Real Estate

  • March 24, 2025

    Texas High Court Revives Developer's Floodplain Takings Suit

    The Texas Supreme Court has said a developer can again argue at trial court that Houston's new floodplain system thwarted its planned community and amounted to a regulatory taking, even though the ordinance was a valid exercise of police power.

  • March 24, 2025

    SmartStop REIT Plans $864M IPO Amid US-Canada Trade Row

    SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., a real estate investment trust managing U.S. and Canadian properties, unveiled plans on Monday for an estimated $864 million initial public offering amid trade disputes rippling across North America, represented by Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • March 24, 2025

    NJ University Launches Malpractice Suit Over Forfeited Land

    Rider University has sued a now-defunct New Jersey firm claiming it mishandled a land deal in the early 1990s, leading Rider to believe it owned a $42 million property only to later have its ownership rights challenged and defeated in court.

  • March 24, 2025

    Comparable Homes Don't Lower Mass. Property's $430K Value

    A Massachusetts home will remain valued at $429,500, a state tax panel said in a decision released Monday, rejecting the owner's arguments that the home valuation grew at a higher rate than that of comparable properties.

  • March 24, 2025

    Minn. County Late To Accept Property Tax Deal, Court Says

    An offer to a Minnesota county to settle a tax valuation dispute was not accepted within a reasonable period of time and is not valid, the Minnesota Tax Court said, rejecting the county's request to enforce the agreement.

  • March 24, 2025

    Justices Decline To Revisit Landmark Press Freedom Ruling

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied casino mogul and Trump donor Steve Wynn's bid to overturn a landmark ruling on press freedom that established a high evidentiary standard for public figures to pursue defamation claims.

  • March 21, 2025

    Only FDIC Can Sue Over Signature Bank Collapse, Judge Says

    A New York federal judge on Friday tossed a shareholder lawsuit over alleged misstatements about Signature Bank's health ahead of its 2023 collapse, saying shareholders lacked standing to sue in light of the FDIC being a receiver of both the failed bank's assets and rights of the bank's stockholders.

  • March 21, 2025

    NJ AG Says Landlord Discriminated Against Low-Income Renters

    The New Jersey Division on Civil Rights has found probable cause that the owner of a Garden State apartment complex and its leasing agent allegedly discriminated against poor tenants through illegal minimum-income requirements, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Friday.

  • March 21, 2025

    Real Estate Recap: GSA Leases, Artemis, C-PACE

    Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including insight from Holland & Knight attorneys on General Services Administration lease terminations, Paul Hastings dealmakers on the Artemis takeover, and how attorneys see increasing use of commercial property-assessed clean energy financing.

  • March 21, 2025

    SEC Guidance Moves Needle In Favor Of Private Fundraising

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent guidance on how accredited investors can self-certify when participating in broadly publicized private placements simplifies legal compliance for issuers, according to attorneys, though the jury is still out on whether market participants will embrace the new framework.

  • March 21, 2025

    Fla. Tax Preparer Sentenced To Prison For $20M Fraud

    A Miami-area tax preparer was sentenced to nearly five years in prison Friday after admitting to filing thousands of individual tax returns wrongly claiming energy credits, resulting in a $20 million loss for the Internal Revenue Service, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida.

  • March 21, 2025

    Hail Deductible Applicable In Colo. Townhomes' Storm Dispute

    A homeowners association's insurer correctly applied a hail deductible when it issued a roughly $1,600 payment despite the association's $3.5 million damage estimate, a Colorado federal court ruled Friday, rejecting the association's argument that the deductible became void once the insurer breached the policy by underpaying coverage.

  • March 21, 2025

    Loan Servicer Faces 'Zombie Mortgage' Truth In Lending Suit

    A mortgage loan servicer that allegedly tried to charge a North Carolina borrower $160,000 for a mortgage he discharged in bankruptcy during the Great Recession got hit with a proposed federal class action accusing it and a trust that purportedly attempted to foreclose his house of violating the Truth in Lending Act.

  • March 21, 2025

    Creek Freedmen Band Wants In On Tulsa Jurisdiction Fight

    The descendants of those once enslaved by the Muscogee Creek Nation and their attorney have sought to intervene in a federal court dispute over tribal jurisdiction in Tulsa, Oklahoma, arguing they share the same objective in blocking the city's law enforcement from prosecuting tribal citizens for traffic offenses within the boundaries of its reservation.

  • March 21, 2025

    Mich. Judge Dismisses $217M Dam Repair Tax Challenge

    A Michigan federal judge has dismissed a pair of lawsuits alleging a $217 million special assessment to fund the reconstruction of dams destroyed in 2020 floods was unfairly levied on certain properties, finding homeowners had the opportunity to oppose the assessment and litigate their claims in state court.

  • March 21, 2025

    3rd Circ. Takes On NJ Judicial Privacy Law's Constitutionality

    The Third Circuit has granted requests by several data brokers to review a lower court judge's ruling that New Jersey's judicial privacy and security measure, known as Daniel's Law, is constitutional.

  • March 21, 2025

    Md. Nonprofit's Property Used As Home Isn't Exempt

    A Maryland property owned by a nonprofit isn't exempt from property tax, because it's used as the founder's home and not mainly for charitable purposes, the state tax court affirmed. 

  • March 21, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Cravath, Paul Weiss, Cooley

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, Google acquires Wiz, QXO Inc. acquires Beacon Roofing Supply, and the Boston Celtics are bought by a group led by private equity firm co-founder William Chisholm.

  • March 21, 2025

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    This past week in London has seen a sub-postmaster sue the Post Office and Fujitsu, Russian insurer Ingosstrakh hit the Financial Times with a defamation claim, and Britvic-owned Robinsons Soft Drinks file a passing off claim against Aldi. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • March 20, 2025

    LA Hit With Sanctions Request In Encampment Sweep Lawsuit

    Homeless residents accused the Los Angeles City Attorney's Office of hiding documents they requested in their suit challenging the constitutionality of encampment sweeps, asking a California federal court for case-ending sanctions for the second time in two weeks.

  • March 20, 2025

    11th Circ. Allows Remand Of EB-5 Suit To Fla. State Court

    The Eleventh Circuit has dismissed the appeal of a Canadian citizen trying to compel arbitration and keep in federal court the suit accusing him of defrauding foreign investors, saying it doesn't have jurisdiction to review the order sending the case back to Florida state court.

  • March 20, 2025

    Feds Ask High Court To Nix Mich. Tribal Land Trust Row

    A Michigan tribe's analysis of a law governing the state's Indigenous land claims would allow it to purchase property anywhere and then compel the U.S. to take it into trust for its benefit, the Interior Department has told the Supreme Court, arguing the interpretation would render a bizarre result.

  • March 20, 2025

    Tribe's Claims Against Alaska Gold Mine Permit Reduced

    An Alaska federal judge has tossed several claims by a tribal village against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers over its approval of a permit for an open pit gold mine, finding it is not required to conduct a subsistence evaluation or follow its internal consultation policy.

  • March 20, 2025

    Property Owner Demands Appraisal Of $10.5M Hail Claim

    A Tennessee property owner asked a federal court Thursday to order a Travelers unit to participate in an appraisal of its hail damage claim, alleging the insurer denied coverage even though an "independent evaluation" of the owner's damages estimated that the hail damage exceeded $10.5 million.

  • March 20, 2025

    Conn. AG Sues Builder, Companies For State Park Clear-Cut

    A real estate builder and two of his companies have illegally clear-cut multiple acres of Connecticut state park land, installed fixtures including a basketball court and a guesthouse without permission and blocked public access to the area, according to an enforcement action brought by the state attorney general's office.

Expert Analysis

  • Colorful Lessons From NYC's Emotional Support Parrot Suit

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    A recently settled lawsuit in New York federal court concerning housing discrimination claims from a resident who had emotional support parrots highlights the importance of housing providers treating accomodation questions seriously even if they may appear unusual or questionable, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Recent Securities Cases Highlight Risks In AI Disclosures

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    Increasing public disclosure about the use and risks of artificial intelligence, and related litigation asserting that such disclosures are false or misleading, suggest that issuers need to exercise great care with respect to how they describe the benefits of AI, say Richard Zelichov and Danny Tobey at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art

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    Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.

  • Climate Among Many Factors Driving Up RE Insurance Costs

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    A proactive approach to risk management may determine the viability of the U.S. commercial real estate sector as weather crises and other factors drive insurance costs higher, says Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner.

  • Proposed Mortgage Assistance Rule: Tips For Servicers

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's recent proposal to alter Regulation X mortgage servicing procedures to broadly construe requests for assistance, and stay foreclosure proceedings during loss mitigation review, will, if finalized, require mortgage servicers to make notable procedural changes to comply, says Louis Manetti at Locke Lord.

  • How Multifamily Property Owners Can Plan For The EV Future

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    As the electric vehicle market expands, and federal and state incentives and mandates intended to promote EV use come into effect, owners and operators of multifamily residential properties should be prepared to meet the growing demand for onsite EV charging infrastructure, say Sydney Tucker and Andreas Wokutch at Frost Brown.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation

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    ​James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Fla. Insurer-Breach Cases Split On Unrepaired Property Issue

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    A Florida appellate court's recent decision in Universal v. Qureshi is directly at odds with a 2020 decision from another Florida appellate court, and raises important questions for policyholders and insurers about the proper measure of damages in breach claims involving unrepaired property, say Andrea DeField and Yaniel Abreu at Hunton.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

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