More Real Estate Coverage

Expert Analysis

• Enviro Settlements Offer Solution To Growing Citizen Suit Risk

  

  Declining federal environmental enforcement may spur more lawsuits by citizens groups — making it more important than ever for companies to seek early resolutions through negotiated settlement framework agreements, say Heidi Friedman and Joel Eagle at Thompson Hine.

• 5th Circ.'s Windstorm Ruling Holds Silver Lining For Insureds

  

  Although the Fifth Circuit recently barred recovery in Pan Am Equities v. Lexington Insurance, its decision may be an overall win for policyholders by affirming that rain and flood damage can trigger windstorm coverage, says Tae Andrews at Miller Friel.

• Calif. Vapor Intrusion Guidance Promises More Consistency

  

  The draft guidance on vapor intrusion released recently by a group of California environmental agencies should help address confusion resulting from varying approaches to vapor investigation and remediation used by different state regulators, says Laurie Berger at Environmental General Counsel.

• Superfund Ruling May Increase Landowners' Cleanup Liability

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Atlantic Richfield v. Christian featured an expansive interpretation of property owners' liability for hazardous substances that come to be located on their land, and will have far-reaching implications for those whose property has been contaminated by offsite sources, say attorneys at Haynes and Boone.

• Remote Notarization Is A New Virtual Frontier For Mass.

  

  Massachusetts' new law allowing for online execution of notarized documents leaves several unanswered questions regarding its requirement for all participating parties to be located within the state, potentially setting up for future litigation, says Katie Von Kohorn at Casner & Edwards.

• How To Assess Accounting Materiality Amid Economic Crisis

  

  Companies weathering the economic fallout of COVID-19 should consider three data-driven quantitative methods to help evaluate accounting materiality claims, particularly in cases where traditional factors fail to establish whether an error was material, and where data exists on comparable revision versus restatement decisions, say consultants at The Brattle Group.

• COVID-19, Eminent Domain And Determining Compensation

  

  Paul Kiernan at Holland & Knight discusses how to determine whether a government action taken in response to the pandemic that causes a property owner's loss can be characterized as an exercise of police power, or an exercise of eminent domain that would require compensation from the government.

• Fracking Decision Strengthens Precedent On Forced Pooling

  

  A Colorado federal court's ruling last month in Wildgrass Oil & Gas Committee v. State of Colorado joins several recent decisions confirming that forced pooling of mineral interests is legal in the context of hydraulic fracturing, says Russell Gips at Copeland & Rice.

• Oil And Gas Cos. Must Prepare For Counterparty Bankruptcies

  

  With many U.S. oil and gas producers, midstream companies and oil field service businesses struggling to survive the economic shocks from COVID-19 and the Saudi Arabia/Russia standoff, players in this space should be ready for counterparties to seek bankruptcy protection, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

• Conservatorship Act Is Pa.'s Best Property Restoration Tool

  

  Compared to other options, Pennsylvania's Abandoned and Blighted Property Conservatorship Act offers the best approach for renovating problematic properties because it encourages rehabilitation without demanding public expenditure, say Gaetano Piccirilli and Monica Platt at Klehr Harrison.

• Reforms That Could Fix FERC's Pipeline Certificate Reviews

  

  If the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission can't respond in timelier way to landowners' and environmentalists' challenges to pipeline certificates and related eminent domain actions, Congress or the courts may soon step in to resolve the problem, say attorneys at Steptoe & Johnson.

• Bat Species Status Ruling Leaves Cos. Hanging

  

  A D.C. federal court's recent overturning of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's decision to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened rather than endangered creates regulatory uncertainty for those developing, constructing or operating projects within the species' range, say Brooke Wahlberg and Rebecca Barho of Nossaman.

• Ruling On FERC's Tolling Orders Could Slow Pipelines

  

  If the D.C. Circuit reins in the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s use of tolling orders — which delay court challenges to FERC directives — landowners might be gratified, but interstate pipeline construction projects could face added delays, says Richard Drom of Eckert Seamans.