CHICAGO-Net-lease investors would be well served to focus on more than a deal's economic factors when drafting a new net lease, says Stan Johnson's Brad Feller.

The United States economy has experienced a volatile run over the past two years. While the past few months have seen an increase in momentum for the job market, ephemeral economic momentum in 2010 and 2011 has given employers ample reason to hire cautiously in 2012. Consumer activity, which constitutes 70 percent of the domestic economy, has been building slowly – but memories of the 2007-2008 financial crash and the resulting consumer credit issues remain fresh. Compounding all of this economic uncertainty are Federal austerity measures, which are set to be implemented in 2013 as a result of the failed Congressional supercommittee that was charged with trimming the nation's debt. Yet, for all of this uneasiness about the U.S. economy, foreign investment in U.S. commercial real estate remains robust. Why?

NEW YORK CITY-The case, filed in late 2007, was one of the first major lawsuits related to the toxic CDO investments that fueled the downturn.

NEW YORK CITY-Acting Supreme Court Justice Daniel Conviser in Manhattan yesterday acquitted a construction crane owner and his companies of criminal charges for the May 2008 collapse of a crane that killed two workers at an E. 91st Street construction site.

Recorded development declarations, and the rights and restrictions they afford and impose on property and third parties, were a key due-diligence obstacle…

Recorded development declarations, and the rights and restrictions they afford and impose on property and third parties, were a key due-diligence obstacle…