Cambridge Massachusetts Building Expert Directory

Nine Newmeyer & Dillion Attorneys Recognized as Southern California Super Lawyers

February 11, 2019 — Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Prominent business and real estate law firm Newmeyer & Dillion LLP is pleased to announce that nine of its Newport Beach attorneys have been selected to the 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list. Each year, no more than 5 percent of lawyers are selected to receive this honor. Attorneys named to the Southern California Super Lawyers list include: Michael Cucchissi Jeff Dennis Greg Dillion Joseph Ferrentino Charles Krolikowski John O'Hara Jane Samson Michael Studenka Paul Tetzloff 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. About Newmeyer & Dillion For almost 35 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, privacy & data security and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client's needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949.854.7000 or visit www.ndlf.com. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Contractors Admit Involvement in Kickbacks

December 09, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

Two New Jersey contractors have pleaded guilty to charges that they made false representations for a government contract in a case related to kickbacks for construction work done in two school districts. New Jersey is recommending that the two men, Martin Starr and Stephen Gallagher, will each pay $50,000 in penalties, serve up to a year in jail, and be unable to accept public contracts for five years.

Last month, another individual in the case, Kenneth Disko, who had been the engineer for the school district, pleaded guilty on a similar charge. In addition to a $50,000 penalty, he will be serving three to five years in prison. A fourth conspirator, Robert Berman, the former business administrator for one of the school districts, has to pay a $13,000 fine and cooperate with the investigation. He is also barred from public employment in New Jersey and has been terminated from his position.

Starr admitted to preparing fictitious quotes which appeared to be from other contractors in order that his firm would seem to be the lowest bidder. Gallagher helped in preparing the fictitious bids and also provided cash kickbacks to Disko.

Read the full story…

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Limiting Liability: Three Clauses to Consider in your Next Construction Contract

June 25, 2019 — Tara Lynch - Gordon & Rees Construction Law Blog
In your next contract, consider including some (or all!) of the following clauses to limit your liability and maximize your profits. Waiver of Consequential Damages While a proven breach of contract will leave a design professional or contractor exposed to direct or compensatory damages, a waiver of consequential damages will help “stop the bleeding” and protect the design professional or contractor from paying every damage that might flow from the breach. Consequential damages include those damages which indirectly flow from the breach of contract, for example, lost rents, lost profits, lost use, lost opportunity, loss of employee productivity, and damages to reputation. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has included a mutual waiver of consequential damages in its sample A201 for over 20 years. The AIA provision includes a definition of consequential damages which are waived, including many of the examples cited above. However, the AIA waiver of consequential damages clause carves out an exception for liquidated damages to the owner. Prudent design professionals and contractors will strike this exception so as not to render the clause meaningless. A well-drafted waiver clause will be mutual, will define which damages are consequential versus direct, and will not contain exceptions. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tara Lynch - Gordon & Rees Scully Mansukhani
Ms. Lynch may be contacted at tlynch@grsm.com

"On Second Thought"

October 28, 2024 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
Rehearing requests are seldom granted by courts, and when they are, there’s usually something uniquely compelling in the request and the granting. So is the case in a matter involving monies deposited in the registry of the federal court in New Orleans related to work performed on cleanup after Hurricanes Maria and Irma in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The party depositing monies – which represented subcontract sums paid to it by the general contractor – held back several hundred thousand dollars based on withholding provisions in the various contracts in play. The Court was tasked with evaluating not only a pay-when-paid provision in the subcontract of the claiming party, but also incorporation of the terms of a higher tiered contract which allowed for the withholding. The Court initially granted summary judgment allowing the monies to be withheld. However, on request for rehearing, it was pointed up that while monies could be retained for purposes of covering attorney’s fees and costs related to litigation initiated by the plaintiff subcontractor’s vendors, there was a particular process for that withholding – and an assertion that the process was not followed. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

Insurance Policy’s “No Voluntary Payment” Clauses Lose Some Bite in Colorado

October 22, 2013 — Brady Iandiorio — Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC.
The Colorado Court of Appeals recently handed down an opinion dulling the teeth of the “no voluntary payment” clauses found in many contractors’ insurance policies. In the case of Stresscon Corporation v. Travelers Property Casualty Company of America, 2013 WL 4874352 (Colo. App. 2013), the Court of Appeals found that an insured’s breach of the “no voluntary payment” clause does not always bar the insured from receiving benefits from its insurance company. In July 2007, at a construction project run by Mortenson (the “GC”), a partially erected building collapsed, killing one worker and gravely injuring another. The collapse was caused by a crane hook pulling a concrete component off of its supports. The GC contracted with Stresscon Corporation (“Stresscon”) to build pre-cast concrete components for the project, and in turn Stresscon hired two sub-subcontractors, RMS and Hardrock (the “Crane Team”) to work together to erect those concrete components. Stresscon and the Crane Team had liability insurance, and Stresscon was insured by Travelers Property Casualty Company of America (“Travelers”). The accident led to three separate lawsuits: 1) one brought by the deceased worker; 2) one brought by the injured worker; and 3) one brought by the GC against Stresscon claiming it was entitled to contract damages incurred because the project was delayed. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Brady Iandiorio
Brady Iandiorio can be contacted at Iandiorio@hhmrlaw.com

Chicago Cubs Agree to Make Wrigley Field ADA Improvements to Settle Feds' Lawsuit

December 03, 2024 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs have entered into a settlement with the U.S. Dept. of Justice over renovations to Wrigley Field, federal and Cubs officials announced Oct. 31. As part of the settlement, the team agreed to update Wrigley Field with more accessibility options for people with disabilities. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, ENR
Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com

Insurance Law Alert: Ambiguous Producer Agreement Makes Agent-Broker Status a Jury Question

September 10, 2014 — Valerie A. Moore & Christopher Kendrick - Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In Douglas v. Fidelity National Ins. (No. A137645; filed 8/29/14), a California appeals court held that it was a jury question whether a retail insurance service with limited binding authority should be deemed a broker or an agent for the purpose of determining if application misrepresentations would void coverage. In Douglas, the homeowners needed insurance for a house they had used as a group home. They sought coverage from Cost-U-Less, which provided personal lines insurance from, among others, Fidelity National Insurance Company. According to the couple’s wife, she went to a Cost-U-Less office where she answered application questions from a person on the telephone, who was later identified as an employee of another company, InsZone. InsZone had a producer contract with Fidelity. In practice, InsZone would be contacted by Cost-U-Less via telephone, at which point an InsZone employee would verbally solicit information from the client, with the information being entered into a computer by the InsZone employee and then transmitted electronically to Fidelity. Reprinted courtesy of Valerie A. Moore, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Christopher Kendrick, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Ms. Moore may be contacted at vmoore@hbblaw.com; Mr. Kendrick may be contacted at ckendrick@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

The Future of Construction Work with Mark Ehrlich

February 19, 2024 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
In this episode of the AEC Business podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Mark Ehrlich, a veteran of the construction industry from the USA and the author of “The Way We Build: Restoring Dignity to Construction Work.” Our conversation delved into the evolving landscape of construction work and the challenges faced by construction workers today. Mark shared his extensive background, starting as a carpenter and rising through the ranks to become the head of a 25,000-member union organization. His experience spans decades, and he has authored three books and numerous articles on labor issues. The historical labor shifts We discussed the historical shift from a predominantly unionized construction workforce to the current bifurcated system in the US, where union strongholds in the north contrast sharply with the non-union, lower-wage environments in the south and other regions. Mark highlighted the issues of wage theft, declining safety standards, and the exploitation of undocumented workers. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES