Real Estate

  • June 07, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: EPA's Brownfield Funding Surge

    Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including a new data series on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's brownfield grant program.

  • June 07, 2024

    LIHTC Developer Asks 11th Circ. To Undo Investor Takeover

    A developer told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday it is a victim of a scheme by investors using a lower court ruling to complete a takeover of two Tampa, Florida, senior housing complexes developed with federal low-income housing tax credits.

  • June 07, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Undo Exclusion Of $80M Asset Valuation

    A trustee for creditors of ATIF Inc. told the Eleventh Circuit on Friday that a trial judge erred in excluding an expert's $80 million valuation of the bankrupt title insurance underwriter's 2015 transfer of assets to Old Republic National Title Insurance Co.

  • June 07, 2024

    Lumbee Tribe Family Says Bias Sunk Home Rental Application

    A family of Lumbee Native American tribe members has alleged that a national real estate rental company violated the Fair Housing Act's anti-discrimination provisions by denying their housing application based on the father's single criminal conviction without giving him a chance to appeal.

  • June 07, 2024

    DOE Reveals National Definition Of Zero-Emissions Building

    The U.S. Department of Energy unveiled a federal definition for determining whether a residential or commercial building qualifies as a zero-emissions building as part of an ongoing effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions across the traditionally heavily emitting sector.

  • June 07, 2024

    Texas Top Court Denies Roofer's Challenge To Adjuster Laws

    The Supreme Court of Texas tossed on Friday a roofing company's challenge to the state's public adjuster licensing laws, saying that requiring a license or preventing certain conduct didn't violate the roofer's free speech rights.

  • June 07, 2024

    Bank Says Alzheimer's Center Owes $17M On Defaulted Loan

    An Alzheimer's care center owes Bank of Oklahoma nearly $17 million after it became the last of four memory care facilities to default on a $27.5 million loan that was used to refinance their mortgage debt, according to a complaint filed in Georgia federal court.

  • June 07, 2024

    'Deceit On Deceit': 7th Circ. OKs Atty's Asset-Hiding Sentence

    The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Chicago-area lawyer's three-year sentence for hiding over $350,000 in her brother's bankruptcy, finding two sentence enhancements were properly applied since she "layered deceit upon deceit" to try to conceal assets and cover her tracks.

  • June 07, 2024

    Miami Official Can't Shake Zoning Abuse Claims

    A Miami commissioner can't escape allegations that he and other city officials conspired to sabotage local businesses with zoning and safety laws after a pair of business owners backed the commissioner's opponent in a 2017 election, a Florida federal judge ruled.

  • June 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Finds Ethical Lapses Justify Bar On Firm's Outreach

    The Sixth Circuit said Thursday a Michigan federal judge shouldn't have faulted a law firm for attacking a proposed tax foreclosure class-action settlement in solicitation letters, but nevertheless upheld the judge's order barring contact with certain class members because of the firm's actual ethical lapses.

  • June 07, 2024

    Judge Agrees To DQ Houston Firm In Fight Over MMA Law

    A Texas bankruptcy judge sided with troubled Houston firm MMA Law and agreed this week that another Houston firm, Okin Adams Bartlett Curry LLP, had received confidential information from MMA Law and should be disqualified from representing its creditors.

  • June 07, 2024

    Calif. Developer Seeks $5M Excess Coverage For Defect Suits

    A California developer is seeking coverage under a $5 million excess policy for an underlying settlement stemming from construction defect claims, telling a federal court that its excess insurer wrongfully refused to cooperate in the dispute resolution and that the policy expressly provided coverage.

  • June 07, 2024

    Zurich, Loan Co. Settle $15M Ex-3M Campus Repairs Suit

    The lender and current title owner for a now-foreclosed Austin property that was once the campus of 3M reached a settlement in principle with a Zurich unit over coverage for their $15.5 million winter storm damage claim, the parties told a Texas federal court.

  • June 07, 2024

    UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

    The past week in London has seen British broadcaster GB News hit with a libel claim by climate activist Dale Vince, MGM take aim at an immersive events company over intellectual property rights to the James Bond franchise, and law firms Stephenson Harwood and Bowen-Morris & Partners tackle a contracts claim by investment adviser Yieldstreet. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

  • June 06, 2024

    Calif. Justices OK UC Berkeley People's Park Housing Plan

    The University of California, Berkeley, can move ahead with its plans to build a housing project in the historic People's Park, the California Supreme Court ruled Thursday, saying a new state law wipes out opponents' claims that the university's environmental impact study failed to look at potential student noise pollution.

  • June 06, 2024

    Calif. Judge Pauses Wells Fargo Investor Row Over State Case

    A California federal judge has paused a pension system's proposed class action accusing top Wells Fargo & Co. officers of enabling a "culture of lawlessness," making way for a state court suit that alleges similar wrongdoing.

  • June 06, 2024

    La. Commercial Property Co. Settles Storm Insurance Dispute

    A Louisiana federal judge has dismissed a commercial property owner's coverage fight over windstorm damage after the company settled in arbitration with a group of 10 insurers.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. High Court Will Review Gun Magazine Law

    The Washington state Supreme Court said Thursday it will review a trial court ruling that the state's ban on sales of large-capacity magazines for firearms is unconstitutional.

  • June 06, 2024

    Fintech Lender Ran 'Bait & Switch' With Borrowers, Suit Says

    Fintech company Figure Lending LLC faces a proposed class action alleging its home equity lines of credit are actually intentionally mislabeled home equity loans with higher interest rates and fees.

  • June 06, 2024

    Investors Say Fund Preyed On Alums For RICO Scheme

    A group of Chinese and American investors alleged this week that they were ripped off to the tune of millions of dollars by a group of fraudsters who, through a series of fraudulent bank loans, bogus tax filings and false advertising, induced them into putting their money into a Los Angeles real estate project.

  • June 06, 2024

    Wash. Justices To Review Spokane Homeless Camp Initiative

    The Washington State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a homeless advocacy group's appeal in its failed challenge to a voter-approved initiative expanding Spokane's restrictions on homeless encampments.

  • June 06, 2024

    Prof Can Test NC State Building For Carcinogens

    A split state appeals court has granted a former North Carolina State University employee stricken by cancer access to gather evidence in a campus building that studies showed contained cancer-causing materials.

  • June 06, 2024

    Mass. AG Asks State High Court To Affirm Housing Law

    Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell told the state's highest court this week that her office has the authority to seek enforcement of what she says is a mandatory state housing initiative requiring more than half the state's communities to allow multifamily housing development.

  • June 06, 2024

    5th Circ. Backs Chevron In La. Drilling Contamination Fight

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling directing Chevron to submit a plan to clean up Louisiana properties allegedly contaminated by oil and gas development, saying that state law only requires the company to look for potential damage.

  • June 06, 2024

    Mich. Court Promises Swift Ruling In Ford Battery-Plant Case

    A Michigan appellate court panel on Thursday said it would deliver its decision soon on a ballot measure aimed at halting the construction of a Ford Motor Co. megafactory, as campaigners pressed the court to rule ahead of fall election deadlines.  

Expert Analysis

  • Weisselberg's Perjury At Trial Spotlights Atty Ethics Issues

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    Former Trump Organization executive Allen Weisselberg’s recent guilty plea for perjury in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial should serve as a reminder to attorneys of their ethical duties when they know a client has lied or plans to lie in court, and the potential penalties for not fulfilling those obligations, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.

  • Practicing Law With Parkinson's Disease

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    This Parkinson’s Awareness Month, Adam Siegler at Greenberg Traurig discusses his experience working as a lawyer with Parkinson’s disease, sharing both lessons on how to cope with a diagnosis and advice for supporting colleagues who live with the disease.

  • Climate Disclosure Mandates Demand A Big-Picture Approach

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    As carbon emissions disclosure requirements from the European Union, California and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission take effect, the best practice for companies is not targeted compliance with a given reporting regime, but rather a comprehensive approach to systems assessment and management, says David Smith at Manatt.

  • Series

    Playing Hockey Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Nearly a lifetime of playing hockey taught me the importance of avoiding burnout in all aspects of life, and the game ultimately ended up providing me with the balance I needed to maintain success in my legal career, says John Riccione at Taft.

  • For Lawyers, Pessimism Should Be A Job Skill, Not A Life Skill

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    A pessimistic mindset allows attorneys to be effective advocates for their clients, but it can come with serious costs for their personal well-being, so it’s crucial to exercise strategies that produce flexible optimism and connect lawyers with their core values, says Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • Illinois EV Charging Act Sparks Developer Concerns

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    A recent state law in Illinois requiring multifamily housing to provide facilities for electric vehicle charging raises significant concerns for developers over existing infrastructure that isn't up to the task, says Max Kanter at Much Shelist.

  • Trump's NY Civil Fraud Trial Spotlights Long-Criticized Law

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    A New York court’s recent decision holding former President Donald Trump liable for fraud brought old criticisms of the state law used against him back into the limelight — including its strikingly broad scope and its major departures from the traditional elements of common law fraud, say Mark Kelley and Lois Ahn at MoloLamken.

  • What NAR Settlement Means For Agent Commission Rates

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    If approved, a joint settlement agreement between the National Association of Realtors and a class of home sellers will likely take the onus off home sellers to compensate buyers' agents, affecting considerations for all parties to real estate transactions, say attorneys at Jones Foster.

  • Opinion

    New Mexico Fire Victims Deserve Justice From Federal Gov't

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    Two years after the largest fire in New Mexico's history — a disaster caused by the U.S. government's mismanagement of prescribed burns — the Federal Emergency Management Agency must remedy its grossly inadequate relief efforts and flawed legal interpretations that have left victims of the fire still waiting for justice, says former New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas.

  • Opinion

    $175M Bond Refiled By Trump Is Still Substantively Flawed

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    The corrected $175 million bond posted by former President Donald Trump on Thursday to stave off enforcement of the New York attorney general's fraud judgment against him remains substantively and procedurally flawed, as well as inadequately secured, says Adam Pollock of Pollock Cohen.

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • Calif. Ruling Shows Limits Of Exculpatory Lease Clauses

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    A California court's recent decision in Epochal Enterprises v. LF Encinitas Properties, finding a landlord liable for failing to disclose the presence of asbestos on the subject property, underscores the limits of exculpatory clauses' ability to safeguard landlords from liability where known hazards are present, say Fawaz Bham and Javier De Luna at Hunton.

  • What Nevada 'Superbasin' Ruling Means For Water Users

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    The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Lincoln County Water District, affirming that the state can manage multiple predesignated water basins as one "superbasin," significantly broadens the scope of water constraints that project developers in Nevada and throughout the West may need to consider, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Calif. Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q1

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    The first quarter of the year brought the usual onslaught of new regulatory developments in California — including a crackdown on junk fees imposed by small business lenders, a big step forward for online notarizations and a ban on predatory listing agreements, says Alex Grigorians at Hanson Bridgett.

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