CASE LAW DEVELOPMENTS -

This survey covers several 2021 cases involving disputes among parties to equipment leases or other personal property financings and cases involving third parties claiming to have related rights or interests. The courts in these cases considered many of the fundamental issues often raised by parties and others when litigating commercial enforcement, bankruptcy protections and other claimed rights, including the associated rights and interests and liability considerations, relating to these leases and financings. The issues covered in cases summarized in this Survey include whether a transaction documented as a lease creates a true “lease” or a security interest, the enforceability of certain lease-related remedies, vicarious liability of a lessor, the enforceability and shortcomings of forum selection clauses, the enforceability of hell-or-high-water clauses, and the rights of assignees.

Originally published in the Fall 2022 edition of The Business Lawyer (Vol. 77).