Columbus Ohio Building Expert Directory

Will There Be Construction Defect Legislation Introduced in the 2019 Colorado Legislative Session?

March 18, 2019 — David McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
With the 2019 Colorado legislative session well underway, the construction industry is waiting with bated breath to see what the Democrat controlled legislature might do with respect to construction defect legislation. In recent years, having a split legislature has prevented any attempts to roll back positive changes in the law, either from the legislature or Colorado courts, that have been hailed by the construction community. This year, odds are good that we will see at least one bill similar to two introduced last year that would hinder the ability to have disputes decided by binding arbitration. While not full frontal assaults on the Colorado Supreme Court decision in the Vallagio case, HB18-1261, the “Colorado Arbitration Fairness Act,” and HB 18-1262, the “Arbitration Services Provider Transparency Act,” would have negatively impacted the ability to resolve any type of case through arbitration. Anything that prevents the resolution of construction defect cases through arbitration will increase the judgments and settlements in such cases, ultimately increasing the costs of construction and for insurance for those in the industry. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com

U.S. Steel Invoking Carnegie’s Legacy in Revival Strategy

July 23, 2014 — Sonja Elmquist – Bloomberg
In March 2013, Mario Longhi lobbed an unexpected question into a roomful of 150 U.S. Steel Corp. managers: Who here would buy the company’s stock, tomorrow? He gave them three seconds, and “only a few reacted in that time frame positively,” Longhi said. Since that meeting, Longhi has been promoted to chief executive officer, and nine months into his tenure he’s closed one plant permanently, two more are temporarily idled and he’s planning to overhaul another. It’s all part of his plan to transform the 144-year-old company into a lean, modern steel producer. Investors are taking note, with the shares up 53 percent since he took over. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Sonja Elmquist, Bloomberg
Ms. Elmquist may be contacted at selmquist1@bloomberg.net

Colorado’s Federal District Court Finds Carriers Have Joint and Several Defense Duties

October 10, 2013 — Bret Cogdill — Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC.
An issue that has plagued builders in Colorado construction defect litigation is the difficulty of getting additional insured carriers to fully participate in the builder’s defense, oftentimes leaving the builder to fund its own defense during the course of the litigation. Many additional insurers offer a variety of positions regarding why they will not pay for fees and costs during the course of a lawsuit. Some insurers argue that, until after trial, it is impossible to determine its proper share of the defense, and therefore cannot make any payments until the liability is determined as to all of the potentially contributing policies. (This is often referred to as the “defense follows indemnity” approach.) Others may make an opening contribution to defense fees and costs, but fall silent as fees and costs accumulate. In such an event, the builder may be forced to fund all or part of its own defense, while the uncooperative additional insured carrier waits for the end of the lawsuit or is faced with other legal action before it makes other contributions. Recent orders in two, currently ongoing, U.S. District Court cases provide clarity on the duty to defend in Colorado, holding that multiple insurers’ duty to defend is joint and several. The insured does not have to go without a defense while the various insurers argue amongst themselves as to which insurer pays what share. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bret Cogdill
Bret Cogdill can be contacted at cogdill@hhmrlaw.com

Another Reminder that Contracts are Powerful in Virginia

February 08, 2021 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Regular readers of this construction law blog are likely tired of my refrain that the contract is king here in Virginia. With few exceptions, some of which have been passed in the last few years, the contract can and does essentially set the “law” for the transaction. A recent opinion from the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals confirms this principle. In Bracey v. Lancaster Foods, LLC, the Court looked at the question as to whether parties can contractually limit the statute of limitations in which a plaintiff or arbitration claimant can file its claim for relief. In Bracey, Michael Bracey, a truck driver, sued his former employer, Lancaster Foods, asserting various employment law claims. Lancaster moved to dismiss and compel arbitration based on the terms of an alternative dispute resolution agreement Bracey signed when he was hired, under which he consented to arbitration of any employment-related claim and waived all rights he may otherwise have had to a trial. Bracey challenged the arbitration clause, one that also included a 1-year limitation on the time in which Bracey was allowed to file any claim, as unconscionable. A federal judge in Maryland agreed and granted the motion to dismiss. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Massachusetts Couple Seek to Recuse Judge in Construction Defect Case

September 30, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

After seeing their $1 million jury award overturned on appeal by a judge who called the award “against the weight of evidence and likely due to misapprehension, confusion or passion,” Kathryn and Christian Culley are seeking to have him removed from the case. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has rejected their claim.

The Culleys claim that Judge Thomas R. Murtagh’s decision was influence by him membership in the Andover Country Club which is represented by the opposing counsel in their construction defect case. Justice Margot G. Botsford had denied the Culley’s request, ruling that they had other remedies available to them.

The SJC noted in their ruling that if the Culleys are alleging judicial misconduct a request must be made to the Commission on Judicial Conduct. Their lawyer plans to file a new motion for recusal with the SJC.

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AI – A Designer’s Assistant or a Replacement?

November 28, 2022 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Over the last few months, we’ve seen an online explosion of AI-powered text and image generators. Many non-designers welcome these tools as a way to express themselves and create results that would have taken professionals days to complete. The obvious question is, should designers start feeling scared? Interior designs from a photo you upload In Business of Home, Fred Nicolaus writes about how he tested with an L.A. designer Shaun Crha an online tool called Interior AI. They uploaded pictures of empty rooms, selected basic prompts (“midcentury modern bathroom,” for example), and watched the machine go. After tweaking the tool settings, they started getting impressive results. Launched in September 2022, Interior AI is the creation of Pieter Levels, a programmer. He built the site in five days by connecting it to a commercially available AI engine called Stable Diffusion. It has been trained with images from Pinterest and other photo sources. 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

Contractors Set to Implement Air Quality Upgrades for Healthier Buildings

April 12, 2021 — Nate Echtenkamp - Construction Executive
As people spend more time in offices, stores and other buildings, and colder weather forces many outdoor activities to be held indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, construction contractors are increasingly being asked by building owners and operators to provide various mitigation strategies to improve indoor air quality to help occupants avoid being exposed to lingering airborne viral particles. Lowering the concentration of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens in enclosed public spaces is of the utmost importance nowadays given that Americans, on average, spend nearly 90% of their time indoors, according to the EPA. It’s fairly common knowledge that the best way to avoid infection is to follow guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that include:

wearing masks or other face coverings;
frequent hand-washing;
physical distancing of at least six feet; and
deep-cleaning procedures.

Reprinted courtesy of Nate Echtenkamp, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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The Independent Tort Doctrine (And Its Importance)

October 24, 2022 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A non-construction raises an important legal principle. Here it is because it applies to construction disputes. It actually applies to many business-type disputes. It is based on what is widely referred to as the independent tort doctrine: Florida law does not allow a party damaged by a breach of contract to recover exactly the same contract damages via a tort claim. “It is a fundamental, long-standing common law principle that a plaintiff may not recover in tort for a contract dispute unless the tort is independent of any breach of contract. A plaintiff bringing both a breach of contract and a tort claim must allege, in addition to the breach of contract, “some other conduct amounting to an independent tort.” Bedoyan v. Samra, 47 Fla.L.Weekly D1955a (Fla. 3d 2022) (internal citations omitted). Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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