Sears Roebuck (“Sears”) and Mall of America (“MOAC”) have been fighting for years regarding the impact of Sears’ chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings on MOAC’s pre-chapter 11 lease with Sears (the “Lease”). The District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that the Lease was not a true lease subject to assumption and assignment under Bankruptcy Code Section 365(d)(4). Landlords and Tenants should closely study the series of decisions made in these proceedings in drafting lease terms and calibrating expected outcomes in a distressed scenario. For more information, read the article written by Howard Steel, Michael Goldstein and Kim Pageau, members of Goodwin’s Financial Restructuring practice on TMA New York City News.