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Real Estate
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October 01, 2024
Rocket Cos. Investors Lose Cert Bid In Post-Goldman Ruling
A Michigan federal judge has declined to grant class status to Rocket Cos. investors suing over the company's post-pandemic loan portfolio, saying that optimistic statements about the firm's future were too generic to be relied upon in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Goldman Sachs' favor that dealt with a similar issue.
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October 01, 2024
NJ Hotels Beat Room Price-Fixing Suit For Good
Another algorithmic antitrust suit is off the table after a New Jersey federal judge said Monday that a room-rate proposed class action against Atlantic City casino-hotels has the same failings that doomed a case over room prices on the Las Vegas Strip.
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October 01, 2024
Calif. Judge Won't Let Insurers Slip Mold Coverage Suit
A California federal judge mostly refused to allow a group of insurers to escape a suit filed by the owner and operator of a 231-unit California apartment complex seeking coverage for mold under a $69 million builders risk policy.
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October 01, 2024
Insurers Say $40M Hurricane Claims Must Be Arbitrated
A group of insurers led by certain underwriters at Lloyd's, London urged a Louisiana federal court to reject a group of property owners' "last-ditch effort" to avoid arbitrating their hurricane damage claims totaling over $40 million, arguing the owners "don't dispute" that the arbitration provision in their policy is enforceable.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Industrial Fire Ignites Slew Of Suits From Residents
As a chlorine plant about 20 miles outside of Atlanta continues to belch chemical fumes into the skies in the aftermath of an industrial fire, the company that owns the facility was hit with proposed class actions Monday from residents who say the disaster is already causing dangerous health problems.
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October 01, 2024
First Marshall Fire Trial To Decide Liability For All Plaintiffs
A Colorado state judge ruled Monday that the first trial in consolidated lawsuits against Xcel Energy and telecom companies for damages related to a 2021 wildfire will decide liability for all plaintiffs unless they show a good reason to opt-out.
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October 01, 2024
Crowne Plaza Gets Out Of Ohio Sex Trafficking Liability Suit
An Ohio federal magistrate judge released Crowne Plaza LLC from an anonymous plaintiff's lawsuit seeking to hold lodging entities liable for sex trafficking injuries, after the survivor said the hotel chain's presence in the case "adds nothing" to her chances of winning damages.
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October 01, 2024
Ind. Tax Court Backs Use Of Old Burden-Shifting Statute
An Indiana assessor must provide evidence to back up a property's nearly $2 million valuation because the assessment occurred under a statute shifting the burden of proof to assessors if valuations increased over a certain threshold, the state's tax court said.
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October 01, 2024
NC Judge Trims Most Of $200M Apartment Complex Sale Suit
A North Carolina federal judge tossed out the breach of contract and deceptive trade practices claims in a real estate firm's suit over a soured $200 million deal to acquire a portfolio of apartment complexes, but the court said the buyer's claims could come back later.
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October 01, 2024
McElroy Deutsch Must Face 'Malicious' Claim From Fired Exec
A former business development director from McElroy Deutsch Mulvaney & Carpenter LLP has been given the go-ahead from a New Jersey state judge to bring a malicious-prosecution claim against the firm in litigation over her and her husband's alleged multimillion-dollar embezzlement from the firm.
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October 01, 2024
Foreclosure Class Wants To Stop Mich. Atty's Victim Outreach
Lawyers behind a proposed tax foreclosure class action in Michigan federal court have said an attorney who recently secured a settlement in a similar case sent a misleading solicitation letter to a client in a bid to undermine the proceedings.
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October 01, 2024
Ga. Atty Disbarred For Taking $850K From Investor Clients
The Georgia Supreme Court disbarred an attorney Tuesday for mishandling about $850,000 of his real estate investor clients' money, concluding that such a severe sanction is "consistent with similar cases in which a lawyer abandons clients, violates the rules related to trust accounts and defaults during the disciplinary process."
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October 01, 2024
Treasury Plans Final Direct Pay Partnership Regs By Year-End
The U.S. Treasury Department is eyeing the end of the year to finalize regulations for development projects to elect out of their partnership tax status to qualify for a direct cash payment of their clean energy tax credits, an official said Tuesday.
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October 01, 2024
When The Client Is The Mayor, The Usual Rules Don't Apply
Representing a public official, whether the mayor of New York City, a state legislator or a city council member, poses unique challenges for even the most experienced lawyers, who often find themselves torn between fighting battles in the press and protecting their client in court.
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October 01, 2024
Latham Reps CPP Investments In $15B Equinix Data Center JV
Latham & Watkins advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board in a joint venture with digital infrastructure developer Equinix Inc. and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC that could invest $15 billion to build data centers.
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September 30, 2024
Pa. Bankruptcy Court OKs $53M Sale Of Nursing Homes
A federal bankruptcy judge approved the proposed sale of nine western Pennsylvania nursing homes to affiliates of Kadima Healthcare Group for $53 million Monday, as part of Chapter 11 proceedings for more than a dozen facilities operating under the umbrella of Comprehensive Healthcare Management Systems.
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September 30, 2024
Chubb Units Avoid Nearly All Claims In Water Damage Suit
A Connecticut federal court on Monday tossed nearly all coverage claims a commercial real estate company and its owner lodged against Chubb companies over plumbing issues at their headquarters, finding two of the defendant Chubb companies weren't parties to the policy at issue.
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September 30, 2024
Guo Ch. 11 Trustee Seeks To Sell Conn. Mansion For $6.9M
The Chapter 11 trustee overseeing the estate of Chinese exile Miles Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, asked a bankruptcy judge's permission Monday to sell a Connecticut mansion tied to the convicted fraudster for $6.9 million to benefit the estate, according to paperwork filed Monday.
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September 30, 2024
Arizona Legislature Says State Can't Slip Monument Suits
The Arizona State Legislature fired back at Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' attempt to dismiss its lawsuit seeking to upend the Biden administration's creation of a national monument on an Indigenous site, defending its alleged injuries as "concrete and imminent."
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September 30, 2024
Apache Tribe Urges Supreme Court To Take Up Mining Case
The San Carlos Apache Tribe is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a ruling by Arizona's high court that sides with a state agency decision letting a copper mining company discharge treated wastewater from potential future operations into a local waterway.
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September 30, 2024
Marathon Unit Wants 8th Circ. To Nix Appeal In Pipeline Fight
A Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary is asking the Eighth Circuit to dismiss an appeal by tribal landowners trying to intervene in its lawsuit challenging the Interior Department's reversal of prior decisions related to a pipeline crossing part of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota.
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September 30, 2024
DC Circ. Urged To Revisit Retroactive FARA Registration
The U.S. Department of Justice is pressing the D.C. Circuit to reconsider a ruling that barred the federal government from suing to compel former foreign agents to register their onetime foreign influence efforts, arguing that the precedent behind the ruling wrongly hamstrings the DOJ's ability to enforce the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
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September 30, 2024
4 Firms Guide Verizon's $3.3B Wireless Comms Towers Sale
Verizon has sold 6,339 wireless communications towers to a communications-focused real estate investment trust for $3.3 billion in a deal guided by Jones Day, Greenberg Traurig, Simpson Thacher and Mayer Brown, Verizon announced Monday.
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September 30, 2024
NY Man Must Face Brownstone Deed Theft Charges
A New York state court on Monday denied a Long Island man's bid to escape charges accusing him of using forgery and shell companies to steal two brownstone buildings in Harlem that are worth millions of dollars, disagreeing with the man's argument that the case was too stale to prosecute.
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September 30, 2024
Mich. Justices Give Condo Drowning Suit Another Chance
The Michigan Supreme Court on Monday remanded a premises liability lawsuit against a condominium owners association that was brought by the estate of a member, saying an appeals court should take into account the justices' recent ruling that condo associations have a duty to exercise reasonable care to protect condo owners in shared spaces.
Expert Analysis
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Series
Rock Climbing Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Rock climbing requires problem-solving, focus, risk management and resilience, skills that are also invaluable assets in my role as a finance lawyer, says Mei Zhang at Haynes and Boone.
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NY Ruling Offers A Foreclosure Road Map For Lenders
A New York appellate court recently upheld a summary judgment ruling in favor of a commercial lender's foreclosure in U.S. Bank v. 1226 Evergreen Bapaz, illustrating the proofs lenders will need to prosecute a foreclosure action, especially where the plaintiff is an assignee of the originating lender, say attorneys at Sherman Atlas.
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Think Like A Lawyer: Dance The Legal Standard Two-Step
From rookie brief writers to Chief Justice John Roberts, lawyers should master the legal standard two-step — framing the governing standard at the outset, and clarifying why they meet that standard — which has benefits for both the drafter and reader, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.
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Tips For Lenders Offering Texas Home Equity Lines Of Credit
As interest in home equity lines of credit increases, lenders seeking to utilize such products in Texas must be aware of state-specific requirements and limitations that can make it challenging to originate open-end lines of credit on homestead property, says Tye McWhorter at Polunsky Beitel.
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Kentucky Tax Talk: Appeals Court Revisits Leases' Tax Effects
With better facts and greater emphasis on the Kentucky Constitution, Walgreen Co. may succeed in its latest Kentucky Court of Appeals challenge to a tax assessor's method of valuing leaseholds on real property for purposes of determining ad valorem tax, say Mark Sommer and Elizabeth Ethington at Frost Brown Todd.
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Series
Being A Luthier Makes Me A Better Lawyer
When I’m not working as an appellate lawyer, I spend my spare time building guitars — a craft known as luthiery — which has helped to enhance the discipline, patience and resilience needed to write better briefs, says Rob Carty at Nichols Brar.
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Lead Like 'Ted Lasso' By Embracing Cognitive Diversity
The Apple TV+ series “Ted Lasso” aptly illustrates how embracing cognitive diversity can be a winning strategy for teams, providing a useful lesson for law firms, which can benefit significantly from fresh, diverse perspectives and collaborative problem-solving, says Paul Manuele at PR Manuele Consulting.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: July Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy considers cases touching on pre- and post-conviction detainment conditions, communications with class representatives, when the American Pipe tolling doctrine stops applying to modified classes, and more.
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Utilizing Liability Exemption When Calif. Cities Lease Property
With rising costs pushing California municipalities to lease real estate assets instead of purchasing them, municipalities should review the ample case law that supports certain exceptions to California Constitution Section 18(a) requirements, providing that certain long-term lease obligations are not considered to be liabilities, says Steven Otto at Crosbie Gliner.
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Expect CFPB To Enforce Warning Against 'Coercive' Fine Print
The recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warning against unenforceable terms "deceptively" slipped into the fine print of contracts will likely be challenged in court, but until then, companies should expect the agency to treat its guidance as law and must carefully scrutinize their consumer contracts, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.
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How NJ Worker Status Ruling Benefits Real Estate Industry
In Kennedy v. Weichert, the New Jersey Supreme Court recently said a real estate agent’s employment contract would supersede the usual ABC test analysis to determine his classification as an independent contractor, preserving operational flexibility for the industry — and potentially others, say Jason Finkelstein and Dalila Haden at Cole Schotz.
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Opinion
Now More Than Ever, Lawyers Must Exhibit Professionalism
As society becomes increasingly fractured and workplace incivility is on the rise, attorneys must champion professionalism and lead by example, demonstrating how lawyers can respectfully disagree without being disagreeable, says Edward Casmere at Norton Rose.
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Series
Serving In The National Guard Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My ongoing military experience as a judge advocate general in the National Guard has shaped me as a person and a lawyer, teaching me the importance of embracing confidence, balance and teamwork in both my Army and civilian roles, says Danielle Aymond at Baker Donelson.
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Series
After Chevron: Impact On CFPB May Be Limited
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo is likely to have a limited impact on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulatory activities, and for those who value due process, consistency and predictability in consumer financial services regulation, this may be a good thing, says John Coleman at Orrick.
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A Midyear Forecast: Tailwinds Expected For Atty Hourly Rates
Hourly rates for partners, associates and support staff continued to rise in the first half of this year, and this growth shows no signs of slowing for the rest of 2024 and into next year, driven in part by the return of mergers and acquisitions and the widespread adoption of artificial intelligence, says Chuck Chandler at Valeo Partners.