Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

The Privette Doctrine and Its Exceptions: Court of Appeal Grapples With the Easy and Not So Easy

November 18, 2024 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
In CBRE v. Superior Court, 102 Cal.App.5th 639 (2024), the 4th District Court of Appeal grappled with a thorny and not-so-thorny issue involving injured parties under the Privette doctrine. The less thorny issue was whether application of the Privette doctrine depends on whether a written contract exists between the parties. Spoiler: It does not. The thorny issue was whether the Hooker exception to the Privette doctrine – which applies when a landowner exercises control over a project – should apply where a landowner directs a contractor to perform work that is at odds with legal requirements. The CBRE Case Property Reserve, Inc. owns an office building managed by CBRE in San Diego, California. On April 9, 2019, PRI entered into a lease agreement with a new tenant for a suite in the building. The lease required that PRI perform certain tenant improvements. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Atlanta Office Wins Defense Verdict For Property Manager On Claims By Vendor, Cross-Claims By Property Owner

January 08, 2024 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Atlanta, Ga. (December 18, 2023) – Atlanta Partner Adi Allushi and Associate Cecilia Walker recently secured a defense verdict for a national property management corporation on claims brought by a vendor and cross-claims lodged by the property owner. Lewis Brisbois’ client is a national corporation, over a century old, that managed over 140 properties with 40,000 units. In 2019, the client entered the Georgia market managing three apartment complexes owned by a hedge fund in New York. The owner terminated without cause the client within six months, and several vendors – including the plaintiff, who was a remedial services provider – were not paid during the last few months and the transition period. The plaintiff sued the owner for the unpaid services, as well as an incorrect entity it believed to be the client. The owner cross-claimed against the client for fraudulent misrepresentations. Based on the misnomer statute, the court granted default judgment against the client. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

Construction Defect Bill Removed from Committee Calendar

February 12, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Colorado State Senator Mark Scheffel has removed Senate Bill 13-052 from the Senate Judiciary Committee’s calendar because he feels an upcoming study on construction near transit centers will be important for the consideration of the bill. SB 13-052 would affect construction defect claims in communities that were within a half mile of public transportation. Critics claim it would gut construction defect protections, as even a bus stop would count as a “mass transit center.” Scheffel says he doesn’t know what the study will find, but says that whether he likes or hates it, it will be relevant. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of

New York Supreme Court Building Opening Delayed Again

September 24, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
SI Live reported that the opening of the new state Supreme Court building in St. George, New York is delayed again due to problems with the air-conditioning and elevator systems. Delay, however, is not new to this project, which was originally expected to be completed over a decade ago. Initial delay was introduced “with the finding of remains from a 19th-century burial ground at the site, a former municipal parking lot, and more recently, with construction set-backs and other tie-ups,” according to SI Live. When completed, the new “building will boast 14 courtrooms, jury assembly, hearing and deliberation rooms, judges' chambers and court offices. There will also be holding cells for prisoners.” Read the court decision
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CDJ’s #8 Topic of the Year: California’s Board of Equalization Tower

December 31, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Imagine a workplace where bats fly, floors flood, and glass panels randomly pop out of the building to shatter on the sidewalk. Add to that repairs that could total more than twice the purchase price, and you have a story. Especially when it involves a California government facility. Jon Ortiz of the Sacramento Bee shared the story on Insurance News. Read the court decision
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Are Construction Defect Laws a Factor in Millennials Home Buying Decisions?

March 12, 2015 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Kimberly A. O’Hagan of Otten Johnson Robinson Neff + Ragonnetti PC discussed Millennials in Denver, Colorado, and how their desire to buy may cause them to leave the area due to a lack of affordable housing. O’Hagan describes various possible reasons for the lack of affordable housing: “Some cite the inability to qualify for financing and low demand as the reasons for the decreased number of condominium projects. Others, including Denver’s Mayor Hancock, credit the chill on condominium construction to Colorado’s construction defect laws, which they say have resulted in increased insurance costs that make condominium development economically infeasible.” Read the court decision
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New Jersey Courts Sign "Death Knell" for 1979 Weedo Decision

October 21, 2015 — Jesse Howard Witt – Acerbic Witt
A new blog post from Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton discusses two recent decisions limiting the holding of Weedo v. Stone-E-Brick, Inc., 405 A.2d 788 (N.J. 1979), a New Jersey case that has generated decades of commentary and debate, in my own writing as well as that of many others (at least 1880 citations, according to the blog). Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jesse Howard Witt, Acerbic Witt
Mr. Witt welcomes comments at www.wittlawfirm.net

The Starter Apartment Is Nearly Extinct in San Francisco and New York

October 28, 2015 — Patrick Clark – Bloomberg
So you’re looking for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, and you have about $2,000 a month to spend. You know the city’s median rent is more than $4,200 a month, but median means half the apartments cost less. Surely there are larger, more expensive apartments pulling up the midpoint. Perhaps. But there’s a reason Google employees are sleeping in their trucks. Ninety-one percent of one-bedroom apartments in San Francisco cost more than $2,000 a month. Perhaps more surprising is the number of apartments that occupy the high end of rental rates: In Manhattan, a fifth of one-bedrooms rent for more than $4,000. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Patrick Clark, Bloomberg

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