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Real Estate
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October 17, 2024
Lender Says Denver Property Owner Defaulted On $27M Loan
A lender told a Colorado state court that it wants a Denver retail property to be placed in receivership after the owner allegedly defaulted on a $27.1 million commercial mortgage loan this month.
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October 17, 2024
Pa. Appeals Court Stops Damaged Philly Building's Demolition
A Pennsylvania appellate court has tossed a lower court order that required the demolition of a seven-story Philadelphia apartment building that had a partial façade collapse in September 2022.
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October 17, 2024
Gordon Rees Gains Trial Atty From Nashville Boutique
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has added a trial attorney from Nashville boutique Taylor Pigue Marchetti & Blair PLLC with experience in complex commercial litigation, professional liability, employment and immigration law.
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October 17, 2024
Mont. Tax Board Upholds Assessment On Storage Facility
The owner of a Montana commercial property used to house storage units was unable to lower its value because the state Tax Appeal Board gave more weight to the state Department of Revenue's valuation using an income analysis.
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October 17, 2024
NJ Atty Disbarred On Charges Of Stealing Over $600K
A New Jersey attorney accused of stealing over $600,000 from several clients through fraudulent real estate transactions over the last 10 years has been disbarred in New Jersey state and federal court.
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October 17, 2024
5th Circ. Tosses Policyholder's Hurricane Coverage Suit
The Fifth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a National Flood Insurance Program policyholder's suit seeking coverage for at least $100,000 in hurricane damage to a Mississippi beachfront property, saying it was time-barred and failed to allege any extracontractual duties.
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October 16, 2024
NYC Condo Building's Revised Ch. 11 Plan Gets Confirmation
A New York federal bankruptcy judge has confirmed the owner of a Manhattan condominium complex's revised Chapter 11 plan, signing off on the planned restructuring after initially sending it back for revisions in late September, according to a notice filed Wednesday.
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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
Rule Will Boost Alaskan Native Reps On Subsistence Board
The federal government on Wednesday announced a final rule that will strengthen Alaskan Indigenous representation on the Federal Subsistence Board by, for the first time, adding members nominated by the tribes that will be impacted by the board's decisions on the state's land and waters.
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October 16, 2024
11th Circ. Won't Nix OK Of Guatemalan Power Plant Award
The Eleventh Circuit refused Wednesday to vacate an arbitral award issued following a dispute over an ill-fated Guatemalan power plant construction project, rejecting arguments that the tribunal improperly turned a blind eye to alleged corruption underlying the project.
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October 16, 2024
11th Circ. Says No Claim For Taking Until Permit Is Denied
The Eleventh Circuit ruled Wednesday that Fane Lozman — houseboat owner, activist and thorn in the side of the Riviera Beach, Florida, city government — cannot yet bring his claims for a regulatory taking of his property against the city because he has not applied for a permit or zoning variance.
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October 16, 2024
Feds Deny That West Bank Sanctions Hamper Free Speech
The Biden administration rebuffed claims by a group of U.S. and Israeli citizens that a sanctions program covering extremist actors in the Israeli-occupied West Bank restricts their free speech rights, saying that merely opposing U.S. foreign policy goals isn't a sanctionable offense.
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October 16, 2024
Developers Push On After Mich. Township Bike Law Loss
Two developers urged a Michigan federal court to upend a Jamestown Charter Township ordinance under which some developers must fund the construction of bike paths, arguing that fees they were charged under the law were unconstitutional takings.
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October 16, 2024
NY State Judge Says He's Immune In Tribe's Eviction Suit
A New York state judge has urged a federal court to throw out a Cayuga Nation lawsuit accusing him of interfering with the tribe's sovereign authority as it looks to evict two tribal members from properties on reservation land, saying he is immune from the suit.
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October 16, 2024
NC Panel Won't Reignite Duke Energy Case Over House Fire
A split panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals declined to revive a liability suit brought against Duke Energy Corp. and a contractor it hired to install new meters at its customers' homes after one of those contractors allegedly caused a bed to catch fire leading to $130,000 in damage.
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October 16, 2024
Calif. Community Flood Insurance Project Secures New Funds
California's water regulation authority will support a novel flood insurance program aimed at providing a tiny Central Valley town with coverage in the event of a major flood event, the state's insurance commissioner said Wednesday.
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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
Lender To Pay $10M To Settle Birmingham Redlining Claims
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the U.S. Department of Justice said a mortgage lender the agencies accused of redlining in Birmingham, Alabama, will pay nearly $10 million and open a loan office in a majority-Black neighborhood to resolve the claims.
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October 16, 2024
Key Bank Blocking Hunt For Apt. Co-Op's $1.3M, Towns Say
Key Bank NA should be held in contempt of court because four insurance checks totaling $1.3 million seem to have vanished from a troubled housing co-op's accounts, and the bank is preventing a receiver in charge of the 924-unit Success Village Apartments from figuring out what happened, two Connecticut municipalities have said.
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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 16, 2024
4th Circ. Affirms Judgment In Foreclosure Bid-Rigging Case
The Fourth Circuit backed a North Carolina federal court and tossed part of an appeal by a real estate company founder and others of a jury verdict that they rigged bids in foreclosure auctions in violation of state and federal antitrust laws.
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October 15, 2024
CFPB Funding Shouldn't Stop Texas' Fraud Suit, Judge Says
A Houston federal magistrate judge has endorsed allowing the state of Texas to proceed with a real estate fraud suit against land developer Colony Ridge, rejecting objections tied in part to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding from Federal Reserve "earnings."
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October 15, 2024
Exec's $77M WeWork Offer Was Stupid, Not Fraud, Jury Told
Counsel for the former CEO of real estate investment firm Arciterra told a Manhattan federal jury Tuesday his client was a fool for making what prosecutors described as a fake $77 million tender offer for a controlling stake in WeWork before its bankruptcy, but he wasn't trying to falsely pump up the coworking company's stock price.
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October 15, 2024
Tribes, Backers Urge Justices To Take On Oak Flat Dispute
Tribes, religious groups and scholars are backing a bid in the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a Ninth Circuit ruling allowing part of the Tonto National Forest that is sacred to the Western Apache to be destroyed for a copper mine proposed by a Rio Tinto and BHP venture.
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October 15, 2024
Standing Rock Sioux Ask Court To Shut Down Dakota Pipeline
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is asking a federal court to block a Texas-based energy company from continuing to operate the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing its latest emergency response plan fails to include a realistic calculation of a worst-case scenario liquid discharge.
Expert Analysis
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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Cannabis Biz Real Estate Loan Considerations For Lenders
Now that cannabis sales are legal in some states, real estate lenders are interested in financing the land used by cannabis companies, but because cannabis sales are still illegal under federal law, lenders must make adjustments for cannabis-adjacent transactions, say Mark Levenson and Jeffrey Wendler at Sills Cummis.
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Series
After Chevron: Don't Let Loper Lead To Bank Compliance Lull
Banking organizations are staring down a period of greater uncertainty over the next few years as the banking agencies and industry navigate the post-Chevron world, but banks must continue to have effective compliance programs in place even in the face of this unpredictability, say Lee Meyerson and Amanda Allexon at Simpson Thacher.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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Maryland 'Rain Tax' Ruling May Offer Hope For Tax Credits
A Maryland state appellate court's recent decision in Ben Porto v. Montgomery County echoes earlier case law upholding controversial stormwater charges as a valid excise tax, but it also suggests that potential credits to reduce property owners' liability could get broader in scope, says Alyssa Domzal at Ballard Spahr.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions
Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.
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Shipping Containers As Building Elements Require Diligence
With the shipping container market projected to double between 2020 and 2028, repurposing containers as storage units, office spaces and housing may become more common, but developers must make sure they comply with requirements that can vary by intended use and location, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.