Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.

A great deal has been written about global warming, international efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions, state and federal action in this area, and even growing business initiatives that seek to address the problem. (<i>See, e.g.,</i> Thomas L. Friedman, 'The Green Road Less Traveled,' <i>N.Y. Times, Week in Review,</i> at 12, July 15, 2007. Significantly, however, these environmental concerns also have reached down to the local level throughout New York state. Indeed, local government actions are already affecting ' and will have significant future implications for ' individuals, businesses, property owners, contractors, and suppliers. Local municipalities have adopted zoning, building, or construction codes or other land use regulations requiring consideration of greenhouse gases or related environmental issues before permits will be issued. The new provisions are becoming so prevalent, in fact, that one might rightly declare that the state is at the beginning of a 'Green Revolution' on the local level.

As commercial landlords in cities nationwide continue to look toward renovating or converting their commercial properties to other uses, and in particular into residential condominiums, many do not fully consider the dynamics between the existing tenants and the conversion process, which can result in decreased profits for the entire conversion or renovation project. Often, the interests of the existing tenants and renovating landlords are irreconcilably adverse to each other. Any landlord that fails to consider the 'cross-purpose dynamics' between the existing tenant's interests and its own interests in renovating or converting the property places itself in a common trap. Unsuspecting landlords that may think they are undertaking a simple and profitable conversion find that the renovation process can prove costly and fraught with contentiousness and hostility. Careful consideration of a few key issues can help landlords be sensitive to and avoid problems that arise from the cross-purpose dynamics inherent in many commercial renovations.

'Rent is an independent covenant.' These are words historically coveted by nearly every landlord. In most cases, interestingly, the independent nature of the payment of rent is not troubling to tenants or their counsel. In some jurisdictions, the concept of 'dependant covenants' is surfacing if the parties do not specify otherwise. From time to time, however, a tenant will require the landlord to insert provisions providing the right to self-help and/or the ability to set-off against rent, concepts that are contrary to the independent covenant doctrine. For well-heeled landlords, this is problem enough. Add a lender to the mix, particularly in instances where consent to the lease is required, and the matter quickly becomes complicated. The landlord's interests lie in keeping others from acting on its behalf with respect to its property and preserving its cash flow. The tenant's interests lie in making sure that the landlord performs its obligations under the lease and, if the tenant is required to act for the landlord, that the tenant has a source of funds to reimburse it for doing so. Finally, lenders are most interested in stable cash flow, continued loan repayment, and the avoidance of disputes to which they may become a party.

Features

Wanting to provide a high level of client service, and based on the increasing technology demands and expectations of handling complex litigation, we sought a customizable litigation support software system that would fulfill our attorney's needs. Specifically, our existing technology was beginning to show its age ' it lacked necessary customization options, required intense user training to allow for initial 'ramp-up' time and, most critical to us, was not based on a Microsoft SQL database backbone ' a key technology architecture component and our base requirement for scalability and growth-oriented software.

Whyte Hirschboeck Dudek S.C.'s IT group is a 14-member centralized team that is charged with the responsibility of pursuing value-added technology solutions for the staff and its clients. With this overriding mission in mind, Anna Boll, the firm's IT project manager, and I began our pursuit of selecting and rolling out a new dictation technology to our staff.

Features

The use of PowerPoint is becoming a staple in law firms. From the boardroom, to the classroom, to the courtroom, presentations enhance the delivery of your message. PowerPoint makes it easy for a novice to prepare and deliver a professional-looking presentation in little time. With that in mind, you will encounter many garish, confusing or boring PowerPoint presentations ' because it is so easy and even fun to use, people get carried away with its special effects and end up creating what amounts to an animated comic strip.

Features

Converting legacy data from one system to another is like moving from one home to another. The issues faced are similar to those firm managers hope to avoid, but often face during the conversion of data from one system to another: cost overruns, missed deadlines, multiple passes of programming to fix things that ended up in the wrong place in the new system, old data from the legacy system that is no longer used or needed moved into their new system, and the uncomfortable feeling that all of the data did not make the move.