With law firm leasing staying strong during the third quarter of 2025, the legal sector accounts for 10.5% of total U.S. office leasing for the first three quarters of the year, more than double the level in 2018, showing the strength of the legal leasing market, a new Savills Q3 report finds.
When it comes to structuring a real estate deal, one of the most fundamental questions is whether the land should be leased under a long-term ground lease or sold outright. At first glance, the distinction may seem simple: a ground lease allows a landowner to retain ownership, and the tenant is permitted to use and improve the land, while a sale conveys fee title to the purchaser. But the legal, financial, and practical consequences of this choice are significant and can shape the future of a property for decades.
Florida House Bill 7031, eliminating the state’s sales tax on commercial real estate leases beginning Oct. 1, 2025. This long-awaited and sweeping reform ends Florida’s reign as the only state in the nation to impose such a tax and marks a sea change in the state’s commercial leasing landscape.
Real estate businesses and lawyers encounter indemnity provisions in virtually every type of commercial contract. While indemnitees often insist on broad indemnity protection, business owners should be aware of, and try to avoid being bound by, generic indemnity provisions which can be contextually overbroad and result in unanticipated enforcement results.
When it comes to foreclosing on collateral, secured creditors must be cognizant of the statutory requirements of Article 9 of the UCC. Article 9 has very specific rules governing the foreclosure process and the exercise of remedies. But is compliance with those rules enough to preserve a creditor’s rights in its collateral? It seems there is disagreement among courts as to the correct answer.
At times, disputes arise among parties in commercial transactions as to whether multiple contracts involving a common matter should be read as a single, integrated contract, or as separate and distinct agreements. This issue often surfaces where one or more such agreements contain arbitration clauses, but other related contracts do not.
The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado will cause many local governments to revisit the defensibility of their impact fee regimes.
In the view of many experienced practitioners, arbitration has morphed into a time-consuming process, often as expensive as litigation and has other shortcomings such as the non-appealability of the arbitrator's decision. Not so mediation which may be a materially better form of ADR.
Since a deed is a subsequent writing between the parties, there is some logic to the terms of the deed taking precedence over the terms of the prior contract of sale, at least as to the subject matter of the deed.
Despite being more affordable than title insurance, attorney opinion letters should be used with caution when replacing title insurance. The costs savings associated with this practice might not justify the additional risk associated with it.
