Commercial
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October 24, 2025
NJ Panel Tosses Sprawling Legal Malpractice, Fraud Suit
A New Jersey state appellate court has backed the permanent dismissal of a developer's legal malpractice and fraud suit against Cooper Levenson April Niedelman & Wagenheim PA and other parties, ruling that the state's entire controversy doctrine, which requires litigants to put all their relevant allegations in a single suit, bars his claims.
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October 24, 2025
Judge Won't Block Empire Wind Project
A D.C. federal judge declined to stop work on an 80,000-acre offshore wind project off the New York and New Jersey coasts Friday, saying the nearby residents challenging the project failed to show that the windfarm would injure migratory bottlenose dolphins.
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October 24, 2025
Fannie Mae Promotes Deputy GC To Acting Top Atty
Fannie Mae announced that it has elevated its deputy general counsel to acting general counsel, after the previous attorney to hold the position decided to move on from the post.
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October 24, 2025
Judge Lifts Ch. 11 Stay On Prospect Medical Tort Suits
A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday gave Prospect Medical Holdings permission to sell two Connecticut hospitals for $86 million and gave tort claimants the go-ahead to proceed with suits against the hospital chain, saying she was "beyond frustrated" with delays in settling the claims.
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October 24, 2025
Md. Office Building Valuation Cut In Half By Tax Court
A Maryland office building was overvalued at roughly $40 million in tax years 2023 and 2024, the state tax court found, agreeing with an income analysis presented by the property owner that its value should be reduced by half.
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October 24, 2025
Taxation With Representation: Latham, Wachtell, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Meta announces a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital to fund the development of a data center campus in Louisiana, private equity giants acquire medical technology company Hologic Inc., and National Fuel Gas Co. buys CenterPoint Energy Inc.'s Ohio natural gas utility business.
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October 24, 2025
Judge Tells Feds To 'Fish Or Cut Bait' On 'Buffalo Billion' Case
A Manhattan federal judge said Friday it's time for prosecutors to either make a deal with four men whose 2018 bid-rigging convictions from an upstate New York development initiative were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, or schedule a 2026 retrial.
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October 24, 2025
NJ Property Owner Puts Office, Industrial Properties In Ch. 11
A New Jersey property owner has put several of its office and industrial properties into Chapter 11, according to multiple petitions filed in New Jersey bankruptcy court.
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October 23, 2025
NY AG Sues Vape Shop Owners For Selling To Kids
New York's attorney general is looking to permanently shut down two smoke shops and ban their owners from ever working in the vape industry again, claiming they flagrantly sold illegal flavored vapes to customers including children, according to a petition filed Oct. 23.
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October 23, 2025
Nelson Mullins Hires Two Attys To Bolster RE Team
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP has hired two veteran commercial real estate attorneys — one a former Kelley Drye & Warren LLP special counsel — to strengthen its real estate and capital markets team.
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October 23, 2025
Entities Tied To NYC's Former Hudson Hotel File For Ch. 11
Two companies affiliated with the former Hudson Hotel near Manhattan's Columbus Circle have filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware, listing between $100 million and $500 million each in both assets and liabilities.
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October 23, 2025
Blackstone Upbeat On Data Centers, Preps 401(k) Asset Focus
Executives at private equity giant Blackstone Inc. said in a call with analysts on Oct. 23 that data center dealmaking is still on the upswing, and that it is making moves in anticipation of formal guidance from the federal government on the ability of defined contribution retirement plans to invest in alternative assets like real estate.
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October 23, 2025
Del. Justices Won't Reconsider Gellert Seitz Malpractice Ruling
The Delaware Supreme Court on Oct. 23 rejected a request to reconsider its decision affirming the dismissal of a legal malpractice suit against Gellert Seitz Busenkell & Brown LLC over damages a homebuilder said it suffered due to the firm's negligence handling loan-restructuring disputes, saying the request is "without merit."
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October 23, 2025
Amalgamated Bank Commits $250M For C-PACE Platform
Amalgamated Bank plans to provide up to $250 million of financing for commercial real estate projects that come from another company's Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy lending platform, the bank announced Thursday.
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October 23, 2025
Gibson Dunn Hires Ex-Fried Frank Atty For RE Team
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP has added a former Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP partner who specializes in commercial leasing transactions to its real estate practice in New York.
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October 22, 2025
NJ Industrial Park Nabs $654M, With Construction Underway
Madison Realty Capital originated a $654 million mortgage and mezzanine loan for a New Jersey industrial campus, which the private equity firm said will refinance 2020 Acquisitions' existing financing and cover ongoing construction and leasing costs, per a Wednesday announcement.
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October 22, 2025
REIT Inks $7M Settlement Of Ex-CEO's Class Action Claims
A real estate investment trust has reached a $7.125 million deal to end a proposed investor class action brought by its former CEO alleging its insiders breached their fiduciary duties after the company's common stock was diluted by "disastrous" stock redemption decisions.
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October 22, 2025
DHS Unveils Proposal To Reduce EB-5 Investor Visa Fees
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday rolled out a proposed fee schedule for the EB-5 foreign investor visa program that will see investors paying about 14% less in form fees after a steep fee increase in 2024.
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October 22, 2025
Texas Appeals Court Wipes $64M Judgment For Dallas Lender
A Texas appellate court wiped away a $64 million award to the subsidiary of a Dallas investment company following alleged fraud by Credit Suisse surrounding lending for a luxury Nevada community, saying the lower court improperly found that the subsidiary could collect damages above zero dollars.
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October 22, 2025
Two Firms Work On $168M NYC Hotel Loans, Sale
The Dominick Hotel, a 46-story, 391-room hotel in Manhattan's SoHo neighborhood, was sold off and connected to loan deals worth more than $168 million combined in separate transactions guided by Hogan Lovells and Kriss & Feuerstein LLP, according to official property records.
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October 22, 2025
Fifth Attorney For Michigan Pastor Exits Zoning Suit
A Michigan federal judge Wednesday allowed the fifth lawyer who represented a pastor in a zoning ordinance and retaliation dispute against a township to withdraw from the case, a few months after refusing to recuse himself from the case over a comment about the turnover rate for the pastor's counsel.
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October 22, 2025
NJ Panel Hints Affordable Housing Rules Fight Is Moot
A New Jersey appellate panel questioned on Wednesday whether 28 towns' challenge to interim affordable housing rules might become moot, as permanent regulations are expected within two months — but municipal attorneys argued the current rules have already forced planning decisions that could be upended.
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October 22, 2025
NC Biz Court Bulletin: COVID Coverage, A Suspect Signature
The North Carolina Business Court has rounded the corner into fall with insurance disputes over COVID-19 coverage at a chain of outlet malls and the theft of over $900,000 in legal THC reportedly stolen from a warehouse in the Southwest.
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October 22, 2025
Institutional Real Estate Allocations Drop, Rebound Expected
Institutional investors planned to put less capital toward real estate strategies in 2025 than what they had earmarked the year prior, marking the first time Hodes Weill & Associates and Cornell University have seen such a decline since they began surveying over a decade ago.
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October 22, 2025
Talonvest Closes $205M Loan Deals For Self-Storage Assets
Talonvest Capital Inc. has closed two portfolio refinancing loan deals worth $205.2 million for Etude Capital-owned self-storage portfolios that include 31 self-storage assets in total, the commercial real estate advisory firm announced.
Expert Analysis
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A Checklist For Lenders Preparing For CRE Loan Defaults
Considering the recent interest rate environment, lenders should brush up on the proper steps that they should take when preparing to respond to a borrower's default on a commercial real estate loan, and borrowers should understand what lenders will be reviewing, says attorney Norma Williams.
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7th Circ Joins Trend Of No CGL Coverage For Structural Flaws
The Seventh Circuit, which recently held potential structural instability did not count as property damage under a construction company's commercial general liability policy, joins a growing consensus that faulty work does not implicate coverage without tangible and present damage to the project, say Sarah Abrams at Baleen Specialty, and Elan Kandel and James Talbert at Bailey Cavalieri.
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Criminal Enforcement Considerations For Gov't Contractors
Government contractors increasingly exposed to criminal liability risks should establish programs that enable detection and remediation of employee misconduct, consider voluntary disclosure, and be aware of the potentially disastrous consequences of failing to make a mandatory disclosure where the government concludes it was required, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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The Often Overlooked NY Foreclosure Notice Requirements
As multifamily real estate defaults mount, New York foreclosing parties should be aware of pitfalls and perils that can await the litigant who is not prepared to ensure adherence with tenant notice requirements under the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law, say Christopher Gorman and John Muldoon at Rosenberg & Estis.
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A Case Study For Calif. Cities In Water Utility Takeovers
With growing water scarcity and drier weather looming, some local governments in California have sought to acquire investor-owned water utilities by eminent domain — but the 2016 case of Claremont v. Golden State Water is a reminder that such municipalization attempts must meet certain statutory requirements, say attorneys at Nossaman.
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Lower Courts May Finally Be Getting The Memo After Ciminelli
A year after the U.S. Supreme Court again limited prosecutors' overbroad theories of fraud in Ciminelli v. U.S., early returns suggest that the message has at least partially landed with the lower courts, spotlighting lessons for defense counsel moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.
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A Framework For Investigating Commercial Loan Fraud
As commercial loan transactions are increasingly subject to sophisticated fraud schemes, lenders must adopt dynamic strategies to detect, investigate and mitigate these schemes, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.
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Yellow Corp. Lease Assumption Shows Landlord Protections
Yellow Corp.’s recent filing of a motion to assume unexpired leases is a helpful reminder to practitioners to maintain a long-term approach about what is most beneficial for an estate and to not let a debtor's short-term cash position dictate business decisions, says Kyle Arendsen at Squire Patton.
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How A Bumblebee Got Under Calif. Wildlife Regulator's Bonnet
A California bumblebee's listing as an endangered species could lead to a regulatory quagmire as California Department of Fish and Wildlife permits now routinely include survey requirements for the bee, but the regulator has yet to determine what the species needs for conservation, says David Smith at Manatt.
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The Clock Is Ticking For Fla. Construction Defect Claims
Ahead of the fast-approaching July 1 deadline for filing construction defect claims in Florida, Sean Ravenel at Foran Glennon discusses how the state's new statute of repose has changed the timeline, and highlights several related issues that property owners should be aware of.
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It's Time To Defuse The Ticking Time Bomb Of US Landfills
After recent fires at landfills in Alabama and California sent toxic fumes into surrounding communities, it is clear that existing penalties for landfill mismanagement are insufficient — so policymakers must enact major changes to the way we dispose of solid waste, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.
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Ohio Tax Talk: The Legislative Push For Property Tax Relief
As Ohio legislators attempt to alleviate the increasing property tax burden, four recent bills that could significantly affect homeowners propose to eliminate replacement property tax levies, freeze property taxes for longtime homeowners, adjust homestead exemptions annually for inflation, and temporarily expand the homestead exemption, say Raghav Agnihotri and Rachael Chamberlain at Frost Brown.
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Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms
As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.