Landlord-tenant conflicts like disagreements over common area use, force majeure issues and subletting are just three of the legal trends up for analysis and discussion at the 2022 ICSC+U.S. Law event.

To be held at Florida’s JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes Oct. 26 to 28, it’ll feature hands-on opportunities for legal professionals to learn from others’ past experiences and to share their own advice on fast-morphing legal issues affecting the marketplaces industry.

In addition to broad-themed general sessions, the event includes peer-to-peer sessions, seminars and workshops where attendees can get personalized guidance and advice on topics from cannabis law to ethics to construction insurance and leasehold financing.

Managing Conflict

On Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 2 p.m., an interactive workshop called The Push and Pull of Exclusive Uses, Prohibited Uses and Use Restrictions will cover these lease tools, which allow tenants to have a say in how a center is leased and operated. The peer-to-peer session will include a frank discussion of which of these tools can and should adapt to the retail leasing market of 2022 and which should remain evergreen.

Also on Wednesday at 2 p.m., at a workshop called Lease Remedies Post-Covid: May the Force (Majeure) Be with You, attendees will discuss decisions made by appellate courts across the country as those courts tried to sort through the multitude of COVID defenses asserted by tenants in 2020 and 2021. This workshop will focus on the courts’ interpretations of various force majeure clauses and their holdings concerning challenges to the enforceability of personal guarantees that have arisen under “guaranty laws” in states like New York. The presenters also will discuss how landlords and tenants best can protect themselves moving forward.

On Thursday at 8 a.m., the Supercharging Your Common Area Revenue with Electric Vehicle Charging and More seminar will explore legal implications for common area parking lot revenue streams, guidance on the negotiation of applicable agreements and the impacts of state mandates related to electric vehicles.

An interactive peer-to-peer session called Conflicts Between Landlords and Tenants Relating to the Emerging Uses of the Common Areas on Thursday at 11 a.m., will cover balancing a tenant’s proposed restrictions and rights against the landlord’s need for flexibility to perform modifications, pursue common area initiatives and accommodate the needs and requirements of other shopping center occupants. Speakers also will cover the appropriate remedies for a violation of the site plan controls, including potential limitations and compromises that may be acceptable to both parties.

And on Thursday at 2:15 p.m., ICSC will discuss its new model retail lease, created as a benchmark for industry professionals. This seminar will focus on some of the important provisions found in the model lease developed by legal and leasing experts, including changes in the formula for gross sales and percentage rent calculations, as well as force majeure and rent abatement clauses in light of the pandemic, continuous operating requirements, occupancy costs including caps and exclusions, co-tenancy provisions and radius restriction clauses.

Register for ICSC+U.S. Law here.