Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Appraisal May Include Cause of Loss Issues

March 21, 2022 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The federal district court determined that an appraisal can include causation issues when determining the amount of loss. B&D Inv. Grp., LLC v. Mid-Century Ins. Co., 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 246853 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 28, 2021). B&D commercial building was damaged by hail. B&D submitted a claim to Mid-Century, but the parties disagreed as to the damage. Mid-Century found there was hail damage to metal vents on the roof and estimated the repair costs to be $4,271.95. Mid-Century found no hail damage to the roof itself. B&D disagreed and insisted that there was additional damage to the property, specifically the roof. B&D requested an appraisal, but Mid-Century denied the request. Mid-Century found that the condition of the roof was due to wear and tear and therefore constituted an excluded cause under the policy. B&D filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment compelling the parties to proceed with an appraisal. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Federal Judge Dismisses Insurance Coverage Lawsuit In Construction Defect Case

December 09, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

A federal judge dismissed a coverage lawsuit brought by Mid Continent Casualty Company against its insured, Greater Midwest Builders Ltd.

Plaintiff brought this declaratory judgment action in response to a suit filed in Johnson County District Court, seeking a judicial determination that it had no coverage obligation for claims asserted against its insured. This case was stayed until the state court action entered judgment against the insured. The prevailing parties then commenced a garnishment action against the plaintiff, and another insurance company, in state court in Missouri. The court was asked whether it should lift the stay and proceed with the case, or decline jurisdiction in favor of resolution in the Missouri state court.

The court granted the motion to dismiss holding that proceeding with the case would lead to protracted, piecemeal litigation, while deferring to the Missouri state court would decide all the claims involved in the dispute.

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Red Wings Owner, Needing Hockey-Arena Neighborhood, Builds One

August 06, 2014 — Chris Christoff – Bloomberg
Billionaire Mike Ilitch and his family plan to create an instantaneous neighborhood around Detroit’s new hockey arena and jump-start an economic recovery where other sports ventures fell short. The 250-acre (101-hectare) project near downtown sets the arena apart from other U.S. stadiums where little or no related development occurred, or arose long after construction. The Ilitches, owners of the National Hockey League’s Detroit Red Wings, will spend $200 million on apartments and retail space to attract residents by the time the arena opens for the 2017 season. They’ll also pay 44 percent of cost to build the arena. “This isn’t, ‘Build it and they will come.’ This is, ‘We’re coming and we’re building it,” said Mark Morante, a manager for the Michigan Strategic Fund, which must authorize a $450 million bond sale to build the arena, the largest by the state’s economic development arm. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Chris Christoff, Bloomberg
Mr. Christoff may be contacted at cchristoff@bloomberg.net

Formal Opinion No. 2020-203: How A Lawyer Is to Handle Access to Client Confidential Information and Anticipation of Potential Security Issues

December 07, 2020 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Recently, the California Bar Association (“CBA”) published Formal Opinion No. 2020-203[1] concerning a lawyer’s ethical obligations with respect to unauthorized access to electronically stored client information. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the growing trend of storing and maintaining data and information online so that employees and clients can access the data from anywhere in the world at any time. Now, in today’s working world, the reality is nearly all information and data is stored and shared digitally online for ease of access, use, and dissemination. Unfortunately, a major draw-back of this switch to a cyber paradigm is serious exposure to data breaches as a result of hacking, inadvertence, or theft. Formal Opinion No. 2020-203 outlines how a lawyer is to handle access to client confidential information and anticipation of potential security issues. This article will briefly cover the key aspects addressed in Formal Opinion No. 2020-203. What is the duty owed by a lawyer to his or her client regarding the use of technology? At the outset, the CBA reminds lawyers of the ongoing duty of competence (Rule 1.1) and the duty to safeguard clients’ confidences and secrets (Rule 1.6; Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code, § 6068(e)) which impose the requirement that a lawyer must have a basic understanding of the risks posed when using a given technology and (if necessary) obtain help from appropriate experts to assess those risks and take reasonable steps to prevent data breaches. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

GIS and BIM Integration Will Transform Infrastructure Design and Construction

October 09, 2018 — Nicolas Mangon - Engineering News-Record
An unfortunate fact of the architecture and engineering professions and the construction industry is that, between every stage of the process—from planning and design to construction and operations—critical data is lost. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nicolas Mangon, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

Coronavirus, Force Majeure, and Delay and Time-Impact Claims

March 30, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
It’s scary, uncertain times as the world grasps with how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic that has now spread to every continent on the globe with the exception of Antarctica. Although this is a global crisis, it has, and for the immediately future will continue to have, a direct impact on us individually as well our industry. While the impact of the coronavirus on the construction industry is uncertain, what is certain, is that it will have an impact, whether on the construction labor market, on construction supply chains, on the ability of contractors to deliver projects on time and within budget, and on decisions by owners whether to move forward with projects altogether. According to Ken Simonson, chief economist with the Associated General Contractors of America, during an interview at the ConExpo conference this past week in Las Vegas, while the coronavirus crises “is a story evolving by the hour . . . the impacts on construction are going to happen, but it’s hard to say how extensive, how long they’ll last, [and] how soon they’ll show up.” From a legal perspective, the coronavirus, and really any natural disaster, from the “Campfire Fire” in Northern California in 2018 to the “Big One” which can happen anytime, has the potential to adversely impact a construction project or shut it down completely. This in turn raises two different, but interrelated legal concepts: (1) force majeure; and (2) delay and time-impact claims. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Fast-Moving Isaias Dishes Out Disruption in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast

August 24, 2020 — Jim Parsons - Engineering News-Record
Far from the most powerful storm to strike the Eastern Seaboard, Hurricane Isaias nevertheless proved disruptive enough to rival some infrastructure impacts from Superstorm Sandy in 2012 while also raising concerns about the potential of additional doses of destruction arriving in the coming months. Jim Parsons, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Kahana Feld Partner Noelle Natoli Named President of Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles

October 07, 2024 — Linda Carter - Kahana Feld
LOS ANGELES – Sep. 16, 2024 – Kahana Feld is pleased to announce that partner Noelle Natoli was recently installed as the 2024-25 president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA). The mission of WLALA is to promote the full participation in the legal profession of women lawyers and judges from diverse perspectives and backgrounds, maintain the integrity of our legal system by advocating principles of fairness and equality, and improve the status of women by supporting their exercise of equal rights. Natoli is a partner based in Kahana Feld’s Los Angeles office and focuses her civil trial practice on the defense of both insurers and insureds primarily in the areas of elder abuse, transportation defense, and general liability. Her clients include individuals, family-owned businesses, and national corporations. Natoli also chairs the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the Trucking Industry Defense Association and serves as a board member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Linda Carter, Kahana Feld
Ms. Carter may be contacted at lcarter@kahanafeld.com

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