Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
The Dilemma of Liquidated Damages: Even after Default, Fairness Remains a Key Component of Enforceability
A recent court decision striking down the liquidated damages provision of an aircraft lease should cause lessors to rethink (and possibly redraft), their standard remedies clauses.
In AAR International, Incorporated v. Nimelias Enterprises S.A., Vacances Heliades S.A. and Princess Airlines S.A., 2004 WL 2966659 (N.D. ILL.), No. 99 C 8090 (Dec. 1, 2004), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, applying Illinois law, declared the lessor's liquidated damages clause in an aircraft lease as an unenforceable penalty since such calculation both: 1) permitted spontaneous recovery by lessor of both actual and liquidated damages, and 2) did not take into account the early recapture of the leased aircraft and credit lessee with the difference between the estimated residual value at the end of the lease term and the greater value of the aircraft when it was repossessed.
Whether viewed as an anomaly or not, the AAR decision should serve as a warning to lessors (as well as investors purchasing or taking collateral assignments of leases) to pay special attention to the way their remedy provisions are drafted so as to avoid the unfortunate outcome that befell AAR International, Incorporated (“AAR”).
Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?