Features

Transient Rental Ban Does Not Violate Fair Housing Act
In a recent decision, the Eastern District of New York dismissed a multi-pronged challenge to a local municipal ordinance that regulates rental of property on a short-term or transient basis.
Features

When Can a Landlord's Consent to Assignment be Reasonably Withheld?
Assignment provisions in a commercial lease often boil down to the following seemingly simple, but more often than not complex, standard: that the lease may only be assigned or the premises subleased with the landlord's consent, not to be unreasonably withheld. The following examples of case law illustrate how courts have construed this provision under various circumstances.
Features

Fair Use, First Sale and Marilyn Monroe
Recently, the Southern District of New York resolved a question that neither the Southern District nor the Second Circuit had ever squarely faced: Can the lawful owner of an art object create and post a photograph of that object in connection with the sale of the object through an online platform such as eBay, without the permission of the owner of copyright in the object?
Features

Defusing the UST Tax Bomb
<b><i>How Lenders and Debtors can Minimize UST Fees and Maximize Creditor Recoveries</b></i><p>As predicted in the first part of this article (May, 2018), the new United States Trustee (UST) fee has had a disproportionate effect on middle-market, high-velocity cash flow companies. The best solution is for Congress to revisit the fee structure and refine it to reflect the realities of particular cases and the actual burden on the UST.
Features

Warner Media Implements New Inclusion Policy
It seems fitting that a new movie that highlights racism and inequity in the American prison system is the first Hollywood production to apply a policy aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion both in front of and behind the camera.
Columns & Departments
Real Property Law
Neighborhood Garden Users May Establish Adverse Possession Claim<br>Purchaser Entitled to Return of Down Payment Upon Revocation of Mortgage Commitment After Expiration of Contingency Period<br>Law Firm Not Liable to Non-Client for Turnover of Escrow Funds<br>Law Firm Not Exempt From Claim Under RPL 265-B<br>Presumption of Due Execution Rebutted<br>Title Insurance Regulation Annulled
Features

Stretching the Limitations Period in White-Collar Criminal Matters
<b><i>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</b></i><p>Though they might seem straightforward on their faces, limitations periods are often elongated by legislation or court interpretation. The authors began looking at some of these exceptions to the stated limitations periods last month in Part One of this article. They continue here with further examples.
Features

Eleventh Circuit Strengthens Creditor's Defense to Preference Claim
A defendant creditor in a preference suit may offset 1) the amount of later “new value” it sold to the Chapter 11 debtor against 2) the debtor's earlier preferential payment to the creditor, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently held.
Features

Store Closing Lease Rejection in 'Shiekh Shoes'
Store closing or liquidation sales are a routine part of Chapter 11 cases involving retail debtors. These sales are consistently authorized by bankruptcy courts, despite lease provisions purporting to forbid them.
Features

PTO Gives Iancu More Control over PTAB Precedents
The USPTO announced revisions to PTAB procedures that formalize Andrei Iancu's control over the 250 administrative patent judges and their policy-making, while making that control more transparent.
Need Help?
- Prefer an IP authenticated environment? Request a transition or call 800-756-8993.
- Need other assistance? email Customer Service or call 1-877-256-2472.
MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the RoughThere is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.Read More ›
- Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTsA federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.Read More ›
- Second Circuit Rejects Arbitration of Debtor's Asserted Discharge ViolationA bankruptcy court properly denied a bank's motion to compel arbitration of a debtor's asserted violation of the court's discharge injunction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit held.Read More ›
- Attachment and Perfection of Security InterestsThis article addresses common attachment and perfection problems raised in recent cases, and provides suggestions on how secured parties can avoid these pitfalls.Read More ›
- Guidance on Distributions As 'Disbursements' and U.S. Trustee FeesIn a recent case from the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Paragon Offshore PLC, the bankruptcy court provided guidance on whether a post-plan effective date litigation trust's distributions constituted disbursements subject to the U.S. Trustee fee "tax."Read More ›