Commercial

  • July 01, 2024

    Manhattan Office Leasing Marks Annual Gains In Q2

    JLL said in a report Monday that office leasing activity in Manhattan during the second quarter of 2024 was higher than last year thanks largely to relocations led by a major law firm in June.

  • June 28, 2024

    Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes

    By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.

  • June 28, 2024

    'Nothing Stopping' Collection On $10B Verdict, LA Judge Says

    A Los Angeles judge on Friday decided to amend the judgment from a $10 billion verdict that found business owner Haresh Jogani stole a multibillion-dollar real estate business from his four brothers, awarding stock potentially worth billions to the brothers while dismissing his attorney's objections that the order is not allowed due to Haresh Jogani's appeal.

  • June 28, 2024

    Wyndham Can't Escape Ohio Sex Trafficking Liability Suit

    Wyndham Hotels lost its bid to escape a woman's lawsuit alleging it ignored obvious signs she was trafficked for sex at a Knights Inn brand hotel when an Ohio federal judge ruled Friday that she sufficiently alleged the company was directly liable for harming her.

  • June 28, 2024

    In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another

    The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.

  • June 28, 2024

    Conn. Court Shouldn't Hear Anti-Dispensary Appeal, City Says

    A Connecticut appeals court should not hear a case brought by an anti-cannabis organization in Stamford that is trying to undo a court-approved settlement that allowed for the opening of a dispensary, the city's Zoning Board has argued.

  • June 28, 2024

    Property Plays: Goldman, WaFD, The Alamo

    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.

  • June 28, 2024

    Seattle Co. Owes $5.6M For Upgrades At Old Fed Building

    A company that owns the Seattle Federal Reserve Building owes a construction contractor $5.6 million for renovations on two floors, a Washington state court has ruled.

  • June 28, 2024

    Final Rules Exempt REITs From Stock Buyback Tax

    Real estate investment trusts and regulated investment companies may be able to avoid the stock buyback tax but would still be required to keep records under final regulations on reporting and paying the tax released by Treasury and the IRS Friday.

  • June 28, 2024

    How BCLP Helped Build The New Stonewall Visitor Center

    The Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center opened on Friday with help from over a dozen Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP attorneys who provided more than 2,000 hours of pro bono legal counsel.

  • June 28, 2024

    Shumaker Bolsters Fla. Office With Englander Fischer Litigator

    After opening its office in St. Petersburg, Florida, in February, Shumaker Loop & Kendrick LLP has added a former Englander Fischer LLP attorney there, bringing on a lawyer with over a decade of experience handling business and real estate litigation.

  • June 28, 2024

    5th Circ. Tosses Texas Health System's COVID-19 Suit

    The largest nonprofit health system in Texas cannot get coverage for COVID-19-related business interruption losses it said totaled over $192 million, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, highlighting previous circuit precedent establishing that COVID-19 does not cause "physical loss or damage."

  • June 28, 2024

    Venable's Real Estate Finance Group Gains Partner In NY

    Venable LLP has expanded its real estate finance group by hiring a New York-based partner from Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.

  • June 28, 2024

    Supreme Court Strikes Down Chevron Deference

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned a decades-old precedent that instructed judges about when they could defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking, depriving courts of a commonly used analytic tool and leaving lots of questions about what comes next.

  • June 27, 2024

    Proposed Calif. Insurance Tradeoff Draws Mixed Reactions

    Insurance industry representatives and consumer advocates in California are pitching opposing visions for a proposed regulatory tradeoff at the heart of state officials’ efforts to increase homeowners insurance availability at a time of heightening wildfire risks.

  • June 27, 2024

    NY Regulators Say Pot Companies' Bid Would Ruin Industry

    New York's cannabis authority has urged a state court to toss a lawsuit seeking to invalidate hundreds of retail permits over claims that the agency gave special treatment to certain applicants, arguing that granting such a request would be "financially ruinous" for many and detrimental to the "emerging retail cannabis industry."

  • June 27, 2024

    IRS To Offer Combined Filing For Energy Investment Credits

    The Internal Revenue Service will let clean energy project owners that are claiming investment tax credits for more than 200 facilities file the claims with a single form, an agency official said Thursday.

  • June 27, 2024

    Goldman Raises $3.4B For Real Estate Secondaries Fund

    Goldman Sachs Alternatives raised $3.4 billion in capital commitments for its latest real estate secondaries fund, making it the largest such fund to date, per the company.

  • June 27, 2024

    Ill. Extends R&D Tax Credit, Adds Quantum Computing Credits

    Illinois extended its research and development tax credit, expanded eligibility for a program that provides tax breaks to electric vehicle manufacturers and created tax credits for quantum computer component parts manufacturers under a bill signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

  • June 27, 2024

    AG Says Trump Recusal Bid Relies On 'Distortion Of Facts'

    New York's attorney general says Donald Trump is relying on a "distortion of facts" in seeking to oust the judge who ordered the former president to pay $465 million in penalties in his civil fraud case.

  • June 27, 2024

    Colliers Sees Leasing, Portfolio Boon From AI Integration

    Commercial real estate players willing to integrate artificial intelligence into their business practices could see benefits to their leasing processes, portfolio strategies and project management, among other areas, per a report released by Colliers.

  • June 27, 2024

    US Service Members Want Timeshare Class Action Certified

    A putative class of U.S. service members who borrowed timeshare loans pushed for class certification for their suit in Florida federal court against two timeshare companies, which were accused of violating the Military Lending Act by not making legally required disclosures about the loans and arbitration requirements.

  • June 27, 2024

    Fla. County Owes Tax To Other County, Fla. Justices Rule

    The Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that counties are not immune from being taxed on properties they own in other counties, affirming a decision that said Pinellas County cannot claim sovereign immunity to duck taxes on property it owns in neighboring Pasco County.

  • June 27, 2024

    Insurer Gets Early Win In $2.2M Texas Assault Coverage Suit

    A bar's insurer has no duty to cover a $3.2 million personal injury judgment beyond the insurer's $1 million policy limit, a Texas federal court ruled, rejecting arguments from the bar, its owner and underlying plaintiffs that the insurer unreasonably denied the plaintiffs' presuit settlement demand.

  • June 27, 2024

    Ex-Deputy Mayor Of Newark Pleads Guilty In Bribery Scheme

    A former deputy mayor of Newark, New Jersey, has admitted in federal court that he conspired with two business owners in a bribery scheme involving the acquisition and redevelopment of various city-owned properties, federal prosecutors said.

Expert Analysis

  • How The Commercial Real Estate Slump May Weigh On Banks

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    The continuing underperformance of the U.S. commercial real estate market has significant implications for the financial performance and disclosure requirements for various banks, especially regional ones with large debt exposures, say Atanu Saha and Yong Xu at StoneTurn.

  • Negotiating Material Escalation In Construction Contracts

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    As material price escalation clauses have remained popular in construction contracts despite an easing of recent supply chain issues, attorneys representing owners should understand key considerations for negotiating such clauses, and strategies to mitigate potential exploitation by contractors, says H. Arthur Black II at Brooks Pierce.

  • Landlords Should Prep As WeWork Faces Potential Ch. 11

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    After years of financial trouble and the recent announcement that it has substantial doubt that it would be able to continue as a going concern, WeWork may have a bankruptcy filing in its future that would have a significant impact on landlords and other stakeholders who are owed money by the company, say attorneys at Cadwalader.

  • Identifying Trends And Tips In Litigation Financing Disclosure

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    Growing interest and controversy in litigation financing raise several salient concerns, but exploring recent compelled disclosure trends from courts around the country can help practitioners further their clients' interests, say Sean Callagy and Samuel Sokolsky at Arnold & Porter.

  • Key Drivers Behind Widespread Adoption Of NAV Financing

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    While net asset value-based lending has existed for years, NAV lending has only started to move into the mainstream recently — likely due to difficult market conditions faced by sponsors including persistent inflation, high interest rates and a lack of exit opportunities, say Matthew Kerfoot and Jinyoung Joo at Proskauer.

  • Conn. Ruling Highlights Keys To Certificate-Of-Need Appeals

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    The Connecticut Supreme Court's recent decision in High Watch Recovery Center v. Department of Public Health, rejecting rigid application of statutes concerning certificate-of-need procedure, provides important guidance on building an administrative record to support a finding that a case is contested, say attorneys at Robinson & Cole.

  • The Pop Culture Docket: Judge Elrod On 'Jury Duty'

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    Though the mockumentary series “Jury Duty” features purposely outrageous characters, it offers a solemn lesson about the simple but brilliant design of the right to trial by jury, with an unwitting protagonist who even John Adams may have welcomed as an impartial foreperson, says Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod.

  • Pickleball Makes Waves In Fla. Real Estate, With Risks In Play

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    Pickleball's burgeoning popularity in Florida is catalyzing a transformation in the state's commercial real estate market, but investors must take steps to navigate legal challenges related to noise, insurance and community dynamics, says Emmanuelle Litvinov at DarrowEverett.

  • 4 Business-Building Strategies For Introvert Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Introverted lawyers can build client bases to rival their extroverted peers’ by adapting time-tested strategies for business development that can work for any personality — such as claiming a niche, networking for maximum impact, drawing on existing contacts and more, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • What Calif. Pot Permit Ruling Means For Enviro Compliance

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    While a California appeals court's recent decision in Lucas v. City of Pomona affirms the city's use of a statutory exemption for its commercial cannabis overlay permit program, the ruling does not mean that all applicants seeking similar approvals are exempted from state environmental compliance obligations, say Whitney Hodges and Barbara Machado at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Rare Reg A+ Fines Reflect New Era Of SEC Enforcement

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent announcement of civil penalties against 10 microcap companies for violations of Regulation A+ shows that as the SEC continues to expand its enforcement efforts, its focus remains on protecting investors of all sizes — including those investing in the historically less-scrutinized Reg A+ issuers, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • Factors To Consider When Structuring Data Center Contracts

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    Data center leases and service agreements grant very similar rights and impose similar obligations, but they also hold notable differences and a range of factors that are important to consider when selecting which form of agreement to use, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.

  • Rethinking Mich. Slip-And-Fall Defense After Top Court Ruling

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    The Michigan Supreme Court recently overturned three decades of premises liability jurisprudence by ruling that the open and obvious danger defense is no longer part of a traditional duty analysis, posing the question of whether landowners will ever again win on a motion for summary dismissal, say John Stiglich and Meriam Choulagh at Wilson Elser.