Commercial
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April 29, 2024
Kazakh Businessman Accused Of Stealing Coal Mine
A Kazakh businessman schemed with the country's government to steal a coal mine, its proceeds, and its assets and laundered the proceeds to buy luxury U.S. real estate worth more than $100 million, according to a suit filed in New York state court.
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April 29, 2024
Pomerantz, Glancy Prongay Spar To Lead LexUrban Fraud Suit
Glancy Prongay & Murray LLP and Pomerantz LLP are vying to represent a proposed class of investors in a New York federal suit against real estate company LuxUrban Hotels, with Glancy Prongay accusing Pomerantz of "cobbl[ing] together" a would-be co-counsel group and Pomerantz defending its proposed lead plaintiffs as a proper "cohesive duo."
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April 29, 2024
WeWork Wins Conditional OK Of Ch. 11 Plan Disclosures
A New Jersey bankruptcy judge gave conditional approval Monday to bankrupt flexible office space company WeWork Inc.'s reorganization plan disclosure statement over the objection of WeWork's former owner Adam Neumann, finding the disclosure contained adequate information.
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April 29, 2024
Wash. Solar Co. Will Pay $465K To End Noncompete Suit
A Washington state judge has given a preliminary nod to a $465,000 settlement to end litigation accusing a residential solar energy equipment company of forcing workers to sign illegal noncompete clauses as a condition of employment.
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April 29, 2024
Builders Say State Rulemaking At Stake In Mich. PFAS Case
A homebuilders' group has backed industrial giant 3M in urging the state's highest court to preserve a lower court ruling wiping out limits on forever chemicals, with a trade group official saying the decision could affect other state agency rulemaking.
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April 29, 2024
NYC Real Estate Week In Review
Davis Polk, Greenberg Traurig and Simpson Thacher are among the law firms that handled the largest New York City real estate deals that hit public records last week, a period that saw two buildings trade for north of $100 million and a four-building portfolio also sell for nine figures.
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April 29, 2024
Solar Tech Co. Plans $294M Factory In NC
Vietnamese solar technology company Boviet Solar will invest $294 million into its upcoming solar panel manufacturing plant in Greenville, North Carolina, the company and the state's governor announced.
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April 29, 2024
NY Real Estate Pro Is Latest Morrison Cohen Atty To Join Loeb
Loeb & Loeb announced the addition of another former Morrison Cohen attorney on Monday, this time a real estate partner with a record of success in the New York metropolitan area.
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April 29, 2024
Haynes Boone Relocates SF Office In 6th Firm Move Since Fall
Haynes and Boone LLP announced Monday that it has moved its San Francisco office to a larger location in the heart of the city's Financial District.
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April 29, 2024
Smith Gambrell Adds 4 Attorneys To New York Office
Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP has added four attorneys in its New York office, two through a merger with a firm that specialized in representing companies from German-speaking countries in the U.S., and two from the recently shuttered Ingram LLP.
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April 29, 2024
Google Plans To Invest $3B In Data Centers In Virginia, Indiana
Google will invest $2 billion into a Fort Wayne, Indiana, data center campus project and also plans to invest $1 billion into three Virginia data center campuses, the company announced.
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April 29, 2024
Minn. Tax Court Won't Change Medical Building Value Boost
The Minnesota Tax Court said it correctly increased the valuation of a medical building, rejecting the building owner's arguments that it improperly applied valuation approaches to the property in a previous decision.
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April 26, 2024
How Legos, 'Working Girl' Sealed $10B Sibling Rivalry Win
A father-son attorney team used Legos and an argument borrowed from the 1988 film "Working Girl" to help a Los Angeles jury understand how their client's own brother illegally stole his multibillion-dollar real estate business, leading to a $10 billion verdict for their client and his other brothers, the attorneys told Law360.
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April 26, 2024
Silver Star Drops Federal Securities Suit Against Ex-Chair
Silver Star Properties agreed to drop its federal suit accusing its former executive chair Allen R. Hartman of trying to get his job back by soliciting shareholders to replace the Texas-based REIT's board of directors, as a similar battle plays out in Maryland state court.
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April 26, 2024
Truist Unit Survives Early Dismissal Bid In NC Poaching Suit
Truist Financial Corp. and its real estate finance arm can move forward with the bulk of their suit accusing three former executives of absconding for a competitor with several dozen colleagues in tow, after North Carolina's business court judge largely denied the defendants an early exit.
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April 26, 2024
Blackstone Must Face Claims Of Price-Fixing At Vegas Hotels
A Las Vegas hotel price-fixing suit against Blackstone and others has survived the private equity firm's motion to dismiss, with a Nevada federal judge ruling the plaintiffs had shown enough to allege Blackstone was in control of one of the target hotels, the Cosmopolitan Hotel, at the time of the alleged scheme.
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April 26, 2024
Bankrupt NYC Building Owners, Rent-Strikers Settle Claims
The bankrupt owners of several Manhattan apartment buildings asked a New York federal bankruptcy court to approve the settlement of the claims of rent-striking tenants, the tenants' debt and a related adversary proceeding.
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April 26, 2024
Ga. Residents Want In On $300M Monkey Farm Fight
Four Georgia residents have asked a federal judge to let them intervene in a dispute over the construction of a sprawling primate-rearing farm in Bainbridge, alleging the local development authority that approved a $300 million bond deal for the project is colluding with the farm's backers to advance the project.
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April 26, 2024
Colo. House OKs Lower Age For Historic Structure Tax Credit
Colorado would reduce the age requirement for the properties eligible for the state's historic structures tax credit, postpone its sunset and make other changes under legislation approved by the state House on Friday.
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April 26, 2024
Colo. House OKs Land Cleanup Tax Credit Extension
Colorado would extend its income tax credit for certain environmental remediation of contaminated property for five years under legislation approved Friday by the House of Representatives.
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April 26, 2024
The Week In Trump: Tabloid Testimony, High Court Drama
Donald Trump and his attorneys have been fighting high-stakes legal battles on several fronts as they grappled with a criminal hush money trial in Manhattan, argued at the U.S. Supreme Court for presidential immunity and tried to quash criminal election interference-related charges in Georgia.
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April 26, 2024
Default Risk At Major SF Complex Drives April CMBS Distress
Kroll Bond Rating Agency said Friday that special servicing on a $1.3 billion loan for one of San Francisco's biggest apartment complexes accounted for more than a third of new distress among commercial mortgage-backed securities this month.
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April 26, 2024
Proxy Fight Between Activist Investor, Retail REIT Heats Up
The battle between activist investor Erez Asset Management and Whitestone REIT picked up steam on Friday, with Erez blasting the shopping center-focused real estate investment trust's claims that a recent board nomination campaign is solely focused on forcing a sale of the REIT.
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April 26, 2024
Greenberg Traurig Inks TPG's Discounted NYC Office Buy
Greenberg Traurig LLP guided TPG Capital's purchase of a Manhattan office building for $147.5 million, nearly a third of the pricetag paid by seller RREEF Management LLC a decade earlier, according to county property records.
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April 25, 2024
Atty Sued For Malpractice Can't Rep His Firm, Ex-Client Says
A Seattle real estate broker suing her former attorney for allegedly botching arbitration proceedings has told a Washington state judge that that attorney can't both be a defendant and represent his firm in their counterclaims for unpaid fees.
Expert Analysis
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What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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White Collar Plea Deals Are Rarely 'Knowing' And 'Voluntary'
Because prosecutors are not required to disclose exculpatory evidence during plea negotiations, white collar defendants often enter into plea deals that don’t meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s “knowing” and “voluntary” standard for trials — but individual courts and solutions judges could rectify the issue, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.
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ESG Around The World: Canada
In Canada, multiple statutes, regulations, common law and industry guidance address environmental, social and governance considerations, with debate over ESG in the business realm potentially growing on the horizon, say attorneys at Blakes.
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How Lease Obligations Can Affect Subchapter V Debt Cap
Two recent bankruptcy rulings in the Eastern District of Virginia and the Southern District of New York take opposite positions on whether unmatured lease obligations are considered noncontingent debt for the purposes of calculating debtors' Subchapter V eligibility, say Joseph Orbach and Henry Thomas at Thompson Coburn.
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Trends That Will Shape The Construction Industry In 2024
Though the outlook for the construction industry is mixed, it is clear that 2024 will bring evolving changes aimed at building projects more safely and efficiently under difficult circumstances, and stakeholders would be wise to prepare for the challenges and opportunities these trends will bring, say Josephine Bahn and Jeffery Mullen at Cozen O'Connor.
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NY CRE Lenders Need Clarity On Foreclosure Standing
Recent contradictory New York case law regarding issues of standing in commercial real estate litigation creates confusion for borrowers and lenders alike, and should be addressed by courts in advance of the anticipated onslaught of commercial mortgage-backed securities foreclosures, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.
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Baking Bread Makes Me A Better Lawyer
After many years practicing law, and a few years baking bread, I have learned that there are a few keys to success in both endeavors, including the assembly of a nourishing and resilient culture, and the ability to learn from failure and exercise patience, says Rick Robinson at Reed Smith.
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Adjusting Deals To Reflect Shifts In The CRE Market
As the commercial real estate market strengthens and moves out from a challenging time, industry participants should consider any concessions made due to recent trends and update transaction documents accordingly before entering into new deals, says Alexander Davis at Mayer Brown.
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4 International Arbitration Trends To Monitor In 2024
Global growth slowed substantially in 2023, and may continue into 2024 due to geopolitical instability, which could fuel four key trends in international arbitration in the coming year, including investor-state and commercial arbitration, an increase in arbitration out of China, and more, say Gregory Litt and Sharmistha Chakrabarti at Skadden.
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How DOI Aims To Modernize Resource Damage Assessments
The U.S. Department of the Interior's recent proposal to redesign its Type A rule for conducting natural resource damage assessment and restoration activities could lead to a more streamlined, flexible assessment process that would benefit both natural resource trustees and potentially responsible parties, says Brian Ferrasci-O'Malley at Nossaman.
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Key Issues When Navigating A Tenant's Bankruptcy
In light of recent Chapter 11 filings by Rite Aid and WeWork — companies with thousands of commercial leases — practitioners should review issues that can arise when bankruptcy is used to exit a lease, including the consequences of lease rejection and the statutory cap on landlord damage claims for a rejected lease, say attorneys at Proskauer.
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The Year Ahead In Foreign Investment And National Security
In 2024, expect the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, already at the forefront of addressing national security threats, to increase monitoring and enforcement related to outbound investment, focus on supply chain resilience in nondefense sectors, and heighten oversight of agricultural transactions, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.
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Sale-Leasebacks May Provide A Safe Financing Alternative
Amid rising interest rates and unpredictable market conditions, sale-leasebacks can be a useful investment option for both buyers and sellers, though their potential drawbacks demand careful consideration, says Chanel Di Blasi at Crosbie Gliner.