More Real Estate Coverage
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April 18, 2024
Hedge Fund Says Its $100M Award Over Peru Bonds Is Valid
A hedge fund has asked a D.C. federal judge not to throw out its suit seeking to enforce a $100 million arbitral award it secured over Peru's valuation of old government bonds, saying the country wants to relitigate claims that were already rejected by the arbitrators.
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April 18, 2024
Ohio Ex-Atty Gets Prison For Bilking Real Estate Clients
A former real estate attorney has been sentenced to four to six years of prison on charges he used his title company to steal from clients, the Ohio attorney general's office said Thursday.
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April 18, 2024
Smith Gambrell Hires Ex-Jacksonville, Fla., Deputy GC
Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP has added a longtime deputy general counsel for the city of Jacksonville, Florida, as counsel within its real estate group and as the head of the Jacksonville office's government affairs practice.
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April 17, 2024
PG&E Sued For $225 Million Dixie Fire Forest Damage
Owners of the Collins Almanor Forest in Northern California have slapped PG&E with a complaint alleging that they incurred more than $225 million in damage after the Dixie Fire ripped through approximately 55,000 acres of their forest lands in July 2021.
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April 17, 2024
Okla. Lawmakers OK Wider Tax Break For Municipal Airports
Oklahoma would expand a property and income tax exemption for municipally owned airports in the state under a bill passed by the state Senate and headed to the governor.
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April 17, 2024
9th Circ. Tosses $3.9M Tax Foreclosure Appeal As Premature
The Ninth Circuit dismissed a man's challenge to a court order that he believed allowed the government to foreclose on his property to pay his son's tax liabilities of more than $3.9 million, saying Wednesday that the appeal was premature because the order wasn't final.
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April 16, 2024
3 Takeaways From Urban Land Institute's Resilience Summit
Real estate professionals across the country convened in New York City last week to talk about how to navigate an inconvenient truth in real estate — that extreme weather and climate change must be factored into investments. Here are three takeaways from the conference.
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April 15, 2024
Oil Co. Warns NC Justices Of 'Unfair' Results In Taking Case
An oil company and two other former plaintiffs from a settled state government land-taking proposed class action have warned the North Carolina Supreme Court that if the justices affirm an intermediate appellate ruling in a similar case, they would be reinforcing "unfair, unequal, disparate and divergent" treatment of property owners.
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April 15, 2024
9th Circ. Says Court Must Consider Pay In Navajo Benefits Bid
The Ninth Circuit has vacated a ruling that a Navajo Nation member failed to prove he was wrongfully denied relocation benefits after the U.S. gave his ancestral lands to the Hopi Tribe, with a split panel remanding the case to federal district court with instructions to consider evidence of his income.
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April 15, 2024
4th Circ. Upholds W.Va.'s Win In Coal Mine Cleanup Suit
The Fourth Circuit on Monday affirmed a West Virginia federal court's order ending developers' allegations that the state's environmental regulators' reclamation efforts at an old coal mining site constituted illegal dumping, finding the lower court correctly concluded the efforts are exempt from regulations prohibiting open dumps.
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April 15, 2024
Conn. Atty Aided $1.4M Transfer Scam, Developer Says
Connecticut attorney Carole W. Briggs "intentionally orchestrated and participated in" a business email compromise scam that stole more than $1.4 million from a New Jersey-based real estate development company last year, according to a civil lawsuit in federal court.
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April 15, 2024
High Court Won't Hear California Tribal Casino Dispute
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a bid by an anti-casino advocacy group seeking to overturn a Ninth Circuit decision that dismissed their case after determining that the Ione Band of Miwok Indians is eligible to go forward with its project in California.
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April 12, 2024
Peru Says Gramercy's $100M Bond Arbitration Bid Too Late
Peru is hitting back at Connecticut-based hedge fund Gramercy's bid to enforce a $100 million arbitral award that it secured over the country's valuation of old government bonds, telling a D.C. federal court that the investor had failed to bring its challenge within three years of learning of the alleged misconduct as required by a bilateral trade agreement.
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April 12, 2024
Mich. High Court Snapshot: Atty Sanctions Kick Off April
The Michigan Supreme Court returns Tuesday for its April session, hearing oral arguments about judges' ability to sanction lawyers for past attorneys' work in a case, what defendants say could be double recovery in wrongful death cases, and an attempt to use a Larry Nassar-inspired law to sue Catholic priests for decades-old abuse allegations.
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April 12, 2024
La. Board Says Private Foundation Buildings Are Tax-Exempt
The Louisiana tax appeals board ruled that four buildings owned by a private foundation and leased to commercial tenants are exempt from property tax, as they support research opportunities at the University of New Orleans.
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April 12, 2024
Colo. House Panel OKs Affordable Housing Credit Expansion
Colorado would increase the amount of money allocated to the state's affordable housing tax credit under a bill approved by the state House Finance Committee.
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April 11, 2024
DOI Lowers Fees For Solar, Wind Projects On Public Lands
The U.S. Department of the Interior unveiled finalized updates to its renewable energy regulations on Thursday that are aimed at promoting the development of solar and wind energy on public lands by lowering the associated fees.
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April 11, 2024
Spencer Fane Expands In Dallas With Pair Of Real Estate Pros
Spencer Fane LLP has added two new real estate partners to its Dallas office, including a former in-house general counsel at a marina company and a former Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP attorney.
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April 10, 2024
FBI, GSA Face Criticism Over Response To HQ Site Probe
Republican lawmakers continued to criticize the FBI and General Services Administration on Wednesday over contentious plans for a new FBI headquarters, citing concerns over the planned site and size of the facility, and the agencies' responses to a related investigation.
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April 10, 2024
Real Estate Fund Raising Still Muted With $14B Bagged In Q1
The biggest funds to close in the first three months of 2024 showed that investors are banking on multifamily, industrial and hospitality assets to net returns as the commercial real estate industry continues to hiccup, while capital raising overall is down compared to prior quarters.
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April 10, 2024
Real Estate M&A Is Down, But Perhaps Not For Long
Mergers and acquisitions activity in the U.S. real estate industry was quieter than usual in the first quarter of the year, with 14 transactions closing at a combined total of nearly $3 billion, but signs indicate that more deals may be coming down the pipeline.
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April 09, 2024
Ohio Justices Voice Displeasure With Woodland Deduction
Several Ohio Supreme Court justices sounded skeptical Tuesday of the state tax commissioner's valuation of a deduction for clearing woodlands that factors into assessments of agricultural properties, saying the figure appeared to be arbitrarily low.
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April 08, 2024
Citibank Can't Dodge Liability After Escrow Theft
A Washington state appeals court said Monday that Citibank and a predecessor lender can't avoid liability after an escrow agent allegedly embezzled nearly $1 million from a real estate company's refinancing deals, in an opinion that said the trial court failed to correctly apply controlling case law still "good" after 70 years.
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April 08, 2024
Idaho Land Deal Would Sustain Legacy Of Pollution, Tribes Say
A group of Idaho tribes is urging the Ninth Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling granting a partial win in their challenge to a land transfer for a fertilizer plant's expansion, arguing that if allowed to go forward, it would continue a decadeslong legacy of contamination for their communities.
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April 08, 2024
Mich. Regulators' Fraud Fears Are 'Nonsense,' Developer Says
A real estate developer has told Michigan's high court that the state is raising unfounded concerns that Michigan will become a haven for fraudsters if the top court does not adopt a federal judicially created test to determine when an investment is a security, telling the justices Michigan's own securities law is controlling.
Expert Analysis
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What Large Language Models Mean For Document Review
Courts often subject parties using technology assisted review to greater scrutiny than parties conducting linear, manual document review, so parties using large language models for document review should expect even more attention, along with a corresponding need for quality control and validation, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Participating In Living History Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My role as a baron in a living history group, and my work as volunteer corporate counsel for a book series fan association, has provided me several opportunities to practice in unexpected areas of law — opening doors to experiences that have nurtured invaluable personal and professional skills, says Matthew Parker at the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.
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Private Equity Owners Can Remedy Law Firms' Agency Issues
Nonlawyer, private-equity ownership of law firms can benefit shareholders and others vulnerable to governance issues such as disparate interests, and can in turn help resolve agency problems, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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How To Protect Atty-Client Privilege While Using Generative AI
When using generative artificial intelligence tools, attorneys should consider several safeguards to avoid breaches or complications in attorney-client privilege, say Antonious Sadek and Christopher Campbell at DLA Piper.
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ESG Around The World: Australia
Clive Cachia and Cathy Ma at K&L Gates detail ESG-reporting policies in Australia and explain how the country is starting to introduce mandatory requirements as ESG performance is increasingly seen as a key investment and corporate differentiator in the fight for global capital.
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Industry Takeaways From OMB's Final Buy America Guidance
The Office of Management and Budget's recently released guidance on "Buy America" requirements for federal infrastructure projects provides clarity in certain areas but fails to address troublesome inconsistencies with state laws and international trade agreements, so manufacturers and suppliers will need to tread carefully as agencies implement the changes, say Amy Hoang and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth Shaw.
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Texas Produced Water Ruling Helps Clarify Oil, Gas Leases
A Texas state appeals court's recent opinion in Cactus Water Services v. COG Operating, holding that the mineral lessee under an oil and gas lease owns the water extracted during oil and gas production, is a first step toward clarity on an issue that has divided the midstream industry, say attorneys at Mayer Brown.
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Pa. Case Highlights Complexity Of Oil And Gas Leases
A Pennsylvania state court's recent decision in Douglas Equipment Inc. v. EQT Production Co. is a reminder that oil and gas leases are rather strange creatures — morphing from something akin to a traditional surface lease to a mineral property conveyance the moment oil and gas is produced, says Christopher Rogers at Frost Brown.
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Calif. Protected Species Law Changes: Real Fix Or Red Tape?
California's recent amendments to its "fully protected species" statutes create a temporary permitting regime intended to accelerate the building of renewable energy, transportation and water infrastructure in response to climate change — but the new legislation could become another obstacle to the projects it purports to benefit, says Paul Weiland at Nossaman.
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EPA Focus On Lead Could Heighten Private Litigation Risk
As the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency continues a series of initiatives aimed at reducing lead exposure, including last month's proposal to strengthen removal requirements for lead-based paint, the risks of private suits from citizens groups over lead contamination grow, say Jonathan Brightbill and Madalyn Brown Feiger at Winston & Strawn.
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Ruling Affirms Drillers' Right To Choose Methods In Colo.
In the wake of the Tenth Circuit's decision in Bay v. Anadarko E&P Onshore, a bellwether trespass case, oil and gas operators can breathe easy knowing that Colorado landowners cannot dictate their method of drilling — even in the face of more reasonable alternatives, say Lauren Varnado and Jessica Pharis at Michelman & Robinson.
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NYC Sidewalk Obligations Must Go Beyond Construction
New York City's recently announced Get Sheds Down plan will bring sweeping changes to regulation of the scaffolding and construction sheds looming over sidewalks — but it cannot stop there, says Michael Pollack at Yeshiva University's Cardozo School of Law.
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5 Quick Takeaways From Feds' New Bank Capital Proposals
The federal banking agencies' recent proposed rulemaking on capital requirements is the culmination of a holistic review of U.S. capital standards initiated by the Federal Reserve, and at over 1,000 pages, the proposal will take some time to fully digest, but there are a few items that can be immediately highlighted, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.