Land Use Team Wins Appeal for Affordable Senior Housing Development in San Francisco
February 23, 2026 —
SheppardSheppard successfully defended client Mitchelville Real Estate Group and its non-profit development partner Bernal Heights Housing Corporation in an appeal of a 70-unit, 100% affordable senior housing development at 3333 Mission Street in San Francisco’s Bernal Heights neighborhood. The team secured approval of the project, representing the developer on complex land use issues including split zoning, SB 35, the State Density Bonus Law, the Housing Crisis Act, tribal cultural resources and the Subdivision Map Act. Although the ministerially approved parcel map for the project utilized SB 35, it was appealed to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and unanimously rejected. Sheppard’s real estate transactional team also assisted with the acquisition of the property.
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Sheppard
Congratulations to Reno Partner Karen Baytosh for Securing a Complete Dismissal via a Motion for Summary Judgment
July 13, 2026 —
Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLPBWB&O is proud to announce that Reno Partner Karen Baytosh received a significant victory on behalf of the firm’s Developer Client in a high-exposure personal injury matter.
Plaintiff, a teenager, was struck by an intoxicated driver while walking her dog at night, sustaining catastrophic injuries requiring 24-hour critical care for the remainder of her life. Plaintiff’s Guardian brought suit against the drunk driver and her husband, the City, and BWB&O’s Developer Clients, alleging that the City and Developers failed to improve street lighting and install a sidewalk that would have prevented the accident.
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Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
New Report Outlines Roadmap for Construction Jobsites to Cut Carbon Emissions by 2040
April 20, 2026 —
PCL ConstructionDenver, Colo., April 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A new industry report outlines five practical steps that, when implemented together, could reduce construction jobsite emissions by up to 75% without compromising cost, schedule or performance. Grounded in real operational data from 617 construction projects across the U.S. and Canada, Growing and Greening Canadian Construction represents the most comprehensive sector-wide analysis of jobsite emissions conducted to date.
The report was developed through a collaboration among leading general contractors, including
PCL Construction, in partnership with the Transition Accelerator, an organization that drives projects, partnerships, and strategies to promote economic competitiveness in a carbon‑neutral world. The report focuses specifically on emissions from construction jobsite activities and reflects a shared commitment to advancing practical, scalable solutions for the industry.
About PCL Construction
PCL is a group of independent construction companies that operates throughout the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Australia. As one of the largest contracting organizations in North America, PCL completes more than $9.9 billion USD in work annually, building projects that shape communities. The company’s 100% employee ownership model fuels a culture of commitment for clients in the buildings, civil infrastructure, heavy industrial and solar markets. With a strategic presence in more than 30 major centers, PCL’s leadership teams consistently drive innovation and set new benchmarks for excellence, bringing unparalleled skill to every project. Watch us build at PCL.com.
About the Transition Accelerator
The Transition Accelerator works with 300+ partner organizations across Canada to build out pathways to a prosperous low-carbon economy and avoid costly dead-ends along the way. We help governments and industry harness the global shift towards clean growth to secure permanent jobs, abundant energy, and strong regional economies across the country. By connecting systems-level thinking with real-world analysis, we’re enabling a more affordable, competitive, and resilient future.
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Standing When It Comes to Real Property Owned by a Trust
February 23, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesIt is not uncommon for property to be owned in the name of the trust as part of an estate planning agenda. In construction, improvements are made all the time to real property owned in the name of a trust or later transferred to a trust for estate planning purposes.
In a recent case, the question became that if the property is owned by the trust does only the trust have standing to file the lawsuit. In this case, homeowners, in their individual capacities, sued a flooring contractor for defective work; however, prior to the lawsuit, the homeowners deeded the home (which would include the flooring in the home) to a revocable trust. The plaintiffs, though, were the trustees of the revocable trust and the settlors of the trust.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
Travelers Injury Impact Report Highlights Longer Recovery Times Amid Declining Injury Rates
May 05, 2026 —
The Travelers Companies, Inc.HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) today released its 2026 Injury Impact Report, an analysis of more than 1.2 million workers compensation claims received by the company from 2021 through 2025. The report finds that even as workplace injury rates decline, the injuries that do occur are growing more complex and taking longer to heal – a trend driven by an aging workforce and the disproportionate vulnerability of first-year employees.
“The decrease in workplace injuries is a positive story, yet injured workers are still missing an average of 80 workdays,” said Claude Howard, Vice President of Workers Compensation Claim at Travelers. “This report is a reminder that progress doesn’t mean the risk environment requires any less attention, and an employer’s commitment to safety must keep pace with an ever-evolving workforce and injury landscape.”
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The Travelers Companies, Inc.
SDNY Ruling Highlights Privilege Risks in Client Use of Generative AI
March 03, 2026 —
Christopher J. Olsen, Freddy X. Muñoz & Gary M. Stein - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.Artificial intelligence is quickly becoming a go‑to tool for aggregating and summarizing large volumes of data, formulating and testing arguments, and even sketching litigation strategies. But a recent ruling from the Southern District of New York serves as a stark warning: when clients turn to generative AI for legal strategy, they may be unknowingly turning privileged information over to a third party and then creating documents that may later be discoverable in litigation. In a closely watched bench decision, Judge Rakoff ruled that AI‑generated documents created by the target of a criminal investigation using Anthropic’s Claude were not privileged despite being generated with information learned from his attorneys to support his potential legal defense and then shared with his counsel. The decision highlights the unresolved and increasingly consequential intersection of AI, privilege, and discovery.
Facts
Bradley Heppner received a grand jury subpoena and hired attorneys at Quinn Emanuel to represent him. After learning he was a target of the investigation, but before he was arrested, he created 31 documents with Claude using information from his attorneys to outline a potential defense strategy. He was later arrested on charges of securities and wire fraud, and federal agents seized his electronic devices, which contained the 31 documents that had been provided to his attorneys. Mr. Heppner argued that the documents were created to prepare his potential defense strategy in anticipation of an indictment, but he conceded that he made the decision to prepare the reports on his own, i.e., not at the direction of counsel. He nevertheless claimed the documents were protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege and work product doctrine; the government moved to overrule the objections.
Reprinted courtesy of
Christopher J. Olsen, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.,
Freddy X. Muñoz, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and
Gary M. Stein, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Olsen may be contacted at colsen@pecklaw.com
Mr. Muñoz may be contacted at fmunoz@pecklaw.com
Mr. Stein may be contacted at gstein@pecklaw.com
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (4/1/26) – President Trump’s EO Affects Federal Funding, Fannie Mae Accepts Crypto-Backed Mortgages, Private Sector Construction Weakness Offsets Public Sector Gains
April 08, 2026 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn our latest roundup, California to pursue office-to-housing conversions, hoteliers to increase investment in artificial intelligence, private credit exodus to boost commercial real estate capital, and more!
- President Donald Trump’s executive order to remove regulatory barriers to affordable home construction could affect federal funding for cities and states that don’t follow what the order calls “regulatory best practices,” including faster permitting, fewer green building mandates and relaxed limits on exurban development. (Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Multifamily Dive)
- California state policymakers have been pursuing policy changes that remove barriers to converting older commercial buildings into housing. (Keith Loria, Construction Dive)
- Private sector weakness largely offset modest gains in public construction spending, despite data center gains. (Sebastian Obando, Construction Dive)
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Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
White and Williams LLP Secures $42.4 Million Award for Ventana DBS LLC in Philadelphia Marriott Construction Litigation
July 27, 2026 —
Craig O'Neill, Lindsay Liebman, Kristen Nichols Wright, Zachary Roth & William Taylor - White and WilliamsWhite and Williams LLP's Construction and Surety Practice attorneys secured a significant victory for client Ventana DBS LLC in a complex commercial construction dispute before the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Commerce Division. The trial team, led by Bill Taylor, retired Partner, and Craig O'Neill, Co-Chair of the Construction and Surety Practice Group, with support from Lindsay Liebman, Counsel, Zachary Roth, Partner, Kristen Nichols Wright, Associate, and Sue Ferrante, Legal Secretary, obtained a $42.4 million award on Ventana's claims for unpaid work, delay costs, CASPA penalties and interest, attorneys’ fees and other project-related costs arising from the construction of the Marriott W/Element Hotel Project in Philadelphia.
To achieve this result, the White and Williams team managed an extensive discovery period over the course of four-years of litigation, conducted over sixty depositions, participated in court-ordered mediation and arbitration proceedings, and successfully represented Ventana during a bifurcated trial that spanned over the course of a year.
Reprinted courtesy of
Craig O'Neill, White and Williams,
Lindsay Liebman, White and Williams,
Kristen Nichols Wright, White and Williams,
Zachary Roth, White and Williams and
William Taylor, White and Williams
Mr. O'Neill may be contacted at oneillc@whiteandwilliams.com
Ms. Liebman may be contacted at liebmanl@whiteandwilliams.com
Ms. Wright may be contacted at wrightk@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Roth may be contacted at rothz@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Taylor may be contacted at taylorw@whiteandwilliams.com
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