Commercial

Expert Analysis

• Illinois Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q3

  

  Recent banking developments in Illinois include significant new consumer protection legislation, three meaningful Seventh Circuit decisions, and a high-profile constitutional challenge to the state's new digital asset tax, say attorneys at Barnes & Thornburg.

• Foreclosure May Not Be The Fix For Distressed Office Loans

  

  Recently declining office values show that distressed borrowers and lenders should consider negotiated workouts, tax planning and value-preserving leasing strategies as refinancing gaps and special-servicing constraints make foreclosure an increasingly costly last resort, says Howard Koh at Meister Seelig.

• AG Watch: How Maryland Is Meeting The Data Center Age

  

  At a time when states are competing for data center investment, Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown's upcoming people's counsel appointment may shape the state's most consequential debates over electric rate increases, grid investment and the costs of the ongoing energy transition for years to come, says Erek Barron at Mintz.

• FinCEN Exemption Raises Statutory, Administrative Questions

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recently rolled-out broad exemption for U.S. companies from Corporate Transparency Act reporting may face administrative law and statutory challenges, so businesses should still preserve ownership records and monitor litigation and congressional action, says David McCarville at Fennemore.

• PFAS Risks Require Due Diligence Beyond Compliance

  

  While traditional environmental due diligence questions remain important, concern over perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances has highlighted the growing problem of environmental conditions that create material business risk, even though no regulatory violation, enforcement action or lawsuit exists, say attorneys at Greenberg Traurig.

• How Data Center Projects Can Navigate Wyo. Siting Process

  

  As opposition to data center development grows nationwide, the way that Wyoming is handling the issue through its industrial siting process offers a counterintuitive lesson: More process, not less, can provide both meaningful scrutiny and a clear path forward for projects, says Jeffrey Pope at Holland & Hart.

• How Real Estate Funds Can Use Umbrella Partnership REITs

  

  Recent transactions demonstrate how the conversion from a Delaware statutory trust to an umbrella partnership real estate investment trust may benefit real estate funds, and why attorneys should treat the structuring of this conversion as a coordinated diligence and drafting exercise, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.

• A Look At Litigation Risks From Financing The AI Buildout

  

  Artificial intelligence infrastructure financing can create gaps between accounting presentation and project-level economic exposure, and those gaps may affect management communications and how accounting experts can reconstruct the financial record when those communications become the subject of a securities dispute, says Erik Johannesson at Brattle Group.

• Why Pa. Push For Brownfield Renewables May Not Be Enough

  

  A recent executive order from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro directed state regulators to expedite siting of clean energy development on former industrial sites — but additional reforms may be needed to effectively eliminate barriers to these types of projects, says Louis Dodge at Langsam Stevens.

• NJ Justices' Walmart Ruling Clarifies Future Snowstorm Duty

  

  A recent New Jersey Supreme Court decision, that a contractor's spreading of salt on a minimal snow accumulation in a Walmart parking lot did not create liability, delivers important clarity on the state's ongoing-storm rule, says Maxx Johnson at Stradley Ronon.

• Planning For The Impact Of FinCEN's CTA Rollback

  

  The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network's recent rollback of Corporate Transparency Act reporting obligations should reduce compliance costs, but its plans to revisit customer due diligence rules should prompt companies and financial institutions to reassess state beneficial ownership programs, say attorneys at Sidley.

• Early Action Can Benefit Distressed Restaurant Franchisees

  

  As rising costs put increased pressure on restaurants, as evidenced by recent bankruptcy filings by Popeyes, Farmer Boys and Applebees franchisees, distressed businesses should move early to preserve profitable locations, reject uneconomic obligations, manage brand defaults and choose the appropriate restructuring path, says Christopher Caplinger at Kean Miller.

• Why Data Centers Must Focus On Water Stewardship

  

  Reducing overall water use is important for data center developers and operators, but comprehensive water stewardship — including cooling system operation, chemical treatment, wastewater discharge, maintenance activities and interactions with municipal water infrastructure — is rapidly becoming both a regulatory expectation and a business imperative, say attorneys at Baker Donelson.