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Parties in complex commercial cases that are accused of defaulting on or breaching a contract may invoke the defense of impossibility, arguing that performance of contractual obligations was rendered impossible by an intervening event. Under New York law, those arguments rarely make it past the motion stage. Courts apply the doctrine narrowly, only to executory contracts and only where the intervening event was both unforeseeable and destroyed either the contract’s subject matter or the means of performance. The related doctrine of frustration of purpose may apply more broadly, but only where it would make little sense to perform on a contract because of an intervening event. The narrowness of these doctrines — and their questionable utility for litigators — underscores the importance of striving during the contract drafting process to include contingency clauses providing for foreseeable possibilities and language making clear the contract’s purpose.
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By Howard B. Epstein and Theodore A. Keyes
Many businesses have sought to recover their pandemic losses under commercial property insurance policies, only to be denied coverage. A significant number of policyholders have filed lawsuits challenging these disclaimers, primarily in state courts. But to the dismay of the insureds, a growing majority of high state courts have sided with the insurers in these disputes.
Navigating the Intersections of Commercial Real Estate and Eminent Domain Actions
By Ellen Smith and Elizabeth Story
For real estate attorneys, knowing how to navigate around eminent domain actions in the midst of various transactions and operations is critical to best position clients for the future condemnation conundrum.
A Prepackaged Bankruptcy Could Be the Answer to a Mortgage Default
By Timothy Little, Scott Vetri, Julie Lee and Peter Siddiqui
This article discusses the value of prepackaged bankruptcy as an alternative route for addressing commercial mortgage defaults in high tax jurisdictions.
NJ Supreme Court: Commercial Property Owners Have a Duty to Maintain Abutting Sidewalks
By Colleen Murphy
In a 4-3 decision on June 13, the New Jersey Supreme Court reversed an Appellate Division opinion in a slip-and-fall case, concluding that all commercial landowners have a duty to maintain public sidewalks and are liable to pedestrians who are injured as a result of their negligent failure to do so.