Commercial
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April 18, 2025
Fla. Jury Hits Expedia With $30M Helms-Burton Verdict
A Miami jury on Friday said Expedia and three related entities owe $29.85 million after finding the online booking companies liable for violating the Helms-Burton Act's anti-trafficking provision by offering reservations for resorts on a barrier island seized by Fidel Castro's government.
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April 18, 2025
Law Firm In-Office Policies Steady Real Estate Footprints
Law firms' office real estate footprints are stabilizing as firms bolster their in-office attendance — through return-to-office programs and a focus on culture — and move away from space-sharing for attorneys, according to a report from CBRE.
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April 18, 2025
DLA Piper Adds Partner To Investment Funds Practice
Ropes & Gray LLP partner Matt Posthuma has jumped ship to DLA Piper, where he joins the firm's investment funds practice as a partner in its Chicago office.
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April 17, 2025
Greystar Says FTC Suit Seeks 'Radical' Expansion Of Power
Developer and property manager Greystar urged a Colorado federal court to toss a Federal Trade Commission suit alleging it advertised deceptive rental prices, saying the suit requires a novel reading of a decades-old statute that would "radically" expand the agency's power.
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April 17, 2025
Cuban Island Owner Wants $36M In Helms-Burton Case
A Cuban-American man who says he is the rightful heir to an island off the coast of Cuba that was seized by the Communist government asked a Miami jury on Thursday for an award of more than $36 million against Expedia, which the man claims illegally trafficked in the stolen property by offering reservations for resorts on the island through its website.
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April 17, 2025
Colo. FAIR Plan Gives Policyholders Options At A Cost
Colorado launched the country's first new Fair Access to Insurance Requirements, or FAIR, Plan in 40 years to offer residents another tool in an increasingly challenging wildfire, hail and wind market, but experts emphasized that this limited form of coverage is not intended to address affordability concerns.
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April 17, 2025
Colo. Insurance Bills Offer Promise But Uncertain Costs
Colorado lawmakers are contemplating insurance bills that experts say could help improve the state's market by boosting home resilience, but there are still cost concerns and skepticism that other proposals are workable, like a state reinsurance program.
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April 17, 2025
Naftogaz Wins Enforcement Of $5B Russia Award In France
A French court has signed off on a bid by Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company to enforce a $5 billion arbitral award it won against Russia after the Kremlin seized its Crimean assets, the company said on Thursday.
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April 17, 2025
QXO Prices $500M Offering Connected To $11B Beacon Buy
Building products distribution company QXO Inc. announced the pricing of a stock offering, with plans to raise $500 million, which will be used to finance a portion of its pending $11 billion acquisition of Beacon Roofing Supply Inc.
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April 17, 2025
Cushman Expects Stubborn Office Vacancies In Austin
After unusual market disruptions brought on by the pandemic, Cushman & Wakefield says it expects high office vacancies in Austin, Texas, to linger for a few more years and that unprecedented demand for the city's industrial assets will stabilize gradually.
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April 17, 2025
Moderna Says New Drug Plant Riddled With Defects, Mold
Life sciences company Moderna is suing a Massachusetts construction firm over multiple alleged defects in a recently built production facility for one of its experimental cancer drugs, including leaks that led to mold growth so "extensive and pervasive" the entire roof has to be replaced.
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April 17, 2025
Petersen Health Gets Initial OK To Take Votes On Ch. 11 Plan
A Delaware bankruptcy judge on Thursday provisionally approved skilled nursing facility operator Petersen Health Care's bid to send its Chapter 11 liquidation plan out to creditors for voting, months after the company sold off most of its assets.
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April 17, 2025
Blackstone Sees 'Speed Bump' In Real Estate Recovery
Officials at investment giant Blackstone told analysts on April 17 that they expected the direct impact of tariffs on its businesses to be limited, although a wider downturn could be more troubling.
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April 16, 2025
Real Estate Lawyers Chart Dealmaking Under Tariffs
As real estate transaction attorneys navigate uncertainty in the market, some deals are being put on ice, while elsewhere, clients are rushing to negotiate protections from price hikes or find opportunistic deals.
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April 16, 2025
Trump Ends Clinton, Carter Policies On Fed Facility Sites
President Donald Trump rolled back two decades-old orders directing the federal government to prioritize urban areas and historic districts when choosing locations for federal facilities.
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April 16, 2025
IBM Sues Insurers Over $900M In Environmental Expenses
IBM has taken several of its excess commercial general liability insurers to New York federal court, arguing that following IBM's coverage settlements with underlying insurers, they are now on the hook for over $900 million in environmental remediation expenses incurred under policies issued between 1961 and 1970.
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April 16, 2025
Luxury Boutique Offices Sprout Up Around Miami
Though there have been hints of a slowdown in the Miami office market, which has seemed impervious to the economic headwinds roiling the sector nationwide, one area moving at full speed is the development of high-end boutique projects in desirable enclaves outside the city's central business district.
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April 16, 2025
Office Demand Steady Despite Trade Policy Turbulence
Commercial broker Cushman & Wakefield said shifting U.S. trade policy didn't have a noticeable effect on demand for office space in the first quarter as the sector showed continued signs of stabilization.
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April 16, 2025
Dems Ask GSA To Explain Federal Asset Disposal Plans
Democrats on the House Oversight Committee urged the General Services Administration to explain its moves to list federal properties for disposal, expressing concern about how the agency has identified buildings for sale.
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April 16, 2025
Prologis Says Logistics Renters Cautious Amid Tariff Tumult
Prologis executives said on Wednesday that logistics asset leasing activity dropped 20% over the past two weeks, with many companies waiting to see how things pan out after President Donald Trump temporarily paused higher tariffs on all countries except China.
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April 16, 2025
Exxon Urges Justices To Resolve Seized Cuba Property Claim
Exxon Mobil Corp. asked the U.S. Supreme Court to scrutinize a ruling frustrating its attempts to collect damages from Cuban property confiscated decades ago, arguing the Trump and Biden administrations' opposing stances on such lawsuits present a chance for the court to settle the political debate.
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April 16, 2025
Exelon Buys DC Office Building From Brookfield For $175M
Utilities giant Exelon Corp. has bought a Washington, D.C. office building that serves as a headquarters for one of its electricity subsidiaries from Brookfield Properties for $175 million, according to deed records.
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April 16, 2025
Meridian Capital Promotes Legal Head To General Counsel
Meridian Capital Group announced Tuesday that its head of legal has been promoted to general counsel in a move that comes about a year after the firm came under new leadership.
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April 16, 2025
Pryor Cashman Adds New Real Estate Partner For NYC Office
Pryor Cashman LLP announced Wednesday that it had hired Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP attorney Paul J. Proulx for the firm's real estate and land use/zoning teams in its New York City office.
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April 15, 2025
Massive Calif. Fire Assessment Pass-Through Sparks Suit
Public interest nonprofit Consumer Watchdog sued California's insurance chief in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday to stop him from allowing insurance companies to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in assessment costs as surcharges onto policyholders, claiming the decision was made without any public input, in violation of the state's Administrative Procedure Act.
Expert Analysis
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Smith's New Trump Indictment Is Case Study In Superseding
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.
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Consider Best Legal Practices For Commissioning Public Art
Commissioning public art for real estate projects can provide many benefits to real estate developers and the public, but it's important to understand the unique legal and contracting aspects of the process to ensure that projects are completed on time and on budget, says Sarah Conley Odenkirk at ArtConverge.
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Applying High Court's Domestic Corruption Rulings To FCPA
After the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the domestic corruption statutes in three decisions over the past year and a half, it’s worth evaluating whether these rulings may have an impact on Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement, and if attorneys can use the court’s reasoning in international bribery cases, says James Koukios at MoFo.
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Climate Among Many Factors Driving Up RE Insurance Costs
A proactive approach to risk management may determine the viability of the U.S. commercial real estate sector as weather crises and other factors drive insurance costs higher, says Ulrick Matsunaga at Crosbie Gliner.
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation
James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.
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A Look At Recent Case Law On Expedited Judgment In NY
A number of recent New York state court decisions clarify and refine the contours surrounding Civil Practice Law and Rule 3213, providing landlords, lenders and other payees guidance on how to seek accelerated judgment in certain litigation, says Alexander Lycoyannis at Holland & Knight.
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Dealmaker Lessons From CFIUS' New Enforcement Webpage
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States’ recently launched webpage, which details the actions — and inactions — that led to enforcement activity, provides important insights for dealmakers about filing requirements, mitigation commitments and the cost of noncompliance, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Reassessing Lease Provisions To Account For ESG Initiatives
As companies seek to build ESG considerations into their businesses, it's crucial to understand how such initiatives can quickly become significant enough to compel reassessment of lease agreement provisions, and how best to modify leases accordingly, say Julian Freeman and Gabe Pitassi at Cox Castle.
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Avoid Getting Burned By Agencies' Solar Financing Spotlight
Recently coordinated reports and advisories from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission maximize the spotlight on the consumer solar financing market and highlight pitfalls for lenders to avoid in this burgeoning field, says Mercedes Tunstall at Cadwalader.
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Co-Tenancy Clause Pointers For Shopping Center Landlords
Large retail tenants often require co-tenancy provisions in their leases, entitling them to remedies if a shopping center's occupancy drops in certain ways, but landlords must draft these provisions carefully to avoid giving tenants too much control, says Gary Glick at Cox Castle.
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Assessing Algorithmic Versus Generative AI Pricing Tools
A comparison of traditional algorithmic pricing models and those powered by generative artificial intelligence can help regulators and practitioners weigh the pros and cons of relying on large language models to price products or services, say Maxime Cohen at McGill University, and Tim Spittle and Jimmy Royer at Analysis Group.
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Navigating A Potpourri Of Possible Transparency Act Pitfalls
Despite the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's continued release of guidance for complying with the Corporate Transparency Act, its interpretation remains in flux, making it important for companies to understand potentially problematic areas of ambiguity in the practical application of the law, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Keys To Successful Commercial Property Insurance Claims
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
While insurance needs for commercial leasing arrangements are driven by the characteristics of the premises and the nature of the tenants' intended operations, there are several universal best practices landlords and their counsel can follow when making claims after loss or damage.