More Real Estate Coverage
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October 16, 2024
Feds, Md. Tell 4th Circ. Beltway Lane Expansion Is Fully Vetted
Federal and Maryland state transportation officials have told the Fourth Circuit that they thoroughly vetted air pollution, traffic congestion and other environmental concerns before approving an estimated $4 billion highway expansion project outside Washington, D.C., arguing that environmental groups have no grounds to sue to block the project.
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October 16, 2024
Ex-NJ Atty Cops To $1.8M Theft From Dozens Of Clients
A disbarred Garden State real estate lawyer who plundered more than $1.8 million from 60 clients has entered a guilty plea in New Jersey state court to a charge of second-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity, according to a statement Wednesday from the Monmouth County prosecutor's office.
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October 16, 2024
Polsinelli Expands Real Estate Team With Ex-Seyfarth Partner
Polsinelli PC is continuing to add real estate talent to its ranks, announcing Tuesday that it has hired a partner from Seyfarth Shaw LLP to work out of its New York and Miami offices.
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October 15, 2024
The 2024 Law360 Pulse Social Impact Leaders
Check out our Social Impact Leaders ranking, analysis and interactive graphics to see which firms stand out for their engagement with social responsibility and commitment to pro bono service.
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October 15, 2024
Law Firms Diverge As Anti-ESG Pushback Continues
A continuing onslaught of legislation and litigation opposing corporate environmental, social and governance actions has created a fork in the road for law firms, with some choosing to scale back efforts and others pushing ahead with their internal ESG and diversity, equity and inclusion goals.
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October 11, 2024
Feds Designate 3rd-Largest Marine Sanctuary Off Calif. Coast
The Biden administration on Friday said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is designating more than 4,500 square miles of ocean off California's central coast as the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
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October 10, 2024
Wyo. Justices Find State Land Leased To Truck Stop Taxable
The state of Wyoming owes tax on property it leased out as a truck stop because that operation doesn't constitute a use for a government purpose that would allow an exemption, the state Supreme Court said.
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October 09, 2024
Mo. Clinics Fail To Meet Charity Requirement For Exemption
Health clinics in four Missouri counties are not eligible for charitable exemptions from property tax despite being part of a nonprofit organization, the state's tax commission ruled.
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October 09, 2024
Mass. Gov. Nominates Land Court Counsel To Judgeship
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has nominated a longtime Land Court staff attorney and administrator to a seat on the court, according to an announcement Wednesday.
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October 08, 2024
Minn. County And Feds Must Meet In Person Over Land Fight
A Minnesota federal judge has ordered counsel for a county and two townships to meet in person with U.S. Department of the Interior representatives for settlement talks involving claims the DOI wrongly acquired about 3,239 acres of land into trust for an Ojibwe tribe.
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October 08, 2024
DC Judge Won't Rethink Striking Down USDA Wetland Rule
A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday refused to reconsider her decision to vacate a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule designed to stop the development of wetlands on farmland and struck down those regulations.
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October 08, 2024
Ex-FDNY Safety Chief Cops To Taking Bribes For Inspections
A Staten Island firefighter who headed the New York City Fire Department's office tasked with fire prevention told a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday he took thousands of dollars in exchange for speedier safety checks, pleading guilty to bribery conspiracy.
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October 07, 2024
Split DC Circ. Says FERC Can Require Power Plant Upgrade
Federal energy regulators were right to require NextEra Energy to upgrade its New Hampshire nuclear power plant's circuit breaker to accommodate a new transmission line being developed by Avangrid Inc., a split D.C. Circuit panel has ruled.
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October 07, 2024
IRS Finalizes Conservation Easement Reporting Rules
The IRS released final regulations Monday that impose additional reporting requirements under the threat of penalty for partnerships that abuse a conservation easement tax deduction after the agency suffered major losses in court battles that invalidated the original 2017 rules for violating administrative law.
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October 04, 2024
Real Estate Execs Accused Of NYC Deed Theft Scheme
Three real estate executives have been arrested in connection with a purported $500,000 deed theft scheme that preyed upon a vulnerable home owner in the Bronx, according to the Office of the New York State Attorney General.
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October 04, 2024
NY State Gives 1,000 Acres Back To Onondaga Nation
New York's Onondaga Nation has regained 1,000 acres of its ancestral lands in the Tully Valley, making the title transfer one of the largest of its kind by any state, after tribe members have said for decades that the land was unlawfully taken by the federal government in the 18th century.
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October 03, 2024
Brookfield Sued Over LA Subway Terminal Building Damage
The owner of the subterranean floors of Los Angeles' old Subway Terminal Building has filed suit against Brookfield Properties Multifamily LLC and the affiliated owner of aboveground luxury units, arguing the pair must pay for water damage in the basement.
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October 03, 2024
12 Lawyers Who Are The Future Of The Supreme Court Bar
One attorney hasn't lost a single U.S. Supreme Court case she's argued, or even a single justice's vote. One attorney is perhaps "the preeminent SCOTUS advocate." And one may soon become U.S. solicitor general, despite acknowledging there are "judges out there who don't like me." All three are among a dozen lawyers in the vanguard of the Supreme Court bar's next generation, poised to follow in the footsteps of the bar's current icons.
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October 03, 2024
Sens. Question If Payouts Taint Execs' Push For US Steel Deal
Two U.S. senators wrote to U.S. Steel's president and CEO on Wednesday seeking guarantees that a $72 million "golden parachute" deal wasn't driving the executive's willingness to support a $14.1 billion merger with Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel.
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October 01, 2024
Rocket Cos. Investors Lose Cert Bid In Post-Goldman Ruling
A Michigan federal judge has declined to grant class status to Rocket Cos. investors suing over the company's post-pandemic loan portfolio, saying that optimistic statements about the firm's future were too generic to be relied upon in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Goldman Sachs' favor that dealt with a similar issue.
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October 01, 2024
Mich. Appeals Court Denies Tax Break For Church Retreat
The Michigan Court of Appeals affirmed a state tax tribunal decision that said a church's ministry retreat house that offered recreational activities wasn't exempt from property taxes.
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October 01, 2024
Lewis Brisbois Real Estate Co-Chair Joins Procopio In Calif.
Procopio Cory Hargreaves & Savitch LLP announced that the former managing partner of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP's Indian Wells, California, office and real estate co-chair joined the firm's San Diego office as a partner.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Atty Disbarred For Taking $850K From Investor Clients
The Georgia Supreme Court disbarred an attorney Tuesday for mishandling about $850,000 of his real estate investor clients' money, concluding that such a severe sanction is "consistent with similar cases in which a lawyer abandons clients, violates the rules related to trust accounts and defaults during the disciplinary process."
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September 27, 2024
Osage Nation Says DOI Can't Avoid Its $4.9M Funding Suit
The Osage Nation is fighting a bid by the U.S. Department of the Interior to bring the tribe's $4.9 million lawsuit over self-determination to a quick end, telling a D.C. federal judge that he has the jurisdiction to rule on the case.
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September 27, 2024
Ex-Conn. Police Chief Drops Atty Fee Ask After Lawsuit Win
The former police chief in Newington, Connecticut, dropped his demand for attorney fees after defamation claims against him were dropped and a state court judge ordered that, in order to collect, his lawyer may have to testify at an upcoming hearing.
Expert Analysis
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How Inflation Reduction Act Will Lift Offshore Wind Projects
The Inflation Reduction Act should promote the development of offshore wind energy in multiple ways — including by improving the planning and permitting process for transmission infrastructure, expanding potential lease areas and making beneficial changes to the tax credits available for renewable energy developers, say attorneys at Day Pitney.
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CORRECTED: New Tax Credits For Renewables Should Offer Investors Relief
The Inflation Reduction Act's changes to tax credits for renewable energy projects should finally liberate tax equity investors from the restraints of the complex and onerous federal anti-abuse regime, says Kay Hobart at Parker Poe. Correction: Because of an editing error, a previous version of this article incorrectly characterized tax enforcement regimes in North Carolina and other states. This error has been corrected.
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Inflation Reduction Act A Boon To Hydrogen, Carbon Capture
The Inflation Reduction Act's tax credits and direct payments, extension of existing renewable electricity subsidies, and other benefits will accelerate hydrogen and carbon capture projects across the U.S. — and will likely draw capital into the country that would otherwise have gone to projects elsewhere, say attorneys at Shearman.
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Public-Private Partnerships Can Enable Infrastructure Repairs
As governmental entities at all levels continue to face intense financial pressures to fund operations, programs and benefit plans, public-private partnerships are a nonconventional funding method that may help address aging infrastructure, say Peter Hutcheon and John Lushis at Norris McLaughlin.
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New Constitution In Chile Would Affect Infrastructure Projects
If Chile's new draft constitution is approved in next week's referendum, it will significantly alter the state's role in the economy — so investors in infrastructure projects must prepare for the possibility of heighted environmental protections and more state control of natural resources, say Craig Miles and Vanessa Alarcon Duvanel at King & Spalding.
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Pre-Permit Best Practices For Texas Solar Farm Proposals
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
When entering the pre-permit phase to construct and operate a solar farm in Texas, the developer's legal counsel should carefully establish definitions for key terms, including what constitutes an environmental permit, in order to ensure a smooth and flexible review process, says Larry Pechacek at V&E.
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New Mass. Law A Step Forward For Offshore Wind
Recently enacted legislation in Massachusetts demonstrates the state's commitment not only to its renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals, but specifically to supporting development of offshore wind projects — as well as development of transmission infrastructure to connect those projects to the grid, say attorneys at Day Pitney.
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HUD Chicago Finding Reflects Biden's Enviro Agenda
A recent final finding issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development regarding relocation of a Chicago recycling facility illustrates how leveraging nonenvironmental statutes to force change and address environmental justice issues can work in practice, say J. Michael Showalter and Samuel Rasche at ArentFox Schiff.
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3 Trends To Watch In US Offshore Wind Development
As the offshore wind industry continues to build momentum in the U.S. with billions of dollars in new infrastructure spending and offshore lease sales, developers should keep an eye on emerging solutions to grid connectivity, expansion into new potential lease areas and more, say attorneys at V&E.
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Inflation Reduction Act Loan Funds Will Aid Energy Innovation
By providing an extra $70 billion to the U.S. Department of Energy's Loan Program Office, the Inflation Reduction Act has the potential to significantly increase financing for innovative energy production and storage projects — and to do so in a fiscally responsible manner, say attorneys at Kilpatrick.
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What 5th Circ. Bankruptcy Ruling Means For FERC Authority
The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Gulfport Energy v. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission begs the question as to whether FERC regulations sufficiently protect pipelines from the effects of customer bankruptcies, and highlights the conflict between the commission and bankruptcy courts, say Keturah Brown and Emily Mallen at Sidley.
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Justices Could Tighten Fraud Statute In Ex-Cuomo Aide Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to overturn the conviction of an aide to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Percoco v. U.S., thereby restraining federal prosecutors' use of the honest services fraud statute and confining its application to cases of true public corruption, says Scott Coffina at Montgomery McCracken.
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A Look At 2 Frameworks For Decarbonizing Heavy Industry
Comparing common themes in two recent international frameworks for decarbonizing heavy industry reveals recent progress toward lowering emissions and highlights the key role the industrial sector will play in decarbonization efforts, say attorneys at Shearman.