Law.com Subscribers SAVE 30%
Call 855-808-4530 or email [email protected] to receive your discount on a new subscription.
In the Spotlight: Don't Leave 'Air Quality' Out of the Lease
Air quality standards are frequently not satisfactorily addressed in leases, if they are addressed at all. Most sophisticated office leases will require a landlord to provide certain temperature and humidity levels during specified times. A typical clause provides that the landlord will provide HVAC service from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and perhaps from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Sometimes the actual dry and wet bulb temperature and humidity levels will be specified, and in other instances the lease will simply provide that temperature and humidity levels will be in accordance with first-class standards. These provisions, however, do not address air quality, including cooking odors or exhaust fumes which may infiltrate the building's air system and end up in a tenant's space.
A lease may have boilerplate provisions requiring the landlord to comply with applicable laws, but such provisions do not necessarily require the landlord to provide its tenant with odor-free space. The savvy tenant will require the landlord to provide, at a minimum, that the air quality in the tenant's space will be in accordance with standards for first-class office buildings and further require the landlord to take corrective actions at its expense in the event that the air quality does not match such standards. It is particularly important for lower-floor tenants of urban properties to insert provisions with respect to fumes, especially cooking odors. In order to ensure that the landlord does not correct air quality problems at the tenant's expense, the expense pass-through provisions of the lease should specifically exclude capital expenditures. This exclusion will provide the landlord with an incentive to hold other tenants or the owners of adjoining properties accountable if their activities are the cause of the aggrieved tenant's air quality problems.
William Crowe
Air quality standards are frequently not satisfactorily addressed in leases, if they are addressed at all. Most sophisticated office leases will require a landlord to provide certain temperature and humidity levels during specified times. A typical clause provides that the landlord will provide HVAC service from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and perhaps from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Sometimes the actual dry and wet bulb temperature and humidity levels will be specified, and in other instances the lease will simply provide that temperature and humidity levels will be in accordance with first-class standards. These provisions, however, do not address air quality, including cooking odors or exhaust fumes which may infiltrate the building's air system and end up in a tenant's space.
A lease may have boilerplate provisions requiring the landlord to comply with applicable laws, but such provisions do not necessarily require the landlord to provide its tenant with odor-free space. The savvy tenant will require the landlord to provide, at a minimum, that the air quality in the tenant's space will be in accordance with standards for first-class office buildings and further require the landlord to take corrective actions at its expense in the event that the air quality does not match such standards. It is particularly important for lower-floor tenants of urban properties to insert provisions with respect to fumes, especially cooking odors. In order to ensure that the landlord does not correct air quality problems at the tenant's expense, the expense pass-through provisions of the lease should specifically exclude capital expenditures. This exclusion will provide the landlord with an incentive to hold other tenants or the owners of adjoining properties accountable if their activities are the cause of the aggrieved tenant's air quality problems.
William Crowe
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
A Lawyer's System for Active Reading
Active reading comprises many daily tasks lawyers engage in, including highlighting, annotating, note taking, comparing and searching texts. It demands more than flipping or turning pages.