Category Archives: Commercial

Treatise Update: Commercial Ground Leases (Fourth Edition)

Commercial Ground Leases (Fourth Edition) acquaints readers with key concepts, dispute resolution practices, and drafting strategies concerning commercial ground leases. The book features enlightening discussions on base and ground rents, reappraisals, tenant and landlord financing, subletting, exculpatory clauses, mortgage financing, insurance and damage considerations, defaults, redemption, and rights to repurchase, inflation indexing and other important commercial ground lease concepts, along with dozens of practice-ready forms and checklists.

The new release includes the following updates:

Chapter 3, Base Rent and Other Payments, includes an updated discussion of indexing and step rents.
Chapter 4, Reappraisal of Ground Rents, highlights a new discussion that traces the history of ground rent resets and provides an annotated form of reappraisal clause involving both use value and highest and best use reappraisal techniques.
Chapter 8 , Leasehold Financing, includes new lease provisions.
Appendix A, Ground Lease, includes updated Annual Minimum Rent provision during the Extended Term involves both use value and highest and best use reappraisal techniques.
Appendix X, Inflation Indexing, is updated with Chart 5, which covers the years 1950 to 2024, a total of seventy-five years.

The Tables of Authorities and Index have also been updated.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Treatise Update: Hillman on Commercial Loan Documentation (6th Edition)

Leave a reply

Hillman on Commercial Loan Documentation offers practical guidance on how to document transactions in ways that secure lenders’ interests, minimize their risks, and protect them from liability. Packed with time-saving sample forms and sample drafting language, this book allows you to craft more quickly and confidently the full range of relevant documents, including loan agreements, security agreements, financing statements, pledges, guaranties, and opinion letters. This book also illustrates how to create loan closing checklists that ensure every key step is taken to get solid deals done and how to draft agreements that protect lenders from environmental risks, resolve conflicts with creditors, and allow lenders to capitalize on lucrative financing opportunities.

The new release includes the following updates:

Revised § 20:2.1, Evidence of Property Insurance, explains that an ordinary “loss payee” clause may not protect the lender against the borrower’s arson, insurance fraud, or negligence.
Revised § 24:2.1, The Debtor Changes Its Name, explains that under the federal REAL ID regulations, an individual’s driver’s license must include the debtor’s full middle name, not just a middle initial, possibly making a filing “seriously misleading.”
New § 24:9, Changes in the Means of Perfection, examines the 2022 Code amendments adding control to the perfection techniques for controllable electronic records, controllable accounts, controllable payment intangibles, and electronic money.

The following forms have also been updated:

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

New Title! Commercial Legal Finance

Leave a reply

PLI Press is proud to announce the publication of the new practice guide Commercial Legal Finance.

This book offers industry-specific guidance on the mechanics of litigation and arbitration finance in key jurisdictions and practice areas around the world. It provides a wealth of applied use cases for law firms and corporations and addresses key questions concerned with legal finance structures, pricing, and ethical considerations. The book also gives a step-by-step overview of the process for obtaining legal finance and a helpful glossary of terms.

Notably, Commercial Legal Finance covers the following important topics:

The basics of commercial legal finance (see Chapter 1)
The role of the funder (see Chapter 2)
The mechanics and economics of funding (see Chapter 3)
The major ethical issues related to legal finance (see Chapter 4)
The financing of investor-state arbitration (see Chapter 5)
Key considerations for financing patent litigation and other intellectual property matters (see Chapter 6)

In addition, the book devotes full chapters to the use of funding in the U.S. (Chapter 7), England and Wales (Chapter 8), Europe (Chapter 9), Asia (Chapter 10), and Australia (Chapter 11).

We are excited to share this new title with you!

PLUS Subscribers can access this title with their subscription.

Order a print copy today.

Is your library interested in subscribing to PLI’s Standing Order Plan (SOP)? SOP subscribers automatically receive print copies of new titles to review upon release. If you decide to keep the title, you will receive a discount up to 25% off the title and all future supplements. Call 877.900.5291 or email libraryrelations@pli.edu to learn more.

Treatise Update – Hillman on Documenting Secured Transactions: Effective Drafting and Litigation (Third Edition)

Leave a reply

Hillman on Documenting Secured Transactions offers grounded guidance on best practices for documenting and litigating secured transactions prepared pursuant to Revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (U.C.C.). It offers a working grasp of the legal, technical, and business aspects of Article 9 transactions and examines the effects of the 2022 Amendments on nearly every article of the U.C.C. To gain free access to Chapter 18, which addresses the 2022 Amendments in more detail, click here.

Among the many topics updated in this new release are the following:

Perfection: A table of the new perfection methods under the 2022 Amendments (see section 2:6.2).
Signed Security Agreements: A listing of the increased number of situations in which a signed security agreement is not necessary under the 2022 Amendments (see section 4:1.2).
After-Acquired Collateral: A summary of the ways in which the 2022 Amendments narrow the scope of the prohibitions against security interests in after-acquired consumer goods or commercial tort claims (see section 7:2).
Control Under the 2022 Amendments: A discussion of how the 2022 Amendments offer new ways to perfect security interests in digital assets (see section 18:4).
Unperfected Security Interests: An explanation of the changes the 2022 Amendments make to U.C.C. § 9-317(b) regarding buyers who receive delivery (see section 19:2.1).

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Treatise Update – Advertising and Commercial Speech: A First Amendment Guide (Second Edition)

Leave a reply

Advertising and Commercial Speech: A First Amendment Guide offers a practical examination of how the U.S. Supreme Court’s commercial speech doctrine impacts advertising across nearly 50 industries and professions. The book explores legal standards for defamation, false commercial speech, and disparagement along with developments around advertising for alcohol, financial institutions, professional services, medication, real estate, tobacco, and more.

Among the many topics discussed in this new release are the following:

Compelled editorial transparency: New section 12:13 discusses laws passed in Florida and Texas targeting social media platforms’ efforts to combat user-generated disinformation posted on their websites.
On-site and off-site signs and billboards: Section 13:2.1[A][7] covers the Seventh Circuit’s ruling regarding whether to apply strict scrutiny or intermediate scrutiny to an ordinance limiting digital displays and off-premises signs.
Drugs & drug paraphernalia: Section 14:14 explores a case from the Washington Court of Appeals rejecting a challenge to the state’s advertising restrictions on marketing cannabis products.
Regulation of advertising content: Revisions to chapter 14 include:

The ruling of a Florida judge regarding whether part of the state’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act, which forbids companies from undertaking mandatory employee DEI training programs designed to limit or avoid discrimination practices, is unconstitutional (see section 14:16 on fair employment); and
The Eastern District of Arkansas’ final ruling in the Tofurky case involving marketing of plant-based foods (see section 14:20 on food).

In addition, this release includes an updated Table of Cases, Defendant-Plaintiff Table, and Index.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

Treatise Update – Advertising and Commercial Speech: A First Amendment Guide (Second Edition)

Leave a reply

Written by First Amendment experts, Advertising and Commercial Speech: A First Amendment Guide focuses on how the Supreme Court’s commercial speech doctrine affects advertising in nearly fifty industries and professions including for the services of accountants, doctors and dentists, lawyers, pharmacists, educators, and more.

Among the many topics discussed in this new release are the following:

Lanham Act and misappropriation claims: New material in section 9:2 discusses two major post-Ariix decisions from federal courts in San Francisco involving failed lawsuits seeking to leverage the Lanham Act as a basis for challenging Facebook’s efforts to police its website against the spread of online misinformation.
Compelled commercial speech—housing: A revised section 12:11 examines a case from the Eastern District of New York involving a challenge by “five small landlords” to an emergency state eviction moratorium law enacted in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taxation of media: An update to section 13:4.1 covers a case from the Ohio Supreme Court regarding whether a billboard tax violated the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
Regulation of advertising content: Cases added to chapter 14 include:

Florida proceedings challenging the state’s law that prohibited cruise lines from requiring passengers to provide COVID-19 vaccination or post-infection recovery documentation prior to boarding (see section 14:2); and
Fair housing cases dealing with a Seattle ordinance that precluded landlords from taking adverse action against tenants and prospective tenants based on criminal history and a case in New York involving a law that prohibited landlords from “threatening” residential or commercial tenants based on the tenant’s COVID-19 status (see section 14:17).

In addition, this release includes an updated Table of Cases, Defendant-Plaintiff Table, and Index.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

New Edition! Social Media and the Law

Leave a reply

PLI Press is proud to announce the publication of the new edition of Social Media and the Law.

This book can help to minimize the risk of litigation and other legal problems arising from the use of social media platforms by analyzing it in various legal contexts, including privacy, civil litigation, employment, criminal activity and prosecution, intellectual property, defamation, advertising, and regulated industries. Relevant legislation, court opinions, usage trends, and industry responses are discussed.

Notable developments covered in the new edition are:

Use of technology by Human Resources departments (Chapter 6): Recent statistics on the growing use of AI, big data, and data analytics in employment recruitment are discussed.
Deceptive practices (Chapter 8): A new section discusses two self-regulatory programs operated by the Better Business Bureau that are of relevance to social media advertising: the National Advertising Division and the Children’s Advertising Review Unit, the latter of which issued revised guidelines that became effective on January 1, 2022.
Required disclosures in advertising (Chapter 8): In October 2021, the FTC began sending a series of Notices of Penalty Offenses to large numbers of businesses following an April 2021 Supreme Court decision that stripped the FTC of its authority to obtain monetary redress without first engaging in administrative proceedings.
Privacy of victims of crime (Chapter 9): A new section discusses the privacy and ethical issues arising from the provision of social media information about victims of crime.

Order a print copy today.

PLI PLUS subscribers can access this title through their subscription.

New Edition! Financial Institutions Answer Book: Law, Governance, Compliance (2018 Edition)

Leave a reply

PLI recently published the 2018 edition of Financial Institutions Answer Book, which provides a comprehensive overview of the complex federal requirements regulating financial institutions in the United States in an easily accessible Q&A format.

Every aspect of a financial institution life cycle is covered, from understanding the differences in regulation based on what type of charter is chosen, through ongoing capital and deposit activities requirements and major changes in corporate control, to the cessation of entity activity through merger, acquisition, or entity failure.

Financial Institutions Answer Book describes the requirements under each type of charter for the major areas of financial institution activity, such as:

Reflecting the increased federal concern with fraud, money laundering, and protecting the federal taxpayer from bank defaults, individual chapters are devoted to describing in detail the federal enforcement agencies and their powers, anti-money laundering and other fraud issues, the required examinations and audit process, and recent regulatory approaches to problem banks and failure.

Published in a handy softcover volume, Financial Institutions Answer Book is a source for quick, concise answers for lawyers and other legal professionals, as well as financial institution managers, officers, directors, and anyone else who would like a comprehensive understanding of the legal framework regulating banks and other financial institutions.

This new answer book is available on PLI PLUS, our research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

New Title! Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana

Leave a reply

PLI recently published a new title, Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana.

This title is a new and unique resource for lawyers who represent clients in what has been called the fastest growing industry in the United States. The majority of states have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana — with nine states to date allowing for recreational use — but marijuana remains illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, giving rise to constitutional challenges to these state laws under the doctrine of preemption. As a result, marijuana enterprises must operate in a legal and regulatory environment of uncertainty, and lawyers representing these enterprises must tread carefully when advising clients.

Written by James T. O’Reilly, a lawyer and public health specialist, Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana offers critical guidance to help lawyers effectively represent their clients while steering clear of seen and as yet unseen perils implicit in the continued federal-state conflict. The guide provides discussion and analysis of:

• the complex and varying state regulation of medical and non-medical marijuana, including a survey of state cannabis laws, with summaries and citations

• federal law, enforcement, and preemption

• the various aspects of establishing and managing a marijuana enterprise, including the growing, licensing, labeling, transporting, and distribution of marijuana and related products

• the implications of preemption on employment, taxes, and banking

For lawyers new to representing marijuana clients, the author provides an understanding of the definitions of marijuana and other cannabis products, as well as a review of the policy and political issues that have led to the controversy and uncertainty of the current environment.

This essential new title is available on PLI PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.