Manatt Real Estate partner Anita Famili and Manatt Entertainment attorney W. Joseph Anderson co-authored an article for Bloomberg Law on how the coronavirus pandemic is impacting force majeure provisions in contracts. In the article, Famili and Anderson note that while many contracts don’t completely address the issue of force majeure events, or those situations that are unforeseen or unavoidable, and beyond the reasonable control of both parties, most negotiators insist on having some form of force majeure exception built into their contracts. They also note that “without incredibly specific force majeure language, there is no bright line test as to what actual point in time in the midst of a global outbreak like the type currently upon us triggers any force majeure protection,” and that this is an issue that will likely require a lot of litigation to establish greater clarity for all parties.
Read the article here.