More Real Estate Coverage
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April 21, 2025
Offshore Leasing Withdrawal Ruling Not Moot, Court Told
Environmental groups on Friday insisted an Alaska federal judge can reinstate her decision barring the Trump administration from undoing former President Barack Obama's withdrawal of offshore waters from oil and gas leasing, blasting the government's contention that the ruling remains moot.
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April 21, 2025
Ohio Parking Garage Not Exempt From Tax, Board Says
A parking garage owned by a public authority in Ohio but leased to a private entity isn't eligible for a property tax exemption because it's not exclusively used for public purposes, the state's Board of Tax Appeals ruled.
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April 18, 2025
NIU Doesn't Have To Donate Undeveloped Land, Ill. Panel Says
A Chicago suburb was correctly rejected in its bid to enforce a contract provision requiring Northern Illinois University Foundation to donate a parcel of land it decided not to develop into a branch campus, a state appellate panel said.
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April 18, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Rethink Nixed Zillow, NAR Antitrust Case
The Ninth Circuit won't be rethinking a panel decision refusing to revive a defunct brokerage platform's case accusing Zillow and the National Association of Realtors of anticompetitively relegating its listings from Zillow's main page.
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April 18, 2025
Trump Admin Pushes Ahead With New Offshore Oil Leases
The U.S. Department of the Interior on Friday said it's "unlocking the full potential" of offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, a rebuke to the Biden administration's conservative approach to development.
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April 17, 2025
Wash. Justices Strike Down Spokane's Homeless Camp Law
The Washington Supreme Court said a voter-approved initiative restricting encampments for homeless people in Spokane is unconstitutional, in an opinion Thursday that said the measure exceeds the scope of local initiative power because it impermissibly "tinkers" with a policy the city had previously adopted.
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April 16, 2025
3rd Circ. Punts Mining Co. Document Fight To Ch. 11 Judge
The Third Circuit vacated a Delaware bankruptcy judge's order to unseal records a successor of Essar Steel's U.S. unit is seeking to bolster its antitrust claims against Cleveland-Cliffs, ruling Wednesday that the Chapter 11 judge used the wrong standard.
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April 16, 2025
Interior Transfers 110,000 Acres To Army For Border Security
The U.S. Department of the Interior is transferring 110,000 acres of federal land along the southern border to the U.S. Army to support Border Patrol as part of a sweeping effort by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration.
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April 16, 2025
DOI Blocked From Making Connecticut Tribal Land Moves
A Connecticut federal judge has temporarily barred the U.S. Department of the Interior from placing 80 acres of land claimed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation into trust, and scheduled an expedited hearing on the state's request for a longer delay.
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April 16, 2025
Mass. High Court Revives BU Contract Suit Against Architect
Massachusetts' highest court ruled Wednesday that a six-year limit on tort claims due to design defects in a construction project under a Boston University athletic field doesn't apply to a contract dispute between the school and an architectural firm that explicitly agreed to cover such costs.
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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
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
New Mexico Pueblos Allowed Into Fed Mineral Lease Ban Suit
A pair of Native American pueblos can intervene in a Navajo Nation suit seeking to undo a Biden administration order withdrawing federal land from new mineral leasing around Chaco Canyon, a federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday.
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April 15, 2025
No Appeal For Green Energy Co. CEO In $40M Investor Suit
The CEO of a company purportedly funded by a green energy outfit can't appeal a judge's determination in a proposed investor class action that found the executive is subject to the Tennessee federal court's jurisdiction, saying he failed to meet the requirements for such an appeal.
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April 15, 2025
Court Abused Discretion In Tesoro Pipeline Row, 8th Circ. Told
Enrolled members of a North Dakota tribe say a lower court abused its discretion in denying them intervention in a lawsuit challenging the federal government's right-of-way trespassing claims against the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline, arguing it failed to consider the full scope of their interests and rights at stake.
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April 15, 2025
DLA Piper Says Ex-ArentFox RE Duo Bolsters Lender Services
DLA Piper has announced the latest additions to its real estate team, welcoming two former ArentFox Schiff LLP lawyers who the firm says will bolster its services for lending-focused clients.
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April 14, 2025
Conn. Sues Feds To Block 80-Acre Tribal Land Trust Decisions
Connecticut is asking a federal court to undo a U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs decision to take 80 acres into trust for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, arguing it lacked authority to issue the order that, if allowed to stand, it said will end the state's sovereign territory rights.
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April 14, 2025
Feds Push To End Alaska Tribe's Gold Mine Permit Challenge
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a gold mine developer are asking a federal court for permission to move for early dismissal of an Alaskan tribe's remaining claim against an open-pit gold mine near the Yukon border, saying its amended lawsuit doesn't fare better than the original.
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April 14, 2025
NJ Attorney Must Face Land Dispute Malpractice Suit
A New Jersey state judge has rejected a Fox Rothschild LLP attorney's bid for an early exit from a suit by a pair of sisters accusing him and related parties of malpractice stemming from the mishandling of their late stepfather's estate.
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April 10, 2025
Reps Intro Bill To Cap Conservation Easement Protections
Two Republican congresswomen have introduced a bill that would put a 30-year cap on conservation easements entered into by the U.S. Department of the Interior, saying the agreements shouldn't be allowed to hamstring future generations of landowners.
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April 10, 2025
Bradley Arant Moves Atlanta Office For Growing City Roster
Having nearly tripled its headcount in Atlanta since launching in the city two years ago, Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP has moved into a newly renovated three-floor space in a Midtown office tower, the firm announced Thursday.
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April 10, 2025
Rocket Mortgage Says Feds Can't Scuttle Appraisal Suit
Rocket Mortgage LLC is fighting back against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's bid to dismiss the mortgage lender's suit, arguing in Colorado federal court that HUD is unlawfully forcing the company to change a residential appraisal that was allegedly discriminatory.
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April 09, 2025
Tribe Warns High Court Of Dire Impact If Land Trust Bid Fails
A Michigan tribe seeking to undo an order denying its bid to compel the federal government to take 73 acres into trust for a casino venture outside of Detroit says a Supreme Court rejection of its petition will have disastrous consequences for its members and other similarly situated tribes.
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April 08, 2025
Cushman Atty Transitions In-House As Kidder Mathews GC
Kidder Mathews announced Monday that it has hired Edward Castro, a 30-year corporate attorney with experience in commercial real estate law, as general counsel advising the company and its 19 West Coast offices.
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April 08, 2025
Private Owner Subject To Prevailing Wage, Pa. Justices Told
Counsel for the Pennsylvania Bureau of Labor Law Compliance told the state Supreme Court on Tuesday that contractors who constructed a state police barracks were entitled to pay in line with public works projects, arguing that private financing and ownership of the building doesn't negate the prevailing wage.
Expert Analysis
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Scope And Nature Of Judicial Relief Will Affect Loper's Impact
The practical result of post-Loper Bright rulings against regulatory actions will depend on the relief courts grant — and there has been controversy in these types of cases over whether the ruling is applied just to the parties or nationwide, and whether the action can be left in place while it's corrected, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.
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2 Cases May Signal Where FTC Is Headed On Labor Issues
Two recent Federal Trade Commission challenges to no-hire clauses in agreements between building service firms and their customers include comments by future FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson that may offer insight into the direction the FTC is headed on labor issues, says Michael Wise at Squire Patton.
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Green Projects Face States' Foreign Land Ownership Limits
As states impose restrictions and disclosure requirements around foreign investment in agricultural land — in some cases piggybacking on existing federal rules — renewable energy developers and investors must pay close attention to how the rules vary, says Daniel Fanning at Husch Blackwell.
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Antitrust Posturing Against Algorithmic AI Should End
President-elect Donald Trump needs to rein in the federal government's antitrust crusade against algorithmic AI, sending the message that antitrust enforcement must be grounded in evidence and real harm, says attorney David Balto, a former Federal Trade Commission assistant director of policy and evaluation.
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Contract Disputes Recap: Perils Of Perfunctory Interpretation
Attorneys at Seyfarth examine three recent decisions in which the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals and the Federal Circuit ruthlessly dismantled arguments that rely on superficial understandings of different contract terms.
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Conservation Easement Cases Weave Web Of Uncertainty
Much of the IRS and Justice Department’s recent success in prosecuting syndicated conservation easement cases can be attributed to the government’s focus on the so-called PropCo ratio, which could indicate treacherous waters ahead for participants and their advisers, even under the incoming Trump administration, say attorneys at Polsinelli.
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Promoting Diversity In The Selection Of ADR Neutrals
Excerpt from Practical Guidance
Choosing neutrals from diverse backgrounds is an important step in promoting inclusion in the legal profession, and it can enhance the legitimacy and public perception of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, say attorneys at Lowenstein Sandler.
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Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs
The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.
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After Chevron: Conservation Rule Already Faces Challenges
The Bureau of Land Management's interpretation of land "use" in its Conservation and Landscape Health Rule is contrary to the agency's past practice and other Federal Land Policy and Management Act provisions, leaving the rule exposed in four legal challenges that may carry greater force in the wake of Loper Bright, say Stacey Bosshardt and Stephanie Regenold at Perkins Coie.
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Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.
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Understanding 2 Types Of Construction Payment Clauses
Given the recent trend of states prohibiting pay-if-paid clauses in construction clauses in favor of fortifying contractor protections with pay-when-paid clauses, parties involved in construction projects should take care to understand the nuances between the two clauses, say Jeffery Mullen and Josephine Bahn at Cozen O'Connor.
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Cannabis Biz Real Estate Loan Considerations For Lenders
Now that cannabis sales are legal in some states, real estate lenders are interested in financing the land used by cannabis companies, but because cannabis sales are still illegal under federal law, lenders must make adjustments for cannabis-adjacent transactions, say Mark Levenson and Jeffrey Wendler at Sills Cummis.
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2nd Circ. Ruling May Limit Discovery In Int'l Arbitration
The Second Circuit's recent Webuild v. WSP decision, affirming a discovery order's nullification in arbitration between Webuild and the government of Panama, demonstrates courts' unwillingness to find that arbitral tribunals in investor-state cases fall within the scope of the discovery statute, say attorneys at Cleary.