Articles

08.15.13

When Disaster Strikes, That's Just the Beginning

When was the last time you read a really interesting insurance provision in a loan agreement? Unless you're one of those brave people who writes insurance for a living, the answer to the question is either (a) never, or, if you've ever had the misfortune to suffer a serious casualty to your ...


08.13.13

California Supreme Court Opens Up New Avenues for UCL

In an opinion issued recently, the California Supreme Court interpreted the Unfair Competition Law, Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq., to allow a UCL unlawfulness claim based on a "borrowed" federal law, even though Congress had repealed that law's private enforcement ...


08.12.13

Busy days at the U.S. Supreme Court

The United States Supreme Court recently devoted more attention to the 5th Amendment's protection of private property rights than it has in decades, handing down decisions in three important cases. The first dealt with federal government liability for Corps of Engineers projects that flood ...


08.09.13

Jim Brown's Right of Publicity Claim Revived on Appeal

Back in March 2009, Brown filed an action in federal district court against EA alleging that it had misappropriated and used his likeness without authorization in EA's enormously popular videogame series, "Madden NFL." Brown's claims included a federal law claim for violation of Section 43(a) of ...


08.09.13

Plan to Seize Underwater Mortgages Not Viable

Sound too good to be true? Is the plan really viable? Yes to the first, and no to the second.Eminent domain - enshrined in the Fifth Amendment - is the power of a public entity to take private property for a public project, so long as the public entity pays fair market value for the property it ...


07.17.13

Third Circuit Weighs First Amendment v. Rights of Publicity

The holding in a recent Third Circuit case makes it clear that, although the First Amendment is fundamental, it is not absolute. Ryan Hart v. Electronic Arts Inc., No. 11-3570, May 21, 2013. In this case the First Amendment rights of video game manufacturer Electronic Arts were outweighed by the ...


07.16.13

Managing Conversion Risks in Multifamily Frenzy

Unless you have been hibernating since the beginning of the "great recession," most real estate professionals acknowledge that multifamily development has literally been exploding over the past 18 to 24 months. Existing product continues to generate record high trades and new development ...


07.15.13

For Family Videos, Less Is, Well, Less: Welcome to the Age of Video Snippets

Video is everywhere. On your mobile. In HD. Which is great for capturing your precious family memories - your baby's first words, their first steps, birthdays, reunions, holidays. It's never been easier. Gone are the days when you need to think about taking out your bulky camcorder. Those ...


07.15.13

11 Ways to Finance Commercial Real Estate Energy Retrofits

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, commercial buildings account for 35 percent of U.S. (and 40 percent of global) electricity consumption. Most commercial real estate professionals accept that energy efficient buildings can, and do, impact the value of the underlying asset. Notwithstanding ...


06.24.13

Bipartisan Proposal May Pave a Path Forward for Federal Chemical Regulation Reform

To the surprise of many, on May 22, 2013, US Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and David Vitter (R-LA) announced a bipartisan bill - the Chemical Safety Improvement Act (CSIA) - to modernize the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 (TSCA). TSCA's approach to regulating chemical safety ...