Articles

08.23.13

What Many Foreign Banks and Community Banks Have in Common

Strange as it may seem, community banks and the U.S. operations of foreign banks are often treated similarly; their interests are usually legislative and regulatory afterthoughts. Stated differently, the uncertainty that arises with new legislation or regulation forces these banks to mark time for ...


08.20.13

Why Content Creators Should Know About the New 'Share Economy'

"Disruption" is an over-used word in the entrepreneurial and technology worlds. But, it certainly isn't in the world of media. Gone (or going fast) are the worlds of content ownership - both physical (DVDs) and digital (iTunes downloads). Subscription services, social and sharing are ...


08.15.13

Seizing Underwater Mortgages: An Idea That's All Wet

The latest municipal attempt to seize underwater mortgages by eminent domain is an abuse of this most awesome governmental power.The plan is being pushed by San Francisco-based Mortgage Resolution Partners, which recently entered into an agreement with the city of Richmond, Calif. And the city has ...


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 Code § 17200 et seq., to allow a UCL unlawfulness claim based on a "borrowed" federal law, even though Congress had repealed that law's private enforcement ...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 ...