Real Estate

  • October 03, 2024

    Crowell & Moring Loses Bid For $30M COVID Rent Refund

    Crowell & Morning cannot make its landlord in the District of Columbia pay back $30 million in rent it paid during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when the office building stood empty and most of the firm's attorneys worked from home, a D.C. judge ruled Thursday.

  • 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.

  • October 03, 2024

    Allred Feud With Ex-Tenant Over 'Large Rodent' Puzzles Judge

    Gloria Allred's long-running dispute with a former tenant — who said he fled rats in her Manhattan apartment eight years ago — spilled into New York federal court Monday, leaving the judge to wonder aloud why the celebrity attorney was still suing the man over a $25,000 claim as he sought bankruptcy protection.

  • October 03, 2024

    NJ Mogul's Brother Says Lawyering Isn't Racketeering

    Parker McKay PA shareholder Philip A. Norcross urged a state judge to toss the sweeping indictment over his power broker brother's alleged scheme to extort his way into a waterfront real estate portfolio in a distressed city, arguing that none of the targeted conduct amounts to crimes.

  • October 03, 2024

    Brokerage Made 'Mockery' Of Courts, Texas Justices Told

    A Dallas law firm urged the Texas Supreme Court at a hearing Thursday to uphold an appellate court's ruling that tossed a $22 million malpractice verdict against the firm in a dispute with a real estate brokerage, accusing the company of changing positions "depending on where the money lies."

  • October 03, 2024

    Sham Law Firm Employee Gets 5 Years For Foreclosure Fraud

    A Virginia man was sentenced to five years in prison and hit with a $159,000 fine for what a D.C. federal judge called Thursday the "horrendous" crime of using a Manassas law firm to defraud homeowners facing foreclosure.

  • October 03, 2024

    Ohio Justices Reject Neighbor's Objection To Gas Pipeline

    The Ohio Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a state siting board's accelerated approval for a NiSource unit's 3.7-mile natural gas pipeline in the city of Maumee, rejecting a commercial property owner's claims that the project's risks were not adequately considered.

  • October 03, 2024

    King & Spalding RE Pro Rejoins Barnes & Thornburg In Dallas

    Barnes & Thornburg LLP announced that a former partner has rejoined the firm's real estate department from King & Spalding LLP, adding that the returning attorney's practice centers on commercial real estate and real estate finance.

  • October 03, 2024

    Loan Servicer Settles With Mass. AG Over 'Zombie' Mortgages

    A mortgage servicing company has agreed to walk away from approximately $10 million worth of "zombie" mortgages in Massachusetts and pay $300,000 to resolve allegations that it violated multiple consumer protection laws, the state's attorney general said Thursday.

  • October 02, 2024

    EXp Investors Accuse Execs Of Ignoring Sex Assault Culture

    Shareholders of eXp World Holdings Inc. have hit the real estate brokerage company's top-brass with a derivative lawsuit in Delaware Chancery Court Wednesday, claiming they intentionally ignored repeated reports that its top "influencers" were drugging and sexually assaulting real estate agents at company events, thereby exposing the company to millions in liabilities.

  • October 02, 2024

    Colony Ridge Seeks Quick Appeal In 'Reverse Redlining' Suit

    A Texas real estate developer that recently lost a bid to exit a lending discrimination suit brought by the U.S. government and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has moved to begin a Fifth Circuit appeal, arguing the "novelty" of the case's reverse redlining theory warrants immediate appellate review.

  • October 02, 2024

    Convicted Judge Owes Feds Retirement Funds, 7th Circ. Says

    A former Illinois judge convicted of running a $1.4 million mortgage fraud scheme must cough up assets from her retirement accounts to cover her restitution obligations, the Seventh Circuit ruled Wednesday, agreeing with a Chicago district court that the government can access her retirement savings to satisfy that debt.

  • October 02, 2024

    U.S. Steel Must Face Testing Suit Over Long-Gone Zinc Plant

    U.S. Steel can't escape a lawsuit from neighbors of a long-closed zinc refinery outside Pittsburgh seeking to make the company pay for long-term environmental testing, a Pennsylvania appellate panel ruled Tuesday, reasoning that the plaintiffs properly invoked a state law governing the cleanup of hazardous pollution.

  • October 02, 2024

    Fried Frank, DLA Piper Steer Commercial REIT's $251M Listing

    Shares of real estate investment trust FrontView began trading Wednesday after it priced a nearly $251 million initial public offering within its intended price range, with Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP advising the company and DLA Piper serving as counsel for the underwriters.

  • October 02, 2024

    2nd Circ. Prods NY Appeals Court To Weigh Foreclosure Law

    The Second Circuit has urged a state appeals court to provide input on a ruling retroactively canceling U.S. Bank's attempt to foreclose on a Queens condo in 2016 by applying a six-year statute of limitations in the state's 2022 Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act.

  • October 02, 2024

    Mass. Tax Board OKs Exemption For Senior Home

    A senior home on Martha's Vineyard is exempt from property taxes, a Massachusetts tax panel said in a decision released Wednesday, ruling that the owner, a charitable nonprofit, had a sufficient presence at the property for the exemption.

  • October 02, 2024

    Conn. Receiver Gains Access To Apt. Co-Op's BofA Accounts

    Bank of America agreed to provide a court-appointed receiver with access to a distressed housing cooperative's bank accounts Wednesday amid efforts by the municipalities of Bridgeport and Stratford, Connecticut, to obtain a court order.

  • October 01, 2024

    Oxygenation Doesn't Show Water Quality, Texas Justices Hear

    Texas Supreme Court justices prodded the Save Our Springs Alliance's argument that a permit to release treated wastewater would degrade water quality, questioning whether the advocacy organization's argument that a drop in levels of dissolved oxygen shows water degradation during oral arguments Tuesday.

  • October 01, 2024

    Bribe-Laundering Gets Ecuador Ex-Official 10 Years In Prison

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Ecuador's former comptroller to 10 years in prison after a jury earlier this year convicted him on multiple counts related to laundering millions of dollars in bribe money he received in exchange for eliminating fines connected to a defective hydroelectric dam and other projects.

  • October 01, 2024

    Data Brokers Decry 'Ill-Tailored' NJ Judicial Privacy Law

    Data brokers such as Equifax, Thomson Reuters and Zillow urged a New Jersey federal judge Tuesday to toss a suit accusing them of violating Daniel's Law, arguing the state's judicial privacy measure is unconstitutionally broad and unevenly applied. 

  • 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.

  • October 01, 2024

    NJ Hotels Beat Room Price-Fixing Suit For Good

    Another algorithmic antitrust suit is off the table after a New Jersey federal judge said Monday that a room-rate proposed class action against Atlantic City casino-hotels has the same failings that doomed a case over room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.

  • October 01, 2024

    Calif. Judge Won't Let Insurers Slip Mold Coverage Suit

    A California federal judge mostly refused to allow a group of insurers to escape a suit filed by the owner and operator of a 231-unit California apartment complex seeking coverage for mold under a $69 million builders risk policy.

  • October 01, 2024

    Insurers Say $40M Hurricane Claims Must Be Arbitrated

    A group of insurers led by certain underwriters at Lloyd's, London urged a Louisiana federal court to reject a group of property owners' "last-ditch effort" to avoid arbitrating their hurricane damage claims totaling over $40 million, arguing the owners "don't dispute" that the arbitration provision in their policy is enforceable.

  • October 01, 2024

    Ga. Industrial Fire Ignites Slew Of Suits From Residents

    As a chlorine plant about 20 miles outside of Atlanta continues to belch chemical fumes into the skies in the aftermath of an industrial fire, the company that owns the facility was hit with proposed class actions Monday from residents who say the disaster is already causing dangerous health problems.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY

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    A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Series

    Colorado Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

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    In the third quarter of 2024, Colorado's banking and financial services sector faced both regulatory updates and changes to state law due to recent federal court decisions — with consequences for local governments, mortgage lenders, state-chartered trust companies and federally chartered lenders serving Colorado consumers, says Sarah Auchterlonie at Brownstein Hyatt.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: No Lazy, Hazy Days Of Summer

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is headed for a brisk fall season, on the heels of a heated summer, which included the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that the CFPB funding structure is constitutional, and in advance of the November election, says Eamonn Moran at Holland & Knight.

  • Opinion

    AI May Limit Key Learning Opportunities For Young Attorneys

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    The thing that’s so powerful about artificial intelligence is also what’s most scary about it — its ability to detect patterns may curtail young attorneys’ chance to practice the lower-level work of managing cases, preventing them from ever honing the pattern recognition skills that undergird creative lawyering, says Sarah Murray at Trialcraft.

  • Basel Endgame Rules: A Change Is Coming

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    The Federal Reserve Board's recently announced recalibration of the Basel endgame proposal begins a critical chapter in the evolution of not only the safety and soundness of U.S. banks, but also of banks' abilities to lend and support American businesses and consumers, say attorneys at Davis Wright.

  • Series

    Round-Canopy Parachuting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Similar to the practice of law, jumping from an in-flight airplane with nothing but training and a few yards of parachute silk is a demanding and stressful endeavor, and the experience has bolstered my legal practice by enhancing my focus, teamwork skills and sense of perspective, says Thomas Salerno at Stinson.

  • Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage

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    The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.

  • Why Now Is The Time For Law Firms To Hire Lateral Partners

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    Partner and associate mobility data from the second quarter of this year suggest that there's never been a better time in recent years for law firms to hire lateral candidates, particularly experienced partners — though this necessitates an understanding of potential red flags, say Julie Henson and Greg Hamman at Decipher Investigative Intelligence.

  • Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives

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    As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.

  • Considering Possible PR Risks Of Certain Legal Tactics

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    Disney and American Airlines recently abandoned certain litigation tactics in two lawsuits after fierce public backlash, illustrating why corporate counsel should consider the reputational implications of any legal strategy and partner with their communications teams to preempt public relations concerns, says Chris Gidez at G7 Reputation Advisory.

  • It's No Longer Enough For Firms To Be Trusted Advisers

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    Amid fierce competition for business, the transactional “trusted adviser” paradigm from which most firms operate is no longer sufficient — they should instead aim to become trusted partners with their most valuable clients, says Stuart Maister at Strategic Narrative.

  • Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight

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    Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.

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