Commercial Leases and Frustration of Purpose, Impossibility Defenses: Strategies for Landlords and Tenants
Course Details
- smart_display Format
On-Demand
- signal_cellular_alt Difficulty Level
Intermediate
- work Practice Area
Real Property - Transactions
- event Date
Monday, April 8, 2024
- schedule Time
1:00 p.m. ET./10:00 a.m. PT
- timer Program Length
90 minutes
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This 90-minute webinar is eligible in most states for 1.5 CLE credits.
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This CLE course will guide landlord and tenant counsel on contractual and common law defenses in breach of lease cases due to failure to pay rent. The panel will address recent case law regarding how courts have analyzed claims of frustration of purpose, impossibility, and other common law defenses.
Ms. Heydt has focused her real estate practice on transactions since 1999 and currently devotes a significant portion of her time to representing banks in commercial real estate finance and workout transactions. She also represents developers, investors, owners, landlords, and tenants in purchase, sale, and leasing transactions in the commercial and corporate real estate sectors. Ms. Heydt has deep and broad experience with multifamily, industrial, retail, office, hospitality, gas station, convenience store, and quick service restaurant product types. She also advises clients on sale/leaseback and stalking horse transactions and has represented public entities in matters related to commercial real estate, public finance, and solar battery projects.
Mr. Weltman's wide-reaching litigation practice focuses on finding successful resolutions to his clients' legal issues. He represents both individuals and companies across a range of industries including hospitality, real estate, construction, healthcare, restaurant, and retail. Mr. Weltman's direct civil and commercial litigation experience includes handling complex commercial and business litigation, employment litigation, Wage Act litigation, probate litigation, real estate disputes, construction matters, civil rights litigation including ADA accessibility, accommodation issues, and high impact class action work, municipal disputes, appellate advocacy, and other tort based litigation matters.
Mr. Wurtzel’s practice focuses on high-stakes, complex commercial litigation and corporate governance disputes. He has successfully represented public and private companies and prominent individuals in both federal and state court. Through his focus on aggressive litigation and his ability to develop creative and novel solutions to complex disputes, Mr. Wurtzel brings a unique and out-of-the-box perspective to his clients’ most pressing legal needs.
Commercial landlords and tenants should understand the evolving case law related to available defenses where the tenant is unable to pay rent. Many lessons were learned during the pandemic, e.g., effectively using contractual force majeure clauses or, alternatively, common law defenses to seek relief; and case law has evolved accordingly.
Often-used common law defenses include impossibility of performance, commercial impracticability, and frustration of purpose. Counsel for commercial landlords and tenants should know how courts are ruling on contractual and common law defenses to prepare the best case moving forward. Defense counsel must also understand the state specifics related to common law defenses such as what qualifies as an impossibility and when and how a force majeure clause may override the availability of this common law defense.
Listen as our expert panel reviews the status of notable landlord-tenant cases that have utilized the common law doctrines of impossibility and frustration of purpose. The panel will advise on best practices when this defense is asserted and when, in the alternative, the contract language will be the determining factor.
- Contractual vs. common law defenses in commercial leases
- Force majeure
- Impossibility
- Frustration of purpose
- Commercial impracticability
- Notable recent state decisions
- Best practices
The panel will review these and other relevant topics:
- What are the common law doctrines/defenses used in commercial landlord-tenant cases?
- How did the pandemic affect the evolution of case law related to certain contractual and common law defenses, and what are current cases demonstrating the viability of these defenses today?
- When must a tenant rely on the force majeure clause in a lease?
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