Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Public-Employee Union Fees, Water Wars Are Key in High Court Rulings

August 20, 2018 — Jeff Yoders, Pam Radtke Russell, JT Long, and Debra K. Rubin - Engineering News-Record
Two U.S. Supreme Court rulings on June 27 that wrapped the court’s current case calendar addressed labor relations and water rights issues with construction sector impact. Its 5-4 decision in Janus v. AFSCME that public-sector employees can’t be forced to pay “fair-share fees” to unions could affect industry professionals represented by labor groups in 22 states. Reprinted courtesy of ENR journalists Jeff Yoders, Pam Radtke Russell, JT Long and Debra K. Rubin Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com Ms. Russell may be contacted at Russellp@bnpmedia.com Ms. Debra may be contacted at rubind@enr.com Read the court decision
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Billion-Dollar Power Lines Finally Inching Ahead to Help US Grids

April 03, 2023 — Brian Eckhouse, Naureen S Malik & Dave Merrill - Bloomberg
The biggest impediment to the US achieving a cleaner power grid isn't climate deniers or fossil-fuel lobbies; it’s a lack of transmission lines. The country badly needs more conduits to cart wind and solar energy and hydropower to cities. For more than a decade, multibillion-dollar power-line projects have struggled to advance, slowed or halted by bureaucracy, NIMBYism or general industry stasis. Now suddenly, several are progressing — and with them the prospect of newly unleashed clean energy as well as more resilient grids in the face of ever-dangerous storms and extreme heatwaves. There’s SunZia in the Southwest, TransWest Express in the Mountain West, Grain Belt Express to the Midwest, and Champlain Hudson Power Express into New York City — projects that together will cost at least $13 billion. Some are now ordering expensive equipment, a signal of their advancement. SunZia and TransWest expect to begin construction this year. Reprinted courtesy of Brian Eckhouse, Bloomberg, Naureen S Malik, Bloomberg and Dave Merrill, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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Los Angeles Team Secures Summary Judgment for Hotel Owner & Manager in Tenant’s Lawsuit

July 08, 2024 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 11, 2024) - Los Angeles Partners David Samuels and Meegan Moloney recently obtained summary judgment for the owner and manager of a Southern California hotel in a lawsuit brought by a tenant who alleged that she suffered injuries due to the presence of mold in her leased space. The plaintiff had entered into a commercial lease for space within the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach, California, for use for her spa and massage business. The lease contained "exculpatory provisions" absolving Lewis Brisbois' clients "from any and all liability and responsibility for any loss, injury or damage incurred or claimed by reason of damage to property located on the leased premises." Shortly after taking possession of the space in September 2019, the plaintiff claimed she became ill and subsequently discovered the presence of mold in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ducts. In October 2022, she sued the hotel's owner and manager, asserting a host of claims including negligence, fraud - negligent and intentional misrepresentation, negligent infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment, private nuisance, and unfair business practices. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

Congratulations to BWB&O’s 2021 Super Lawyers Rising Stars!

July 05, 2021 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is excited to announce Partners Kyle Carroll, Nicole Nuzzo, and Michael D’Andrea, as well as Associates Andy Arakelian and Andrew Steinberg, have been selected to the 2021 Super Lawyers Southern California Rising Stars for their work in Civil and Family litigation! Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Texas Supreme Court Declines to Waive Sovereign Immunity in Premises Defect Case

April 10, 2023 — Starr M. Forster - Lewis Brisbois
Houston, Texas (March 30, 2023) – The Supreme Court of Texas recently upheld a Thirteenth Court of Appeals’ judgment finding that the plaintiffs in a premises defect case brought against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) had failed to raise a fact issue regarding the creation of a dangerous condition and, consequently, failed to establish waiver of the defendant’s sovereign immunity. Daniel K. Christ and Nicole D. Salinas v. Tex. DOT, et al., No. 21-0728, 66 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 306, 2023 Tex. LEXIS 128, at *1 (Feb 10, 2023). Background Plaintiffs Daniel Christ and his wife, Nicole Salinas (the Christs), were riding their motorcycle through a construction zone when they collided with a vehicle that crossed into their lane. TxDOT’s traffic control plan for the related construction project called for the placement of concrete barriers between opposing travel lanes; however, once construction on the project began, TxDOT’s contractor determined there was not enough space for the concrete barriers and revised the traffic control plan to substitute yellow stripes and buttons for the concrete barriers. TxDOT never approved the revised traffic control plan in writing; however, TxDOT’s contractor contended TxDOT orally approved of the change. The Christs sued the driver of the other vehicle, TxDOT, and TxDOT’s contractor. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Starr M. Forster, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Forster may be contacted at Starr.Forster@lewisbrisbois.com

Federal Contractors Should Request Debriefings As A Matter Of Course

May 30, 2018 — Scott MacDonald - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight Blog
Federal Contractors—especially those engaging in FAR Part 15 direct contract negotiations—should make it a routine practice to timely request debriefings after the Contracting Agency excludes the bidder from the competitive range (“pre-award debriefing”) or after the Agency issues the award (“post-award debriefing”). Debriefings allow the Contractor to understand the evaluation process used by the Contracting Agency and to receive an assessment of how it fared in that evaluation. This is not a one-sided presentation as Contracting Agencies are required to answer the contractor’s relevant questions about the decision-making process. Properly run debriefings can be used to better tailor future bids and negotiations, as further marketing to the Contracting Agency for future awards, and, occasionally, to unearth grounds for a potential protest if any part of the evaluation process is out of sync with the FARs. In the event the contractor learns of a basis for protest at the debriefing, the deadline to file a protest begins running from the date of the debriefing—whether it was required or not. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Scott MacDonald, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
Mr. MacDonald may be contacted at scott.macdonald@acslawyers.com

A Vision and Strategy for the Adoption of Open International Standards

November 18, 2019 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
The final report of RASTI is now available in English. The project outlined a national vision and strategy for the adoption of open international standards in the real estate and construction industries. The Finnish version includes several appendices. One of the frameworks that RASTI devised was a built environment life-cycle process map. It is derived from the model of Antti Autio of the Ministry of the Environment. The map presents the processes of the four “lanes”: the customer’s/users value creation processes, public sector processes, information work, and production. Ideally, data and information flow across the processes, using open standards. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Indicted Union Representatives Try Again to Revive Enmons

June 22, 2016 — Wally Zimolong – Supplemental Conditions
The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts AFL-CIO has filed a friend of the court brief seeking to have the indictment of five members of the Teamsters Union in Boston dismissed. The Teamsters members are facing federal charges that they extorted non-union contractors and owners that employed non-union contractors. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is arguing that under the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in U.S. v. Enmons the Teamsters alleged conduct was in furtherance of a legitimate union objective and, therefore, no illegal. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Wally Zimolong, Supplemental Conditions
Mr. Zimolong may be contacted at wally@zimolonglaw.com

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