Drafting an Effective Commercial Lease Default Lease: Two More Secrets
<b><I>Part Two of a Two-Part Article</I></b><p>Last month, the authors outlined three types of provisions that can ease a commercial landlord's efforts to enforce the terms of a lease when a tenant defaults: clauses related to additional rent, rent acceleration and late charges. They continue here with two more lease-drafting ideas for minimizing the effects of tenant default.
Third Circuit Sides With Creditors in EFIH Make-Whole Dispute
At the end of last year, the Third Circuit added to several recent decisions addressing whether a creditor was entitled to payment of a "make- whole" premium in connection with a Chapter 11 case. The court's opinion is the most creditor-friendly decision issued to date on this topic.
Equipment Lessors and Bankruptcy
Much has been written about the risk that a transaction denominated and documented as an equipment "lease" may be recharacterized a security interest. Equipment lessors seem to understand. Interestingly, equipment lessors commonly seem to not understand all of the rights and remedies they have in the absence of recharacterization. So, what's a true equipment lessor to do in the face of the Chapter 11 of its lessee?
Case Notes
In April, the Court of Appeal of Florida, First District, determined in that condominium owners who rented their properties to vacationers through the online service VRBO2 had not violated restrictive covenants not to conduct business in their units. Here's an analysis of the case.
Financing Rolling Stock: Luxembourg Rail Protocol Steams Ahead
Cross-border trade and international law regimes are all affected by the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention (the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment (the Convention)), which is well known to those experienced in aircraft financing. Like the Hague Securities Convention, the Cape Town Convention was sponsored by UNIDROIT (the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law), an intergovernmental organization whose mission is to harmonize international laws.
Using a True Lease or a TRAC Lease
<b><I>Potential Complications in Bankruptcy</I></b><p>An equipment financing company will often decide whether it wants a transaction to be a true lease or a TRAC lease as opposed to a retail sale. A good reason to be able to make the distinction is to determine what might be the best structure for an equipment financier. This article explores the differences.
Stick to the 'Plain Meaning'
<b><I>Interpreting Lease Contract Terms</I></b><p>The complications that can and do arise in the field of commercial leasing come in all shapes and sizes, and not all can be anticipated. However, with careful planning, and if the stars align, lease terms sometimes cover even an abnormal future event, preserving the agreement that the parties undoubtedly contemplated at signing
Do <b><I>Daubert</I></b> Motions Really Work?
<b><I>Part One of a Three-Part Article</I></b><p>More than 20 years into the Daubert era, a surprising number of litigators still have doubts and disagreements about the effectiveness of motions <I>in limine</I> challenging the admissibility of federal court opinion testimony under Federal Rules of Evidence (FRE) 702. Among the concerns commonly expressed by the trial bar is the perception that so-called <I>Daubert</I> motions are a long shot at best, often not worth the time and effort.
