Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

A Tuesday With Lisa Colon

July 02, 2024 — Lisa Colon - The Dispute Resolver
As a seasoned construction lawyer, I've always prided myself on being independent and tough. However, my toughness was tested when my life took an unexpected turn. In 2013, I was diagnosed with a genetic cardiomyopathy, a condition which made it harder for my heart to pump blood. That diagnosis in itself was devasting since I had to change many things about the way I lived, including having to abandon running, my favorite hobby. After living 10 years in this new normal, in May 2023, I was told my right ventricle was no longer working and there were no further therapies available. I needed a heart transplant. The journey was long, arduous, and filled with both physical and emotional challenges. This life-altering experience not only gave me a new lease on life but also profoundly changed my perspective on practicing law. In this post, I will share three key lessons I learned from my heart transplant journey that have significantly impacted how I approach my legal practice. Lesson 1: The Importance of Patience and Persistence The journey to receiving a heart transplant is often fraught with uncertainty and long waiting periods. My new heart came quickly. I waited 22 days on the transplant list, but for me, the wait seemed interminable, filled with numerous hospital visits, medical tests, and moments of despair. Then came the recovery. The early days were filled with weekly biopsies, unimaginable nerve pain, and days of wondering if things would ever get better. During this time, I learned the true meaning of patience. Each day was a test of my resolve, and giving up was never an option. I had to persist through the toughest days, believing that a positive outcome was possible. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lisa Colon, Saul Ewing
Ms. Colon may be contacted at lisa.colon@saul.com

Anchorage Building Codes Credited for Limited Damage After Quakes

January 08, 2019 — Christine Kilpatrick - Engineering News-Record
The magnitudes 7.0 and 5.7 earthquakes that struck Anchorage, Alaska, on Nov. 30 shook buildings and shattered highways, but caused limited structural damage and no reported loss of life, mostly due to the depth and location of the quake’s epicenter, as well as the city and state’s stringent building requirements. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christine Kilpatrick - ENR
Ms. Kilpatrick may be contacted at kilpatrickc@enr.com

Hirer Not Liable Under Privette Doctrine Where Hirer Had Knowledge of Condition, but not that Condition Posed a Concealed Hazard

December 11, 2023 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
The Privette doctrine, so-called because of a case of the same name, Privette v. Superior Court, 5 Cal.4th 698 (1993), provides a rebuttable presumption that a hirer is not liable for workplace injuries sustained by employees of hired parties. In other words, if a property owner hires a contractor, and one of the contractor’s employees gets injured while working on the property, there is a rebuttable presumption that the property owner is not liable for the employee’s injuries, the rationale being that because the contractor is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance the contractor is in the better position to absorb losses incurred a workplace injury. There are, however, two widely recognized exceptions to the Privette doctrine. The first, is the Hooker exception, again named after a case of the same name, Hooker v. Department of Transportation, 27 Cal.th 198 (2002), which provides that a hirer is liable for injuries to a hired parties’ employees, if the hirer retained control over the work being performed, negligently exercised that control, and the negative exercise of that control contributed to the employee’s injury. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

A Word to the Wise: The AIA Revised Contract Documents Could Lead to New and Unanticipated Risks - Part II

October 16, 2018 — George Talarico - Construction Executive
Part I addressed general conditions, revised insurance terms, revisions that affect owner’s required insurance and revisions that affect contractor’s required insurance. REVISIONS THAT AFFECT DISPUTE RESOLUTION A seemingly minor but noteworthy change is to the definition of “Claim.” Under Section 15.1 a “Claim” is defined to:

include a request for a modification of contract time; and
exclude any requirement that an owner must file a claim to impose liquidated damages.

Notably, any request relating to contract time must be brought within the specified time period for Notice of Claim and in the prescribed manner. There are at least two traps for the unwary. First, even though email is regularly used for communications among the parties, the revised contract documents do not recognize email as an acceptable form of delivery of a Notice of Claim. Second, an unwary contractor may wrongly assume that an owner’s failure to assert a claim for LDs means that LDs will not be imposed. This may lull the contractor into failing to timely assert its own claim for a time extension and thereby waiving its ability to do so. Reprinted courtesy of George Talarico, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Mr. Talarico may be contacted at gtalarico@sillscummis.com

Remodel Leads to Construction Defect Lawsuit

October 16, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Sacramento, California law firm Anderson Shoech has announced that it will be filing a construction defect lawsuit concerning a single-family home in Sonora, California. The remodel is alleged to have lead to roof leaks and mold growth. Anderson Schoech will have the home inspected by a general contractor who will be retained as an expert witness. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of

No Coverage for Alleged Misrepresentation Claim

January 23, 2023 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court found there was no coverage for a misrepresentation claim against the insured sellers of a residence. Am. Family Mut. Ins. Co. v. Coyne, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 186417 (E.D. Mo. Oct. 12, 2022). Aaron and Tobi Beckman purchased a home from Denise Coyne. The Bockmans alleged in the underlying suit that Coyne represented that the property had a "2-car garage." A disclosure statement signed by Coyne stated she had disclosed all conditions which might lower the value of the property or adversely affect the Bockman's decision to buy the property. After purchasing the property, the Bockmans learned that they could not fit their two vehicles in the attached garage. The Bockmans alleged that substantial remediation was necessary to expand the depth of the garage to fit two cars within it. The underlying suit alleged that Coyne had was engaged in fraud, misrepresentation and concealment by omitting material facts in connection with the sale of the home. Coyne allegedly engaged in negligent misrepresentation by failing to inform the Bockmans of the depth of the attached garage. 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

Manhattan Vacancies Rise in Epicenter Shift: Real Estate

August 20, 2014 — David M. Levitt – Bloomberg
The luster is fading on some of midtown Manhattan’s shiniest skyscrapers. Buildings in Midtown, from 30th Street to Central Park South at 59th Street, have more vacant blocks of contiguous office space than at the height of the recession in 2009, as landlords face increased competition from buildings downtown and at Hudson Yards on the far west side, according to a study by Savills Studley Inc., a New York-based real estate brokerage. “The epicenter of this city has shifted several times before and is in the process of shifting again,” Michael Cohen, tri-state region president of brokerage Colliers International, said in an interview. Midtown is “the hole in the doughnut,” where landlords are vulnerable to extended vacancies and rents that probably won’t rise dramatically. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David M. Levitt, Bloomberg
Mr. Levitt may be contacted at dlevitt@bloomberg.net

In Pricey California, Renters Near Respite From Landlord Gouging

September 16, 2019 — Noah Buhayar - Bloomberg
The housing crisis engulfing California has state lawmakers racing to pass bills that would boost construction and stop corporate landlords from egregiously jacking up rents. The bills overcame key hurdles last week and are due for final votes before the legislature adjourns on Sept. 13. The hardest-fought measure would set a higher standard for evictions and cap annual rent increases at 5% plus the rate of inflation. While that’s below the typical pace of lease hikes -- and the bill has many caveats for landlords -- it would still mark the state’s most significant new protection for tenants in decades. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Noah Buhayar, Bloomberg

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