separate case, saying they will have a chance to voice concerns at the hearing.
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May 08, 2024
Conn. Builder Drops $4.7M Stamford Pavilion Delay Suit
A Connecticut general contractor has dropped its lawsuit accusing the city of Stamford and an architecture practice of causing delays in a $4.7 million project and driving up the building company's costs as it tried to build a pavilion in a city park.
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May 08, 2024
Colo. Lawmakers OK Historic Structure Tax Credit Extension
Colorado's tax credit for rehabilitation of historic structures would be extended and apply to structures as young as 30 years old under legislation approved by the Senate and headed to the governor.
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May 07, 2024
LA Sued For Landmarking House Marilyn Monroe Died In
Owners of a Los Angeles home where Marilyn Monroe died sued the city in California state court saying it orchestrating an illegal, rigged process to designate it as a historical landmark, arguing Monday nothing in the home shows the actress spent a single day in it.
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May 07, 2024
Real Estate Co. Says Privilege, Immunity Don't Protect Trustee
A real estate company says a Chapter 7 trustee overseeing a Connecticut woman's personal bankruptcy cannot invoke the doctrine of qualified immunity or assert a litigation privilege to avoid being countersued for trying to stop a home sale the trustee considered fraudulent.
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May 07, 2024
NYC Eatery Asks 2nd Circ. To Undo Revival Of Workers' Suit
A New York City restaurant operator urged the Second Circuit Tuesday to reject a lower court finding that its workers' federal wage claims may be cut from their class action but can also be reinstated if the appeals court were to vacate their state wage claims, insisting the decision is unfair.
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May 07, 2024
PolyMet Land Swap Discovery Order Paused, For Now
PolyMet Mining doesn't have to produce information it had previously withheld in a Minnesota tribe's challenge to undo a land swap, a federal district court determined after the company asked for emergency relief to avoid any potential harm it said could come from wrongfully disclosing privileged documentation.
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May 07, 2024
Contract's 1-Year Limit Doesn't Block NC Mold Claims
A North Carolina appeals court on Tuesday reinstated a couple's suit against a contractor they say failed to remediate water and mold damage in their house, saying the trial court was wrong to find that the contract's one-year limitation on claims applied to the state's Unfair and Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
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May 07, 2024
Steward Health Gets Ch. 11 Loan, Says It Plans Hospital Sales
A Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday allowed Steward Health Care to take out $75 million in Chapter 11 financing to meet its next-day payroll after being told the hospital chain plans to sell facilities to pay down its $9 billion in debt.
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May 07, 2024
Lender Shanks Bid To Halt Ga. Golf Course Auctions
A Georgia federal judge on Tuesday denied successive efforts from a lender to wrest control of the assets of an Atlanta-area golf club owner, whom attorneys for the lender describe as a "serial fraudster" likely to abscond with his assets while still owing millions on a 2023 loan.
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May 07, 2024
Colo. House OKs Conservation Easement Tax Break Extension
Colorado would extend its conservation easement tax credit through 2031 and raise its statewide annual cap on available credits under legislation approved Tuesday by the state House of Representatives.
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May 07, 2024
Colo. Senate Approves Property Tax Cuts
Colorado would extend temporary property tax rate reductions into 2024 and set lower rates for future years under bipartisan legislation passed Tuesday by the state Senate that is forecast to save property owners nearly $1 billion in its first year if enacted.
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May 06, 2024
Alaska Man Gets 2 Years Over 'Bud And Breakfast' Scheme
An Alaska man has been sentenced to two years in prison and will have to pay more than $580,000 in restitution after duping investors into staking a purported plan to build a marijuana-themed hospitality center referred to as a "Bud and Breakfast."
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May 06, 2024
Fla. Judge Tosses Suit To Remove Miami Official From Office
A Florida state court judge on Monday threw out a lawsuit brought by two real estate developers seeking to unseat a Miami commissioner from office over civil rights violations, citing a lack of standing to sue because they aren't residents of the city.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.
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High Court Case Could Reshape Local Development Fees
If last month's oral arguments are any indication of how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, it's unlikely the justices will hold that the essential nexus and rough proportionality tests under the cases of Nollan, Dolan and Koontz apply to legislative exactions, but a sweeping decision would still be the natural progression in the line of cases giving property owners takings claims, says Phillip Babich at Reed Smith.
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Opinion
White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'
Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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How 2 CFPB Advisory Opinions Affect Reporting Agencies
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued two advisory opinions last month that demonstrate a continued commitment to address inaccuracies in background check reports and consumer file disclosures through broad interpretation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, expanding on a coordinated federal agency effort, say attorneys at Cooley.
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Algorithmic Pricing Programs Caught In Antitrust Crosshairs
The Justice Department's investigation into software company RealPage follows a host of federal antitrust cases alleging that property owners and casino hotel operators use the same proprietary software programs to fix and maintain pricing, which means algorithmic pricing programs are considered a key price-fixing tool in the digital age, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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The Legal Industry Needs A Cybersecurity Paradigm Shift
As law firms face ever-increasing risks of cyberattacks and ransomware incidents, the legal industry must implement robust cybersecurity measures and privacy-centric practices to preserve attorney-client privilege, safeguard client trust and uphold the profession’s integrity, says Ryan Paterson at Unplugged.
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A Welcome Turning Of The Page For Residential Real Estate
After one of the most challenging years on record for residential real estate, 2024 will likely be a time of transition to a stabler business climate, as sellers lose some of their excess bargaining power and the pace of sales picks up, says Marty Green at Polunsky Beitel.
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5 Reasons Associates Shouldn't Take A Job Just For Money
As a number of BigLaw firms increase salary scales for early-career attorneys, law students and lateral associates considering new job offers should weigh several key factors that may matter more than financial compensation, say Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub and Ruvin Levavi at Power Forward.
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Series
Playing Competitive Tennis Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My experience playing competitive tennis has highlighted why prioritizing exercise and stress relief, maintaining perspective under pressure, and supporting colleagues in pursuit of a common goal are all key aspects of championing a successful legal career, says Madhumita Datta at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Series
The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Djerassi On Super Bowl 52
Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Ramy Djerassi discusses how Super Bowl 52, in which the Philadelphia Eagles prevailed over the New England Patriots, provides an apt metaphor for alternative dispute resolution processes in commercial business cases.
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Strict Duty To Indemnify Ruling Bucks Recent Trend
A South Carolina federal court's recent decision that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction to decide an insurer's duty to indemnify prior to the finding of insured liability sharply diverges from the more nuanced or multipronged standards established by multiple circuit courts, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.
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Ex-OpenSea Staffer Case May Clarify When Info Is Property
In considering the appeal of a former OpenSea manager’s wire fraud conviction in U.S. v. Chastain, the Second Circuit may soon provide guidance about whether economic information is traditional property in certain insider trading prosecutions — a theory of fraud that the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly narrowed, say attorneys at Debevoise.
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Ill. Insurance Ruling Helps Developers, Community Orgs. Alike
The Illinois Supreme Court's decision in Acuity v. M/I Homes of Chicago, holding that commercial general liability policy exceptions did not prevent coverage for damage caused by faulty workmanship, will bring more potential insurance coverage for real estate developers and, in turn, larger payouts when community organizations sue them, say Howard Dakoff and Suzanne Karbarz Rovner at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success
Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.
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Series
Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.