October 20, 2020

What Happens When LIBOR Ends?

By: Jason Amster , Practical Guidance This article describes how you should proceed when your client calls and asks what happens to their loan documents after the pending cessation of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) at the end of 2021. LENDER AND BORROWER CLIENTS WITH CREDIT AGREEMENTS that extend past that date and borrowers entering into new financings are asking their lawyers how their financings address...

October 20, 2020

Main Street Lending Program: Key Practice Points

By: Michael Chernick , Tomasz Kulawik , Mohamed El-Sayed , and Lisseth A. Rincon Manzano , Shearman & Sterling LLP This article describes the terms of the facilities available under the Main Street Lending Program, in addition to providing practice tips to lawyers whose clients are (or are considering) entering such financing. Background As part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES...

October 20, 2020

SOFR Loan Documentation: 8 Considerations for Borrowers

By: David K. Duffee , Mayer Brown Bankers, lawyers, and others involved in the loan market’s transition from the London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) to another reference rate have spent much of the past two years thinking about and drafting fallback provisions—the section of a loan agreement that describes what happens if LIBOR is not available. NOW THAT THE LIKELY DISAPPEARANCE OF LIBOR IS less than...

October 20, 2020

Special Purpose Acquisition Companies

By: David A. Curtiss , Proskauer Rose LLP This article discusses recent market trends regarding special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), covering notable transactions, deal structure and process, and other key market trends, and provides an outlook for the rest of the year. THIS ARTICLE DISCUSSES RECENT MARKET TRENDS regarding special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs), covering notable transactions, deal...

October 20, 2020

Public Company Reporting and Corporate Governance

By: Alex May and William Erlain , Jenner & Block LLP This article provides an overview of the notable market trends in corporate governance and public company reporting in 2019 and early 2020 and the outlook for the remainder of 2020. IN 2019, THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION (the SEC) continued its activities to simplify and reduce the amount of disclosure public companies must provide and improve the usability...

October 20, 2020

Pandemic Preparation: 72-Hour Response Plan to Government Inquiry

By: Charles J. Clark , Barry A. Bohrer , and Christian J. Ascunce , Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP THIS ARTICLE PROVIDES GUIDANCE COVERING KEY questions that your organization may face as a result of a regulatory and enforcement inquiry during COVID-19, including a checklist to aid your response. Considering and approving these best practices is good; mastering and implementing them so that you may reflexively employ...

October 18, 2020

How LexisNexis Legal & Professional Will Work To Advance Racial Justice

In an effort to advance racial justice and equality, LexisNexis is undertaking a series of actions to ensure greater diversity within the company and drive change in the communities it serves. Practical Guidance has launched the Protestors’ Rights Resource Kit , a compilation of publicly available resources to inform protest participants and members of the press covering protests of their legal rights. The kit...

October 17, 2020

Ten Things Every Attorney Should Know About Contracts (But May Not)

By: Timothy Murray , Murray Hogue and Lannis ONE TIME I FOUND MYSELF IN A BREACH OF CONTRACT TRIAL before a grizzled jurist who seemed to have as much familiarity with contract law as I have with high fashion (none). I would like to say that he compensated for this deficiency with street smarts and a courteous judicial temperament, except it wouldn’t be true. The attorneys were arguing some point of law, and...

October 17, 2020

Leave and Vacation Sharing and Donation Policies: Key Drafting Tips and Legal Issues

By: Avi Meyerstein and Robert Sanders , Husch Blackwell LLP, and Stacey Bowman , Ascent Classical Academies This article provides key drafting tips and best practices for employers when drafting leave and vacation sharing and donation policies. A leave-sharing and donation policy allows employees to donate or share paid time off (PTO), including vacation and sick days, for use by other employees for medical emergencies...

October 17, 2020

Can and Should Arbitrators Compel Parties to Participate in Remote Arbitration Hearings?

By: Theodore K. Cheng, Esq. , ADR Office of Theo Cheng This article discusses the complex issue of whether and how an arbitrator can compel parties to participate in remote arbitration hearings amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. ONE IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC HAS BEEN TO CREATE DELAYS in the scheduling of in-person arbitration evidentiary hearings due to ongoing governmental regulations, travel restrictions...

June 19, 2020

COVID-19 Ramifications in Loan Documents

By: Michael Chernick and Brittany Roger, Shearman & Sterling LLP This article provides an overview of certain key provisions of credit agreements that will need to be reviewed to determine how the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis—and the economic turmoil in its wake—affects a borrower’s ability to meet its ongoing obligations under such agreements and how borrowers and lenders may protect themselves...

June 19, 2020

IP Licensing in the Age of Coronavirus

By: Catriona Collins , Lexis Practice Advisor While there have been no changes to U.S. intellectual property law as a direct result of the coronavirus crisis, the pandemic has changed the world in which intellectual property licenses operate. This article examines licensing issues that intellectual property counsel will need to consider now and in the future. Supervening Events May Impact IP Licenses The best way...

June 19, 2020

COVID-19 from a Securities Law Perspective

By: Michael L. Hermsen, Anna Pinedo, and Laura D. Richman , Mayer Brown LLP THE ARTICLE ALSO HIGHLIGHTS KEY FORM 10-K AND FORM 10-Q matters, including risk factors, management discussion and analysis (MD&A), and financial statement issues, and examines various financing alternatives for companies considering their options to bolster their capital structure. We are experiencing an unprecedented event, the COVID...

June 19, 2020

Seven Ways the CARES Act Impacts the Real Estate Industry

By: Brian A. Blitz , Craig L. Brown , Stephen B. Land , Edward Baker , and Sang H. Lee , Duval & Stachenfeld LLP The coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has impacted, and will continue to impact, the health of Americans and the strength of our economy for the foreseeable future. On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act,1 was signed into law, and on April 2, 2020, the...

June 18, 2020

Force Majeure Clauses in the Face of COVID-19: Commercial Leasing Guidance

By: Deborah Yoon Jones , Alston & Bird LLP This article explains what a force majeure clause is and how and under what circumstances a force majeure clause in a commercial lease may be invoked due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). THE ARTICLE ADDRESSES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT A FORCE majeure clause will be enforced in California, other related impossibility defenses, and considerations for commercial lessors and...

June 18, 2020

Technology will be Key to Real Estate Recovery

By: Blake Liggio , Danielle Lauzon , John Mutkoski , and Andy Sucof , Goodwin Procter LLP IT IS NOW SEVERAL MONTHS SINCE THE COVID-19 HEALTH crisis emerged in the United States, the immediate impacts on the PropTech industry have crystallized. Real estate operations have changed in fundamental ways—office spaces have been vacated; warehouse and distribution centers have continued operations but supply chain issues...

June 18, 2020

Guidance for Distressed Companies: Loan Workouts and Exchange Offers

By: Daniel G. Egan , Ropes & Gray LLP with updates by the Lexis Practice Advisor Attorney Team As the Coronavirus pandemic continues to impact our economy, many companies will need to consider whether to pursue a loan workout. This article examines considerations that affect whether and in what manner a company may restructure its loans and bond debt. A workout in the context of a financially distressed company...

June 18, 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Legal Issues for Healthcare Organizations

By: Salvatore J. Russo , Margaret J. Davino , and Ali Brodie , Fox Rothschild, LLP This article provides an overview of significant legal issues facing healthcare organizations as a result of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and provides practical guidance for effectively managing those issues. Immigration Your clients in the healthcare industry that employ individuals pursuant to immigrant and non-immigrant visas...

June 17, 2020

A National Registry of COVID-19 Patients: The Legal Implications

By: L. Stephen Bowers , Andrew F. Susko , and Daniel J. Ferhat , White and Williams LLP Medical data companies are reportedly 1 volunteering to join the fight against COVID-19 by offering to broadly share confidential, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-protected patient medical information they possess, including patient demographics, symptoms, testing results, treatment, and outcomes. The...

June 17, 2020

COVID-19 Update: Q&A for Public Companies

By: Davina K. Kaile , Gabriella A. Lombardi , Christina F. Pearson , and Stanton D. Wong , Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP This Q&A addresses some of the most frequently asked questions of public companies on how to navigate the challenges posed by COVID-19. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has provided conditional regulatory relief regarding filing deadlines and has issued guidance regarding annual...

June 17, 2020

Pandemic Flu/Influenza/Coronavirus (COVID-19) Prevention and Response Checklist (Best Practices for Employers)

By: Avi Meyerstein , Stacey Bowman , and Courtney Steelman , Husch Blackwell LLP This checklist highlights key considerations for private employers to prepare for and respond to influenza (flu) and other potential pandemic outbreaks (including the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic). This is a non-jurisdictional checklist; it does not cover all potential federal, state, and local law distinctions. The guidance below...

June 17, 2020

Force Majeure and Coronavirus (COVID-19): Seven Critical Lessons from the Case Law

By: Timothy Murray , Murray, Hogue & Lannis There is a veritable pandemic raging, and I’m not referring to COVID-19. It’s a pandemic of webinars and legal articles about force majeure and COVID-19. Sadly, no lawyer is immune from it. In force majeure article after article, we are told that the COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented, but the only thing unprecedented may be the use of the word itself. In...

June 16, 2020

Best Practices for Preventing and Responding to Flu/Coronavirus Outbreaks in the Workplace

By: Richard D. Glovsky , Jordon R. Ferguson , and Rufino Gaytán III , Locke Lord LLP Although the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has not adopted a standard addressing employers’ obligations to safeguard employees during a pandemic, OSHA has issued general guidance for employers as a direct result of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. 1 BELOW WE SUMMARIZE KEY OSHA PANDEMIC...

June 13, 2020

Compliance Tips for Running Clinical Trials During COVID-19

By: Jill E. Anderson , Linda A. Malek , and Nora Lawrence Schmitt , Moses & Singer LLP NAVIGATING THE PATH FORWARD TO CONDUCT CLINICAL research in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has introduced unique challenges for sponsors and research institutions alike. Industry sponsors and institutions are facing unprecedented issues resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak, such as clinical trial site closures, travel restrictions...

June 13, 2020

Returning to Work during and after COVID-19

By: Richard J. Simmons , Brian D. Murphy , and Adam R. Rosenthal , Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP While there is no one-size-fits-all solution to creating a safe workplace, employers must carefully monitor guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), state and local health departments, Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and state and local government authorities concerning the...