Features

COVID-19 and Force Majeure Clauses
The COVID-19 outbreak has wreaked havoc on the entertainment industry. Productions have been halted and distribution channels disrupted. In the midst of this pandemic, one big question for contracting parties is whether force majeure will excuse or postpone a party's obligations without liability.
Features

Preparing for the LIBOR Phase Out: Contract Remediation Starts with Contract Intelligence
The London Interbank Offered Rate has long been the global basis for agreements that include a variable interest rate component. However, LIBOR would be replaced by other benchmarks by the end of 2021. Key to assessing risk of exposure, quantifying the financial impact, developing remediation plans and communicating material information to stakeholders will be the identification, analysis and remediation of LIBOR-based contracts.
Features

Preparing for the LIBOR Phase Out: Contract Remediation Starts with Contract Intelligence
The London Interbank Offered Rate has long been the global basis for agreements that include a variable interest rate component. However, LIBOR would be replaced by other benchmarks by the end of 2021. Key to assessing risk of exposure, quantifying the financial impact, developing remediation plans and communicating material information to stakeholders will be the identification, analysis and remediation of LIBOR-based contracts.
Features

COVID-19: How to Keep Cybersecurity in Mind When Negotiating Work-From-Home Vendor Contracts
COVID-19 spurred an overnight surge in demand for work-from-home vendors — from videoconferencing companies to cloud service providers. This caused some companies to rush into service contracts without fully appreciating the privacy and cybersecurity risks involved.
Features

Followup: PBS Wins Verdict In Suit By Fired TV Show Host Tavis Smiley
It was a trial to remember for Morgan, Lewis & Bockius partner Grace Speights, lead defense attorney for PBS against Tavis Smiley, former long-running…
Features

Force Majeure and the Doctrine of Impossibility
The COVID-19 pandemic is resulting in landlords and tenants closely reviewing a clause in their lease that was long considered unimportant boilerplate. Yes, we are referring to the "force majeure" provision.
Features

Key Provisions in Film Location Agreements
Property owners granting production companies access to their properties seems like a no-brainer — who wouldn't want their property featured in that next big blockbuster movie or hit television series? However, when filming occurs on private property, a location agreement is a must, from the perspectives of both the production company and the property owner.
Features

'Weinstein' Clauses In Acquisition Agreements
The purpose of a Weinstein clause is to provide assurance that the target company (including its officers and executives) is not a hotbed of sexual harassment or a ticking time bomb of claims waiting to explode. This article on drafting and negotiating Weinstein clauses should help entertainment and media deal teams balance these risks.
Features

D&O Policy 'Bankruptcy Exclusion' Held To Be an Unenforceable 'Ipso Facto' Clause
The new decision is significant because lawsuits against former (and current) officers and directors of debtors commonly are brought, as here, by trusts established under plans of reorganization. Because insurance policies often are the only viable source of recovery for the claims asserted in such lawsuits, this decision potentially opens a pathway to creditor recovery in other similar matters.
Features

159 MP Corp.: Grateful That Majority Rejected Dissent's Radical Approach
Further comment and analysis is warranted on the three-judge dissent, which, if adopted by the majority, would have fundamentally altered the very foundation of New York contract law.
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