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Real Estate
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August 14, 2024
Judge Reconsiders Stop To Colo. River Transfer Without EIS
An Arizona federal judge on Tuesday reinstated water sale contracts between a company-owned farm on the Colorado River and a town more than a hundred miles away, agreeing with the federal government that his prior decision to void them would cause too much trouble.
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August 14, 2024
PwC Owes $11M For Tax Errors, Real Estate Group Says
PwC should pay £8.9 million ($11.4 million) in damages to a real estate group for miscalculating its tax liabilities and mispricing its properties, which prompted several additional assessments and penalties, according to a claim in a London court.
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August 14, 2024
Insurer Off Hook For Jury Award In Construction Dispute
A commercial insurer does not have to indemnify a contractor found liable for multiple structural and other problems in a home he built, a Massachusetts intermediate appellate court concluded Wednesday in a case of first impression involving what is considered "property damage" in a construction dispute.
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August 14, 2024
Rising Star: Kirkland's Michael Shultz
Michael Shultz of Kirkland & Ellis LLP has advised investor Blue Owl on several major transactions, including its $15 billion acquisition of real estate investment trust STORE Capital Corp. with Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC, earning him a spot among the real estate law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 14, 2024
Rising Star: Latham's Dustin Paige
Latham & Watkins LLP counsel Dustin Paige's work on large, complex deals, including a $7 billion joint venture between Digital Realty Trust and Blackstone Inc. to develop four hyperscale data center campuses and Flynn Properties' $1.1 billion acquisition of an 89-hotel portfolio and its subsequent refinancing, has earned him a spot among the real estate attorneys under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.
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August 14, 2024
SEC Says Ga. Firm's Ponzi Scheme Fueled 'Lavish' Lifestyle
An Atlanta-area firm that promised investors lucrative returns on real estate deals was in reality running a "classic Ponzi scheme" by funneling portions of the $300 million it received into buying a yacht and a luxury condo for its founder, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said Wednesday.
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August 13, 2024
Jury Awards $51M To Family In Carbon Monoxide Leak
A Texas jury awarded a woman and her two children $51 million after they suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning in their apartment in 2015, finding in a Tuesday verdict that their apartment complex was responsible for the leak that allegedly left the children with serious brain injuries.
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August 13, 2024
CFPB Says Predatory Lenders Targeting Muslim Homebuyers
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Tuesday it found that an often predatory form of home financing, known as contracts for deed, has become increasingly prevalent in Muslim communities.
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August 13, 2024
FDIC Looks To Dodge Suit Over First Republic Bank's Rent
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. urged a California federal court to toss a suit filed by a California landlord that once leased to First Republic Bank, arguing that federal law bars the suit because the FDIC is the bank's receiver.
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August 13, 2024
Anadarko Settles Wyo. Landowners' Antitrust Case For $12M
Occidental Petroleum Corp. unit Anadarko Petroleum Corp. will pay $12 million to resolve a federal class action from Wyoming landowners accusing the extraction company of anticompetitively hoarding permits to block and control local oil and gas development, resolving the suit Monday — very nearly on the courthouse steps.
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August 13, 2024
New Realtor Complaint Challenges NAR's Membership Rule
The National Association of Realtors is facing a new proposed class action, this time from Michigan real estate brokers and agents challenging state and local requirements that they be members of local and national Realtor organizations to use the association's multiple listing services.
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August 13, 2024
'Delusional' Ex-Atty Gets 25 Years For Bank Embezzlement
An Illinois federal judge blasted a former attorney and real estate developer Tuesday as she handed him 25 years in prison for misappropriating a bank's embezzled money, saying he was "delusional" to assert he's a victim in the case.
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August 13, 2024
Tar Sands Firm Strikes SPAC Merger With Integrated Rail
Tar Sands Holdings II LLC, advised by Holland & Hart LLP, plans to go public following a merger with Winston & Strawn LLP-led special purpose acquisition company Integrated Rail and Resources Acquisition Corp., according to a Monday statement.
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August 13, 2024
Partnerships' Easement Fight Ends As Gov't Drops IRS Notice
An Alabama federal judge dismissed a complaint by dozens of partnerships claiming they shouldn't have to comply with an IRS notice regarding conservation easement transactions, following an Eleventh Circuit ruling upholding the notice as invalid and the government's agreement not to enforce it.
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August 13, 2024
Miami Investor Sues In Del. For Cash From London Manor Sale
A Florida investor with a 25% stake in a historic manor house in west London has sued the manager of the Delaware limited liability company formed to invest in the property, alleging it has been sold for about $18 million without him receiving any proceeds.
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August 13, 2024
Buchalter Adds Real Estate Trio From Nashville Boutique
Three attorneys from a Tennessee real estate boutique, including the firm's founder, have joined Buchalter PC's Nashville office.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
Expert Analysis
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Understanding 2 Types Of Construction Payment Clauses
Given the recent trend of states prohibiting pay-if-paid clauses in construction clauses in favor of fortifying contractor protections with pay-when-paid clauses, parties involved in construction projects should take care to understand the nuances between the two clauses, say Jeffery Mullen and Josephine Bahn at Cozen O'Connor.
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Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?
A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.
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Bank M&A Continues To Lag Amid Regulatory Ambiguity
Bank M&A activity in the first half of 2024 continued to be lower than in prior years, as the industry is recovering from the 2023 bank failures, and regulatory and macroeconomic conditions have not otherwise been prime for deals, say Robert Azarow and Amber Hay at Arnold & Porter.
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How High Court Ruling Is Shaping Homelessness Policies
The U.S. Supreme Court’s June decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson to allow enforcement of local ordinances against overnight camping is already spurring new policies to manage homelessness, but the court's ruling does not grant jurisdictions unfettered power, say Kathryn Kafka and Alex Merritt at Sheppard Mullin.
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DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win
After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Series
Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.
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3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture
Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.
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Cannabis Biz Real Estate Loan Considerations For Lenders
Now that cannabis sales are legal in some states, real estate lenders are interested in financing the land used by cannabis companies, but because cannabis sales are still illegal under federal law, lenders must make adjustments for cannabis-adjacent transactions, say Mark Levenson and Jeffrey Wendler at Sills Cummis.
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Series
After Chevron: Don't Let Loper Lead To Bank Compliance Lull
Banking organizations are staring down a period of greater uncertainty over the next few years as the banking agencies and industry navigate the post-Chevron world, but banks must continue to have effective compliance programs in place even in the face of this unpredictability, say Lee Meyerson and Amanda Allexon at Simpson Thacher.
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E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents
Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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Maryland 'Rain Tax' Ruling May Offer Hope For Tax Credits
A Maryland state appellate court's recent decision in Ben Porto v. Montgomery County echoes earlier case law upholding controversial stormwater charges as a valid excise tax, but it also suggests that potential credits to reduce property owners' liability could get broader in scope, says Alyssa Domzal at Ballard Spahr.
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Series
Teaching Scuba Diving Makes Me A Better Lawyer
As a master scuba instructor, I’ve learned how to prepare for the unexpected, overcome fears and practice patience, and each of these skills – among the many others I’ve developed – has profoundly enhanced my work as a lawyer, says Ron Raether at Troutman Pepper.
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Lawyers Can Take Action To Honor The Voting Rights Act
As the Voting Rights Act reaches its 59th anniversary Tuesday, it must urgently be reinforced against recent efforts to dismantle voter protections, and lawyers can pitch in immediately by volunteering and taking on pro bono work to directly help safeguard the right to vote, says Anna Chu at We The Action.
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Decoding CFPB Priorities Amid Ramp-Up In Nonbank Actions
Based on recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau enforcement actions and press releases about its supervisory activities, the agency appears poised to continue increasing its scrutiny over nonbank entities — particularly with respect to emerging financial products and services — into next year, say attorneys at Wiley.