As part of the Real Estate Forums series, today’s guest is Jane Helmstadter. She is a Partner at Bennett Jones as well as the firm’s National Co-Head of the Real Estate Practice Group. Jane is an expert in commercial real estate law, having worked at Bennett Jones since 2006 as well as two other law firms. There have been many effects on the legal landscape during the current pandemic, so Jane, Aaron, and Adam dive in to discuss these. Jane tells us her thoughts on what could change in contracts after this is all over and how she has been seeing landlords react.

Topics covered include:

• What is force majeure and how it can now come into effect.
• Pandemic clauses that we could see in contracts after this.
• The change in a legal firm’s day-to-day work since COVID-19 began.
• Spending less time litigating in court.
• An increasing number of people who want their contracts analyzed.
• Construction liens getting waved for the time being.
• How registrar’s offices are handling the pandemic and Ontario’s advantage.
• Gap insurance on title policies in Canada.
• Landlords’ right to termination in these times and options for tenants.
• Jane’s perspective that most landlords are trying to work with tenants.
• What can change in the very short-term regarding contracts. 

More about our guest:

Jane Helmstadter helps clients advance their business goals by applying practical solutions to a full range of domestic and cross-border purchase and sale, property development, financing, asset management, leasing and joint venture transactions. She has assisted Canada’s most prominent private and institutional real estate developers, investors, owners, landlords and tenants in transactions involving office, retail and industrial property, multi-family residential developments, seniors’ housing and renewable energy projects.