Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Finalists in San Diego’s Moving Parklet Design Competition Announced

September 03, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The city of San Diego together with the Downtown San Diego Partnership sponsored the Moving Parklet Design competition, and the winning design will be built and “used in public areas and legally permitted parking spaces throughout downtown San Diego to add a new and unique gathering space for the community,” according to the San Diego Source. A mobile parklet “is a small, innovative park that can move from location to location.” The winning team is chosen by facebook voters and will receive $5,000. Read the court decision
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Arbitration is Waivable (Even If You Don’t Mean To)

February 16, 2016 — Christopher G. Hill – Construction Law Musings
Be careful with how you act with arbitration clauses in your contracts. If you are not careful in how you act to enforce these clauses, you could find yourself stuck in court whether you like it or not. As I stated in a recent update to a post last month, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals recently weighed in on the issue of a contractor’s waiver of its rights to arbitration under a contract. Briefly, the facts of Forrester v. Penn Lyon Homes, et. al., No. 07-2171 are as follows. The Forrester’s sued Penn Lyon and its warranty company alleging among other things a breach of express warranty based upon a warranty contract containing a mandatory arbitration clause. Instead of immediately alleging an affirmative defense based upon the arbitration clause, the defendants removed the case to federal court and litigated for 18 months before raising the arbitration defense for the first time. The 4th Circuit (correctly in my opinion) affirmed the lower court and held that the defendants defaulted their right to arbitration because of their actions in defense of the court action and the prejudice to the plaintiffs caused by those actions. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

S&P Near $1 Billion Mortgage Ratings Settlement With U.S.

January 14, 2015 — Tom Schoenberg and Edvard Pettersson – Bloomberg
Standard & Poor’s is close to a settlement of about $1 billion with the U.S. for allegedly misleading investors about its ratings of mortgage-backed securities before the subprime crisis, a person familiar with the matter said. The McGraw Hill Financial Inc. (MHFI) unit and the Justice Department may agree to settle the case as early as this quarter, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the negotiations are confidential. The Justice Department has secured settlements worth tens of billions of dollars during the past two years from mortgage lenders and banks it blamed for the 2008 financial crisis. Those companies generated unprecedented amounts of shoddy mortgages that were packaged and sold to investors as securities, many of which turned out to be worthless despite their investment-grade ratings. Mr. Schoenberg may be contacted at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net; Mr. Pettersson may be contacted at epettersson@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tom Schoenberg and Edvard Pettersson, Bloomberg

Putting for a Cure: Don’t Forget to Visit BHA’s Booth at WCC to Support Charity

April 28, 2016 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc., (BHA) is excited to announce the return of their very popular Sink a Putt for Charity at the 2016 West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar. This year, participant’s efforts on the green will help benefit the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. As in years past, sink a putt in the BHA golf challenge and win a $25 gift card, and for every successful putt made, BHA will make a $25 cash donation in the golfer’s name to the Susan G. Komen Foundation. But it doesn’t stop there. Breast cancer touches so many lives, with wives, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins and daughters all affected by this insidious disease. To further assist in their noble fight, BHA is doubling down. During three Championship Rounds on Thursday morning, afternoon, and evening, BHA will up the ante. For every putt ATTEMPTED (sink or miss), BHA will make a $50 donation to Susan G. Komen, and for every putt MADE, the golfer will also win a $50 gift card. These Championship Rounds will occur during the Thursday morning break, the afternoon break, and during the first hour of the Thursday evening cocktail party. Bert L. Howe & Associates, Inc., strongly supports the goals and principles of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and is honored to assist in fulfilling its mission of supporting research, community health, global outreach and public policy initiatives. While at the booth, don’t forget to test out BHA’s industry leading data collection and inspection analysis systems. BHA has recently added video overviews to their data collection process, as well as next-day viewing of inspection data via their secured BHA Client Access Portal. Discover meaningful cost improvements that translate to reduced billing while providing superior accuracy and credibility. Attendees can also enter to win Dodger baseball tickets or one of three new iPad Pros! Other BHA giveaways include USB charging blocks, pocket tape measures, multi-tools, laser pointers, foam stress balls, and Callaway golf balls. For more information on the Susan G. Komen Foundation, please visit their website. Read the court decision
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Tennessee Court of Appeals Holds Defendant Has the Burden of Offering Alternative Measure of Damages to Prove that Plaintiff’s Measure of Damages is Unreasonable

July 18, 2018 — Gus Sara - The Subrogation Strategist
In Durkin v. MTown Construction, LLC, 2018 Tenn. App. LEXIS 128, the Court of Appeals of Tennessee considered whether the lower court properly took judicial notice of an alternative measure of damages to the measure of damages advanced by the plaintiff. The Court of Appeals held that the defendant has the burden of offering evidence of alternative measures of damages if it seeks to argue that the plaintiff’s measure of the damages is unreasonable. The Court of Appeals found that the lower court erred in taking judicial notice of alternative measures of damage when the defendant failed to meet its burden of proof. The court’s holding establishes that, if the defendant does not offer evidence of alternative measures of damage, then the measure of damages introduced by the plaintiff will apply. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Gus Sara, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Sara may be contacted at sarag@whiteandwilliams.com

Insurers Reacting to Massachusetts Tornadoes

August 11, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

The Patriot-Ledger reports that insurers could pay out as much as $200 million to cover homes damaged or destroyed in the tornadoes that hit central and southern Massachusetts in June, 2011. Joseph Murphy, Commissioner of the State Division of Insurance didn?t foresee problems with insurers covering these claims. “At this point, there doesn’t seem to be any one company overexposed in that area,” he told the Patriot-Ledger.

Insurance executives did not think the tornadoes would cause them to raise rates. Steve Chevalier, CEO of NLC Companies, said, “it’s a major event for those impacted by it, but it’s not close to a financial hit to us.”

One insurer noted that the winter weather generated more claims; however the cumulative value of those claims was $15 million.

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Nevada Legislature Burns Insurers' Rights to Offer Eroding Limits

August 28, 2023 — William S. Bennett - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Nevada’s legislature recently passed a groundbreaking law imposing two prohibitions on insurers. First, the law prohibits insurers from issuing or renewing any liability insurance policy with an “eroding limits” provision. While the first section of the law will have the most immediate effects, the statute goes further, generally prohibiting insurers from limiting the availability of coverage for the costs of defense, legal costs and fees, and other claim expenses. This second section leaves a great deal to interpretation, with the potential to massively expand policyholder rights, and may throw the traditional structure of liability insurance policies into question. Nevada Statute §679a provides as follows: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an insurer, including, without limitation, an insurer listed in NRS 679A.160, shall not issue or renew a policy of liability insurance that contains a provision that:

Reduces the limit of liability stated in the policy by the costs of defense, legal costs and fees and other expenses for claims; or
Otherwise limits the availability of coverage for the costs of defense, legal costs and fees and other expenses for claims.

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Reprinted courtesy of William S. Bennett, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Bennett may be contacted at WBennett@sdvlaw.com

Los Angeles Wildfires Rage on, Destroying Structures and Displacing Residents

January 14, 2025 — Aileen Cho - Engineering News-Record
Wildfires in Los Angeles have already destroyed thousands of buildings, but the full extent of the damage will not be known for some time, according to local officials during a media briefing Jan. 9. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aileen Cho, Engineering News-Record
Ms. Cho may be contacted at choa@enr.com

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