• b8ta

• UGG

• Columbia Sportswear

• zulily

• Everlane

• Peloton

• Reebok

Representative Transactions

Areas of Practice

About Our North American Leasing Practice

Opus was officially formed in 2006, but we have built our retail-based practice over a period of more than thirty years. Although we are a relatively small firm (nine lawyers and two paralegals), very few firms in the country have so many lawyers and paralegals focusing solely on store development for retailers.

Our depth in this area allows us to provide expertise in a wide assortment of matters related to leases, including lease negotiation, advice regarding property management disputes, lease portfolio reviews, and development of forms and processes for letters of intent, leases, and lease-related documents. We have experience working with the leasing systems of a variety of clients and are comfortable adapting our work methods to suit each client’s needs and system.

Tenant Leasing

• We only represent tenants, avoiding potential conflicts with landlord clients.

• We negotiate over 1,200 leases per year, covering millions of square feet.

• We help our clients acquire, sell, develop, lease and operate retail support facilities, including large distribution centers and office locations.

• We actively assist our clients in addressing the challenges and opportunities of lease administration, as well as property management and asset management.

• We negotiate lease-related construction documents with an eye toward identifying and controlling unexpected costs.

Purchase and Sale Transactions

Opus regularly handles purchase and sale transactions throughout the country, especially in the retail context. These transactions vary in size from ownership of entire developments to single parcel transactions.

Licensing

Brands are in many ways the essence of a retail business. We have considerable experience in licensing in the retail and telecom contexts, and national and international license arrangements.

Sales and Acquisitions

We provide legal advice about the sale and acquisition of retail businesses, especially in connection with leasing and related operational issues. We have handled many large due diligence projects in connection with acquisitions and dispositions of retail chains and groups of stores, including obtaining consents, estoppels, and amendments in a timely and efficient fashion.

Environmental Liability Assessment

Our clients place strong emphasis on cost effective strategies designed to minimize environmental liability and avoid interference with business operations caused by environmental contamination or remediation. We play a crucial role in developing these strategies, including:

• Assessing risk, especially through critical review and analysis of expert data and reports

• Assessing the adequacy of remediation plans, ensuring compliance with remediation programs, managing and addressing regulatory matters, and, when appropriate, defining participation in remediation activities. Developing cost-effective programs to participate (through purchases or leases) in the development of contaminated property

Process Training and Guidelines

We work with development teams to efficiently manage their retail roll-outs, helping to develop leasing manuals, form leases, and outside counsel procedures; vetting outside firms, and overseeing the process of scaling up to obtain cost-efficient leases with consistent standards. The goal is to negotiateleases efficiently and cost-effectively, even after adding internal real estate attorneys and additional outside firms.

Leasing Templates, Playbooks and Reviews

On request, we will work with our clients to develop leasing templates and playbooks of preferred lease positions to streamline lease negotiations. We offer analysis of existing leases to identify positions to improve upon renewal.

Representing Franchisees

Virtually all retailers, especially franchisees, make more progress in leasing negotiations if they focus on a strong letter of intent (“LOI”). We often assist franchisees with their LOI’s, which pave the way for a much more successful lease negotiation.

A lease is not only one of a franchisee’s largest obligations, but also one of a franchisee’s largest (and most strategic) assets. A franchisee’s lease is a platform for the business and a key asset (especially when a franchisee has an opportunity to sell).

A franchisee’s lease should not only satisfy lease-related requirements and objectives of the franchisor, but should allow the franchisee to achieve its own strategic objectives.

We assist franchisees with these leasing services with the same experience, insight and strategies that we bring to bear for large retailers. We offer a suite of payment options, including a variety of fixed fee services.

Store Closures/Down-Sizing/Lease Restructuring

We have extensive experience with efforts by retailers to re-configure their businesses. We have assisted clients in closing stores or restructuring leases for several hundred locations nationwide, including negotiations with national landlords.

Creative Billing

Unlike many law firms who talk about alternative billing arrangements (but, in fact, bill almost everything hourly), we have vast experience with fixed fee, blended fee, capped fee, limited scope and other alternative billing arrangements.