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Real Estate
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April 29, 2024
Wash. Solar Co. Will Pay $465K To End Noncompete Suit
A Washington state judge has given a preliminary nod to a $465,000 settlement to end litigation accusing a residential solar energy equipment company of forcing workers to sign illegal noncompete clauses as a condition of employment.
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April 29, 2024
NY Real Estate Pro Is Latest Morrison Cohen Atty To Join Loeb
Loeb & Loeb announced the addition of another former Morrison Cohen attorney on Monday, this time a real estate partner with a record of success in the New York metropolitan area.
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April 29, 2024
Smith Gambrell Adds 4 Attorneys To New York Office
Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP has added four attorneys in its New York office, two through a merger with a firm that specialized in representing companies from German-speaking countries in the U.S., and two from the recently shuttered Ingram LLP.
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April 29, 2024
IRS To Open $6B 2nd Round Of Advanced Energy Tax Credits
The IRS will start taking applications May 28 from project owners seeking to get part of a $6 billion second round of tax credits for developments that will support the clean energy industry, such as solar glass manufacturing and metal recycling facilities, the agency said Monday.
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April 29, 2024
Supreme Court Declines To Hear 'Unusual' FCRA Case
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up PHH Mortgage Corp.'s call for review of a Fourth Circuit decision allowing a Marine Corps veteran to continue his Fair Credit Reporting Act claims that the company harassed him about his ex-wife's debt on a home they once shared.
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April 26, 2024
Law360 Reveals Titans Of The Plaintiffs Bar
In the past year, plaintiffs have won settlements and judgments for millions and billions of dollars from companies such as Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Facebook and Fox News, with many high-profile cases finally wrapping up after years of fighting. Such cases — involving over-the-top compensation packages, chemical contamination, gender discrimination and data mining — were led by attorneys whose accomplishments earned them recognition as Law360's Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar for 2024.
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April 26, 2024
How Legos, 'Working Girl' Sealed $10B Sibling Rivalry Win
A father-son attorney team used Legos and an argument borrowed from the 1988 film "Working Girl" to help a Los Angeles jury understand how their client's own brother illegally stole his multibillion-dollar real estate business, leading to a $10 billion verdict for their client and his other brothers, the attorneys told Law360.
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April 26, 2024
Support For 9th Circ. Rehearing In Oak Flat Dispute Mounting
At least 100 religious and nonprofit groups, law scholars, Native American coalitions and tribes are urging the Ninth Circuit to consider a full panel en banc hearing on a challenge to block a copper mining company from destroying a sacred Indigenous religious site in central Arizona.
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April 26, 2024
5th Circ. Upholds Pecan Farm's Flood Win Against Sand Mine
A Fifth Circuit panel has upheld a more than $659,000 jury verdict against the owner of a sand and gravel mine after a "120-year flood" event severely damaged an Austin pecan farm, holding the evidence showed the company's large freshwater pit was responsible for the damage.
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April 26, 2024
HomeServices Brokerage Reaches Deal With Home Sellers
Berkshire Hathaway-owned brokerage firm HomeServices of America reached a deal Friday to settle claims that it forced a class of home sellers to pay inflated commissions, closely following the approval of a $418 million deal between the class and the National Association of Realtors.
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April 26, 2024
Wells Fargo Clients Seek Class Cert. In Race Bias Suit
Mortgage applicants accusing Wells Fargo of discriminating against borrowers from racial minorities with higher interest rates, worse terms and more scrutiny than white clients have asked a California federal judge to approve their class.
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April 26, 2024
Umpqua Bank Seeks Win On Investors' Ponzi Aiding Claims
Oregon-based Umpqua Bank has asked a San Francisco federal judge to toss claims that it aided and abetted a $250 million real estate Ponzi scheme, arguing the investors who brought the suit saw that their funds were put into "legitimate" investments.
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April 26, 2024
Truist Unit Survives Early Dismissal Bid In NC Poaching Suit
Truist Financial Corp. and its real estate finance arm can move forward with the bulk of their suit accusing three former executives of absconding for a competitor with several dozen colleagues in tow, after North Carolina's business court judge largely denied the defendants an early exit.
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April 26, 2024
Real Estate Authority: Homelessness, PFAS, Flood Zones
Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on this week's key developments by state — as well as on U.S. Supreme Court arguments over local homelessness policies, real estate attorney reactions to new rules on "forever chemicals," and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's latest take on building standards in flood zones.
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April 26, 2024
Blackstone Must Face Claims Of Price-Fixing At Vegas Hotels
A Las Vegas hotel price-fixing suit against Blackstone and others has survived the private equity firm's motion to dismiss, with a Nevada federal judge ruling the plaintiffs had shown enough to allege Blackstone was in control of one of the target hotels, the Cosmopolitan Hotel, at the time of the alleged scheme.
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April 26, 2024
Bankrupt NYC Building Owners, Rent-Strikers Settle Claims
The bankrupt owners of several Manhattan apartment buildings asked a New York federal bankruptcy court to approve the settlement of the claims of rent-striking tenants, the tenants' debt and a related adversary proceeding.
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April 26, 2024
Ga. Residents Want In On $300M Monkey Farm Fight
Four Georgia residents have asked a federal judge to let them intervene in a dispute over the construction of a sprawling primate-rearing farm in Bainbridge, alleging the local development authority that approved a $300 million bond deal for the project is colluding with the farm's backers to advance the project.
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April 26, 2024
Ex-NY Court Atty Slapped With Fine After Misconduct Verdict
A Manhattan judge hit a former appeals court attorney with a $55,000 fine Friday after a jury found that she unlawfully used her position to help her husband and his law firm earn that same amount from a well-heeled client.
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April 26, 2024
Colo. House OKs Lower Age For Historic Structure Tax Credit
Colorado would reduce the age requirement for the properties eligible for the state's historic structures tax credit, postpone its sunset and make other changes under legislation approved by the state House on Friday.
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April 26, 2024
Colo. House OKs Land Cleanup Tax Credit Extension
Colorado would extend its income tax credit for certain environmental remediation of contaminated property for five years under legislation approved Friday by the House of Representatives.
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April 26, 2024
The Week In Trump: Tabloid Testimony, High Court Drama
Donald Trump and his attorneys have been fighting high-stakes legal battles on several fronts as they grappled with a criminal hush money trial in Manhattan, argued at the U.S. Supreme Court for presidential immunity and tried to quash criminal election interference-related charges in Georgia.
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April 26, 2024
Insurer Can't Avoid Coverage Suit Against Escrow Agent
First American Title Insurance Co. must continue to be a party in Wesco Insurance Co.'s declaratory action seeking to avoid covering claims that Wesco's insureds improperly diverted escrow funds in real estate transactions to third parties with no valid claims to the funds, a Florida federal court ruled.
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April 26, 2024
Philly Mayor Creates Property Assessment Task Force
Philadelphia will designate a task force to study and address inequities in the city's residential property tax assessments, the mayor announced Friday.
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April 26, 2024
UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London
This past week in London has seen budget airline Ryanair file a claim against NATS PLC after the air traffic controller's system collapsed, Mastercard and Visa Europe face group claims from Christian Dior and dozens of other beauty retailers, an intellectual property clash between the publisher of The Sun and ITV, and ISC Europe sue a former director for alleged money laundering. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.
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April 25, 2024
PI Ordered To Stay Away From Jury That Issued $10B Verdict
A California judge on Thursday kept in place an order for a private investigator to cease contacting jurors who delivered a $10 billion verdict in March against his client, telling him, "it doesn't sit well with me" that he's "going and bothering jurors" by visiting them at their homes.
Expert Analysis
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: February Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses five notable circuit court decisions on topics from property taxes to veteran's rights — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including class representative intervention, wage-and-hour dispute evidence and ascertainability requirements.
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A Post-Mortem Analysis Of Stroock's Demise
After the dissolution of 147-year-old firm Stroock late last year shook up the legal world, a post-mortem analysis of the data reveals a long list of warning signs preceding the firm’s collapse — and provides some insight into how other firms might avoid the same disastrous fate, says Craig Savitzky at Leopard Solutions.
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Assessing The Future Of Colorado's Economic Loss Rule
The Colorado Supreme Court's decision to review a state appellate court's ruling in Mid-Century Insurance Co. v. HIVE Construction will significantly influence the future of Colorado's economic loss rule, with high stakes for the cost of doing business in the state, says David Holman at Crisham & Holman.
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Series
Coaching High School Wrestling Makes Me A Better Lawyer
Coaching my son’s high school wrestling team has been great fun, but it’s also demonstrated how a legal career can benefit from certain experiences, such as embracing the unknown, studying the rules and engaging with new people, says Richard Davis at Maynard Nexsen.
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How Recent Laws Affect Foreign Purchase Of US Real Estate
Early diligence is imperative for U.S. real estate transactions involving foreign actors, including analysis of federal and state foreign investment laws implicated by the transaction, depending on the property's nature and location, the parties' citizenship, and the transaction's structure, say Massimo D’Angelo and Anthony Rapa at Blank Rome.
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Opinion
New La. Gas Pipeline Projects Must Respect Rules And Rights
As pipeline developers rush to join in Louisiana's Haynesville Shale gas boom, established operators like Energy Transfer are justified in demanding that newer entrants respect safety rules, regulatory requirements and property rights when proposing routes that would cross existing pipelines, says Joshua Campbell at Campbell Law.
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SG's Office Is Case Study To Help Close Legal Gender Gap
As women continue to be underrepresented in the upper echelons of the legal profession, law firms could learn from the example set by the Office of the Solicitor General, where culture and workplace policies have helped foster greater gender equality, say attorneys at Ocean Tomo.
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Reducing Carbon Footprint Requires A Tricky Path For CRE
As real estate owners find themselves caught between rapidly evolving environmental, social and governance initiatives and complicated societal debate, they will need to carefully establish formal plans to remain both competitive and compliant, say Michael Kuhn and Mahira Khan at Jackson Walker.
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New CMS Rule Will Change Nursing Facility Disclosures
A new rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services significantly expands disclosure requirements for nursing facilities backed by private equity companies or real estate investment trusts, likely foreshadowing increased oversight that could include more targeted audits, say Janice Davis and Christopher Ronne at Morgan Lewis.
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What New Calif. Strike Force Means For White Collar Crimes
The recently announced Central District of California strike force targeting complex corporate and securities fraud — following the Northern District of California's model — combines experienced prosecutorial leadership and partnerships with federal agencies like the IRS and FBI, and could result in an uptick in the number of cases and speed of proceedings, say attorneys at MoFo.
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What Shareholder Approval Rule Changes Mean For Cos.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently approved proposed rule changes to shareholder requirements by the New York Stock Exchange, an approval that will benefit listed companies in many ways, including by making it easier to raise capital from passive investors, say attorneys at Baker Botts.
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Reimagining Law Firm Culture To Break The Cycle Of Burnout
While attorney burnout remains a perennial issue in the legal profession, shifting post-pandemic expectations mean that law firms must adapt their office cultures to retain talent, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.
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Zimbabwe Ruling Bolsters UK's Draw As Arbitration Enforcer
An English court's recent decision in Border Timbers v. Zimbabwe, finding that state immunity was irrelevant to registering an arbitration award, emphasizes the U.K.'s reputation as a creditor-friendly destination for award enforcement, say Jon Felce and Tulsi Bhatia at Cooke Young.
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Series
ESG Around The World: Brazil
Environmental, social and governance issues have increasingly translated into new legislation in Brazil since 2020, and in the wake of these recently enacted regulations, we are likely to see a growing number of legal disputes in the largest South American country related to ESG issues such as greenwashing if companies are not prepared to adequately adapt and comply, say attorneys at Mattos Filho.
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Series
Competing In Dressage Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My lifelong participation in the sport of dressage — often called ballet on horses — has proven that several skills developed through training and competition are transferable to legal work, especially the ability to harness focus, persistence and versatility when negotiating a deal, says Stephanie Coco at V&E.