This week LexisNexis announced the launch of  Survey of Commercial Lease Terms  in Practical Guidance — a unique analytics resource for real estate practitioners. In October I covered the launch of Practical Guidance Market Standards for M & A.

Daniel Lewis, VP and GM of Practical Guidance and Analytic at LexisNexis provided me with a preview of the Survey of Commercial Lease  Terms. Legal analytics products are generally built on top of publicly available datasets. Lewis described the new product which
includes data from private deals as built on a “give to get” model. Large, medium and small law firms have contributed data about the commercial leases they have worked on in order to get access to the data set and reports. Unlike other products the data is anonymized. Only the data points appear in the survey. The interactive survey enables lawyers to generate custom reports tailored to specific deal trends in their region for office, retail and industrial properties.

This is the first commercial product I can think of that is completely crowd sourced. The survey covers 40 deal points, including notice and cure rights, guaranty structure, tenant options, rent abatement, tenant improvements, holdover, and force majeure.

Force Majeure Events Related to COVID-19

Real estate is one of the sectors that has been immediately impacted by COVID-19 and the long term implications will be tracked carefully. The Survey and a special COVID-19 report  provide insights into the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on commercial lease negotiations. The report shows a spike in inclusion of pandemic-related events in force majeure clauses in Q3 2020.

“Getting the best terms in a commercial lease negotiation requires an accurate view of current market conditions, but lawyers typically see only a slice of the market based on their own deals or those of their organization,” said Eric Bourget, Senior Director of Practical Guidance. “With the Survey, lawyers now have access to an always up-to-date source of market standards for legal terms.”

The survey will be continually updated with new data provided by private sources. The Survey  includes market standards for “office, retail, and industrial leases of properties of all sizes from all regions of the United States.” Subscribers can customize reports by using filters which generate charts, and concise summaries of deal points and developments. Unlike similar corporate deal analytics products – this product does not provide access to the actual document or clauses.

According to the press release “Lawyers with early access to the Survey have reported they gained deeper insight into rapidly changing market conditions, more precise understanding of recent market disruptions, and a competitive edge in offering practical and effective counsel to their clients.”

“Data-driven practical guidance empowers lawyers to work quickly, confidently, and effectively. The private market data and insights contained in the Survey of Commercial Lease Terms provide lawyers with new knowledge and a competitive advantage,” said Daniel Lewis, Vice President of Practical Guidance. “The Survey adds to the exclusive data and insights we already offer customers in other practice areas such as corporate law and M&A. LexisNexis Practical Guidance will continue to offer our customers innovative ways to harness both public and private deal data in negotiation and practice.”

For more information on the Survey of Commercial Lease Terms, please visit: www.lexisnexis.com/CommercialLeasingSurvey.