Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Summary Judgment in Favor of General Contractor Under Privette Doctrine Overturned: Lessons Learned

March 27, 2023 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
It seems like we’ve been seeing a lot of Privette doctrine cases recently. Here’s another, Brown v. Beach House Design & Development, 85 Cal.App.5th 516 (2002), which provides a cautionary tale for general contractors to watch what they include in their scope of work and how they manage projects. The Beach House Case Kyle Brown was a carpenter employed by subcontractor O’Rourke Construction, Inc. who contracted with general contractor Beach House Design and Development to provide finish carpentry on a construction project. A&D Plastering Co., another subcontractor on the project, had erected scaffolding on the project. On June 16, 2017, while using A&D’s scaffolding, Brown fell onto a concrete walkway where he suffered severe injuries. Following the accident, Beach House and A&D inspected the scaffolding and found that some of the scaffolding was not properly secured to the building and that planks, crossbars, ties and guardrails had been cut or were missing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

California Fears El Nino's Dark Side Will Bring More Trouble

September 17, 2015 — Brian K. Sullivan – Bloomberg
A group of drought experts gathered in California this week, and it wasn’t long before the conversation turned to El Nino. They weren’t touting it as the savior that will end the state’s four-year drought. Instead, they were looking at a darker scenario where the weather-changing phenomenon adds another year of dryness in the north while ravaging the south with floods. “What do you say when the governor asks you what to do? ‘You prepare for flood and drought because there is a possibility you can get both,”’ said Mike Anderson, state climatologist. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg

Enforceability Of Subcontract “Pay-When-Paid” Provisions – An Important Update

June 15, 2020 — Patrick McNamara - Porter Law Group
A California Court of Appeals opinion published earlier this month brings a change to payment bond claims brought by unpaid subcontractors and suppliers. The decision (Crosno Construction, Inc. v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company of America) places limitations on a payment bond surety’s ability to rely on subcontract “pay-when-paid” language, stating that a payment provision typically found in subcontracts is contrary to the “reasonable time” statutory requirement and will not be enforced. This represents a major shift in California construction payment bond claim rights. Plaintiff Crosno Construction, Inc. (“Crosno) was a subcontractor to general contractor Clark Brothers (“Clark”), who was principal on a public works payment bond issued by Travelers. The owner was a public agency district (“District.”) Crosno had completed most of its subcontract work when a dispute between District and Clark arose, causing the project to stop. Crosno then sought payment through a payment bond claim against Travelers. Travelers denied the claim, relying on the subcontract’s payment provisions and asserting the defense that it had no obligation to pay on the bond claim because the litigation between Clark and the District had not yet reached its conclusion. Subcontract. The subcontract between Clark and Crosno contained a “pay-when-paid” provision stating that Clark would pay Crosno within a reasonable time after receiving payment from the District. In defining “a reasonable time,” the subcontract language provided that the time for payment “in no event shall be less than the time [Clark] and [Crosno] require to pursue to conclusion their legal remedies against [District] or other responsible party to obtain payment.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Patrick McNamara, Porter Law Group
Mr. McNamara may be contacted at pmcnamara@porterlaw.com

Nevada Senate Minority Leader Gets Construction Defect Bill to Committee

April 03, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Las Vegas Sun reports that Michael Roberson, the lead Republican in the Nevada Senate, managed to get his construction defect reform bill scheduled for a hearing. Previously, the Senate Democrats had determined that all bills pertaining to construction defect legislation would be heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee. However, Roberson managed to convince Kelvin Atkinson, the chair of the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee, to add his bill to the text a mortgage lending measure under consideration by that committee. Roberson had previously submitted his bill to the Judiciary Committee. Senator Tick Segerblom has not scheduled the bill for a hearing and is reported to be an opponent of the bill. While Roberson characterizes the bill as making things better for homebuilders, Segerblom sees it as making things worse for homeowners. “That’s not going to happen,” Seberblom told the Las Vegas Sun. Although the senate voted to send the bill to the Commerce and Labor committee, it still may not get a hearing. Segerblom said he did not know if the bill would be heard in his committee. “We’ve got 60 or more bills to hear and if there’s nothing new in there to change the world, I don’t know why we would hear it.” Atkinson said he has “no appetite to hear the bill.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of

Housing Advocacy Group Moved to Dissolve New Jersey's Council on Affordable Housing

November 05, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The New Jersey Law Journal reported that "[a]n affordable housing advocacy group in New Jersey is asking the state Supreme Court to remove from the administration of Gov. Chris Christie the authority to determine municipalities’ obligations for low- and moderate-income housing and to instead place that responsibility in the hands of trial judges." New Jersey's state constitution mandates affordable housing obligations (referred to as the Mount Laurel decisions). “It is no longer possible to trust that COAH can or will faithfully implement the Mount Laurel doctrine,” wrote the center’s associate director, Kevin Walsh, in the motion to enforce litigants’ rights, as quoted by the New Jersey Law Journal. “This should be the end; there should be no more extensions, no further last chances.” Municipalities are protected from being sued by developers, however, last year the court stated "that it would consider lifting that protection if COAH failed to adopt new regulations that passed constitutional muster," according to the New Jersey Law Journal. Read the court decision
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OSHA Investigating Bridge Accident Resulting in Construction Worker Fatality

October 29, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
SI Live reported that “[t]he federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened a probe into an early-morning truck accident at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that left a construction worker dead Wednesday.” The accident occurred in New York “when a truck laying asphalt backed into [the worker] and crushed him.” Ted Fitzgerald, OSHA spokesman, stated, “OSHA did respond and has opened an inspection to determine whether or not there were violations of workplace safety standards in connection with this fatality,” as quoted by SI Live. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of

Best Lawyers® Recognizes 37 White And Williams Lawyers

September 26, 2022 — White and Williams LLP
Thirty-two White and Williams lawyers were recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© 2023. Inclusion in Best Lawyers® is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers® employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of quality legal services. In addition, eight lawyers were recognized as "Ones to Watch” by Best Lawyers®. This recognition is given to attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States. The firm is also pleased to announce Best Lawyers® has recognized four White and Williams lawyers as "Lawyer of the Year." Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

Zillow Topping Realogy Shows Web Surge for Housing Market

July 30, 2014 — Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn – Bloomberg
Zillow Inc. (Z)’s purchase of Trulia Inc. makes the online company such a force in U.S. real estate that its market value now surpasses that of Realogy Corp., owner of renowned brokerage brands from Coldwell Banker to Century 21. Zillow, the biggest U.S. real estate website, has seen its market value jump to about $5.83 billion from $4.99 billion on July 23, the day before Bloomberg News reported the deal talks with rival Trulia. Realogy, the largest residential brokerage operator, has a market value of about $5.47 billion, compared with $5.67 billion last week, data compiled by Bloomberg show. The shift underscores the growing role of the Web in U.S. home sales as buyers start their hunt for homes and mortgages online and rely less on real estate agents, a migration that has taken longer than in industries such as music or travel. While Zillow is unlikely to compete directly with brokers, whose ad dollars are its top revenue source, buying Trulia (TRLA) gives it more command over marketing fees, sparking concerns among Realtors such as Stephen FitzMaurice that costs will rise. Mr. Gopal may be contacted at pgopal2@bloomberg.net; Mr. Gittelsohn may be contacted at johngitt@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Prashant Gopal and John Gittelsohn, Bloomberg

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