Commercial
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January 22, 2025
Sotomayor Halts 2nd Circ. Ruling In Landmark Graft Case
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor halted a decision from the Second Circuit on Wednesday that would have set up a second trial against four men whose convictions were overturned in a landmark 2023 high court ruling in which the justices narrowed certain types of public corruption cases.
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January 22, 2025
Full DC Circ. Stands By Wipeout Of FERC Pipeline Approvals
The D.C. Circuit has rejected Williams Cos.' requests to reconsider a panel's decision scrapping Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals of a five-state expansion of the company's Transco pipeline system, despite more than a half-dozen amicus parties backing the rehearing requests.
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January 22, 2025
Greenberg Traurig Folds Digital Infrastructure Into RE Group
Greenberg Traurig LLP announced that the firm is merging its digital infrastructure, data center and cloud computing practice group into Greenberg Traurig's global real estate group, noting that the integration will allow it to better serve data center clients.
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January 22, 2025
Army, SD Tribe Fight For Early Win In Dakota Access Row
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are both asking for early wins in a challenge to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline over alleged violations of federal environmental laws.
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January 22, 2025
Withers Hires Rosenberg & Estis Real Estate Atty In NYC
Withers has hired a former Rosenberg & Estis PC commercial real estate partner to work in the firm's New York City office, it announced on Wednesday.
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January 22, 2025
DC Judge Declines To DQ Jenner & Block In Casino Dispute
A D.C. federal judge on Wednesday rejected a bid from three Native American tribes to disqualify Jenner & Block LLP from a lawsuit that seeks to block the operation of a new casino in Oregon.
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January 22, 2025
The Evolution Of The Real Estate Legal Practice
Clients increasingly expect real estate attorneys not only to prepare the documents underpinning deals, but also to understand their companies inside and out. Clients want more from their lawyers than mere legal grunt work; they want strategic advisers who can draw from a knowledge base that expands beyond property law.
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January 22, 2025
Real Estate Group Of The Year: Kirkland
Real estate attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis LLP played a big role in data center deals last year, including a $3.4 billion joint venture between Blue Owl and Crusoe Energy Systems, and worked on several more notable transactions, landing their practice a spot among the 2024 Law360 Real Estate Groups of the Year.
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January 22, 2025
Construction Group Of The Year: Kaplan Kirsch
Kaplan Kirsch LLP guided a Denver transit authority's $150 million first-ever progressive design-build contract and the Chicago Transit Authority's historic $5.3 billion Red Line extension, earning its spot among the 2024 Law360 Construction Groups of the Year.
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January 22, 2025
Neumann's Flow Life Buys Miami Site For $70.5M In Court Sale
WeWork founder Adam Neumann's latest venture, a real estate company called Flow Life, bought a 16-acre Miami development site in a court-ordered sale for $70.5 million, or double an initial stalking horse bid for the property in October.
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January 22, 2025
Naftali Group Nabs $40M C-PACE Loan For Miami Tower
Naftali Group has landed a $40 million commercial property-assessed clean energy loan for a luxury condominium tower under construction in Miami, noting that the financing will fund various energy efficiency and resiliency components of the development.
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January 22, 2025
4 California Construction Projects To Watch In 2025
A number of projects are underway in California, including a plan to build a new neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area on a former Navy base, a $5 billion "urban resort" in Beverly Hills and a university housing project in Berkeley that's moving ahead thanks to a court ruling and state law.
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January 21, 2025
Return To Work Order A Symbolic Boost To Office Sector
Real estate attorneys said President Donald Trump's return to work order for federal employees will not have much immediate impact on the office sector as the larger question of the size of the federal workforce looms.
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January 21, 2025
La. Judge Lifts Arbitration Order In $7M Ida Damage Case
A Louisiana federal judge lifted a stay and vacated an order to arbitrate a $7 million Hurricane Ida damage claim against domestic surplus insurers, ruling that a recent decision from Louisiana's top court represents an "'intervening change in the controlling law.'"
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January 21, 2025
Colo. Court OKs Use Of LLC Test For LPs In Ranch War
A Colorado state appeals court affirmed a trial court's decision to dissolve a partnership that owned a ranch in the state, ruling for the first time that a test for determining when judicial dissolution is necessary can be applied to limited partnerships.
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January 21, 2025
Medical Cannabis REIT Misled Investors, Suit Claims
A medical cannabis-focused real estate investment trust lied to its shareholders about the profitability of its leasing operations and declining rents, a new suit has alleged in Maryland federal court.
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January 21, 2025
Victors In Landmark Graft Case Want 2nd Top Court Review
The defendants who won a landmark 2023 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that narrowed certain types of corruption prosecutions have asked the justices to intervene in their case again, claiming the Second Circuit had wrongly allowed the government to pursue new trials based on a different theory of fraud.
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January 21, 2025
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Fried Frank and Skadden are among the law firms that landed work on the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, with a $355 million Manhattan deal leading the way.
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January 21, 2025
Tribal Tax Status Regs Leave Energy Credit Access Up In Air
While recently proposed regulations would provide long-awaited clarity that enterprises wholly owned by Native American tribes are exempt from federal taxes, the rules leave glaring questions open about whether tribes can access clean energy tax credits through business structures like joint ventures.
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January 21, 2025
Trump Orders Federal Workers Back To Office
On his first day back in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump ordered federal workers back to theirs.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year
Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2024, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and significant transaction work that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.
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January 17, 2025
Law360 Names Firms Of The Year
Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 54 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2024 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.
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January 17, 2025
Colo. AG, FTC Say Greystar Advertised Deceptive Rent Prices
The Federal Trade Commission sued developer and property manager Greystar in Colorado federal court Thursday, alleging Greystar advertised deceptive prices for its units to entice prospective tenants to apply, only to later slap them with mandatory hidden fees not included in the marketed price.
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January 17, 2025
Property Plays: Pretium, The Perigon, Stack Infrastructure
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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January 17, 2025
Concrete Co. Picks Up Queens Space For $60M
A Tennessee concrete manufacturer has secured a lot at 120-05 31st Ave. in College Point, Queens, from a New York concrete company for $60 million in a deal guided by Holland & Knight LLP, according to property records.
Expert Analysis
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How To Avoid A Zombie Office Building Apocalypse
With national office vacancy rates approaching 20%, policymakers, investors and developers will need to come together in order to prevent this troubling trend from sucking the life out of business districts or contaminating the broader real estate market, say Ryan Sommers and Robyn Minter Smyers at Thompson Hine.
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A Clearer Path To Speedy Guaranty Litigation In NY Courts
Recent cases indicate that New York's Appellate Division, First Department, is shifting its stance regarding when agreements with both monetary and nonmonetary obligations qualify for expedited litigation, and highlight best practices for drafting guarantees and notes, say Joshua Kopelowitz and Bansari Sheth at Fox Rothschild.
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LA's High-Value Real Estate Transfer Tax Should Be Scrapped
Los Angeles’ recently implemented high-value property transfer tax has chilled the real estate market, is failing to meet revenue expectations and raises significant constitutional concerns, making it a flawed piece of legislation that should be invalidated, says attorney Paul Weinberg.
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High Court Ruling Provides New Avenue For Foreign Plaintiffs
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Yegiazaryan v. Smagin offers a new path for foreign plaintiffs attempting to enforce arbitral awards in the U.S., but it also leaves the standard for such attempts under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act unsettled, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Justices' Corruption Ruling May Shift DOJ Bank Fraud Tactics
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month in Ciminelli v. U.S., curtailing a government theory of wire fraud liability, prosecutors may need to reconsider their approach to the bank fraud statute, particularly when it comes to foreign bank enforcement, says Brian Kearney at Ballard Spahr.
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Avoiding Negative Tax Consequences In Loan Modifications
Borrowers who may be caught in the dramatic uptick in nonperforming commercial real estate loans should consider strategies to avoid income and capital gains tax that may be triggered by loan modifications, says Aman Badyal at Glaser Weil.
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Foreign Investment In Real Estate Is Getting More Complicated
Increasing federal scrutiny and a proliferation of new state laws targeting foreign investment in real estate may complicate or prevent transactions even by U.S. companies or funds that have shareholders or limited partners from China and other countries of concern, say attorneys at Akin.
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5th Circ. Ruling Aids Insureds In Contractual Exclusion Rows
The Fifth Circuit's recent insurance decision in Windermere Oaks v. Allied World, in favor of coverage, provides policyholders with guidance on how to distinguish between contractual and noncontractual claims when insurers deploy broadly worded liability exclusions to deny coverage, say Max Louik and David Ledet at Reed Smith.
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What OneMain Order Says About CFPB's Regulatory Priorities
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s recent action against OneMain Financial Group and others reflect a continuing trend of arguably historic regulatory scrutiny for consumer lenders, and send a strong message that the CFPB is taking a tough stance against deceptive sales practices, say Felix Shipkevich and Jessica Livingston at Shipkevich.
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2nd Circ. Reinsurance Ruling Correctly Applied English Law
Contrary to a recent Law360 guest article's argument, the Second Circuit correctly applied English law when it decided in Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania v. Equitas that concurrent reinsurance certificates required the reinsurer to cover loss in accordance with the law of the policy's governing jurisdiction, say Peter Chaffetz and Andrew Poplinger at Chaffetz Lindsey.
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Hospitality Biz Must Prep For Seaweed Damage Coverage
With the Great Atlantic Sargassum Seaweed Belt, a 10-million-ton mass of brown seaweed, potentially about to approach the coasts of the U.S. Southeast, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, affected policyholders should consider whether their losses are covered by their property insurance policies, say attorneys at Pillsbury.
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Sackett's US Waters Redefinition Is A Boon For Developers
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent landmark ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should reduce real estate project delays, development costs and potential legal exposures — but developers must remain mindful of how new federal and state regulations governing wetlands could affect their plans, say attorneys at Morris Manning.
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For NY Wind And Solar Projects, Some Tax Assessment Clarity
Recent legislation, which moots a challenge to New York’s discounted cash flow method for assessing solar and wind project real property taxes, lifts a cloud of uncertainty and brings new considerations for developers, investors and lenders, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.