Features

The How, What and Why of a Potential PG&E Bankruptcy
PG&E Corporation and its subsidiary, Pacific Gas & Electric Company announced that it expects to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on or around Jan. 29, 2019, right around the conclusion of a mandatory 15-day notice requirement under California law. Such a filing would represent the second time PG&E resorted to protection under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
Features

Junior Noteholders Successfully Petition for Dismissal of Involuntary Filing
The bankruptcy court's ruling is a seminal decision that meaningfully circumscribes the ability of a secured noteholder under an indenture, particularly for structured debt, to force the debtor (i.e., issuer of the debt) into an involuntary bankruptcy.
Features

West Village Houses: Units Ruled Not Stabilized Despite Receipt of J-51 Benefits
Ever since 2009, it has been an article of faith that a building's receipt of J-51 benefits means that all of the apartments therein automatically become rent-stabilized. If those apartments were already rent-stabilized, they become stabilized a second time. The second layer of rent stabilization has the effect of barring luxury deregulation, at least until J–51 benefits expire. In West Village Houses Renters Union v WVH Hous. Dev. Fund, Justice Barbara Jaffe held that the tenants of 32 unsold cooperative units at the West Village Houses complex were not rent-stabilized, even though their buildings had received J-51 benefits.
Columns & Departments
Development
Town Cannot Hold Back Building Permits as Financial Security<br>Parkland Alienation Doctrine Does Not Preclude Dock on Open Space Easement<br>Landowner Failed to Exhaust Administrative Remedies
Columns & Departments
Real Property Law
No Duty to Maintain Bulkhead<br>Self-Conveyance Did Not Sever Joint Tenancy<br>Promissory Estoppel Not Available to Avoid Statute of Frauds<br>Presumption of Hostility Sustains Prescriptive Easement Claim
Columns & Departments
Landlord & Tenant
Loft Tenant Subject to Rent Stabilization<br>Video Surveillance a Substitute for Part-Time Lobby Attendants
Features

Fighting Biometric Fraud on the Blockchain
The use of SMS verification codes as a security measure has recently been exposed as a mere stop-gap solution because of the ability of hackers to fraudulently take over phone numbers. Biometrics meanwhile is proving to be one of the best new technologies to combat fraud and identity theft.
Features

10 Common Mistakes When Dealing With DOJ Antitrust Criminal Prosecutors
Corporate counsel should be aware of the following 10 common mistakes that practitioners make when representing clients in criminal antitrust matters.
Features

What to Consider When Drafting Renewal and/or Expansion Terms in Arbitration Clauses
Navigating through a murky arbitration clause is no easy feat. Assuming familiarity with the basics, the following is a list of considerations that should prove valuable whether representing the tenant or the landlord.
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