Commercial

  • January 24, 2025

    Various Law Offices Evacuated As Hughes Fire Burns Nearby

    Within hours of igniting Wednesday, the Hughes Fire became the third-largest blaze to affect Los Angeles County this month — and prompted various lawyers in the area to evacuate their offices.

  • January 24, 2025

    Property Plays: AT&T, Blue Owl, Flow Life

    Property Plays is a weekly roundup of the latest loans, leases, sales and projects around the country. Send your tips — all confidential — to realestate@law360.com.

  • January 24, 2025

    NJ Judge Rejects Bid For New Trial In Red Roof Inn Deal

    A New Jersey state judge has rejected a bid for a new trial over a deal gone wrong to purchase a Red Roof Inn, ruling two witnesses who asserted their Fifth Amendment rights outside of the jury's presence had no bearing on the jury's verdict.

  • January 24, 2025

    Gordon Rees Expands Litigation Bench With Atlanta Partner

    Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP has added a former Gray Rust St. Amand Moffett & Brieske LLP partner in Atlanta, strengthening the firm's commercial litigation practice.

  • January 24, 2025

    Lutnick Settles Chancery Suit Ahead Of Commerce Hearing

    Billionaire Howard L. Lutnick, President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of commerce, has settled a Delaware Court of Chancery derivative suit accusing the Newmark Inc. principal executive officer of "blowing smoke" around his part in a $500 million stock-value gain in order to receive a $50 million bonus.

  • January 24, 2025

    GSA Taps Ex-BlackRock Atty As New GC

    The General Services Administration has tapped Russell McGranahan, the former general counsel of Focus Financial Partners who held legal roles at BlackRock and in private practice for almost 30 years, as its next general counsel, according to a Friday announcement.

  • January 24, 2025

    Taxation With Representation: Latham, Simpson Thacher

    In this week's Taxation With Representation, a Brookfield private real estate fund acquires Divvy Homes' property portfolio and platform, Kantar Group proposes the sale of Kantar Media, and an Ares Management-led group buys a majority of Form Technologies Inc.'s common equity.

  • January 24, 2025

    AT&T Unloads Copper Network Sites To Developer For $850M

    AT&T said on Friday it has reached a sale leaseback agreement with New York real estate development firm Reign Capital netting the telecommunications company $850 million to unload 74 properties as it transitions to a fiber optic and wireless network instead of one reliant on copper.

  • January 24, 2025

    Blackstone To Buy $1B Power Plant In Va. Data Center Mecca

    Blackstone, advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, plans to purchase a natural gas power plant in Loudoun County, Virginia — a region known for having the biggest data center market in the world — for $1 billion from Latham & Watkins LLP-led Ares Management, according to a source familiar with the matter.

  • January 23, 2025

    Conn. Lawmakers Target Healthcare After Hospital's Ch. 11

    In the lead-up to and aftermath of California hospital operator Prospect Medical Holdings Inc.'s $1 billion bankruptcy, Connecticut lawmakers are considering new regulatory powers, promising and penning oversight bills for hospitals owned by private equity firms and real estate trusts while seeking to stabilize the state's healthcare markets.

  • January 23, 2025

    Wells Fargo Prevails In $25M Mortgage Default Dispute

    A Pennsylvania state court sided with Wells Fargo in a foreclosure suit accusing a Philadelphia property owner of defaulting on a nearly $25 million mortgage loan, finding the owner failed to abide by the loan agreement.

  • January 23, 2025

    Rosenberg & Estis Adds NY Gov't Atty To Transactions Dept.

    Rosenberg & Estis PC has hired Lisa S. Lim, the general counsel of the New York City Public Housing Preservation Trust, as a member of a city-focused development team that's part of the firm's transactions department.

  • January 23, 2025

    Harrison Street Pulls In $600M For Data Center-Focused Fund

    Harrison Street said Jan. 23 that it raised $600 million for the investment management firm's first dedicated pool of capital for digital infrastructure and plans to primarily target U.S. data center projects.

  • January 23, 2025

    Corporate Transparency Law Remains Flanked By Threats

    The Corporate Transparency Act is facing threats across the branches of government despite the U.S. Supreme Court pausing a nationwide injunction on it Thursday, with another universal injunction in place, other court battles underway and some Republican lawmakers targeting the law.

  • January 23, 2025

    Kirkland Advises Blue Owl On $2.3B Texas Data Center Loan

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP advised Blue Owl Capital in arranging a $2.3 billion loan to build a 206-megawatt, build-to-suit data center development in Abilene, Texas, a project with Crusoe Energy Systems and Primary Digital Infrastructure.

  • January 23, 2025

    O'Melveny Hires Troutman Real Estate Atty, Board Member

    O'Melveny & Myers LLP announced Jan. 23 it added a Dallas-based attorney from Troutman Pepper Locke LLP — who describes herself as a "dirt lawyer" advising property transactions, construction financing and other real estate matters — as a partner in its project development and real estate group.

  • January 23, 2025

    Latham-Led Brookfield Buying Divvy Homes For $1B

    A Brookfield private real estate fund has agreed to acquire Divvy Homes' property portfolio and platform for approximately $1 billion, with an expected close in mid-February, the companies announced Wednesday. 

  • January 23, 2025

    Freddie Mac Puts End To $32M SEC Probe Coverage Dispute

    Freddie Mac told a D.C. federal court that it has reached a settlement with underwriters at Lloyd's of London, bringing an end to the government-backed mortgage lender's $32 million coverage suit stemming from civil actions and federal probes related to its collapse during the 2008 global financial crisis.

  • January 22, 2025

    'Unicorn Prosecution' Could Upend Legal Practice, Court Told

    Brown & Connery LLP partner William Tambussi told a New Jersey state judge Wednesday that the entire practice of law in the Garden State rests on his impending decision on the charges against him in the state's sweeping racketeering case targeting power broker George E. Norcross III, arguing that a lawyer has never been prosecuted for routine legal work.

  • January 22, 2025

    J&J Seeks To Defeat $30M Punitive Bid After Conn. Talc Trial

    Johnson & Johnson has blasted a bid requesting that it pay $30 million in punitive damages on top of a $15 million jury award to a real estate developer who allegedly contracted mesothelioma from the company's talc, telling a Connecticut state court that, "at most," it should pay $5 million.

  • January 22, 2025

    How A Lawyer Saved His Home Office From The Eaton Fire

    Dozens of Los Angeles County lawyers shared stories with Law360 of how the L.A. fires impacted their offices and practices, and one attorney recounted how he saved his home office from the Eaton blaze.

  • January 22, 2025

    Hotel Guests Urge 3rd Circ. To Revive Algorithmic Pricing Suit

    Guests accusing Atlantic City hotel-casino owners of inflating room rates by using the same software have told the Third Circuit that a lower court was wrong to rely on a similar case targeting room rates in Las Vegas when dismissing their claims.

  • January 22, 2025

    Sotomayor Halts 2nd Circ. Ruling In Landmark Graft Case

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor halted a decision from the Second Circuit on Wednesday that would have set up a second trial against four men whose convictions were overturned in a landmark 2023 high court ruling in which the justices narrowed certain types of public corruption cases.

  • January 22, 2025

    Full DC Circ. Stands By Wipeout Of FERC Pipeline Approvals

    The D.C. Circuit has rejected Williams Cos.' requests to reconsider a panel's decision scrapping Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals of a five-state expansion of the company's Transco pipeline system, despite more than a half-dozen amicus parties backing the rehearing requests.

  • January 22, 2025

    Greenberg Traurig Folds Digital Infrastructure Into RE Group

    Greenberg Traurig LLP announced that the firm is merging its digital infrastructure, data center and cloud computing practice group into Greenberg Traurig's global real estate group, noting that the integration will allow it to better serve data center clients.

Expert Analysis

  • Corporate Liability Issues To Watch In High Court TM Case

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    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in a trademark dispute between Dewberry Group and Dewberry Engineers next week, presenting an opportunity for the court to drastically alter the fundamental approach to piercing the corporate veil, or adopt a more limited approach and preserve existing norms, say attorneys at Bracewell.

  • Plugging Gov't Leaks Is Challenging, But Not A Pipe Dream

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    As shown by ongoing legal battles involving New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Sean “Diddy” Combs, it’s challenging for defendants to obtain relief when they believe the government leaked sensitive information to the media, but defense counsel can take certain steps to mitigate the harm, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • A Legal Perspective On NYC's Retail Real Estate Evolution

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    As New York City's retail market begins to show signs of resilience after the challenges of recent years, landlords must be cognizant of legal implications from shifting trends toward shorter-term leases and pop-up stores, says Andrea Gendel at Pryor Cashman.

  • What Interest Rate Cuts Mean For Housing Markets

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    The Federal Reserve's recent reduction of interest rates may provide limited immediate relief for real estate sectors, but offers potential opportunities for commercial real estate investors and construction firms, which now face an environment ripe for new projects, say attorneys at Cozen O'Connor.

  • How CFIUS' Updated Framework Affects Global Investors

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    The recent change to the monitoring and enforcement regulations governing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States will broaden administrative practices around nonnotified transaction investigations, increase the scope of information demands from the committee and accelerate its ability to impose mitigation on parties, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Foreclosing Lenders Still Floating In Murky Legal Waters In NY

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    The New York foreclosure landscape remains in disarray after the state's highest court last month declined to weigh in on whether legal changes from 2022 that severely curtailed lenders' ability to bring successive foreclosure cases were retroactive, says Brian Rich at Barclay Damon.

  • NYC Hotel Licensing Law's Costs May Outweigh Its Benefits

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    A hotel licensing bill recently approved by New York's City Council could lead to the loss of many nonunionized hotels that cannot afford to comply, says Stuart Saft at Holland & Knight.

  • Calif. Ruling Offers Hope For Mitigated Negative Declarations

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    In Upland Community First v. City of Upland, a California appeals court upheld a warehouse development's mitigated negative declaration over its greenhouse gas emissions thresholds — a rare victory against this type of challenge providing reassurance that such declarations can be upheld, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • There's No Crying In Property Valuation Baseball Arbitration

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    The World Series is the perfect time to consider how the form of arbitration used for settling MLB salary disputes — in which each side offers competing valuations to an arbitrator, who must select one — is often ideal for resolving property valuation disputes, say Sean O’Donnell at Herrick Feinstein and Mark Dunec at FTI Consulting.

  • Webuild Ruling Complicates Arb. Award Enforcement In US

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    A Delaware federal court's recent decision in Sociedad Concesionaria Metropolitana de Salud v. Webuild, if read literally, could undercut the United States' image as a proarbitration jurisdiction by complicating creditors' efforts to enforce awards against property in this country, says Jeff Newton at Omni Bridgeway.

  • How To Avoid A Costly CPA Limitation Hidden In Most Leases

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    The lease audit rights clause is a seemingly innocuous provision in most commercial real estate leases that ends up costing tenants millions of dollars each year, as they have unwittingly agreed to retain only an accountant to investigate and settle financial issues, says Jason Aster at KBA Lease Services.

  • Navigating FEMA Grant Program For Slope Fixes After Storms

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    In the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, it is critical for governments, businesses and individuals to understand the legal requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's grant programs to obtain funding for crucial repairs — including restoration of damaged infrastructure caused by landslides and slope failures, says Charles Schexnaildre at Baker Donelson.

  • Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding

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    Special counsel Jack Smith’s recently revised Jan. 6 charges against former President Donald Trump provide lessons for prosecutors on how to effectively draft superseding indictments in order to buttress or streamline their case, as necessary, says Jessica Roth at Cardozo Law School.