Commercial
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July 03, 2024
NY Extends Tax Breaks For Green Roofs On City Buildings
New York is extending for another three years a property tax abatement program that encourages residential and commercial buildings in New York City as part of a bill signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
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July 03, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
An insurer won a coverage dispute over a $3.2 million injury verdict stemming from a bar fight, Texas' largest nonprofit health system failed to differentiate its pandemic business loss claims from other cases, and a petroleum company was denied coverage for multidistrict litigation over gas additives.
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July 02, 2024
Real Estate Policy Areas To Watch In Chevron's Wake
Housing rules, permitting practices and climate goals stand to be challenged by an anticipated wave of litigation spurred by back-to-back U.S. Supreme Court opinions that alter how and when judges can interpret ambiguous legislation.
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July 02, 2024
Ga. City Comes Out On Top In T-Mobile Cell Tower Suit
The city of Columbus, Georgia, has come out on top in a legal battle with a wireless infrastructure builder who says that the city unfairly blocked its requests to build T-Mobile a cell tower, a conflict that also involved the local Shriners.
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July 02, 2024
Distress Darkens Conversion Plans At Brookfield Malls
Financial challenges have shaken some of Brookfield's plans to redevelop a batch of malls it acquired six years ago into mixed-use centers, and two of the real estate company's indoor shopping complexes slumped into loan distress last month, KBRA said on Tuesday.
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July 02, 2024
Gov. Says Ky. Tower's Sale Didn't Cancel Ties To Laundering
Prosecutors and a pair of Miami businessmen have traded briefs over preserving the government's case in Florida federal court to seize $9.1 million from the sale of a Louisville, Kentucky, tower over alleged ties to a Ukrainian money laundering operation.
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July 02, 2024
The Commercial Real Estate Q&A's You Can't Miss
Check out Law360 Real Estate Authority's most buzzed-about commercial real estate Q&As from the first half of 2024.
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July 02, 2024
Data Analysis Shows Swift Influx In EPA Brownfield Grants
A Law360 Real Estate Authority analysis of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grant awards since the program's inception shows a steep increase in funding, particularly in funding of cleanups, since the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was passed in 2021.
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July 02, 2024
Alaska Village Hits Army Corps With Gold Mine Permit Suit
The Native Village of Dot Lake is asking an Alaska federal judge to throw out a permit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued for an open pit gold mine Kinross Gold Corp. and Peak Gold LLC are developing near the Yukon border.
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July 02, 2024
Mass. Panel Won't Cut Tax Value Over Denied Building Permits
The owner of commercial property in Massachusetts failed to show that local denials of building permits impacted the tax value of the property, a state panel said in a decision released Tuesday, rejecting the owner's appeal of a local assessment.
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July 02, 2024
Real Estate Lawyers On The Move
Haynes and Boone and McDonald Hopkins are among the law firms that have made recent real estate or construction hires.
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July 01, 2024
Ill. Tax Applies To Re-Renters Of Hotel Rooms, Dept. Says
Illinois will impose an occupation tax on people who re-rent hotel rooms in the state as part of recently enacted omnibus legislation, the state Department of Revenue said.
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July 01, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Hirschen Singer and Kramer Levin are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a busy period that saw eight deals north of the $20 million mark become public.
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July 01, 2024
Orrick Renews Black Rock Tower Lease
Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP has agreed to a lease renewal for its six floors in Midtown Manhattan's Black Rock tower, CBRE announced Monday.
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July 01, 2024
Gov. Office Shedding Pushes DC Vacancies To Record High
The General Services Administration's moves to cut back its footprint in Washington, D.C., drove the vacancy rate for the city's office market to a record high of 22.4%, with nearly half of the previous quarter's occupancy loss stemming from federal government lease changes, according to CBRE.
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July 01, 2024
Hinckley Adds 2 McElroy Deutsch Attys To Real Estate Team
Hinckley Allen & Snyder LLP has expanded its offerings in the Constitution state, adding two commercial real estate financing attorneys from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP.
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July 01, 2024
Top Real Estate Atty Leaves Willkie To Co-Lead Weil Practice
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP's former real estate department co-chair and New York co-managing partner, known for high-profile work that includes the largest real estate investment trust initial public offering in U.S. history, is becoming co-leader of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP's real estate practice, the firm announced Monday.
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July 01, 2024
Manhattan Office Leasing Marks Annual Gains In Q2
JLL said in a report Monday that office leasing activity in Manhattan during the second quarter of 2024 was higher than last year thanks largely to relocations led by a major law firm in June.
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June 28, 2024
Chevron's End Is Just The Start For Energized Agency Foes
By knocking down a powerful precedent that has towered over administrative law for 40 years, the U.S. Supreme Court's right wing Friday gave a crowning achievement to anti-agency attorneys. But for those attorneys, the achievement is merely a means to an end, and experts expect a litigation blitzkrieg to materialize quickly in the aftermath.
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June 28, 2024
'Nothing Stopping' Collection On $10B Verdict, LA Judge Says
A Los Angeles judge on Friday decided to amend the judgment from a $10 billion verdict that found business owner Haresh Jogani stole a multibillion-dollar real estate business from his four brothers, awarding stock potentially worth billions to the brothers while dismissing his attorney's objections that the order is not allowed due to Haresh Jogani's appeal.
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June 28, 2024
Wyndham Can't Escape Ohio Sex Trafficking Liability Suit
Wyndham Hotels lost its bid to escape a woman's lawsuit alleging it ignored obvious signs she was trafficked for sex at a Knights Inn brand hotel when an Ohio federal judge ruled Friday that she sufficiently alleged the company was directly liable for harming her.
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June 28, 2024
In Chevron Case, Justices Trade One Unknown For Another
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overrule a decades-old judicial deference doctrine may cause the "eternal fog of uncertainty" surrounding federal agency actions to dissipate and level the playing field in challenges of government policies, but lawyers warn it raises new questions over what rules courts must follow and how judges will implement them.
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June 28, 2024
Conn. Court Shouldn't Hear Anti-Dispensary Appeal, City Says
A Connecticut appeals court should not hear a case brought by an anti-cannabis organization in Stamford that is trying to undo a court-approved settlement that allowed for the opening of a dispensary, the city's Zoning Board has argued.
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June 28, 2024
Property Plays: Goldman, WaFD, The Alamo
Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.
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June 28, 2024
Seattle Co. Owes $5.6M For Upgrades At Old Fed Building
A company that owns the Seattle Federal Reserve Building owes a construction contractor $5.6 million for renovations on two floors, a Washington state court has ruled.
Expert Analysis
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Fla. Foreign Real Estate Law Brings Broad Investment Risks
Last month, Florida became the latest state to enact legislation prohibiting Chinese investors from acquiring certain interests in real property, introducing significant legal uncertainty and consequences for real estate stakeholders and the private equity industry, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.
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Prepping Your Business Ahead Of Affirmative Action Ruling
The U.S. Supreme Court's upcoming ruling on whether race should play a role in college admissions could potentially end affirmative action, and companies will need a considered approach to these circumstances that protects their brand power and future profits, and be prepared to answer tough questions, say Nadine Blackburn at United Minds and Eric Blankenbaker at Weber Shandwick.
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How REITs Can Prep For SEC's Repurchase Disclosure Rules
With real estate investment trusts' share repurchase activity on the rise, REITs should beware the potential enforcement risks that may arise from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new rules requiring additional disclosures regarding such repurchases, says Zach Swartz at Vinson & Elkins.
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Tackling Judge-Shopping Concerns While Honoring Localism
As the debate continues over judge-shopping and case assignments in federal court, policymakers should look to a hybrid model that preserves the benefits of localism for those cases that warrant it, while preventing the appearance of judge-shopping for cases of a more national or widespread character, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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How Attorneys Can Help Combat Anti-Asian Hate
Amid an exponential increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, unique obstacles stand in the way of accountability and justice — but lawyers can effect powerful change by raising awareness, offering legal representation, advocating for victims’ rights and more, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute
Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.
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As Sackett Trims Feds' Wetlands Role, States May Step Up
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extinguishes federal authority over many currently regulated wetlands — meaning that federal permits will no longer be required to discharge pollutants in affected areas, but also that state regulators may take a more active role, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model
Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.
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Trafficking Ruling Offers Liability Lessons For Hospitality Cos.
A California federal court recently dismissed a lawsuit accusing several national hotel chains of knowingly benefiting from sex trafficking at their premises, highlighting how hospitality leaders can protect their guests and staff, and shield their companies from liability and reputational damage, says Danielle Dudai at Hall Booth.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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What's Unique — And What's Not — In Trump Protective Order
A Manhattan judge's recent protective order limiting former President Donald Trump's access to evidence included restrictions uniquely tailored to the defendant, which should remind defense attorneys that it's always a good idea to fight these seemingly standard orders, says Julia Jayne at Jayne Law.
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Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.