Is There Liability for Terminating Contracts Related to Russia?
5 Key Takeaways | Contractual Approaches to Supply Chain Disputes: Is it Time for a New Paradigm?
COVID-19 Updates: Arizona Employment Law Issues
Following the COVID‑19 pandemic, many parties and jurisdictions grappled with how shutdown orders affected their private contract rights. Our commentary from March 2020 is still a good starting point for evaluating these...more
The Insolvency and Dispute Resolution team at Walkers in Dubai continue to advise on the impact of the recent sanctions imposed on Russia in an offshore context, including whether such sanctions can give rise to a defence for...more
European energy companies face unprecedented uncertainty as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. A potential reduction or cessation of Russian gas imports is not unforeseeable and would invariably affect all market...more
In the first Pennsylvania appellate case addressing the effects of government-ordered business closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic on a commercial lease default, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has held that the traditional...more
The 51st Annual International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) U.S. Law Conference was held earlier this month in San Francisco from November 3 – 5, 2021. Chaired by our own David Rabinowitz, the event hosted more than 700...more
In a survey of cases in federal, state and bankruptcy courts, commercial tenants seeking to delay or excuse the payment of rent because of pandemic-related downturns in business sometimes looked to the equitable doctrines of...more
One year into the pandemic, courts have almost uniformly found that COVID-19 does not permit commercial tenants to avoid their rent payment obligations. In this case, the court continued that trend, ruling that the pandemic...more
Two recent cases from New York state court came out on opposite ends of the landlord-tenant and landlord-guarantor divides over COVID-19-related commercial lease disputes. On the pro-landlord end of the spectrum, in Mept 757...more
In one of the latest and most high-profile decisions from across the country relating to commercial tenants’ rent obligations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New...more
We all hoped ringing in the New Year would mean leaving some of the hardships from the COVID-19 pandemic behind in 2020. However, in just two short months, businesses struggling with rent and other financial obligations due...more
The United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (“Eleventh Circuit”), in a February 17th Opinion addressed a dispute involving a terminal contract with a minimum coal tonnage use provision. See Drummond Coal Sales Inc....more
CASES OF NOTE THE SECRET'S OUT Victoria’s Secret Stores, LLC v. Herald Store Owner LLC, 70 Misc. 3d 1206(A) (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Jan. 7, 2021) A New York court recently held that a retailer’s closure due to a state law imposed...more
The lingerie brand Victoria’s Secret (“VS”) has struggled in recent years. VS’ overtly sexy aesthetic has failed to keep up with shifting consumer tastes towards comfort and gender and size inclusivity....more
The increase in loan and lease defaults in the wake of COVID-19 has brought to the forefront numerous legal defenses by borrowers and tenants, such as force majeure, impossibility, and frustration of purpose. Force majeure...more
As discussed in previous updates, courts across the country continue to grapple with the application of the legal doctrines of impossibility, frustration of purpose, and impracticability in breach of contract actions...more
What impact, if any, does a force majeure clause (or absence of one) have on common law excuse doctrines such as impossibility and frustration of purpose? A party who chooses to omit a force majeure clause from a contract...more
Plaintiff’s lawyers trying to capitalize on the chaos created by the COVID-19 pandemic have filed class action lawsuits against companies who own and/or operate fitness and health clubs. The lawsuits seek refunds of assessed...more
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of...more
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, real estate owners and tenants have faced unprecedented day-to-day operational challenges from the loss of business and income. Two new real estate lawsuits seek to address these issues. ...more
New York courts are resuming some operations, but eviction proceedings, including for violations of commercial leases, are still suspended. However, those contracts — and the obligations they created — still exist. ...more
As a result of COVID-19, landlords and tenants are coming face-to-face with legal theories that they may never have encountered before, such as force majeure, frustration of purpose, impossibility of performance,...more
On April 16, 2020, the Supreme People’s Court of China (the “SPC”) issued the Guiding Opinions of the SPC on Several Issues Concerning Proper Trial of Civil Cases Involving COVID-19 (I) (the “COVID-19 Opinions”), providing a...more
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in dramatic shifts in the way many companies operate. A recent spate of government restrictions have closed or limited nonessential businesses, and, although they vary by state, many of...more
New York courts have applied the common law doctrines of Impossibility of Performance and Frustration of Purpose narrowly and strictly and only in limited circumstances when raised by commercial tenants who refused to pay...more
As the novel coronavirus has and continues to wreak havoc on so many lives, so does it affect contracts, whether they be those between landlord and tenant, buyer and seller, or otherwise. As addressed by my esteemed colleague...more