The risk of oil pollution liability for financial lessors of vessels operating in U.S. waters under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 ("OPA 90"), 33 U.S.C. §2701 et seq., has been substantially ameliorated under new U.S. legislation, thereby restoring leasing as a more lessor-friendly financing option for vessels that trade in U.S. waters.
At the launch of its annual sales meeting, a senior executive of an international company remarked that if the payment obligation had a hell or high water payment obligation, his company would try to finance it.
This article is the last installment of a series published in November and December addressing the practice of having bankruptcy counsel get involved in lease deals from the outset.
Highlights of the latest equipment leasing news from around the country.
Highlights of the latest insurance cases from around the country.
Previously we have addressed the issues of fraud at the inception of an insurance claim, a carrier's analysis of fraudulent claims and the use of forensic experts to investigate and defend claims. This article will focus on the role of the carrier's Special Investigation Unit ("SIU") in investigating and defending against fraudulent insurance claims and the role of SIU counsel in the investigative process.
Direct insurance contracts, like other commercial agreements, can be structured to provide for arbitration as the chosen means of dispute resolution. See, e.g., Michael Ha, Arbitration Boosts Efficiency: Alliance, National Underwriter, March 17, 2003. Despite the perceived efficiencies of arbitration, some groups have pushed for widespread regulation of the use of arbitration clauses in commercial insurance contracts. See Mandatory Arbitration on NAIC Agenda, Insurance Chronicle, Feb. 3, 2003. Thus far, those opposed to arbitration clauses in insurance contracts have focused their efforts on persuading individual state regulators to restrict or ban the inclusion of mandatory arbitration clauses. See id.
FRCP 26(a)(2)(B) governing the disclosure of expert witnesses in federal court was adopted in 1993 with the hope that "the length of the deposition of such experts should be reduced, and in many cases the report may eliminate the need for a deposition" altogether. Advisory Committee Notes, Fed. R. Civ. Pro., Rule 26, 28 U.S.C.A. (1993).
Highlights of the latest commercial leasing cases from around the country.
In today's complex real estate world, shopping center owners are finding that redeveloping a shopping center may not be enough to remain competitive. Well-known retail analysts are commenting that consumers are tired of the mall concept that forces someone to wade through a department store to access an enclosed mall, when all they are really looking for is the quick purchase of a pair of shoes. Analysts, including PricewaterhouseCoopers and others, have concluded that as many as one-third of the nation's 1200 malls are obsolete, or nearly so. After decades of both owner and retailer consolidation, the 10 largest mall real estate investment trusts now control approximately 47% of all malls. About 20% of these are "D" level malls which should probably be de-malled. The Congress for the New Urbanism has called many of these lower-performing enclosed regional malls, "greyfields." This is a comparison to "brownfields," the term commonly used to refer to abandoned and partially contaminated commercial facilities.
