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Real Estate
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September 06, 2024
Real Estate Recap: Pol Funding, Investor Angst, Climate Risk
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including which presidential candidates BigLaw real estate pros have backed, where one attorney sees investor confidence despite tough conditions, and how extreme weather events are reshaping the property insurance market.
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September 06, 2024
VA Must Turn LA Campus Into Vets' Housing, Judge Says
A California federal judge on Friday ruled in favor of a class of disabled homeless military veterans alleging that they're facing disability discrimination due to the lack of permanent supportive housing on a West Los Angeles campus.
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September 06, 2024
Attys Urge Justices To Shield Corporate Veil In TM Case
More briefs landed Friday in the "Dewberry" trademark case currently before the U.S. Supreme Court — this time, from two groups of intellectual property lawyers who are concerned about the use of the Lanham Act to "pierce the corporate veil."
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September 06, 2024
Appeals Court Says Nursing Home Seller Keeps Atty Fees
An entity that sold a nursing home is entitled to keep attorney fees because the underlying contract spelled out that it was entitled to them, a Texas appeals court found, even though the eventual buyer was not a party to the contract granting attorney fees.
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September 06, 2024
Property Co. Not Covered By Excess Carriers In Antitrust Row
A property management company is not owed coverage from two excess insurers in an underlying multidistrict litigation surrounding allegations of a price-fixing conspiracy involving software company RealPage Inc., a Massachusetts federal judge ruled, finding the excess insurers had no obligations under the management company's primary policy.
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September 06, 2024
Pa. Borough Says Insurer, Atty Wrongfully Settled Feud
A Pennsylvania borough accused its insurer-retained counsel of committing legal malpractice by consummating a settlement acting against its wishes in an underlying "baseless" lawsuit brought by a borough council member, telling a state court that the attorney acted in the insurer's best interest.
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September 06, 2024
NC Judge Orders MV Realty's CEO To Produce Emails
A North Carolina Business Court judge on Friday ordered MV Realty to produce its CEO's emails as part of Attorney General Josh Stein's lawsuit accusing the company of locking homeowners in fraudulent deals to extract illegal fees.
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September 06, 2024
Cleveland-Cliffs Faces Trial Over Mining Co.'s Antitrust Claims
A Delaware bankruptcy court has partially allowed claims accusing steelmaking giant Cleveland-Cliffs of engaging in anticompetitive behavior that harmed a mining venture's efforts to complete an iron mine and ore plant in northern Minnesota to go to trial by a jury in federal court.
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September 06, 2024
Trustee Backs Tossing Ex-McElroy Deutsch CFO's Ch. 11 Case
The U.S. Trustee's Office has urged a New Jersey bankruptcy court to dismiss a Chapter 11 petition from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP's former CFO, who is currently incarcerated for embezzling millions from the firm, because he has stonewalled the trustee's requests for information about his finances.
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September 06, 2024
Judge Barnard Says It's 'About Time' For Texas Biz Court
Law360 recently talked with Judge Marialyn Barnard, who transitioned this month from the 73rd District Court to Texas Business Court, about the newly created court.
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September 06, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen Rockfire Capital sue its former director, Liam Kavanagh, after he was accused of cheating cash-strapped Thurrock Council out of £150 million ($197 million), FedEx launch a claim against an Israeli supply chain business, and a legal dispute between steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta and a former colleague. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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September 06, 2024
Red Lobster Landlord Sues Zurich Over $1.2M Fire Payment
The owner of a property leased to Red Lobster said a Zurich unit negligently failed to name the owner on settlement checks issued to the eatery after a fire, telling a New Jersey federal court the failure allowed Red Lobster to avoid using the $1.2 million to make repairs.
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September 06, 2024
Honigman Adds Real Estate Partner From Goodwin Proctor
Honigman LLP said on Friday it has hired Christopher Mull, who previously worked as an associate at Goodwin Proctor LLP, as a partner in its real estate transactions practice group in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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September 06, 2024
Indicted Power Broker, Atty Brother Hit With Civil RICO Suit
Philadelphia developer Carl Dranoff has accused the indicted brothers George E. Norcross III, a New Jersey power broker, and Parker McCay CEO Philip A. Norcross of causing him and his company millions of dollars in damages by intimidating and extorting him out of his property development rights in the city of Camden, New Jersey.
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September 05, 2024
TikToker Conned Followers With Real Estate Fraud, Feds Say
A social media influencer faces criminal charges and a suit from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission after he allegedly made false claims to investors that money put into purported real estate projects would earn them passive income.
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September 05, 2024
TM Ruling Creates Way To Pierce Corporate Veil, Justices Told
A conservative legal group says that a Fourth Circuit ruling the justices have agreed to review over a $43 million trademark award in a fight between two businesses that use the name "Dewberry" provides a new way to pierce the corporate veil that "veers far from acceptable legal principles."
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September 05, 2024
SQRL Store Chain Landlords Want Out Of Ch. 11 Stay
The landlords of 30 SQRL fuel station and convenience store locations are urging a Texas federal bankruptcy court to allow them to avoid an automatic stay that they allege is blocking them from taking ownership of the SQRL locations for themselves.
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September 05, 2024
Clubman Talc Settles Prominent Developer's Asbestos Claims
The company behind Pinaud Clubman talcum powder products has settled claims that its merchandise contained asbestos and caused cancer in a real estate developer described by attorneys for co-defendant Johnson & Johnson as the "Donald Trump of Springfield, Massachusetts."
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September 05, 2024
Judge Sharp No Stranger To Complex Cases Biz Court To See
Business Court Judge Stacy Sharp says that most of the cases she's litigated across her career would have been a perfect fit for the state's newest venue.
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September 05, 2024
Unconstitutionality Of Transparency Act Clear, 11th Circ. Told
A small business group and one of its members have told the Eleventh Circuit that an Alabama federal judge correctly ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act is unconstitutional, so there was no need for them to demonstrate that the law fails to pass constitutional muster.
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September 05, 2024
LA Developer Beats RICO Suit Over CEQA Fight At 9th Circ.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Thursday a decision tossing a Hollywood hotel developer's $100 million racketeering suit against rival hotel developers, rejecting the plaintiff developer's allegations that its competitors had pursued "objectively baseless" sham California Environmental Quality Act litigation to extort the firm.
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September 05, 2024
Real Estate Co. EasyKnock Settles Battle With Ch. 7 Trustee
New York-based real estate investor EasyKnock Inc. would fork over the full alleged value of a debtor's home to her bankruptcy estate as part of a proposed deal to settle the Chapter 7 trustee's fraud claims and the company's own suit alleging collusion.
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September 05, 2024
Ga. Panel Affirms Tax Assessors' Partial Win In Valuation Fight
The Georgia Court of Appeals has affirmed a trial court's order granting partial summary judgment to the Lowndes County Board of Tax Assessors in a dispute concerning the $5.3 million ad valorem tax assessment on a rent-restricted apartment complex.
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September 05, 2024
Ariz. Tribe Doubled Down In Lithium Project Row, Court Told
The federal government has accused the Hualapai Indian Tribe of doubling down on conjecture with regard to the possible effects of the Big Sandy Valley Lithium Exploration Project, urging an Arizona federal judge to reject the tribe's request for a preliminary injunction.
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September 05, 2024
2nd Circ. Chilly To Mortgage-Backed Securities ERISA Suit
The Second Circuit appeared unlikely Thursday to revive a union pension fund's suit looking to hold Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial Corp. liable for losses on mortgage-backed securities, with two judges signaling the risky loans the fund sued over might not be covered by federal benefits law.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge at Robinson Bradshaw.
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A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence
The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.
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To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef
To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.
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Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?
Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist
Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms
As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.
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4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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What's New In Kentucky's Financial Services Overhaul
Kentucky's H.B. 726 will go into effect in July and brings with it some significant restructuring to the Kentucky Financial Services Code, including changes to mortgage loan license fees and repeals of provisions relating to installment term loans and savings associations, say attorneys at Frost Brown.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse
The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches
Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.