Real Estate

  • August 13, 2024

    Connecticut Justices Restore City's Lien On Burned Building

    The city of Hartford can place a lien on an apartment building that was heavily damaged in an arson fire to make sure that it recoups the funds that paid for 39 families to relocate, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled in overturning a trial court's decision to discharge the lien.

  • August 12, 2024

    RFK Jr.'s 'Sham' Address Keeps Him Off NY Ballot, Court Says

    Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s petition to appear as an independent presidential candidate on New York's ballot is invalid because he claimed a false address, an Albany judge ruled Monday, calling it a "sham" address that he used to maintain his voter registration in the state.

  • August 12, 2024

    Chase Bank Sued Over Alleged Ties To $119M Ponzi Scheme

    Chase Bank "actively accommodated" a purported Ponzi scheme worth more than a hundred million dollars by real estate developer SiliconSage Builders LLC, according to a court-appointed receiver who alleged in a new suit that the bank "went well beyond providing ordinary banking services" to the developer.

  • August 12, 2024

    Cannabis Advocates Drop Lawsuit Against Mich. Town

    A cannabis entrepreneur and local developers have agreed to end a lawsuit against a Michigan township that claimed the municipality's leaders blocked them from opening a marijuana dispensary.

  • August 12, 2024

    Construction Co. Says Tribe Can't Escape $1.9M Wage Suit

    A New York construction company is fighting a bid by an entity created by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to dismiss a $1.9 million wage dispute for work done on an $11.75 million Cape Cod, Massachusetts, housing project, arguing that sovereign immunity can't protect it from the litigation.

  • August 12, 2024

    Philly Shop Blames HVAC Contractor For Fire

    A boutique operating on the ground floor of a Masonic meeting hall in Philadelphia's Chestnut Hill neighborhood has filed a lawsuit in state court blaming an HVAC contractor for a 2022 fire that severely damaged the building and its business.

  • August 12, 2024

    Co. Says Title Insurer Acted In Bad Faith Over Deed Dispute

    An owner of two adjacent parcels of land in Philadelphia accused its title insurer in Pennsylvania state court of ignoring its repeated requests to settle an underlying deed dispute and basing its coverage position on an "obviously nonsensical and unsupportable" appraisal.

  • August 12, 2024

    2nd Circ. Nixes 'Excessive' $5M Award For Housing Nonprofit

    The Second Circuit on Monday overturned a $5 million award to a nonprofit that faced pushback from a Connecticut town while trying to open a group home for individuals with disabilities, finding that it was unconstitutionally excessive, but at the same time castigated the municipality's officials for "highly reprehensible" conduct.

  • August 12, 2024

    NJ Health System Wants Proskauer DQ'd From Antitrust Case

    Proskauer Rose LLP is facing accusations that it should be disqualified from representing one of New Jersey's largest healthcare systems in an antitrust lawsuit brought by a competitor that was once a client of the firm.

  • August 12, 2024

    NJ Atty Beats Malpractice Claims Over Real Estate Dispute

    A suspended New Jersey attorney has prevailed over a malpractice complaint from another attorney accusing him of providing bad legal advice on a real estate matter and exposing her to her own malpractice case, according to an order made available Monday.

  • August 12, 2024

    'Survivor' Winner Is True Owner In Property Dispute, US Says

    The winner of the first "Survivor" television season is the true owner of disputed property that should be sold to pay down his $3.3 million in tax liabilities, the government told a Rhode Island federal court, rejecting claims that his sister is the owner.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ex-BCLP Real Estate Partner Rejoins Arnold & Porter In NY

    Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP said Monday that an attorney with deep expertise in commercial real estate deals has rejoined the firm in New York after a stint with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.

  • August 09, 2024

    Ex-Twitter Board Member Says X Owes Him $23M From Stock

    A former member of Twitter's board of directors who helped oversee the sale of the social media company to Elon Musk in 2022 claimed X Corp. owes him more than $23 million worth of vested and unvested shares, according to a lawsuit filed in California state court.

  • August 09, 2024

    Real Estate Recap: Big 4 Market Views, Gas-Ban Backfire, AI

    Catch up on this week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including what the largest commercial real estate brokers expect from capital markets in the second half of the year, how municipalities are reacting to the Ninth Circuit striking down Berkeley, California's natural gas-hookup ban, and why Brookfield Corp. is betting big on AI.

  • August 09, 2024

    SVB's $1.9B FDIC Suit Won't Open 'Floodgates,' Judge Says

    A California federal judge trimmed claims from the parent of Silicon Valley Bank's lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. seeking $1.93 billion, but rejected the agency's arguments that allowing some claims to move forward will "open the floodgates" for every failed bank's uninsured depositors to bring a claim.

  • August 09, 2024

    Cos. Say Insurer Owes Coverage For Penn. Building Collapse

    A Philadelphia residential building owner and its affiliate accused Trisura Specialty Insurance Co. on Friday of wrongfully denying coverage after part of the property collapsed in September 2022.

  • August 09, 2024

    Guarantors Ink Deal To End 11th Circ. Appeal Of $8.7M Award

    Guarantors facing an $8.7 million judgment on a hospitality lender's breach claim have settled the matter stemming from an unpaid $6.2 million loan for a Michigan hotel, according to an Eleventh Circuit filing.

  • August 09, 2024

    Bond Denied For Ex-Ecuador Official Convicted In Bribery Plot

    A Florida federal judge denied bond to Ecuador's ex-comptroller Friday after a jury convicted him earlier this year of laundering more than $12 million in bribes received in a construction scandal, saying the record would not support releasing him from custody before he is sentenced.

  • August 09, 2024

    Home Sellers Get Approved For $250M HomeServices Deal

    A Missouri federal judge granted preliminary approval for a $250 million class action settlement to end an antitrust suit filed by home sellers who accused the National Association of Realtors, HomeServices of America Inc. and other companies of conspiring to artificially inflate broker commission fees.

  • August 09, 2024

    Restoration Worker Can't Shake Employment Deal Claims

    North Carolina's Business Court has pared down a lawsuit between a restoration company and a former employee centered on allegations of breaking employment agreements and misusing licenses, with the court ruling most of the worker's claims had to be tossed, while some of the company's accusations can head toward trial.

  • August 09, 2024

    Colony Ridge Mortgage Co. Says It Was 'Office Geek' For Site

    A Texas mortgage company pushed Friday to be released from a lawsuit accusing a Houston-area real estate developer and lender of predatory lending practices, telling a federal judge that it never met with the Hispanic consumers allegedly preyed on through the scheme and that the company was "just doing paperwork."

  • August 09, 2024

    Colo. Judge Rejects Hedge Fund's Bid To Toss Developer Suit

    A Colorado state judge has denied a hedge fund owner's attempt to toss claims in a lawsuit accusing it and related entities of violating a term sheet for a commercial housing project, finding a real estate development company's breach of contract and fraud claims were specific enough to survive dismissal.

  • August 09, 2024

    Colo. Panel Says Vail Resorts' Land Spat With Town Is Moot

    The Colorado Court of Appeals has ruled against Vail Resorts in its suit challenging a local ordinance that allegedly blocked the company's development of 23.3 acres of land that was subsequently taken by the town via eminent domain.

  • August 09, 2024

    Eckert Seamans Sued Over New Jersey Condo Development

    Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott LLC simultaneously represented a real estate development company and two of its former managers, and also improperly took compensation for its work before company debts were satisfied, according to a legal malpractice lawsuit filed this week in New Jersey state court.

  • August 09, 2024

    Investor Can't Drop Fraud Suit Against Crowdfunding CEO

    A California cannabis investor cannot withdraw his lawsuit against a CEO he accused of helping to operate a $2 million crowdfunding scheme, a federal judge ruled, saying the investor now needs the defendant's permission.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • What's New In Kentucky's Financial Services Overhaul

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    Kentucky's H.B. 726 will go into effect in July and brings with it some significant restructuring to the Kentucky Financial Services Code, including changes to mortgage loan license fees and repeals of provisions relating to installment term loans and savings associations, say attorneys at Frost Brown.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • How Real Estate Cos. Can Protect Their IP In The Metaverse

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    The rise of virtual and augmented reality creates new intellectual property challenges and opportunities for real estate owners, but certain steps, including conducting a diligence investigation to develop an understanding of current obligations, can help companies mitigate IP issues in the metaverse, says George Pavlik at Levenfeld Pearlstein.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • A Comparison Of FDIC, OCC Proposed Merger Approaches

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    Max Bonici and Connor Webb at Venable take a closer look at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's respective bank merger proposals and highlight certain common themes and important differences, in light of regulators continually rethinking their approaches to bank mergers.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • In Debate Over High Court Wording, 'Wetland' Remains Murky

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the Clean Water Act’s wetlands jurisdiction is now a year old, Sackett v. EPA's practical consequences for property owners are still evolving as federal agencies and private parties advance competing interpretations of the court's language and methods for distinguishing wetlands in lower courts, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.

  • Ga. Law Creates Challenges For Foreign Ownership Of Land

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    Under Georgia's new law limiting certain foreign possessory interests in agricultural land and land near military properties, affected foreign persons and entities will need to do significantly more work in order to ensure that their ownership remains legal, say Nellie Sullivan and Lindsey Grubbs at Holland & Knight.

  • Questions Remain After Mass. Adverse Possession Case

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    A recent Massachusetts Land Court decision, concerning an adverse possession claim on a family company-owned property, leaves open questions about potential applicability to closely held corporations and other ownership types going forward, says Brad Hickey at DarrowEverett.

  • 4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order

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    A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict

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    In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema. 

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • 11th Circ. Ruling May Foreshadow Ch. 15 Clashes

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    The Eleventh Circuit's recent decision in In re: Talal Qais Abdulmunem Al Zawawi has introduced a split from the Second Circuit regarding whether debtors in foreign proceedings must have a domicile, calling attention to the understudied nature of Chapter 15 of the Bankruptcy Code, say attorneys at Cleary.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

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