Blogs

Real Estate

Assignment and Consent Standards in Commercial Leases

Assignment provisions in commercial leases are heavily negotiated and very important to both landlords and tenants. This article presents a brief overview of the assignment provision in commercial leases, both office and retail. Assignment provisions in commercial leases are heavily negotiated and very important to both landlords and tenants. When a tenant’s interest in a lease is assigned, the tenant is transferring its entire leasehold interest and 100% of the leased premises to a third…

March 6, 2020

Employment Law

Marijuana & the Workplace

As state laws and public opinion regarding marijuana continue to evolve, employers are confronting a variety of uncertainties about their drug policies. This article discusses marijuana laws and the ramifications of such laws for employers in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia. When and where is marijuana use legal? As of February 2020, 32…

February 21, 2020

Construction

How is the Local Office Leasing Market Doing a Year After the Amazon HQ2 Announcement?

The Northern Virginia office market had a total vacancy rate of 18.3% in the fourth quarter of 2019. This represents a continuing gradual strengthening of the market as it was the eleventh consecutive quarter with positive net absorption. That said, vacancy rates are still higher than before the great recession ten years ago. Much of…

January 16, 2020

Business and Financial Services

Ownership Interests in an LLC – The Options are Endless!

Limited liability companies are entities chartered by the states, that are governed by a contract – typically called an Operating Agreement – among the owners. As a result, the members or owners of the LLC have great flexibility in creating the entity exactly like they want (purple unicorns!), but this can also result in important…

October 29, 2019

Employment Law

New Virginia Law Requires Employer Disclosure of Requested Personnel Records

A quick heads up for those Virginia employers whose policy has been to deny employees access to or copies of their employment records. As of July 1, 2019, Virginia law now requires employers to “furnish a copy of all records or papers retained by the employer in any format” that reflect the following information about the employee: Dates of employment with the employer; Wage or salary history during the employment; Job description and job title during employment; and Injuries sustained by the…

October 3, 2019

Business and Financial Services

Do You Really Need a Letter of Intent?

Letter of Intent, Term Sheet, Indication of Interest, and LOI – what do these all mean? These are actually different terms for fundamentally the same thing: a document that describes the terms of a future transaction. Each has a different style and has specific terms about the proposed transaction, and each can be helpful to…

September 18, 2019

Business and Financial Services

Deadlock Provisions in Agreements – Say No to the Rochambeau Method

For LLCs or Corporations with a small number of members or shareholders, and with relatively equal ownership and management, a provision to deal with a deadlock is critical. This type of provision is typically located in the LLC Operating Agreement or a Shareholder Agreement, but could be a separate agreement among the Members or Shareholders. Without this provision, or a way to break a deadlock or tie, the parties could be trapped into the entity, without a way to conduct business. Deadlocks…

September 17, 2019

Business and Financial Services

A Beginner’s Guide to Equity – Part Three: What Equity Will Not Do

Raighne Delaney concludes his series on Equity. In part three, he shares insights into what equity will not do.

August 5, 2019

Business and Financial Services

A Beginner’s Guide to Equity – Part Two: What Equity Can Do

Raighne Delaney continues his series on Equity. In part two, he shares insights into the substance of equity – what equity can do.

July 26, 2019

Construction

What will be the Impact of Amazon HQ2 to the Hotel Industry?

The second headquarters for Amazon in Arlington, VA is obviously a hot topic in local commercial real estate. Much of the focus so far has been on projected residential price increases and increased commercial leasing. But, let’s not forget about the hotel industry. The forecast for much higher hotel traffic in the area was the…

July 19, 2019