Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP Files Amicus Brief Supporting Critical Relief for Commercial Tenants Impacted by COVID-19 Pandemic

Yesterday evening, attorneys from Kaplan Hecker & Fink LLP filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, defending the constitutionality of a New York City ordinance meant to ease the economic burdens resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. A group of commercial landlords had challenged the so-called “Guaranty Law,” which prohibits commercial landlords from enforcing personal guaranties for payments from certain commercial tenants affected by COVID-19 between March 2020 and March 2021. Our brief supports the ruling of the lower court, which dismissed the landlords’ claims that the Guaranty Law violates the Contracts Clause of the U.S. Constitution. As our brief explains, the Guaranty Law “easily satisfies all applicable constitutional requirements.”

This amicus brief was filed on behalf of Professors Leah Litman, Larry Tribe, Erwin Chemerinsky, Niko Bowie, Bernie Meyler, and Laura Weinrib.

Kaplan Hecker & Fink lawyers Joshua Matz, Raymond Tolentino, Molly Webster, and Theodora Raymond-Sidel contributed to the brief, which can be read in full here.