“Bee” Careful: Unique Considerations When Negotiating a Bee Storage Lease Agreement
March 27, 2019 —
Colton Addy - Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation BlogAs demand for commercial bees used to pollinate crops (such as almond trees) has grown, so has the demand for facilities to store bees. Entering a lease agreement for the storage of live bees presents some unique issues the parties need to consider when negotiating the lease agreement.
Don’t Bee Short-Sighted: Bees are often transported to different areas depending on the time of year, which means bees are not stored in the same facility all year. The lease agreement will often only provide for the storage of bees during the season when the bees are used for pollination in that particular area, but that does not mean the parties must limit the term of the lease agreement to a single season. The parties may consider entering into a lease agreement for multiple years that only applies during the pollination season each year.
Bee Mindful of the Rent: Whereas the parties usually base rent in a typical commercial lease agreement off of the square footage of space the tenant uses in the premises, it often makes more sense for both parties negotiating a lease for the storage of bees to base the rent on the number of beehives or bee colony boxes stored at the facility. Basing the rent on the number of beehives or bee colony boxes provides the landlord with flexibility in storing the bees of multiple tenants in the same facility, and it can give the tenant flexibility with the number of bees it may need stored at the facility in any given season. With such a rental arrangement, a landlord should consider asking for a commitment from the tenant to deliver at least a certain number of beehives or colonies for storage, and the tenant should consider asking for a commitment from the landlord to reserve space in the facility for at least that same number of beehives or colonies as the tenant is giving a commitment for. Additionally, the parties will need to determine when rent will be paid. In a general commercial lease agreement, rent is usually paid monthly. With a bee storage lease agreement, however, a landlord may want to require the tenant to pay all of the rent for the season upon delivery of the bees, and the landlord may also want the tenant to pay a percentage of the rent to reserve space in the facility prior to delivery of the bees. This allows the landlord to get an early indication of what space in the facility it will have available in the facility for other tenants given the somewhat flexible rental arrangement of the parties.
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Colton Addy, Snell & WilmerMr. Addy may be contacted at
caddy@swlaw.com
California Complex Civil Litigation Superior Court Panels
December 31, 2014 —
Richard H. Glucksman, Esq., Jon A. Turigliatto, Esq., and David A. Napper, Esq. – Chapman Glucksman Dean Roeb & Barger BulletinThe Complex Civil Litigation Program is relatively new as it has only existed in California
since 2000. Complex divisions dedicate courtrooms solely for litigation of complex civil
cases that require exceptional judicial management including construction defects, antitrust,
securities, toxic torts, mass torts, and class actions. Complex civil courtrooms help the trial
court operate in a more efficient, expeditious, and effective manner. A complex court
reduces costs for litigants by streamlining motion practice and expeditiously resolving
discovery disputes.
Not all counties have dedicated complex civil divisions. For those that do, each county has
its own local rules, and some complex divisions have their own particular set of rules. The
Judicial management of complex cases begins early, and is applied continuously and actively
with the idea that final resolution be expedited as much as possible. In focusing on
cooperation amongst the parties to achieve these goals, often requiring joint statements to
the court and a prohibition on discovery motions until after the parties have formally metand-
conferred on the issues. Moreover, complex cases are centralized and are assigned to
one highly skilled Judge for all purposes.
The first six California counties to create a Complex Civil division include Alameda, Contra
Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. Riverside County Superior
Court is the most recent California County to add a Complex division, effective January 2015.
Riverside county Superior Court’s Complex department consists of ten civil judges, seven of
which are in the main courthouse with Riverside. Riverside county expects to consolidate all
complex civil litigation into one courtroom by January 2015. Riverside county Judge Sharon
Waters state that "[i]t's been something that I personally have felt has been long overdue"
and that "[t]he idea is that put it with one judge and let him or her develop the expertise."
Judge Waters believes "[t]he potential value of establishing a complex litigation courtroom
[is that] it allows the judge to focus on the cases full time."1
As of October 2014, Riverside county had about 450 to 500 pending cases designated as
complex, over fifty percent (50%) of which involved construction defect matters. The sole
Judge who will preside over the complex cases has not yet been named.
1 Jolly, Vik. "Riverside to Shift Complex Civil Cases to 1 Courtroom." Los Angeles Daily Journal (October 13,
2014)
Reprinted courtesy of Chapman Glucksman Dean Roeb & Barger attorneys
Richard H. Glucksman,
Jon A. Turigliatto and
David A. Napper
Mr. Glucksman may be contacted at rglucksman@cgdrblaw.com;
Mr. Turigliatto may be contacted at jturigliatto@cgdrblaw.com;
and Mr. Napper may be contacted at dnapper@cgdrblaw.com
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Delaware Supreme Court Choice of Law Ruling Vacates a $13.7 Million Verdict Against Travelers
August 07, 2018 —
Gregory Capps & Zachery Roth - White and Williams LLPOn July 16, 2018, the Delaware Supreme Court held in Travelers Indemnity Company v. CNH Industrial America, LLC, No. 420, 2017 (Del. Jul. 16, 2018), that a court’s choice of law inquiry in an insurance coverage dispute should focus on the contacts most relevant to the insurance contract rather than the location of the underlying claims. In Travelers, CNH Industrial America, LLC (CNH), sought coverage for asbestos liabilities associated with J.I. Case, Inc., a subsidiary it had acquired, under policies issued to J.I. Case and its former parent company, Tenneco, Inc. The issue before the Delaware Supreme Court was whether the anti-assignment clause in three Travelers policies issued to Tenneco, Inc. precluded the assignment of the policies to CNH. The validity of the assignment turned on which state’s law governed the dispute. (Under Wisconsin law, the parties agreed that the assignment was valid, while under Texas law, the parties agreed the assignment was invalid.)
Reprinted courtesy of
Gregory Capps, White and Williams LLP and
Zachery Roth, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Capps may be contacted at cappsg@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Roth may be contacted at rothz@whiteandwilliams.com
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Jury Awards Aluminum Company 35 Million in Time Element Losses
September 23, 2019 —
Michael S. Levine & Daniel Hentschel - Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogOn July 3, 2019, a Delaware jury determined that fourteen property insurers for Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp., an aluminum producer that filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations three years ago, owe Noranda over $35 million in time element losses that Noranda sustained as a result of two separate catastrophic incidents that occurred at its aluminum facility in 2015 and 2016.
In August 2015, an aluminum explosion occurred at Noranda’s facility, resulting in substantial property damage and bodily injuries. Though the insurers paid for Noranda’s property damage claim, the insurers only covered $5.64 million of Noranda’s $22 million time element claim. In January 2016, the same facility sustained significant damage as a result of equipment failure. The insurers again paid for Noranda’s property damage claim arising from the equipment failure but declined to pay any of its $22.8 million time element claim.
Reprinted courtesy of
Michael S. Levine, Hunton Andrews & Kurth and
Daniel Hentschel, Hunton Andrews & Kurth
Mr. Levine may be contacted at mlevine@HuntonAK.com
Mr. Hentschel may be contacted at dhentschel@HuntonAK.com
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Turning Back the Clock: DOL Proposes Previous Davis-Bacon Prevailing Wage Definition
April 19, 2022 —
David Chidlaw & Carina Novell - Sheppard Mullin Construction & Infrastructure Law BlogOn March 11, 2022, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposed reverting the definition of “prevailing wage” under the Davis-Bacon Act to a definition used over 40 years ago. According to the DOL, the proposal is meant to modernize the law and “reflect better the needs of workers in the construction industry and planned federal construction investments.”
[1]
Brief History Lesson
The Davis-Bacon Act was enacted in 1931 and requires the payment of locally prevailing wages and fringe benefits on federal construction contracts. The law applies to workers on contracts in excess of $2,000 entered into by federal agencies and the District of Columbia for the construction, alteration, or repair of public buildings or public works.[2]
From the 1930s to the early 1980s, the DOL used the following three-step process to define prevailing wage:
- Any wage rate paid to a majority of workers.
- If there was no wage rate paid to a majority of workers, then the wage rate paid to the greatest number of workers, provided it was paid to at least 30 percent of workers (i.e., the “30 percent rule”).
- If the 30 percent rule was not met, the weighted average rate.
Reprinted courtesy of
David Chidlaw, Sheppard Mullin and
Carina Novell, Sheppard Mullin
Mr. Chidlaw may be contacted at dchidlaw@sheppardmullin.com
Ms. Novell may be contacted at cnovell@sheppardmullin.com
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San Diego’s NFL Stadium Dream Counts on Munis for Chargers’ Home
June 10, 2015 —
James Nash and Darrell Preston – BloombergSan Diego, still dealing with the legacy of a pension crisis that led politicians to consider bankruptcy a decade ago, may throw taxpayer money behind municipal bonds for a football-stadium bidding war.
The city and the National Football League’s Chargers are negotiating on a proposed $1.3 billion coliseum to keep the team from leaving for Los Angeles. A plan backed by a city panel would have San Diego pay $121 million of the new stadium’s debt, even though it still owes $52 million for the Chargers’ current home. San Diego County would chip in, too.
The quest to keep the team has triggered a debate over whether to finance professional football as the city deals with $2 billion of deferred maintenance brought about in part by mounting pension costs. The city’s retirement system has a shortfall just as large, which led voters three years ago to approve reducing benefits for city workers.
Reprinted courtesy of
James Nash, Bloomberg and
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The Three L’s of Real Estate Have New, Urgent Meaning
April 15, 2024 —
Mark Gongloff - BloombergWhat will it take to make Americans stop rushing headlong into climate peril? Cheaper housing in safer places, for one thing. But maybe big red flags on property listings will help, too.
Redfin Corp., the digital real estate company, last week added air-quality data to its listings as part of its “climate risks” feature, which aims to warn homebuyers of the chances their dream home could succumb to a global-warming nightmare. Using data from the climate research firm First Street Foundation, Redfin estimates a property’s current and predicted risk levels for flooding, wildfires, extreme heat, high winds — and now days when the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality Index tops 100, a category known as “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
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Mark Gongloff, Bloomberg
Rio de Janeiro's Bursting Real-Estate Bubble
September 17, 2015 —
Juan Pablo Spinetto & Peter Millard – BloombergAt opposite ends of downtown Rio de Janeiro, projects tied to Donald Trump and Eike Batista-- one a billionaire-turned-politician, the other Brazil’s most famous ex-billionaire -- have come to represent the city’s real estate bust.
The 23-story Serrador building, a granite-and-glass art deco tower near Rio’s Santos Dumont airport, has sat empty since Batista’s failed empire of commodities companies abandoned it last year. Four miles away, in the city’s gritty port district, an ambitious office project that Trump lent his name to is still nothing more than a weed-filled lot about a year after construction was slated to begin.
Reprinted courtesy of
Juan Pablo Spinetto, Bloomberg and
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