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Real Estate
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October 09, 2024
Mass. Gov. Nominates Land Court Counsel To Judgeship
Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey has nominated a longtime Land Court staff attorney and administrator to a seat on the court, according to an announcement Wednesday.
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October 09, 2024
Marriott Inks $52M Deal With States Over Guest Data Breach
Marriott International Inc. has agreed to pay $52 million to nearly every U.S. state and bolster its data security practices to resolve parallel investigations by state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission over a massive data breach at the hotel's Starwood-branded properties.
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October 08, 2024
Genting Unit Used Bahamas Resort To Hide Fraud, Suit Says
A Bahamanian real estate development company on Monday sued a U.S. company organized under destination resorts and casino giant Genting Group, saying in a Florida federal complaint that the Genting company used a resorts in the Bahamas as a "financial wasteland" that obscured fraudulent activities.
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October 08, 2024
Wash. Families Claim Judicial Bias In Tribal Eviction Saga
A trial judge for Washington state's Nooksack Indian Tribe has paused a series of evictions against a group of families after they argued judges on a tribal appeals court were biased for ruling they can be removed from homes purchased using a federal tax credit program.
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October 08, 2024
Minn. County And Feds Must Meet In Person Over Land Fight
A Minnesota federal judge has ordered counsel for a county and two townships to meet in person with U.S. Department of the Interior representatives for settlement talks involving claims the DOI wrongly acquired about 3,239 acres of land into trust for an Ojibwe tribe.
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October 08, 2024
DOJ Sues LA Fitness Over Nationwide Accessibility Issues
The U.S. Department of Justice sued gym chain LA Fitness on Tuesday, alleging that it mistreated patrons with disabilities at its nearly 700 locations across the country, including by failing to fix broken pool lift equipment and charging caretakers additional fees.
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October 08, 2024
EPA Inks Historic $4.2M Deal Over Philly Refinery Explosion
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed on Tuesday that it has reached a $4.2 million proposed deal with Philadelphia Energy Solutions Refining and Marketing LLC, settling a Clean Air Act claim tied to a June 2019 leak and explosion at the company's former South Philadelphia refinery.
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October 08, 2024
Mich. Judge Won't Halt EV Battery-Plant Build During Appeal
A Michigan federal judge said Monday she will not lift an order forcing a town's leaders to abide by a development agreement with battery manufacturer Gotion Inc. while the town seeks a Sixth Circuit review of the decision.
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October 08, 2024
Marathon Co. Wants 'Both Bites' In Pipeline Row, 8th Circ. Told
A group of tribal landowners looking to intervene in the federal government's appeal related to a Marathon Petroleum Corp. subsidiary's pipeline that crosses part of reservation lands told the Eighth Circuit that the company can't have "both bites of the apple" in fighting their bid to dismiss the case.
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October 08, 2024
Judge Tells VA To Quickly Develop Housing For LA Veterans
The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and experts picked by a class of homeless, disabled military veterans were ordered by a California federal judge to collaborate on plans for veteran housing on a Los Angeles campus.
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October 08, 2024
IRS Appeals Office's Easement Deals May Sap Independence
The IRS Independent Office of Appeals plans to settle certain conservation easement cases with similar terms offered by other IRS divisions, but these upcoming offers might be challenging for taxpayers to navigate and could undermine the office's independence from the rest of the agency.
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October 08, 2024
Homeowners Again Seek Class Cert. In Tax Foreclosure Suit
A group of former property owners has asked a Michigan federal judge to recertify a class action seeking to recover profits county treasurers made selling their tax-delinquent properties, saying the addition of class representatives fixes the flaw that dismantled the class.
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October 08, 2024
Pa. Developers Defend Efforts To Remediate Landslide Damage
A Western Pennsylvania property development company asked the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court on Tuesday to throw out a contempt order in connection with an agreement to provide remediation to a community it built that was devastated by a landslide, arguing it poured its personal and business funds into the project.
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October 08, 2024
Federal Regs Could Ground Airport Pollution Suit, Judge Hints
A Washington federal judge acknowledged Tuesday that federal regulations are an obstacle to Seattle residents' suit against airlines and the city's primary airport over alleged flight-path pollution, while suggesting more discovery could be needed before he can rule out their claims entirely.
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October 08, 2024
DC Judge Won't Rethink Striking Down USDA Wetland Rule
A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday refused to reconsider her decision to vacate a U.S. Department of Agriculture rule designed to stop the development of wetlands on farmland and struck down those regulations.
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October 08, 2024
Mass. Seeks Order Forcing Steward To Maintain Coverage
Massachusetts officials are asking the Texas bankruptcy judge presiding over Steward Health Care's Chapter 11 proceedings to order the company to maintain medical malpractice and workers' compensation coverage for current and potential claims from its operation of hospitals and medical practices in the Bay State.
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October 08, 2024
3rd Circ. Won't Rehear Pa., NJ Businesses' Virus Loss Suits
The Third Circuit declined to rehear consolidated pandemic-related loss coverage disputes brought by New Jersey and Pennsylvania businesses, according to an order issued Tuesday, upholding its decision that the businesses' insurers didn't owe coverage for the claimed losses.
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October 08, 2024
Conn. Ethics Board Tosses Grievance Against Ex-Town Atty
A Connecticut ethics panel has dismissed a grievance at the heart of a former town attorney's claims that the tax assessor spread lies about his conduct and character, finding that the lawyer broke no professional conduct rules and concluding no further investigation was warranted.
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October 08, 2024
Manatt RE Leader Found Common Ground Without An Ego
Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP has lost a Silicon Valley real estate partner with the death of Michael Polentz, and former colleagues are praising his ability to seamlessly break down complex ideas and his achievement of great success in the legal world — and doing so without an ego.
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October 08, 2024
Ex-FDNY Safety Chief Cops To Taking Bribes For Inspections
A Staten Island firefighter who headed the New York City Fire Department's office tasked with fire prevention told a Manhattan federal judge on Tuesday he took thousands of dollars in exchange for speedier safety checks, pleading guilty to bribery conspiracy.
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October 08, 2024
Ga. Firm Says 'Right To Petition' At Stake In HOA Row
An Atlanta-area real estate law firm urged the Georgia Court of Appeals Tuesday to stand by a trial court's decision to kill a lawsuit filed by two property owners who lost to the firm in court some 17 years ago.
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October 08, 2024
Latham-Led Ares Paying $3.7B For Real Assets Manager GCP
Latham & Watkins LLP-led Ares Management Corp. said Tuesday it has agreed to buy GCP International, a global alternative asset management firm with $44 billion of assets under management, in a cash and stock transaction valued at $3.7 billion.
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October 07, 2024
Black La. Residents Urge Overhaul On Discriminatory Land Use
A Fifth Circuit judge asked attorneys for a Louisiana parish Monday whether they believe local government officials could continue racial discrimination for "eternity" because an allegedly discriminatory land-use plan was passed a decade ago without widespread concern.
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October 07, 2024
Factory Mutual Must Fully Cover Plant Explosions, Suit Says
Petrochemicals maker Indorama Ventures accused Factory Mutual Insurance Co. in Texas federal court Monday of wrongly refusing to fully cover roughly $100 million in losses stemming from a series of major explosions in 2019 near an Indorama plant in Texas.
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October 07, 2024
Justices Won't Hear Commerzbank RMBS Fight With US Bank
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned down a bid by Commerzbank AG to revive more of its claims against U.S. Bank NA in a long-running lawsuit over pre-2008 residential mortgage-backed securities trusts, declining to review a recent Second Circuit decision in the case.
Expert Analysis
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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Series
In The CFPB Playbook: Making Good On Bold Promises
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding structure in the second quarter cleared the way for the bureau to resume a number of high-priority initiatives, and it appears poised to charge ahead in working toward its aggressive preelection agenda, say Andrew Arculin and Paula Vigo Marqués at Blank Rome.
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Opinion
States Should Loosen Law Firm Ownership Restrictions
Despite growing buzz, normalized nonlawyer ownership of law firms is a distant prospect, so the legal community should focus first on liberalizing state restrictions on attorney and firm purchases of practices, which would bolster succession planning and improve access to justice, says Michael Di Gennaro at The Law Practice Exchange.
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FBI Raid Signals Growing Criminal Enforcement Of Algorithms
The U.S. Department of Justice Antitrust Division's increased willingness to pursue the use of algorithmic pricing as a potential criminal violation means that companies need to understand the software solutions they employ and stay abreast of antitrust best practices when contracting with providers, say attorneys at Rule Garza.
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State Licensing Pitfalls Mortgage Servicers Must Beware
A recent enforcement action from the Washington Department of Financial Institutions demonstrates how subtle distinctions in state mortgage servicer licensing laws may come as a surprise to some companies, even if they never directly receive payments or interact with borrowers, says Clayton Swears at Hudson Cook.
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Keys To Strong Parking, Storage Contracts For NYC Buildings
Drafting and enforcing unambiguous parking and storage unit license agreements are essential tasks for co-op and condo boards in New York City, with recent cases highlighting how prudent terms can minimize potential headaches, say Matthew Eiben and Adam Lindenbaum at Rosenberg & Estis.
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Series
Solving Puzzles Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Tackling daily puzzles — like Wordle, KenKen and Connections — has bolstered my intellectual property litigation practice by helping me to exercise different mental skills, acknowledge minor but important details, and build and reinforce good habits, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.
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Texas Ethics Opinion Flags Hazards Of Unauthorized Practice
The Texas Professional Ethics Committee's recently issued proposed opinion finding that in-house counsel providing legal services to the company's clients constitutes the unauthorized practice of law is a valuable clarification given that a UPL violation — a misdemeanor in most states — carries high stakes, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Julienne Pasichow at HWG.
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Realtor Settlement May Create New Antitrust Pitfalls
Following a recent antitrust settlement between the National Association of Realtors and home sellers, practices are set to change and the increased competition may benefit both brokers and homebuyers, but the loss of the customary method of buyer broker compensation could lead to new antitrust concerns, says Colin Ahler at Snell & Wilmer.
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In Memoriam: The Modern Administrative State
On June 28, the modern administrative state, where courts deferred to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes, died when the U.S. Supreme Court overruled its previous decision in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council — but it is survived by many cases decided under the Chevron framework, say Joseph Schaeffer and Jessica Deyoe at Babst Calland.
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What Fla. Ruling Means For Insurer Managed Repair Programs
A recent Florida state court ruling in Fraga v. Citizens Property Insurance, holding that the insurer could not seek to add additional terms in its managed repair program consent form, should promote clear written contract terms that clarify the relationship between insurers, policyholders and contractors, says Chip Merlin at Merlin Law Group.
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Preparing For CFPB 'Junk Fee' Push Into Mortgage Industry
As the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau considers expanding its "junk fee" initiative into mortgage closing costs, mortgage lenders and third parties must develop plans now that anticipate potential rulemaking or enforcement activity in this space, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.
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How To Clean Up Your Generative AI-Produced Legal Drafts
As law firms increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence tools to produce legal text, attorneys should be on guard for the overuse of cohesive devices in initial drafts, and consider a few editing pointers to clean up AI’s repetitive and choppy outputs, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
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Series
After Chevron: Opportunities For Change In FHFA Practices
The U.S. Supreme Court's overturning of the Chevron doctrine should lead to better cooperation between the Federal Housing Finance Agency and Congress, and may give the FHFA a chance to embrace transparency and innovation and promote sustainable housing practices, says Mehdi Sinaki at Michelman & Robinson.
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Series
NC Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q2
After federal banking agencies last quarter released a supplemental final rule updating the Community Reinvestment Act, North Carolina banks involved in community development should consider how the new rule might open up opportunities for investment and services that can benefit underserved areas, says Adam Goldblatt at Michael Best.