Commercial Lease Disputes

Overview

From single-tenant office facilities to build-to-suit arrangements to mixed use projects, we advise you on commercial lease interpretation, performance, and disputes.

We know the intricacies of the law and the procedures for addressing lease issues in different areas of the country. And we help you navigate a fast-changing commercial property market.

Our litigators and commercial leasing attorneys counsel you before litigation begins. We make sure you know all options—from negotiating table to court—and advise on maintaining the best legal position throughout a dispute.

With a geographic footprint in major commercial leasing markets, our litigators handle lawsuits and arbitrations for landlords, tenants, property owners, and property managers.

We are problem-solvers, and we’re ready to help you solve yours.

Representative experience

• Landlords, owners, and property managers in: applying a cash security deposit; drawing down on a letter of credit; reminding tenants of requirements for certain lease obligations, such as tenant improvements or payment of allowances conditioned on tenant fulfillment of lease terms; initiating litigation to force payment of rent, to recover damages, or declare disputed rights; and initiating eviction or other proceedings
• Tenants in seeking relief from obligations due to extenuating circumstances (force majeure, frustration of purpose, impossibility of performance, or other claims); commencing litigation to require landlords to perform obligations and pay damages incurred as a result of refusal to perform, or to declare disputed rights; and filing for bankruptcy
• Obtained a judgment in court for a commercial building owner in a dispute with a tenant that operates a personal training fitness studio, securing substantial compensation for the tenant’s failure to pay rent
• Obtained summary adjudication for landlord client on its claim for unlawful detainer against defendant tenant in California state court
• Secured a favorable resolution just before trial in New York state court in commercial lease dispute case for landlord client that spanned more than eight years
• Won a favorable judgment after a two-day bench trial for a real estate investment trust client. The matter involved an eviction at a commercial property in the Seaport commercial district of Boston. The tenants were in violation of the lease terms and delinquent on several months’ rent, but refused to leave the space and disputed that the lease was properly terminated.
• National pharmacy retailer in multiple real estate lawsuits and disputes in Rhode Island and Massachusetts
• Luxury home goods retailer in a dispute with the landlord of its Midtown Manhattan storefront. The landlord exercised an early termination option in the lease to expedite the conversion of the property into a hotel and condominium tower. When the tenant demanded an early termination fee, the landlord issued an eviction notice based on alleged insurance coverage and building permit violations. We defeated a motion for summary judgment seeking a declaration that no termination fee was owed and that the landlord was entitled to terminate the lease.
• Prevailed on summary judgment on behalf of a multi-national baked products retailer that leased property used as a distribution center. The landlord sued the tenant alleging that the tenant failed to pay its share of allocable expenses, insurance premiums, real estate taxes, and restoration costs per terms of its lease.
• Also handle numerous maters that get resolved without litigation, and numerous real estate workout/bankruptcy matters

Recognition

• Nixon Peabody has been named a Tier 1 National firm for Real Estate Law in the 2025 edition of Best Law Firms®.