Commitments and Contingencies
We lease various premises under operating leases with various expiration dates extending through April 2027. Rent expense incurred under operating leases totaled approximately $15.3 million, $13.9 million and $15.3 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.
Minimum future lease payments under operating leases are as follows (in thousands):
 
 
Year ending December 31,
Minimum
Payments
2018
$
16,446

2019
16,137

2020
15,286

2021
12,805

2022
12,138

2023 and thereafter
17,299

 
$
90,111

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2017Feb 14, 2018Showing above
2016Feb 17, 2017
2015Feb 18, 2016

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.