Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

What is Toxic Mold Litigation?

May 30, 2018 — Vik Nagpal – Bremer Whyte Blog
To understand what Toxic Mold Litigation is, it is important to first identify and understand what toxic mold is. Mold is a fungus which is essentially everywhere, and certain types of mold, known as toxic mold, may cause severe personal injuries and/or property damage. Toxic mold refers to those molds capable of producing mycotoxins which are organic compounds capable of initiating a toxic response in vertebrates. Toxic mold generally occurs because of water intrusion, from sources such as plumbing problems, floods, or roof leaks. It is this ageless life form that has spawned a new species of toxic tort claims and has had legal and medical experts debating the complex health implications that follow. Here is some information as to what toxic mold litigation is and when you should hire a lawyer for toxic mold. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Vik Nagpal, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Mr. Nagpal may be contacted at vnagpal@bremerwhyte.com

New York Appellate Court Applies Broad Duty to Defend to Property Damage Case

January 03, 2022 — Craig Rokuson - Traub Lieberman Insurance Law Blog
In the recent case of New York Marine and Gen. Ins. Co. v. Eastman Cooke & Associates, 153 N.Y.S.3d 840, 841 (N.Y. App. Div. 1st Dept. 2021), New York’s first department affirmed a duty to defend under New York law. In the underlying action, the plaintiff alleged property damages due to prolonged construction work in a different unit of the subject property. The underlying plaintiff sued the owner of the subject property, which in turn sued Eastman Cooke, the general contractor at the premises. New York Marine denied coverage to Eastman Cooke, asserting that the underlying suit did not seek damages occurring during the New York Marine policy period, and commenced a declaratory judgment action. The trial court held—and the First Department affirmed—that New York Marine has a duty to defend Eastman Cooke. Initially, the court found that the underlying suit alleged property damage as required for coverage, because there were allegations regarding loss of use of the property. The court also found that the underlying suit alleged damages occurring during the New York Marine policy period. Although the underlying complaint alleged that the underlying plaintiffs were reimbursed for damages occurring during the New York Marine policy period by another insurer, the court held that the evidence was that the payments only covered a certain part of the damages sought. Accordingly, because there was a reasonable possibility that some unreimbursed damages may fall within the New York Marine policy period. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Craig Rokuson, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Rokuson may be contacted at crokuson@tlsslaw.com

A Duty to Design and Maintain Reasonably Safe Roadways Extends to All Persons. (WA)

February 25, 2014 — Natasha Khachatourians – Scheer & Zehnder LLP Liability Newsletter
Case: Lowman v. Wilbur, et al., 178 Wn.2d 165, 309 P.3d 3.87 (2013). Issue: If a passenger’s injuries are in fact caused by the placement of a utility pole too close to a roadway, can the injuries be deemed too remote for purposes of legal causation? NO. Facts: Plaintiff was a passenger in a vehicle that lost control and collided with a utility pole that was 4.47 feet from the edge of the roadway. The vehicle’s driver was under the influence of alcohol. Plaintiff sued the driver as well as the utility company and Skagit County for negligence. The trial court granted the utility company and Skagit County’s summary judgment motion, finding that the negligent placement of the utility pole was not a legal cause of plaintiff’s injuries. The issue before the Supreme Court was whether a negligently placed utility pole could be the legal cause of a resulting injury. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Natasha Khachatourians, Scheer & Zehnder LLP
Ms. Khachatourians may be contacted at natashak@scheerlaw.com

Florida Contractor on Trial for Bribing School Official

October 28, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

Lloyd Whann, an executive in M. M. Parrish Construction, a Gainesville, Florida firm, is going to trial over claims that he bribed a school district official with more than $50,000 in gifts. The trial has been pushed to March of 2012, in order for his defense to review documents.

Bob Williams, the former school official, plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. He agreed to testify against Whann and M.M. Parrish Construction.

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Engineer TRC Fends Off Lawsuits After Merger

August 17, 2017 — Scott Van Voorhis - Engineering News-Record
In the wake of its merger with an investment fund, TRC Cos. has been busy swatting away pesky shareholder lawsuits driven by law firms who specialize in such litigation. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Scott Van Voorhis, ENR
ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com

ASCE Statement on House Passage of Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act

November 15, 2021 — American Society of Civil Engineers
The following is a statement by Dennis D. Truax, P.E., President, American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE): WASHINGTON, DC. – It is a great day for the nation as the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), fulfilling President Biden's vision with a historic piece of legislation that will have monumental impacts on the economy, public safety, global competitiveness, and each American's well-being. Passage of this five-year, $1.2 trillion bill proves once again that the country can lead with infrastructure. With this legislation, the federal government will restore their critical partnership with cities and states to modernize our nation's roads, bridges, transit systems, drinking water pipes, school facilities, broadband, ports, airports and more. Without a strong federal partner, local projects that are community lifelines have hung in the balance, oftentimes being paused or outright cancelled due to funding uncertainties. When this happens, American households and businesses are the ones who pay the price. The IIJA is the culmination of decades of advocacy by American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) members who worked tirelessly to educate Congress about the role infrastructure plays in supporting the economy and our quality of life. ASCE's Infrastructure Report Cards have sounded the alarm on our nation's infrastructure conditions since 1998, with new reports being released every four years. While all categories of infrastructure have been the cause of some concerns, the common denominator behind each category's struggles has been a backlog of projects, overdue maintenance, and a need for resilience. This bill includes investments to repair and modernize these critical assets for almost all of the 17 categories in the 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, which assigned our nation's infrastructure a cumulative grade of 'C-'. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel. Read the court decision
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Take Advantage of AI and Data Intelligence in Construction

May 06, 2019 — Nick Carter - Construction Executive
For consumers, AI and data intelligence are daily activities. Purchase recommendations from Amazon simplify holiday shopping. Music options from Spotify helps employees focus during the workday and relax at night. Car-sharing apps remove the stress from post-happy hour transport. It is time for this kind of data-driven ease to hit the construction industry. Building is booming, yet despite the good times, the industry still lags in terms of data intelligence and AI. With them, construction providers can transform document and jobsite information into intelligent insights, reduce errors, keep projects on schedule and predict and prevent costly inefficiencies. Artificial intelligence is the “connective tissue” that construction is missing--if it is used wisely. Why Construction is Ready for AI With its endless stream of owners, architects, engineers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers, the construction industry manages more critical information on a day-to-day basis than nearly any other business. As a result, there are dozens of potential miscommunications just waiting to happen every day. Reprinted courtesy of Nick Carter, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Boots on the Ground- A Great Way to Learn and Help Construction Clients

May 02, 2022 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
This past week, I attended the Construction Law and Public Contracts seminar in Charlottesville, VA and also a breakfast meeting of the Richmond chapter of the Associated General Contractors of Virginia. Reflecting on this past week, I realized that my membership and participation in both of these great organizations (I am a member of the Board of Governors for the state bar section and the Executive Committee for the Richmond District of AGC-VA) not only provides great marketing and friendship opportunities, participation helps my construction clients in ways that a singular online marketing and interactive path would not (even with the growth of social media). Among other benefits (including case digests and the insightful newsletter), being a member of the Construction Law and Public Contracts section helps my clients in numerous ways, not the least of which is the ability to network and gain the perspective of many of the great construction attorneys here in Virginia. The ability to bounce legal thoughts off of others for their perspectives gives me the benefit of their experiences and, importantly to my clients, allows me to be more efficient in my research and arguments because of their insight. Additionally, as a solo construction attorney, knowing other attorneys in other parts of the Commonwealth of Virginia gives me a network of trusted lawyers to whom I can safely and confidently refer a case where a conflict exists or other factors (like geography) make such a referral a benefit to a construction firm in need of legal assistance on a particular matter. 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

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