Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Los Angeles Team Secures Summary Judgment for Hotel Owner & Manager in Tenant’s Lawsuit

July 08, 2024 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Los Angeles, Calif. (June 11, 2024) - Los Angeles Partners David Samuels and Meegan Moloney recently obtained summary judgment for the owner and manager of a Southern California hotel in a lawsuit brought by a tenant who alleged that she suffered injuries due to the presence of mold in her leased space. The plaintiff had entered into a commercial lease for space within the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Redondo Beach, California, for use for her spa and massage business. The lease contained "exculpatory provisions" absolving Lewis Brisbois' clients "from any and all liability and responsibility for any loss, injury or damage incurred or claimed by reason of damage to property located on the leased premises." Shortly after taking possession of the space in September 2019, the plaintiff claimed she became ill and subsequently discovered the presence of mold in the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning ducts. In October 2022, she sued the hotel's owner and manager, asserting a host of claims including negligence, fraud - negligent and intentional misrepresentation, negligent infliction of emotional distress, breach of contract, breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment, private nuisance, and unfair business practices. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

BHA Has a Nice Swing: Firm Supports NCHV and Final Salute at 2017 WCC Seminar

May 03, 2017 — CDJ STAFF
Bert L. Howe & Associates (BHA) is excited to announce the return of their very popular Sink a Putt for Charity at the 2017 West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar. This year, participant’s efforts on the green will help benefit both the National Coalition for Homeless Vets and Final Salute. As in years past, sink a putt in the BHA golf challenge and win a $25 Amazon gift card, and for every successful putt made, BHA will make a $25 cash donation in the golfer’s name to be distributed equally between these two worthy organizations. 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. Also learn about BHA’s expanding market presence and full range of services in Texas, Florida, and across the Southeast United States. Attendees can also enter to win Dodger baseball tickets or a new iPad Pro! Other BHA giveaways include USB charging blocks, pocket tape measures, multi-tools, LED flashlights, and foam stress balls. For more information on the National Coalition for Homeless Vets, please visit: http://nchv.org/ To learn more about how Final Salute provides homeless women Veterans with safe and suitable housing, please visit: http://www.finalsaluteinc.org/ Read the court decision
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What is the Implied Warranty of Habitability?

October 02, 2018 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara
The implied warranty of habitability plays an important role in our understanding of the relationship between tenant and landlord; it helps to define the parameters and requirements of contracts between tenant and the owner. In doing so, the implied warranty of habitability is meant to ensure that a home or rental unit is in a livable condition. In this article, we’ll take a look at what the warranty of habitability is, how it developed, and what differentiates the warranty of habitability from the previous landlord-tenant law. Background of the Implied Warranty of Habitability When someone hears about the warranty of habitability, their first question is usually “what is the implied warranty of habitability?” This is understandable, given that the implied warranty of habitability isn’t exactly well known. Most renters have probably never heard of the implied warranty of habitability, despite the fact that it provides important safeguards for tenant’s rights. In order to gain a better understanding of what the implied warranty of habitability is, it is helpful to understand what state of affairs existed prior to the adoption of an implied warranty of habitability. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara

Safety, Compliance and Productivity on the Jobsite

November 18, 2019 — Matthew Ramage - Construction Executive
With any project, managing a large contingency of workers—all with varying levels of security clearance—can be a logistical headache. On the majority of construction sites, managers lack the resources to quickly and accurately identify all onsite personnel and ensure the right labor, equipment and materials are in the right place at the right time. Equally important, construction managers need to know if worker certifications are current and only allow access to authorized areas. Multiple factors compound the need for better transparency across the workforce, including:

Safety. Construction work is inherently dangerous. In 2017, nearly 1,000 fatalities occurred on construction sites. This means that the industry accounted for more than 20% of private sector fatalities across all industries.
Regulatory. The Federal government has a heightened awareness of jobsite dangers and is targeting companies that are not making every effort to maximize the workers’ safety.
Security. Sites in urban environments require round-the-clock protection from urban explorers, thieves and the general public.
Employee wage disputes. Lawsuits and disputes over wages and hourly employment are increasing.
Reduced productivity. It can be difficult to measure and track productivity in construction.

Reprinted courtesy of Matthew Ramage, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Where Do We Go From Here?

March 21, 2022 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Green Builder CoalitionFor this week’s Guest Post Friday, I welcome an old friend and past Guest Post Friday contributor, Mike Collignon. Mike is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Green Builder® Coalition. He engages in national and state-level advocacy and publishes regular content for Green Builder® Media. Mike is also the Chair of the WERS Development Group and has served as the moderator or host for Green Builder® Media’s Impact Series webinars from 2012– present. This post originally appeared on Green Builder® Media’s Code Watcher. Do you ever have a line from a song just pop into your head? I get that… a lot. It’s probably due to my lifelong love of music. Anyway, while I was researching this column, the line that cites the title of “Where Do We Go From Here?” by Filter started playing between my ears. You’ll see why in a couple of minutes. In case you didn’t read about it here or elsewhere, the IECC development process has undergone an overhaul. It is now following a standards process, yet it retains the word “code” in the name. The residential committee (which is the scope of this column) is now a consensus committee and has been greatly expanded. Proposals are still submitted, reviewed and voted on by the committee. On the surface, it doesn’t sound like much has changed. As they say, the devil is always in the details. 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

BWBO Celebrating Attorney Award and Two New Partners

July 14, 2016 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Congratulations is due to Nicole Whyte of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara LLP (BWBO) for being recognized as one of America’s Top 100 Attorneys by America’s Top 100, which identifies the top 100 attorneys in each state. In an email release, the firm stated, “We are pleased to celebrate this lifetime achievement and it is an honor to have Ms. Whyte listed alongside her esteemed peers.” Furthermore, BWBO announced that two of their attorneys have been promoted to partner: Alex Giannetto and Benjamin Price. “Mr. Giannetto believes that hard work, dedication, caring about clients and work product, and surrounding himself with good people, has helped him become successful in his profession,” as stated in an email release. “To be successful you have to surround yourself with successful people,” Mr. Price stated. “A combination of humility, confidence, and hard work is also important.” Read the court decision
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Former Owner Not Liable for Defects Discovered After Sale

January 29, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
In a “tentative decision” by Judge Steven Kleifield, Mark Van Peebles and a real estate company have been exonerated “of any liability in a lawsuit involving the sale of the actor’s Playa del Rey condominium, whose buyer says he discovered mold and a flooring defect,” according to the Patch. However, the judge “ordered the Waterfront Homeowners Association to pay Adel Bebawy $26,217 for repair work on the floor and the kitchen as well as civil penalties for not keeping him informed about board meetings.” The suit began in 2009 after Bebawy alleged “he discovered the floor had a severe slope and that there was significant mold in a bathroom,” reported the Patch. Kleifield, however, stated that the mold didn’t affect the condo’s value. Furthermore, Kleifield wrote that the sloping didn’t become an issue until Bebawy began installing a hardwood floor. Read the court decision
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Tariffs, Supply Snarls Spur Search for Factories Closer to U.S.

February 21, 2022 — Laura Curtis - Bloomberg
Small businesses looking for a factory that can make some stylish orthopedic shoes, chairs or construction materials may have an easier time finding a closer-to-home alternative to waiting for the supply-chain snarl in the Pacific Ocean to work itself out. Zipfox, an online platform that links businesses up with factories in Mexico, launched this week, enabling near-shoring of production and the chance to get goods into the U.S. more quickly than if businesses were sourcing from manufacturing hubs in China. “People are feeling the pain from sourcing from China right now but they aren’t really aware of the manufacturing capability and capacity that Mexico already has,” Zipfox founder Raine Mahdi said Tuesday. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Laura Curtis, Bloomberg

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES