Photo Courtesy of JRDV Architects

Wendel Rosen attorneys Amara Morrison and Todd Williams represented Strategic Urban Development Alliance, a member of the development team BART selected to entitle and develop its 5.2-acre site at the West Oakland BART station, known as “Mandela Station.” Wendel’s assistance helped secure Oakland Planning Commission approval of final development permits for the project, which relied upon the City’s density bonus law to increase the density of this critically important transit-oriented development project. The planned Mandela Station, a mixed-used $691 million project, will provide 522 market rate residential units and 240 affordable housing units, in addition to retail, extensive public improvements including a public plaza, a parking garage and an exciting and resonant public art component. Read the full story on San Francisco Business Times (subscription required).

Patricia Curtin, Wendel Rosen Land Use Partner, has been named to the Daily Journal’s list of 2020 Top Women Lawyers in California. The distinction recognizes women at the top of their legal practice.

With a career that spans over three decades, Patricia is a distinguishable Land Use attorney in the Bay Area. She is recognized for projects that include the development of corporate warehouses in the East Bay, the Vallco Town Center project in the City of Cupertino, and her private and pro bono work with mental health facilities in Northern California.

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Wendel Rosen partner Christine Noma addresses the ambiguity of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act in a recent article by the Daily Journal. As COVID-19 continues to keep schools and day cares closed, employers are navigating the requirements and financial burden of offering paid leave to employees now caring for children at home. Visit Daily Journal to read the full article (subscription required).

Retail IT Insights published a bylined article from Dan Myers and Gregg Ankenman on the current state of retail leasing in the COVID-19 era. The attorneys describe what could be called the “retail apocalypse” and mention possible solutions for these dead mall and empty shopping center spaces.  Read the full story on Retail IT Insights.

Wendel Rosen partner Christine Noma provides legal insight on overtime exemptions for retail employees. Visit Daily Journal to read the full article (subscription required).

In a recent interview by Daily Journal, Wendel Rosen partner Christine Noma speaks on labor law in the COVID-19 era where lines between salaried and exempt employees are often blurred. Visit Daily Journal to read the full article (subscription required).

Wendel attorney Anna Nagornaia’s most recent article discussing the latest update on the Payment Protection Program loan’s Good Faith Certification was republished by National Association of Surety Bond Producers as a blog.

Eugene Pak, head of Wendel Rosen’s Alcoholic Beverage Law practice and IP group, was quoted in the World Trademark Review (May 7, 2020) on the Seventh Circuit’s recent decision in the “corn syrup” false advertising case brought by MolsonCoors against AB-InBev.

The court allowed AB-InBev to continue to advertise that MolsonCoors uses corn syrup in the brewing of its MILLER LITE and COORS LIGHT beers, relying heavily on the fact that MolsonCoors had listed “corn syrup” as an “ingredient” on its website, though it was not “high fructose corn syrup.”  Pak noted that the decision may now make it easier “for a defendant to dismiss a claim for false or misleading advertising if the defendant can point to something the plaintiff publicly stated or admitted.”

Read and download a PDF of the full article here.

Wendel Rosen attorney R. Zachary Wasserman, who also chairs the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), speaks out on the newly released study on sea-level rise in the Bay Area. Zach shares the challenges the region will face from anticipated rising tides and storm surges ranging from 12 to 108 inches.  Read the full story by John King of the San Francisco Chronicle.

Wendel attorney Zack Wasserman offers expert analysis in an NBC Bay Area piece on the threat that rising sea level poses to neighborhoods and major construction projects in the Bay Area. Watch here.