Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (7/15/26) – The World Cup’s Effect on Commercial Real Estate, Megadeals Lift CRE Sales and Algorithmic Pricing Lawsuits Continue
July 27, 2026 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn our latest roundup, DOT earmarks $1.73B in BUILD grants, federal housing bill becomes law, data center surge cools off, and more!
- Data center planning cooled off month over month from “extraordinary levels” to start the summer, while other areas of construction finally picked up a little steam. (Sebastian Obando, Construction Dive)
- The U.S. Department of Transportation announced $1.73 billion in 2026 BUILD grants covering 127 projects across 50 states, Washington, D.C., American Samoa, Guam and Puerto Rico. (Joe Bousquin, Construction Dive)
- As algorithmic pricing lawsuits continue to play out around the country, more apartment owners and managers have settled. (Julie Strupp, Multifamily Dive)
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Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
Kahana Feld Obtains Favorable Result in High-Exposure NY Premises Liability Case
June 15, 2026 —
Leigh Katz - Kahana FeldKahana Feld partner Leigh Katz obtained a significant victory in a recent matter involving a videotaped alleged trip and fall on the sidewalk in front of the client’s commercial residence. The plaintiff claimed he suffered a knee injury that necessitated surgery, along with other assorted injuries that prevented him from continuing high-level athletic activities. Leigh was able to demonstrate that the fall was staged and received a voluntary discontinuance with prejudice.
At mediation, Leigh emphasized that KF’s expert witness challenged the plaintiff’s claim that the fall was caused by a sidewalk height differential after reviewing the videotape footage and determining the plaintiff’s fall began before his feet made contact with the alleged defect. Based on this analysis, the expert concluded the reported height differential did not initiate the fall, which supported KF’s position that the incident depicted in the video was unrealistic and appeared staged.
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Leigh Katz, Kahana FeldMs. Katz may be contacted at
lkatz@kahanafeld.com
HHMR Attorneys Steve Heisdorffer and Dave McLain Named to 2026 Super Lawyers List
April 08, 2026 —
Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLCHiggins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC is pleased to announce that Steve Heisdorffer and Dave McLain have been selected to the 2026 Colorado Super Lawyers list for construction litigation.
Mr. Heisdorffer has been consistently recognized in recent years for his work in construction litigation and related business disputes. Mr. McLain has been recognized by Super Lawyers each year from 2020 through 2026, following his earlier inclusion on the Rising Stars list from 2009 through 2012.
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Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Southwest Super Lawyers Recognizes 50 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys in 2026 Rankings
June 15, 2026 —
Snell & WilmerPHOENIX (April 22, 2026) – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 50 attorneys in the Phoenix and Tucson offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers publication. Of those 50, four were recognized for the first time and 24 were recognized as Southwest Rising Stars. Super Lawyers is a listing of lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Super Lawyers was first published in 1991 by Law & Politics and was acquired by Thomson Reuters, Legal in February 2010. Thomson Reuters is a leading source of information for businesses and professionals. The below Snell & Wilmer attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers rankings.
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Snell & Wilmer
That’s a Wrap! Pennsylvania Court Holds Arbitration Clause in Online Agreement Unenforceable
May 14, 2026 —
Gus Sara - The Subrogation StrategistIn Duffy v. Tatum, 2026 Pa. Super. LEXIS 112, 2026 PA Super 41, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania (Superior Court) considered whether an arbitration provision contained in the online Terms of Service on the defendant’s website were enforceable. The plaintiff, Daniel Duffy (Duffy), visited the website of defendant, Dolly, Inc. (Dolly), to purchase moving services. Duffy selected the number of movers, items to be moved and the type of vehicle needed. To complete the booking, the website required Duffy to checkmark a box labeled “By checking this box I accept the Dolly Terms of Service.” Duffy did not have to open the link or scroll to the bottom of the agreement before being able to click on the checkmark box. The Terms of Service included an arbitration provision requiring that any dispute related to the moving services to be resolved by arbitration in accordance with the American Arbitration Association. The Terms of Service did not include any statement that the user was waiving the right to a jury trial. The Superior Court found the internet Terms of Service unenforceable.
During the moving process, an accident occurred and injured Duffy. In May 2024, Duffy and his wife sued Dolly and other related entities alleging negligence and loss of consortium. Dolly filed preliminary objections alleging that the parties agreed to alternative dispute resolution. The lower court overruled the preliminary objections, finding that Dolly’s website did not provide reasonably obvious notice of its Terms of Service to Duffy and, as such, Duffy never agreed to waive his constructional right to a jury trial. Dolly filed an appeal to the Superior Court.
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Gus Sara, White and Williams LLPMr. Sara may be contacted at
sarag@whiteandwilliams.com
Leading Boutiques Combine to Form SDV Fenchurch, A Global Law Firm for Insurance Policyholders
September 15, 2026 —
SDV FenchurchTRUMBULL, Conn., and LONDON, Sept. 1, 2026 — Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. (SDV), Fenchurch Law, Wesolowski Abogados, and CLIR & Fenchurch and their partner members in Asia, Europe and North America combined today to launch SDV Fenchurch, a global law firm built exclusively to represent policyholders and the brokers who advise them.
Structured as a Swiss verein, SDV Fenchurch unites dedicated insurance-recovery practices across eight jurisdictions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, and Singapore. With over 90 lawyers devoted to insurance coverage matters, the firm is among the largest policyholder-side practices in the world and, by number of jurisdictions with full-time policyholder counsel capabilities, the most geographically extensive.
The founders are brought together by a single shared mission: to act solely for policyholders, never the insurers, in insurance disputes. This is in stark contrast to most international firms with insurance practices, which mostly represent insurers only.
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SDV Fenchurch
GRSM Ranked Among Texas’ 50 Largest Law Firms by Texas Lawyer
August 03, 2026 —
Gordon Rees Scully MansukhaniGordon Rees Scully Mansukhani has been recognized byTexas Lawyer in its 2026 Texas 100 ranking, earning the No. 49 spot among the state’s largest law firms by attorney headcount. The annual report spotlights the continued strength of Texas’ legal market, with firms across the state collectively increasing lawyer headcount by 2% in 2025.
“Texas continues to be one of the country’s most thriving legal and business markets, and we are proud to be recognized among the state’s largest law firms,” said Laura De Santos, Regional Oversight Partner for Texas. “Our continued growth shows the confidence our clients place in us, the exceptional talent of our attorneys, and our commitment to delivering seamless, high-quality legal services throughout Texas and across our 50-state platform.”
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Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
For Urban Walkers, a Patchy Dilemma: Who Owns the Sidewalk?
July 06, 2026 —
Linda Poon – BloombergIn 2007, New York City’s sanitation department
threatened Natalie Shea with a $300 fine for defacing public property with graffiti. Her crime: drawing a blue flower in front of her family’s Park Slope home with sidewalk chalk. She was six years old.
The incident, which made
local and
national news at the time, captures the fraught role that sidewalks often play in US cities. These patches of pavement do more than carry pedestrians to their destinations: They’re also places for commerce, social interaction and childhood play, from chalking to learning how to ride a bike. Urbanist Jane Jacobs once likened the range of activities that city sidewalks attract to an “intricate ballet.”
In the new book
Sidewalk Nation: The Life and Law of America’s Most Overlooked Resource (Harvard University Press), author Michael Pollack explores the “tangled web of state and local regulation” that governs sidewalks, with cities often passing along responsibilities for tasks like clearing snow and keeping walkways safe. He paints a portrait of the American sidewalk a disorderly and often neglected network, filled with literal and metaphorical cracks that give rise to all sorts of conflict, from mundane clashes over maintenance to more consequential fights over accessibility and inequality.
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Linda Poon, Bloomberg