The Leasing Hotline
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
Features
How Much Control? Municipalities and Real Property Matters
Part One of this series discussed the origin of the authority to make property use regulations and an increasing trend by municipalities to regulate aesthetics and use through the development of 'chronic nuisance' statutes that permit property closure and regulation of vacant properties. This second installment discusses the manner in which the Chicago Municipal Code functions.
Features
Movers & Shakers
News about lawyers and law firms in the product liability field.
Case Notes
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Features
Question of Law on Bystander Recovery Sent to PA High Court
In the rare exercise of a mechanism that the federal courts may use to consult state courts about purely state questions of law, the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to address the permissible scope of bystander recovery under Pennsylvania's product liability law for a little girl whose left foot was mangled by a lawn mower driven by her grandfather.
Separate NY Arbitration on Adjustments to Historic Tobacco Settlement
New York State Supreme Court Justice Charles E. Ramos of Manhattan has set the framework under which New York State's entitlement to approximately $800 million a year from the tobacco industry will be tested.
Features
A Good Deed May Go Unpunished: Parties That Voluntarily Clean Up Sites Can Sue for Cost Recovery Under CERCLA
One U.S. Supreme Court decision this past term brought welcomed news to those labeled 'potentially responsible parties' under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. In <i>United States v. Atlantic Research</i>, the Court unanimously agreed that PRPs that voluntarily clean up contaminated property may bring suit for cost recovery against other PRPs under '107 of CERCLA. The Court's opinion left certain questions unanswered and even raised one or two new questions.
In the Spotlight: Shopping Center Lease Assignments -- Bankruptcy Changes Could Hamper Debtors
Certain amendments to Title 11, United States Code (the 'Bankruptcy Code') implemented by the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 received little notice, but one such change made to §365(f)(1), a section commonly utilized by debtor/ tenants to invalidate anti-assignment provisions contained in commercial leases, could have a wide-ranging impact in retail bankruptcy cases.
Retail Goes Green
Retail construction represents only 1.5% of the projects registered with the U.S. Green Building Council for green building status. To incorporate this powerful segment of the building industry into the certification program, the USGBC recently introduced two pilot programs tailored to retail development.
Features
Web 2.0 at Work
In recent years, millions of employees have joined the world of Web 2.0, which includes social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, blogs, wikis, podcasts, video sharing sites and RSS feeds. In this constantly changing new world, where individuals have the ability to disseminate information about their employers to a potentially world-wide Internet audience, employers need to evaluate their existing technology policies and, where necessary, implement new policies and strategies.
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MOST POPULAR STORIES
- Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar InvestigationsThis article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.Read More ›
- The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance ProgramsThe parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.Read More ›
- The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year LaterThe DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.Read More ›
- Don't Sleep On Prohibitions on the Assignability of LeasesAttorneys advising commercial tenants on commercial lease documents should not sleep on prohibitions or other limitations on their client's rights to assign or transfer their interests in the leasehold estate. Assignment and transfer provisions are just as important as the base rent or any default clauses, especially in the era where tenants are searching for increased flexibility to maneuver in the hybrid working environment where the future of in-person use of real estate remains unclear.Read More ›
- Developments in Distressed LendingRecently, in two separate cases, secured lenders have received, as part of their adequate protection package, the right to obtain principal paydowns during a bankruptcy case.Read More ›
