Midwest Team Secures Resolution of Matter for Homeowners’ Association Client, Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees
February 10, 2026 —
Lewis Brisbois NewsroomKansas City/Wichita Partner Alan L. Rupe and Kansas City Associate Delaney McCoy recently achieved a victory on behalf of their client, a homeowners’ association that was sued after denying a solar panel application. The plaintiff homeowners challenged the association’s decision in court, and after extensive—and costly—litigation, the court ultimately determined that the dispute was not yet ripe for judicial review.
With that threshold issue resolved, the parties were able to work collaboratively to address the solar panel matter itself. But one significant question remained: whether the association was entitled to recover its legal fees under the declaration, despite the American Rule, which generally requires each party to bear its own costs. The client felt understandably taken advantage of because this issue could—and should—have been resolved without litigation. Considerable time and resources were diverted from the community for the advantage of a single household, so the Lewis Brisbois team continued to advocate for the association’s contractual right to recover fees. After oral argument, the Court agreed, enforcing the fee‑shifting provisions in the governing documents and ruling in favor of the homeowners’ association.
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Lewis Brisbois
2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Recognizes 14 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys
March 03, 2026 —
Snell & WilmerLOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 14 attorneys in its Los Angeles and Orange County offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers publication. Of those 15, six were recognized as 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. The final published list represents no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state.
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Snell & Wilmer
CARB Issues Proposed Climate Disclosure Regulations
January 13, 2026 —
Michael S. McDonough, Ashleigh Myers & Karen Eskander - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogOn December 9, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued
proposed regulations and a
staff report for California’s comprehensive climate disclosure laws, the
Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the
Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261). These proposed regulations come less than a month after the
Ninth Circuit issued an injunction temporarily halting enforcement of SB 261, at least until a January 9, 2026, hearing on the plaintiffs’ requested longer-term injunction through the remainder of the First Amendment challenge to the laws. The draft regulations would adopt some, but not all, of the provisions proposed by CARB in its public workshops on the laws to date, and notably would scale back applicability to those companies above a threshold level of sales in the state. The proposed regulations also define key terms, establish the program fee structures, explain fee enforcement and set initial reporting timelines. The written comment period begins on December 26, 2025, and ends on February 9, 2026. CARB will hold a
public hearing on the proposed regulations on February 26, 2026 at 9 a.m. PST.
Reprinted courtesy of
Michael S. McDonough, Pillsbury,
Ashleigh Myers, Pillsbury and
Karen Eskander, Pillsbury
Mr. McDonough may be contacted at michael.mcdonough@pillsburylaw.com
Ms. Myers may be contacted at ashleigh.myers@pillsburylaw.com
Ms. Eskander may be contacted at karen.eskander@pillsburylaw.com
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Construction of $3B Data Center in North Dakota Spurs Annexation Battle
January 13, 2026 —
Annemarie Mannion - Engineering News-RecordConstruction of a $3-billion data center on a 320-acre site in southeastern North Dakota has sparked an annexation dispute between the small city where it is being built and its much larger neighbor, Fargo.
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Annemarie Mannion, Engineering News-RecordMs. Mannion may be contacted at
manniona@enr.com
New California Law Requires Real Estate Agents and Brokers to Disclose AI Alterations in Listings
January 21, 2026 —
Brian Slome - Lewis BrisboisSan Diego, Calif. (December 19, 2025) - Artificial intelligence and digital marketing have become ubiquitous in real estate advertising. The widespread use of AI creates risk for consumers who don’t know whether images shown online or on the multiple listing services are real. A new California law that goes into effect in January 2026 tries to draw a clear line: innovation is welcome but deception is not.
The state’s new law requires licensed real estate brokers and salespersons to disclose when images used in advertisement and promotional materials have been digitally altered and to provide access to the original, unaltered images. The law is intended to enhance transparency in real estate advertising and to reduce the risk of consumer deception arising from image editing, virtual staging, or other digital modifications.
Who Is Covered
The law applies to real estate agents, brokers, developers, and marketing staff involved in property advertising. It encompasses advertisements including those in print and online.
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Brian Slome, Lewis BrisboisMr. Slome may be contacted at
Brian.Slome@lewisbrisbois.com
When Your Scheduler Hallucinates: Managing AI Risk on the Job Site
March 03, 2026 —
Jason Loring - ConsensusDocsArtificial intelligence has moved from the conference room to the construction site. Contractors are using AI-powered tools to predict schedule delays, monitor safety through drone footage, optimize equipment maintenance and flag potential hazards in real time. These tools deliver genuine efficiency gains, but they also introduce risks that most construction contracts do not anticipate and many project teams aren’t yet equipped to manage.
The problem is that AI tools are probabilistic and not determinative, meaning that they can “hallucinate”: generating confident, but completely wrong, information. Your AI scheduling software might therefore predict a delay that never materializes, causing unnecessary resource mobilization. Your drone monitoring might flag a nonexistent safety hazard, stopping work and costing productivity. Or worse, it might miss a real hazard entirely.
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Jason Loring, Jones Walker LLPMr. Loring may be contacted at
jloring@joneswalker.com
Cross-Office Team Secures Litigation Stay and Order of Arbitration on Behalf of Hotel Developer
February 17, 2026 —
Lewis Brisbois NewsroomNew York Partner Minyao Wang, Chicago Partner Bryan Sugar, and Denver/Washingt
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