Real Estate

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.  

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

Expert Analysis

  • Lean Into The 'Great Restoration' To Retain Legal Talent

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    As the “great resignation,” in which employees voluntarily left their jobs in droves, has largely dissipated, legal employers should now work toward the idea of a “great restoration,” adopting strategies to effectively hire, onboard and retain top legal talent, says Molly McGrath at Hiring & Empowering Solutions.

  • Debate Over CFPB Definition Of Credit Is Just Beginning

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    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has recently worked to expand the meaning of credit, so anyone operating on the edges of the credit markets, or even those who assumed they were safely outside the scope of this regulatory perimeter, should pay close attention as legal challenges to broad interpretations of the definition unfold, says John Coleman at Orrick.

  • A Closer Look At Feds' Proposed Banker Compensation Rule

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    A recently proposed rule to limit financial institutions' ability to award incentive-based compensation for risk-taking may progress through the rulemaking process slowly due to the sheer number of regulators collaborating on the rule and the number of issues under consideration, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.

  • Opinion

    The FTC And DOJ Should Backtrack On RealPage

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    The antitrust agencies ought to reverse course on their enforcement actions against RealPage, which are based on a faulty legal premise, risk further property shortages and threaten the use of algorithms that are central to the U.S. economy, says Thomas Stratmann at George Mason University.

  • Series

    Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Atop the list of ways fishing makes me a better lawyer is the relief it offers from the chronic stress of a demanding caseload, but it has also improved my listening skills and patience, and has served as an exceptional setting for building earnest relationships, says Steven DeGeorge​​​​​​​ at Robinson Bradshaw.

  • A Healthier Legal Industry Starts With Emotional Intelligence

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    The legal profession has long been plagued by high rates of mental health issues, in part due to attorneys’ early training and broader societal stereotypes — but developing one’s emotional intelligence is one way to foster positive change, collectively and individually, says attorney Esperanza Franco.

  • To Make Your Legal Writing Clear, Emulate A Master Chef

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    To deliver clear and effective written advocacy, lawyers should follow the model of a fine dining chef — seasoning a foundation of pure facts with punchy descriptors, spicing it up with analogies, refining the recipe and trimming the fat — thus catering to a sophisticated audience of decision-makers, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief

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    As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.

  • Series

    In The CFPB Playbook: Regulatory Aims Get High Court Assist

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    Newly emboldened after the U.S. Supreme Court last month found that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding is constitutional, the bureau has likely experienced a psychic boost, allowing its already robust enforcement agenda to continue expanding, say attorneys at Husch Blackwell.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms

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    As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.

  • 4 Arbitration Takeaways From High Court Coinbase Ruling

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's May 23 decision in Coinbase v. Suski, which provides clarity to parties faced with successive contracts containing conflicting dispute resolution provisions, has four practical impacts for contracting parties to consider, say Charles Schoenwetter and Eric Olson at Bowman and Brooke.

  • 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.

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