QUESTION: I am a receiver for a shopping center. I want to enter into a five year lease for one of the stores. Is there a statute or rule that limits the term of leases a receiver can execute?

ANSWER: There is no California statute or case that limits the term of leases a receiver can execute. However, limits are often placed on the term of such leases by the order appointing the receiver and often depend on the type of receiver appointed, i.e., a rents, issues and profits receiver versus an equity receiver. You don’t indicate which you are. In rents cases, the practice developed, at least in ...

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently ratified all the decisions made by the NLRB, including those made in administrative and personnel matters, during the period of time when it did not have a proper quorum. This was the period from January 4, 2012 to August 5, 2013, during which the United States Supreme Court held in NLRB v. Noel Canning, that the NLRB did not have a proper quorum due to improper recess appointments. The NLRB ratified its prior actions in an attempt to eliminate any questions concerning the validity of the decisions it made during this period. Will ...

QUESTION: I am counsel to a receiver for a corporation and things aren’t going too well. The receiver is thinking of filing a bankruptcy petition for the corporation. If this happens, are my fees in jeopardy?

ANSWER: They might be. Generally when a bankruptcy petition is filed for an entity in receivership, the receiver becomes a “custodian” under the Bankruptcy Code. 11 U.S.C. §101(11). As a custodian the receiver has certain duties as set forth in 11 U.S.C. §543, including delivering property in his or her possession, custody or control to the trustee and filing an accounting of ...

As is increasingly reported, there is a battle raging in today’s marketplace between companies with new technology platforms and content creators from the entertainment community. On the one hand, are computer science engineers and programmers developing new and better code, creating more complex algorithms, and building ever expanding server farms at a breakneck pace, all to give the consumer cheaper, faster, and more mobile access to music, movies and television. On the other hand, are musicians, writers, movie and television producers and broadcasters, all trying to ...