Opinion ID: 30193
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Suspensive Condition

Text: 13 In evaluating the controversy now before us, the district court determined that a contingency exists which is prerequisite to Appellant's potential obligation under the MMF lease, and that the suspensive condition had not yet been met. 3 Specifically, the district court found that the potential dispute involving the interior wall provision of the MMF lease was unjusticiably premature because, Venator's obligation to construct and rebuild walls and other portions of the building is conditional upon Matthew/Muniot making a request of it to do so [and] Venator does not allege that any such request has been made. Thus, the district court found the absence of a request by MMF determinative as to whether the interior wall controversy was ripe. 14 However, while the district court is correct that MMF must first invoke the interior wall provision of the lease before Venator's obligation will be triggered, it is important to remember that the very nature of relief in a declaratory context is ex ante. Shields, 289 F.3d at 835. The Declaratory Judgement Act offers the court an opportunity to afford a plaintiff equitable relief when legal relief is not yet available to him, so as to avoid inequities which might result from a delay in assessing the parties' legal obligations. See 28 U.S.C. § 2201. Consequently, in deciding whether to grant declaratory relief, the court must necessarily assess the likelihood that future events will occur, but the court ought not require that those contingencies to have occurred at the time relief is sought, such as it would were it evaluating the availability of legal as opposed to equitable relief. As the court explained in Orix Credit Alliance, the fact that certain contingencies pertaining to plaintiff's potential liability remain executory at the time of the declaratory suit does not defeat jurisdiction. Orix Credit Alliance, 212 F.3d at 897. Instead, the court must assess the likelihood that the contingencies will occur and then determine, whether an injury that has not yet occurred is sufficiently likely to happen to justify judicial intervention. Id. at 897. 15 Here, the physical circumstances surrounding MMF's plot of land make it very likely that MMF will invoke the interior wall provision of the lease. First, we note that the fact that MMF's property at present stands conjoined with and within separately owned parcels of commercial property creates a strong likelihood that MMF will require that interior walls be constructed. As Appellant contends, with significant intuitive appeal, it is difficult to imagine how MMF would be able to market and re-let its property as long as that property remains inside a portion of the Woolworth Building. Thus, it seems very likely that, at a minimum, MMF will use its ability to invoke the interior walls provision as leverage in negotiating with Venator for the sale or lease of MMF's portion of the Woolworth Building property. In any event, MMF is likely to claim its right to request interior walls to be built upon the termination of the lease term. 16 Moreover, although the district court found the absence of evidence that MMF has requested the walls be built to be determinative of the issue of ripeness with respect to this provision, we observe that MMF has no incentive to invoke the interior walls provision prior to the deadline stipulated in the lease, and so no inference may be made about MMF's intention to invoke the lease based on the fact that MMF has yet to act under that provision. Thus, the ripeness of the controversy surrounding Venator's obligation to rebuild the interior walls cannot rest entirely on the fact that MMF has not yet made such a request. The circumstances themselves give rise to a likelihood that such a request will be made, or forbearance of such a request will be used by MMF in negotiation over the disposition of the property. Therefore we find that the suspensive condition identified by the district court as barring justiciability is significantly likely to occur as to warrant judicial intervention.