More Real Estate Coverage

  • February 29, 2024

    Veil Shouldn't Be Pierced To Decode Contracts, Panel Says

    The doctrine of piercing the corporate veil shouldn't be used to interpret disputed contract terms, a split Colorado appellate panel ruled Thursday, reversing a trial court's award of more than $600,000 in a real estate fight between two longtime friends.

  • February 29, 2024

    STB, CSX Tell Justices To Reject Norfolk Southern Appeal

    Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has taken its contentious battle to have itself declared immune to a rival's antitrust suit to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the competitor that's suing it and the regulator who declared it not exempt are both asking the justices to leave well enough alone.

  • February 29, 2024

    Munck Wilson Adds IP Lawyer From Wood Smith

    A former Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP attorney has made the move to Munck Wilson Mandala LLP in Los Angeles, bringing with her a history of working on intellectual property litigation and other commercial matters.

  • February 28, 2024

    Fla. Judge OKs $43.5M Deutsche Bank Deal In Ch. 15 Case

    A Florida bankruptcy judge on Wednesday approved a $43.5 million settlement between Deutsche Bank AG and liquidators for a group of Caribbean-based companies to resolve claims against the bank for its alleged role in a real estate Ponzi scheme targeting rich South Americans.

  • February 28, 2024

    NY Judge In Trump Case Receives Suspicious White Powder

    A suspicious white powder spilled out of an envelope addressed to the judge who ruled against Donald Trump in his New York civil fraud case, prompting emergency personnel to flood the courthouse at 60 Centre St. in Manhattan on Wednesday.

  • February 27, 2024

    Mohawk Nation Rejects 1796 Land Agreement, Court Told

    The Mohawk Nation says it has numerous outstanding issues regarding a proposed settlement with the state of New York over 2,000 acres of land stemming from a 1796 treaty, arguing that its concerns have yet to be addressed or considered relevant by the court or its present counsel as negotiations continue.

  • February 27, 2024

    CARES Act Not For Violent Tenants, Court Says, Creating Split

    A Washington appellate panel said Monday that the CARES Act eviction notice only applies to tenants who are late on rent, not when landlords want to quickly oust violent tenants, in an opinion that differs from a recent ruling from another state appellate panel.

  • February 27, 2024

    PacifiCorp Faces $50M Ask In Latest Wildfire Trial

    Nine Oregonians and a summer camp for the disabled went to trial Tuesday in state court against PacifiCorp, asking a Portland jury to award at least $50 million after a cluster of 2020 wildfires left them with "nowhere to go, but nowhere to return to."

  • February 27, 2024

    Wash. Judge Asks If COVID 'Fire Sale' Should Impact Tax Plan

    A Seattle city attorney asked a Washington state appeals court on Tuesday to let the city keep a $160 million special property tax in place to fund waterfront improvements, as one judge questioned during oral arguments whether diminished property values post-pandemic should make the city recalculate the tax.

  • February 27, 2024

    States, Businesses Aim To Kill Feds' Revised Water Rule

    States and business groups have asked a North Dakota federal judge to force the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to revise regulations intended to define the scope of the federal government's authority under the Clean Water Act.

  • February 27, 2024

    Conn. Mortgage Biz Rips 'Maximalist' CFPB Licensing Stance

    Shuttered East Hartford mortgage company 1st Alliance Lending LLC and its co-owners have argued a Connecticut federal court should throw out the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's claims that they deceived borrowers by letting unlicensed consultants create and manage their loans, asserting that the agency's "maximalist position" goes beyond the law.

  • February 27, 2024

    Energy Co. Asks 8th Circ. To Revive Lease Termination Suit

    A Denver-based energy company has told the Eighth Circuit that a North Dakota federal judge was wrong to dismiss its lease termination suit and hold that it had not exhausted its administrative remedies when its appeal of the Bureau of Indian Affairs decision had dragged on for nine-plus years.

  • February 26, 2024

    Feds, Fla. Oppose Sharing Power In Clean Water Act Program

    The federal government and Florida are now fighting over how much power each should get after a D.C. federal judge struck down the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to approve the Sunshine State's bid to assume authority over a key Clean Water Act permitting program.

  • February 26, 2024

    Pastor And Ally Of NYC Mayor Was A Con Man, Jury Hears

    A well-known Brooklyn pastor with close ties to New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a con man, a Manhattan federal prosecutor told jurors Monday, one who lied to lenders, stole from an elderly parishioner and claimed his connections to City Hall could result in millions of dollars in profits from a real estate deal.

  • February 26, 2024

    Del. Justices Deny Second Chance For Texas Land Co. Suit

    Two investors in one of Texas' largest land holding companies lost a bid Monday for Delaware Supreme Court revival of a suit challenging a six-fold increase in company shares, upholding a Court of Chancery finding in December.

  • February 26, 2024

    Trump Calls Biz Bans 'Punitive' In $465M Civil Fraud Appeal

    Donald Trump, his adult sons, his companies and former officers moved to appeal the $464.6 million civil fraud judgment handed down by a New York state judge earlier this month, accusing the judge of overstepping his authority and issuing "punitive" relief.

  • February 23, 2024

    Wildlife, Paddling Groups Want To Join Clean Water Act Fight

    The National Wildlife Federation and American Whitewater are asking a Louisiana federal judge to let them join litigation over an updated Clean Water Act rule that expanded states' and tribes' ability to block projects such as pipelines and dams over water quality concerns, to ensure their interests are considered.

  • February 23, 2024

    Tribal Biz Atty Must Meet Calif. DA Over Greenhouse Wreckage

    A California federal judge has ordered the lawyer for a business owned by a tribal conglomerate to attend a hearing with San Bernardino County's district attorney, saying the lawyer must explain why he forced the DA to file a unilateral status report about the destruction of illegal cannabis greenhouses.

  • February 23, 2024

    1st Circ. Told Wind Farm's Approval Should've Been A Breeze

    A wind farm developer has asked the First Circuit to reject fishing groups' challenge to the U.S. Department of the Interior's approval of a proposed project off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, saying the effort to sink the plan can't survive because the agency did things by the book.

  • February 22, 2024

    Wildlife Group Sinks USDA Agricultural Wetlands Rule

    A D.C. federal judge on Thursday ruled that the U.S. Department of Agriculture inappropriately altered its program designed to stop the development of wetlands on farmland and struck down those regulations.

  • February 22, 2024

    Coldwell Banker Wins Trade Secrets Fight On Directed Verdict

    A California state judge issued a directed verdict for Coldwell Banker's Orange County division in a case where a rival real estate company accused it of poaching employees and stealing trade secrets.

  • February 22, 2024

    Ex-HFZ Capital Chief Denies $86M Real Estate Fraud Charges

    The former head of troubled real estate firm HFZ Capital Group has pled not guilty in New York state court to dozens of criminal charges alleging he spearheaded a series of theft and tax fraud schemes that netted more than $86 million in total.

  • February 22, 2024

    3 Firms Steer Stonepeak's $3B Wind Farm Stake Deal

    Stonepeak plans to buy a 50% noncontrolling stake in Dominion Energy's Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project for $3 billion and split construction costs with the electricity giant in a deal powered by three law firms, the companies announced.

  • February 21, 2024

    Justices Urged To Turn Away $285M Panama Canal Award Suit

    The operator of the Panama Canal on Tuesday urged the U.S. Supreme Court to turn away a case in which $285 million in arbitral awards are being challenged over an arbitrator's "evident partiality," saying close relationships between arbitrators are so "ubiquitous" in international arbitration that they are unremarkable.

  • February 21, 2024

    Biogas Investment Tax Credit Still Needs Tweaks, IRS Told

    While the IRS clarified that the clean energy investment tax credit would cover eligible upgrading equipment integral to biogas properties, the industry could get a boost if final rules allow separate ownership of the equipment, stakeholders told the agency Wednesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Lessons For Joint Ventures

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Alissandra McCann at MoFo examines recent decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims of particular significance to joint ventures, concerning past performance evaluation and misrepresentation, and registration in the System for Award Management.

  • Justices Leave Questions Open On Dual-Purpose Atty Advice

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury on grounds that certiorari was improvidently granted leaves unresolved a circuit split over the proper test for deciding when attorney-client privilege protects a lawyer's advice that has multiple purposes, say Susan Combs and Richard Kiely at Holland & Hart.

  • India's Budget Proposals May Ease Entry For Certain Sectors

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    India’s recently released budget includes proposals to facilitate doing business in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City and moderate thousands of compliance requirements, opening up new opportunities for foreign businesses in the digital infrastructure, manufacturing and renewable energy sectors, say Mukesh Butani and Seema Kejriwal at BMR Legal.

  • Steps Lawyers Can Take Following Involuntary Terminations

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    Though lawyers can struggle to recover from involuntary terminations, it's critical that they be able to step back, review any feedback given and look for opportunities for growth, say Jessica Hernandez at JLH Coaching & Consulting and Albert Tawil at Lateral Hub.

  • High Court Ax Of Atty-Client Privilege Case Deepens Split

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent dismissal of In re: Grand Jury as improvidently granted maintains a three-way circuit split on the application of attorney-client privilege to multipurpose communications, although the justices have at least shown a desire to address it, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.

  • 3 Job Satisfaction Questions For Partners Considering Moves

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    The post-pandemic rise in legal turnover may cause partners to ask themselves what they really want from their workplace, how they plan to grow their practice and when it's time to make a move, says Patrick Moya at Quaero Group.

  • 4 Exercises To Quickly Build Trust On Legal Teams

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    High-performance legal teams can intentionally build trust through a rigorous approach, including open-ended conversations and personality assessments, to help attorneys bond fast, even if they are new to the firm or group, says Ben Sachs at the University of Virginia School of Law.

  • Key Considerations For Appointing A Real Estate Receiver

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    With commercial real estate loan distress expected to grow dramatically in the coming months, lenders should make sure to understand best practices for seeking appointment of a receiver over a defaulted property, say Dave Wald at Wald Realty Advisors and Mark Silverman at Locke Lord.

  • Clean Energy Tax Credits' Wage, Apprentice Rules: Key Points

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    The Inflation Reduction Act's complicated prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements for clean energy facility construction tax credits recently took effect — and the learning curve will be more difficult for taxpayers who are not already familiar with such programs, say attorneys at Shearman.

  • 8 Steps To Improve The Perception Of In-House Legal Counsel

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    With the pandemic paving the way for a reputational shift in favor of in-house corporate legal teams, there are proactive steps that legal departments can take to fully rebrand themselves as strong allies and generators of value, says Allison Rosner at Major Lindsey.

  • DOI Enviro Damage Assessment Proposal May Add Flexibility

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    The U.S. Department of the Interior's recently proposed overhaul of its natural resource damage assessment program suggests that current restrictive formulas may be replaced with a more flexible structure — which could bring major benefits to potentially responsible parties and natural resource trustees, says Brian Ferrasci-O’Malley at Nossaman.

  • Procedure Rule 7.1 Can Simplify Litigators' Diversity Analysis

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    A recent amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 will help trial courts determine whether the parties to a case are diverse, and may also allow litigators to more quickly determine whether they can remove certain cases to federal court, says Steve Shapiro at Schnader Harrison.

  • How Companies Could Define 'Social' In ESG Metrics

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    While the "social" prong of environmental, social and governance criteria is still hard to evaluate, a three-tiered approach similar to the framework for tracking greenhouse gas emissions could serve as a good basis for companies to develop goals and measure progress in a uniform way, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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