COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Lease Commitments

We lease office facilities, including our headquarters and other facilities under non-cancelable operating leases. The schedule of minimum future rental payments under non-cancelable operating leases having initial terms in excess of one year at December 31, 2016, is as follows:



(In thousands)	Operating Leases
Year ending December 31:
2017	$	15,274
2018	13,809
2019	11,840
2020	11,334
2021	5,505
Thereafter	6,882
Minimum lease payments	$	64,644

The lease agreements generally provide for rental payments on a graduated basis and for options to renew, which could increase future minimum lease payments if exercised. We recognize rent expense on a straight-line basis over the lease period and accrue for rent expense incurred but not paid. Rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 was $16.7 million, $12.9 million and $11.9 million, respectively.

Standby Letters of Credit

We have two standby letters of credit up to an aggregate of $17.8 million provided as collateral for our workers’ compensation obligations. At December 31, 2016, the facilities were not drawn down.

Contingencies

In August 2015, Howard Welgus, a purported stockholder filed a putative securities class action lawsuit, Welgus v. TriNet Group, Inc. et. al., under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 in the United States District Court (the Court) for the Northern District of California. The complaint was later amended in April 2016. The amended complaint generally alleges that TriNet and the other defendants caused damage to purchasers of our stock by misrepresenting and/or failing to disclose facts generally pertaining to alleged trends affecting health insurance and workers' compensation claims. The other defendants include certain of our officers and directors, General Atlantic, LLC, a former significant shareholder, and the underwriters of our IPO. In November 2016, the parties appeared at a hearing before the Court on our motion to dismiss the amended complaint in its entirety. In January 2017, the Court issued an order granting TriNet’s and the other defendants’ motions to dismiss. The Court dismissed the plaintiff’s claims in part with prejudice and in part without. As a result, the Court has given the plaintiff until March 3, 2017 to file a second amended complaint with respect to claims not dismissed with prejudice. If the plaintiff chooses not to file a second amended complaint, the case will be dismissed with prejudice and a final judgment will be entered. We are unable to reasonably estimate the possible loss or range of losses, if any, arising from this litigation.

We are and, from time to time, have been and may in the future become involved in various litigation matters, legal proceedings and claims arising in the ordinary course of its business, including disputes with our clients or various class action, collective action, representative action and other proceedings arising from the nature of our co-employment relationship with our clients and WSEs in which we are named as a defendant. In addition, due to the nature of our co-employment relationship with our clients and WSEs, we could be subject to liability for federal and state law violations, even if we do not participate in such violations. While our agreements with our clients contain indemnification provisions related to the conduct of our clients, we may not be able to avail ourselves of such provisions in every instance. We have accrued our current best estimates of probable losses with respect to these matters which are individually and in aggregate immaterial to our consolidated financial statements.

While the outcome of the matters described above cannot be predicted with certainty, management currently does not believe that any such claims or proceedings or the above mentioned securities class action will have a materially adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, the unfavorable resolution of any particular matter or our reassessment of our exposure for any of the above matters based on additional information obtained in the future could have a material impact on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.