Retail Bankruptcies Have Arrived—More Are Coming

Mervyns', Circuit City, Tweeter and Linens N Things are just the beginning. With consumer spending at historical lows and predictions for a weak holiday season looking accurate, retail bankruptcies are going to impact commercial real estate across the country. How will you handle the wide range of issues associated with retail slowdown, requests for renegotiation of leases and bankruptcies?

Holland & Knight invites you to join us for a roundtable discussion of the trends developing in the recent high profile cases, and their likely impact on you. Bring your experience and expertise for a highly relevant, practical interactive discussion with Holland & Knight real estate and bankruptcy lawyers on the retail bankruptcy process and what your options are as a developer, owner, property manager or tenant – before and after a filing.

Some topics for discussion include:

• Reacting to Rumors on the Street
• Can Being Proactive in a Tenant Bankruptcy Impact Your Outcome?
• How Are Courts Treating "Going-Out-Business" Statutes, Go-Dark, Anti-Assignment and Broom Clean Clauses?
• Are Designation Rights, Lease Auctions and Adequate Assurance Battles a Thing of the Past?
• Can Retail Debtors Survive A Chapter 11? Should You Be Part of the Solution, and if So how?
• When and How to Gain Control of the Space (and Whether you Want to) 

This is an interactive discussion – we look forward to sharing thoughts and ideas on what's coming, and how to deal with it.

Panelists: 

Janis B. Schiff is a Partner and the Real Estate Section Leader of Holland & Knight. Based in Washington, D.C., Ms. Schiff coordinates the firm's Rising Stars mentoring and leadership program which she founded in 2001 and is the immediate past National Marketing Partner. She has extensive experience representing both landlords and tenants in commercial leasing of shopping centers, office buildings, restaurants, business parks, warehouses and unimproved land and also focuses her practice on lease workouts and restructurings, acquisition and sales contracts for improved and unimproved properties, development agreements, reciprocal easement and operating agreements, partnership agreements, condominium documents and real estate financing, including borrower and lender representation.

Tara A. Scanlon is a Partner of Holland & Knight where she is
Co-Chair of the firm's National Retail Development and Leasing Team in the Real Estate Section. Ms. Scanlon concentrates her practice on commercial real estate transactions which include development matters, sales, and acquisitions, as well as retail and office leasing. She has extensive experience in retail real estate transactions representing both institutional and entrepreneurial owners of regional malls, shopping centers and high end street retail projects in connection with various leasing, finance, operational and transactional matters.

Paul J. Kiernan serves as Executive Partner for Holland & Knight's Mid-Atlantic Region and Co-Chair of the firm's Real Estate Litigation Team. He represents businesses, developers, institutions, lenders, builders, real estate trusts, hotels, landlords and tenants on land use, zoning, condemnation, development, and property management disputes, and matters involving distressed real estate.