Articles

03.03.17

Can a Tenant Really Protect Against Inefficient Operating Costs?

In today’s competitive real estate market, where the cost of utilities and infrastructure use are always rising, shopping centers (whether mall or strip), industrial and office building leases frequently require that the tenant pay all or some portion of the landlord’s operating ...


02.24.17

The 'Whole Parcel' Takings Conundrum

"Takings law is not for the faint of heart. It is contrived of rules that have been described variously as 'arcane,' 'mystical' and 'confused.' And that is how people who know and understand the rules describe them. Much of the problem undoubtedly arises ...


02.17.17

CFPB Fines Real Estate Entities Over RESPA Violations

Targeting violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) by a mortgage lender, two real estate brokers, and a mortgage servicer, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced almost $4 million in penalties and consumer relief.What happenedAccording to the Bureau, a ...


02.17.17

Jury Hits Dish With $20M TCPA Verdict

A federal jury has awarded $20.5 million against Dish Network for calls made by a third party in a Telephone Consumer Protection Act class action.Although he was included on the federal Do Not Call Registry, Thomas Krakauer claimed that he received multiple phone calls from authorized Dish dealer ...


02.16.17

UC Berkeley Unfairly Criticized in Wake of Protest

After the violence that shut down the speech of the provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley, the University has come under substantial criticism—including from President Trump, who tweeted a threat to defund it. Many have trotted out the old yarn that the University is nothing more than ...


02.15.17

Criticism of CalPERS Is Often Misplaced

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think CalPERS is the source of all California’s ills: higher taxes, bankrupt cities, reduced public services, lavish pensions—the list goes on. We’ve even been blamed for failing to catch the fact that Wells Fargo employees were ...


02.14.17

The Future of Essential Health Benefits

The Essential Health Benefits (EHB) rule may be among the many parts of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that are on the chopping block as the Trump Administration and Congress seek to repeal and replace the law. Essential Health Benefits, which define what health care benefits plans in the ...


02.14.17

The Digital Content Market in Mexico

Today’s global content market is constantly evolving. The rise of digital platforms has created new and exciting opportunities for production, distribution, and consumption of content. Producers and distributors are meeting their audiences where they live, which is increasingly on digital ...


02.13.17

Spotlight on the False Claims Act

Why it matters: The False Claims Act (FCA) continued to prove itself a powerful tool to combat fraud on the government in 2016. In December 2016, the DOJ released figures showing that, for fiscal year 2016, it had collected over $4.7 billion, its “third highest annual recovery in False ...


02.10.17

Social Media Communications Insufficient to Order Halt, Court Rules

Why it mattersAn employer lost a motion requesting a California federal court limit the communications of the plaintiff's counsel in a wage and hour dispute. Jerrod Finder filed a putative class action against Leprino Foods Company, alleging that his employer violated California wage law. While ...