Commercial

  • July 30, 2025

    NY Woman Cops To $30M Scam That Used Trump Event As Bait

    A New York woman pled guilty Wednesday to conspiring to defraud investors out of more than $30 million in a real estate fraud and illicit campaign finance scheme, which included using illegal foreign political donations to access a fundraiser for President Donald Trump to woo investors.

  • July 30, 2025

    2nd Circ. Backs Live Well Founder's Bond Fraud Convictions

    The Second Circuit affirmed convictions for Live Well's founder for inducing lenders to extend credit by jacking up bond valuations to increase its debt and borrow against it, ruling Wednesday jurors had enough evidence to determine he misrepresented the value of collateral to secure loans and did so with fraudulent intent.

  • July 30, 2025

    U.S. Co. Defends $1B Suit Over Nixed LNG Facility In Canada

    A U.S. company making a $1 billion claim against Canada over a stymied liquefied natural gas facility in Québec is urging an international tribunal not to toss the case on jurisdictional grounds, saying the country's objections are without merit.

  • July 30, 2025

    US Office Vacancy Rates Still Climbing, Colliers Says

    Vacancy rates across the U.S. office market are still rising, reaching a record-high of 18.4% nationwide in the second quarter of 2025, even as new construction levels hit 10-year lows, per a report from Colliers.

  • July 30, 2025

    NYC Mayor Revives Bally's $4B Bronx Casino Bid

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams vetoed a New York City Council vote that shot down gambling company Bally's Corp.'s bid to build a $4 billion resort and casino in the Bronx, saying Wednesday that a casino in the city "would bring good-paying union jobs and an economic boost to the surrounding community."

  • July 30, 2025

    Calif. Tribe Says 70-Acre Casino Land Fight Must Continue

    The Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria are fighting a bid by a fellow California tribe to pause their challenge to the U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to take 70 acres into trust for a casino project while a sovereign immunity order is appealed to the Ninth Circuit.

  • July 30, 2025

    Truist Triggered Employee Exodus, Not Ex-Execs, Court Told

    Three former executives who helmed the real estate finance arm of Truist Financial Corp. and their new employer are seeking a pretrial win in the bank's poaching case, telling a North Carolina state court judge they aren't to blame for Truist's alleged bad business decisions.

  • July 30, 2025

    Buddhist Group's Suit Against Everglades Project Advances

    A Florida Buddhist center's suit against an Army Corps of Engineers project in the Everglades will continue after a district court judge determined the center plausibly argued that the potential impacts of the project's construction didn't become clear until at least 2022.

  • July 30, 2025

    Wiggin And Dana Adds Real Estate Partner From Polsinelli

    Law firm Wiggin and Dana LLP said Vasiliki Yiannoulis-Riva has joined as partner from Polsinelli PC in its real estate, environmental, construction and facilities department.

  • July 30, 2025

    Family In Row With McCarter & English Wants $4.6M Set-Aside

    A deceased Connecticut shopping mall developer's family members want McCarter & English LLP and the estate of Laurence Rubinow, a lawyer with connections to the firm, to set aside $4.6 million in case they prevail in a lawsuit alleging mismanagement of the developer's estate and trust.

  • July 30, 2025

    Rising Star: Gibson Dunn's Eric Meer

    Eric Meer of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP guided RXR Realty through major recapitalizations and loan modifications on New York City office properties amid a tight rate environment as the Manhattan office market continued to take a beating, earning him a spot among the real estate practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 30, 2025

    Rising Star: Jones Day's Garrett Gibson

    Garrett Gibson of Jones Day has notched several wins in notable construction cases, including a high-stakes dispute between a major contractor for the oil and gas sector and a petrochemical manufacturer in Texas, earning him a spot among construction law practitioners under age 40 honored by Law360 as Rising Stars.

  • July 30, 2025

    Terreno Unloads Fla. Industrial Portfolio For $82.3M

    Industrial real estate firm Terreno Realty Corp. said it has sold a portfolio of industrial properties in Doral, Florida, for $82.3 million.

  • July 30, 2025

    Cherry Hill Mortgage Adds New GC from NorthMark

    Real estate investment trust Cherry Hill Mortgage Investment Corp. announced that it has appointed a new general counsel who joins the company following a five-year stint at investment firm NorthMark Strategies.

  • July 30, 2025

    RealPage, Landlords Ask To Toss NJ's Antitrust Case

    RealPage and a group of building owners urged a New Jersey federal court to toss a case brought by state enforcers accusing them of scheming to use software to raise rents, calling it one in a series of "baseless" lawsuits that fails to allege there was any kind of conspiracy.

  • July 30, 2025

    Ore. Clarifies Info Disclosure For Enterprise Zone Tax Breaks

    Oregon specified which of a business's records are exempt from disclosure when applying for an enterprise zone property tax exemption and clarified eligibility requirements under a bill signed by the governor.

  • July 30, 2025

    DLA Global Real Estate Leader Eyeing Data Center Investment

    As investment funds reach the ends of their life cycles and have capital that must be deployed, funds are looking to pour that capital into U.S. data centers, among other asset classes, one of DLA Piper's global real estate leaders recently told Law360 Real Estate Authority.

  • July 30, 2025

    Calif. Residents Urge Justices To Take Up Jury Trial Question

    A group of Humboldt County, California, property owners is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the group's appeal over the dismissal of its Seventh Amendment claim for a jury trial in a suit against the county alleging the county wrongly targeted the owners for illegal cannabis growth, saying the justices should reject the county's argument that the question is not ripe.

  • July 30, 2025

    Blackstone, Rudin Employees Among Victims Of NY Shooting

    A Blackstone real estate executive and an employee of property owner Rudin Management were among those killed in a mass shooting at a Midtown Manhattan office building on Monday.

  • July 29, 2025

    REIT Shareholders File 'Improper Lending' Suit Against Execs

    Two Arbor Realty Trust Inc. shareholders hit several of the real estate investment trust's executives, including its president and CEO Ivan Kaufman, with a derivative suit on Tuesday alleging they made the REIT use "improper lending practices" that saddled the company "with a severely distressed loan portfolio."

  • July 29, 2025

    Mass. Tax Board Cuts Lowe's Property Valuation For 3 Years

    A Lowe's store in Massachusetts was overvalued by town assessors for three years and is due reductions in property tax, the state's Appellate Tax Board said.

  • July 29, 2025

    Whitman Breed Says $6.5M Lease Current Despite Atty Exits

    A member of Connecticut law firm Whitman Breed Abbott & Morgan LLC on Tuesday testified that all payments are current under a $6.5 million lease governing its Greenwich headquarters, disputing a landlord's bid for a $3.8 million asset freeze to ensure future payments amid a wave of attorney exits.

  • July 29, 2025

    Meet The Retired Michigan Federal Judge Joining JAMS

    Sean F. Cox, the retired chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan who was part of the mediation team in Detroit's municipal bankruptcy, has joined alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS.

  • July 29, 2025

    Verizon Inks Lease For HQ Move To Vornado's Penn 2 Tower

    Vornado Realty Trust on Tuesday said telecommunications company Verizon will move its New York headquarters to the landlord's office tower above Penn Station.

  • July 29, 2025

    Calif. Allows Retroactive Tax Exclusion For Solar Property

    California will allow the purchaser of a new property a three-year window to apply for a property tax exclusion for solar energy systems under a bill signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Expert Analysis

  • Recent Decisions Caution Against Broad Indemnity Provisions

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    Two recent decisions in disparate jurisdictions are reminders that businesses and practitioners should be mindful of contractual indemnity rights and draft indemnity provisions that enhance the predictability of enforceability without being overly broad, says Gregory Jaske at Olshan Frome.

  • How Real Estate Funds Can Leverage Del. Statutory Trusts

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    Over the last two years, traditional real estate fund sponsors have begun to more frequently adopt Delaware Statutory Trust programs, which can help diversify capital-raising strategies and access to new sources of capital, among other benefits, say attorneys at Polsinelli.

  • What 9th Circ. Ruling Shows About Rebutting SEC Comments

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    The Ninth Circuit's June opinion in Pino v. Cardone Capital suggests that a company's lack of pushback to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission comment may be evidence of its state of mind for evaluating potential liability, meaning companies should consider including additional disclosure in SEC response letters, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

  • 2 NY Cases May Clarify Foreclosure Law Retroactivity

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    Two pending cases may soon provide the long-awaited resolution to the question of whether retroactive application of the New York Foreclosure Abuse Prevention Act violates the state Constitution, providing a guide for New York courts inundated with motions in foreclosure and quiet title actions, says Fernando Rivera Maissonet at Hinshaw & Culbertson.

  • A Look At Florida's New Protected Series LLC Legislation

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    A new law in Florida enhances the flexibility of using limited liability companies as the entities of choice for most privately held businesses, moving Florida into a small group of states with reliable uniform protected series legislation for series LLCs, says Louis Conti at Holland & Knight.

  • How Trump's Trade Policies Are Shaping Foreign Investment

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    Five months into the Trump administration, investors are beginning to see the concrete effects of the president’s America First Investment Policy as it presents new opportunities for clearing transactions more quickly, while sustaining risk aversion related to Chinese trade and potentially creating different political risks, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Bill Leaves Renewable Cos. In Dark On Farmland Reporting

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    A U.S. Senate bill to update disclosure requirements for foreign control of U.S. farmland does not provide much-needed guidance on how to report renewable energy development on agricultural property, leaving significant compliance risks for project developers, say attorneys at Hodgson Russ.

  • Observations On 5 Years Of Non-Notified CFIUS Inquiries

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    Since 2020, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has identified and investigated covered cross-border transactions not formally notified to CFIUS, and a look at data from 50 non-notified matters during that time reveals the general dynamics of this enforcement function, say attorneys at Cooley.

  • How States Are Taking The Lead On Data Center Regulation

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    While support for data center growth is a declared priority for the current administration, federal data center policy has been slow to develop — so states continue to lead in attracting and regulating data center growth, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Texas Bill Could Still Boost Property Rights In Gov't Disputes

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    The passage of a bill in Texas that would provide litigants with access to a greater swath of judicial remedies in immunity disputes with government entities and officials would be an invaluable boon for property rights, says Nathan Vrazel at Munsch Hardt.

  • Indemnity Lessons From Mass. Construction Defect Ruling

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    The Massachusetts high court's decision in Trustees of Boston University v. CHA, holding that a bespoke contractual indemnity provision means that a construction defect claim is not subject to Massachusetts' statute of repose, should spur design and construction professionals to negotiate limited provisions, says Christopher Sweeney at Conn Kavanaugh.

  • 4 Strategies For De-Escalating Hospitality Industry Disputes

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    As recent uncertainty in the travel business exacerbates the risk of conflict in the hospitality sector, industry in-house counsel and their outside partners should consider proactive strategies aimed at de-escalating disputes, including preserving the record, avoiding boilerplate clauses and considering arbitration, say Randa Adra at Crowell and Stephanie Jean-Jacques at Hyatt.

  • SEC Signals Opening For Private Fund Investment Reform

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    At SEC Speaks in late May, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission made clear that it's considering allowing registered funds of private funds to be offered broadly to true retail investors, meaning existing funds should review their disclosures focusing on conflicts of interest, liquidity and fees, say attorneys at Stradley Ronon.