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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (3/11/25) – An AI Inflection Point for Hotels, Investor Pivot in Build-to-Rent and Looming Legislation for Single-Family Investors

March 24, 2026 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, lodging demand for World Cup brings growth, commercial property management firms use of AI becomes firmer, construction industry shows slow start to the year, and more!

• The hotel industry has reached an inflection point, where owners and developers are embracing artificial intelligence more, but are also increasingly in need of greater guidance on how to convert early adoption into long-term returns. (Jenna Graber, Hotel Dive)
• While the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup is expected to bring notable RevPAR gains to U.S. host cities, the overall domestic impact will be negligible. (Noor Adatia, Hotel Dive)
• Company leaders’ often vague predictions of how AI will be adopted are giving way to more fully formed strategies in the commercial real estate industry. (Joe Burns, Facilities Dive)

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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Prefatory Contract Language Cannot Be Used to Create an Ambiguity with Operative Provisions

May 12, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Contract drafting and interpretation matters. A case dealt with the potential conflict with prefatory language in an agreement compared with operative provisions in the agreement. The trial court held that the operative provisions control. I discussed this case here where the appellate court reversed based on the prefatory language. But, through a motion for rehearing, the appellate court reconsidered its position and affirmed the trial court based on the operative provisions, mainly that the prefatory language cannot be used to create an ambiguity with operative provisions. Consider this explanation in affirming the trial court:

Because the trial court correctly found that the initial language in the contract was prefatory and could not be used to create an ambiguity in the remainder of the contract, we affirm the final judgment.

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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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The AI Knows Too Much: When Employees Feed Trade Secrets into Generative AI Tools

April 14, 2026 — Kazim A. Naqvi & John V. Mysliwiec - Sheppard
Every time an employee pastes proprietary source code, a customer list, or a confidential business strategy into ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini, they may be quietly dismantling the legal protections that make those secrets worth protecting. Courts and regulators are only beginning to grapple with this problem, and right now, the burden of preventing it falls squarely on employers. The Legal Stakes Under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) as adopted across most states, a trade secret plaintiff must show that the information at issue was subject to reasonable measures to maintain its secrecy. Courts have historically credited measures like confidentiality agreements, physical access controls, and employee training—but those safeguards were designed for a world of thumb drives and disgruntled employees. They were not built for a world where a well-meaning engineer can, in seconds, transmit an entire corpus of proprietary data to a third-party AI platform operating under terms of service that may permit the provider to use inputs for model training. Reprinted courtesy of Kazim A. Naqvi, Sheppard and John V. Mysliwiec, Sheppard Mr. Naqvi may be contacted at knaqvi@sheppard.com Mr. Mysliwiec may be contacted at jmysliwiec@sheppard.com Read the full story...

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Balancing the Right to Repair With Evidence Preservation in Construction Defect Litigation

April 20, 2026 — Benton Wheatley & Anna Spicer - Construction Executive
Every major construction project comes with risk, whether it’s a warehouse build, a multifamily development or a major renovation. Parties tend to be aligned when things are proceeding as planned. But when something goes wrong—cracked concrete, water intrusion, systems that don’t perform as expected—those interests can quickly diverge. Property owners are often caught in the middle when construction defects surface. They’re expected to act quickly to limit damage and costs. But they also have legal obligations to preserve evidence and allow potentially responsible parties, such as contractors or designers, to observe testing, demolition and repairs. Additionally, owners often have duties to lenders and investors to fix problems promptly and pursue claims against those responsible. Meanwhile, contractors and other parties have obligations of their own—not to interfere with repairs and not to delay mitigation efforts while investigations are underway. What follows will examine how those competing responsibilities play out in construction defect disputes. Reprinted courtesy of Benton Wheatley & Anna Spicer, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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White and Williams LLP is Proud to Host the 20th Anniversary Virginia Barton Wallace Award and Reception

May 05, 2026 — White and Williams LLP
White and Williams LLP is proud to host the 20th Anniversary Virginia Barton Wallace (VBW) Award and Reception, which will celebrate this year’s honoree, The Rendell Center for Civics & Civic Engagement. This award was created to celebrate the remarkable career of Virginia “Ginny” Barton Wallace, the first woman to be elected to partnership not only at White and Williams but also at any law firm in Philadelphia. The VBW Award is presented to a woman or organization that embodies the same qualities that Ginny possessed: leadership, drive, exemplary work ethic, overall excellence in her field, or an ability to inspire other women to succeed. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

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Traub Lieberman Recognized in the 2026 Edition of Chambers USA

June 29, 2026 — Traub Lieberman
In the 2026 edition of Chambers USA, Traub Lieberman has been awarded rankings in the following categories: Illinois – Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer In the Chambers research, clients noted: "The team are technically very strong, responsive, and on top of their cases." Florida – Insurance: Dispute Resolution: Insurer In the Chambers research, clients noted: "Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry distinguishes itself through a combination of deep subject-matter expertise, responsiveness, and practical risk-management orientation." Commenters went on to say: “The team has deep knowledge of Florida property insurance statutes, regulations and case law, enabling effective handling of disputes, appeals and third-party litigation." Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Traub Lieberman

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Lewis Brisbois Welcomes Clients and Community Leaders to New Garden City Office Opening

July 27, 2026 — Lewis Brisbois
On July 15, Lewis Brisbois hosted a ribbon-cutting event for its new Garden City office, which opened in April to serve the Long Island community and beyond. The event was attended by more than 100 people, including Lewis Brisbois attorneys and staff as well as clients, local business and government leaders, Nassau County Supreme Court judges, and members of the press. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman delivered remarks and cut the ribbon for the office. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Georgia HB 676: A Bill Property Owners and Contractors Should Watch

March 24, 2026 — Robert Lafayette - The Construction Seyt
Property owners, contractors, and others dealing with mechanics and materialmen’s liens in Georgia should keep an eye on HB 676, which is currently making its way through the Georgia General Assembly. The bill aims to curb misuse of the lien process and provide additional remedies to those challenging a frivolous lien filing. What HB 676 Would Do HB 676 would add a new Code section (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366.6) to the mechanics and materialmen’s lien statutes. If a lien is filed “without substantial justification or that is not made in good faith or that is made with malice or a wrongful purpose,” this new Code section would impose a fine of $1,500 per lien on the lien claimant, in addition to any attorney’s fees or court costs incurred by the party challenging the lien. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Robert Lafayette, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Mr. Lafayette may be contacted at rlafayette@seyfarth.com

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