Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

BWB&O’s Los Angeles Partner Eileen Gaisford and Associate Kelsey Kohnen Win a Motion for Terminating Sanctions!

April 25, 2023 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Congratulations to Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP Partner Eileen Gaisford and Associate Kelsey Kohnen for successfully arguing and winning a Motion for Terminating Sanctions for BWB&O’s client, a hotel in Los Angeles County. The court granted BWB&O’s Motion for Terminating Sanctions and Plaintiff’s Complaint was dismissed with prejudice. Plaintiff filed a complaint alleging she sustained multiple injuries after a slip and fall in a hotel. Plaintiff’s complaint alleged that BWB&O’s client was negligent, careless, and reckless in the ownership, care, control, and maintenance of the premises. BWB&O aggressively defended its client and filed several motions, arguing Plaintiff’s conduct abused the discovery process. The Court sided with BWB&O and granted its Motion for Terminating Sanctions, and the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Nevada HOA Criminal Investigation Moving Slowly

January 22, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Six years have passed since the FBI started investigating “allegations of the sweeping scheme to take over valley homeowners associations” in Nevada, according to Jeff German writing for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, however, “the public still doesn’t have the full story of how the scheme unfolded.” Defendants who plead guilty are still awaiting sentencing and no trial has been set for “former construction company boss Leon Benzer, the accused mastermind of the scheme” despite that he and ten others have already been indicted. The trial had been set for March, however, defense lawyers stated “they were overwhelmed by the massive amount of evidence and won’t be prepared for trial until well into 2015.” Benzer, Nancy Quon (late construction defect attorney), and others allegedly “funneled more than $8 million through secret bank accounts to land the lucrative legal and construction defect contracts from the homeowners associations,” according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Quon committed suicide in 2012, and therefore was never charged in the case. Read the court decision
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Scope of Alaska’s Dump Lien Statute Substantially Reduced For Natural Gas Contractors

March 16, 2020 — Trevor Lane - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
In All American Oilfield, LLC v. Cook Inlet Energy, LLC,[1] the Supreme Court of Alaska clarified and substantially reduced a natural gas contractor’s ability to secure a preferred lien for its contribution to a natural gas well. Alaska’s dump lien statute (AS § 34.35.140) authorizes a laborer to claim a lien for the amount owed for their labor in the production of a “dump or mass” of “extracted, hoisted and raised” matter from a mine. While Alaska’s dump lien statute is one of three Alaskan statutes allowing laborers to attach liens to mines, mining equipment or minerals,[2] the dump lien statute is unique because it is prior and preferred over other liens, increasing the laborer’s chance of being paid in a bankruptcy proceeding. Attaching a lien to a “dump or mass” of hard-rock minerals piled outside a mine or oil stored in a tank is relatively straightforward. However, natural gas is typically left in its natural reservoir until removed by a pipeline that carries the gas to a location far from the mine. Natural gas is not extracted and stored in a “dump or mass” like other minerals, and until August 2019, controversy existed over how—or if—the dump lien statute could be used by natural gas contractors. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Trevor Lane, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
Mr. Lane may be contacted at trevor.lane@acslawyers.com

Microsoft Said to Weigh Multibillion-Dollar Headquarters Revamp

September 17, 2015 — Dina Bass & Hui-Yong Yu - Bloomberg
Microsoft Corp. is considering a multibillion-dollar revamp of its headquarters campus in suburban Seattle, seeking to foster more collaboration among employees and attract young engineers, according to people with knowledge of the plans. The software giant has hired architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP as part of the effort at its Redmond, Washington, offices, said the people, who asked not to be named because the plans aren’t public. Skidmore Owings designed Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, and is helping Microsoft with a makeover of its much smaller campus in Mountain View, California. Microsoft hasn’t yet decided whether to move forward with the Redmond overhaul, said one of the people familiar with the matter. Reprinted courtesy of Dina Bass, Bloomberg and Hui-Yong Yu, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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Congratulations to Partner Madeline Arcellana on Her Selection as a Top Rank Attorney in Nevada!

July 02, 2024 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is proud to announce that Las Vegas Partner Madeline Arcellana was once again selected by Nevada Business Magazine as a Top Rank Attorney in Nevada for her work in Civil Litigation, General Liability, and Personal Injury! Nevada Business Magazine‘s Top Rank Attorneys list is comprised of attorneys in both private and public practice who are voted for by nearly 3,000 Nevada-licensed attorneys. The attorneys on this list are at the top of their field and each nomination is put through an extensive verification process. To view Nevada’s 2024 Top Rank Attorneys, please click here. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Federal Court Enforces “Limits” and “Most We Will Pay” Clauses in Additional Insured Endorsement

September 13, 2021 — Craig Rokuson - Traub Lieberman Insurance Law Blog
In the recent case of Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. XL Ins. Am., Inc., 20-CV-4614 (LJL), 2021 WL 3617218 (S.D.N.Y. Aug. 16, 2021), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York—in deciding a motion for consideration—had occasion to review the 2013 ISO changes to the additional insured endorsement, and held that coverage under a policy providing additional insured coverage was limited to the $1,000,000 required by contract, and not the $2,500,000 limit to the policy. In Zurich, Zurich and its named insured D.A. Collins sought the full limits of the primary policy issued by XL to the D.A. Collins’ subcontractor, HBI, which are $2,5000 per occurrence and in the aggregate, for an underlying personal injury lawsuit. XL also issued an excess policy in the amount of $5,000,000 to HBI. The contract between D.A. Collins and HBI required HBI to obtain commercial liability coverage “in an amount of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 in the aggregate. It further provides that the “required limits for the umbrella excess coverage shall be sufficient to provide a total of $5,000,000 per occurrence/aggregate.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Craig Rokuson, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Rokuson may be contacted at crokuson@tlsslaw.com

Indicted Union Representatives Try Again to Revive Enmons

June 22, 2016 — Wally Zimolong – Supplemental Conditions
The Boston Globe reports that the Massachusetts AFL-CIO has filed a friend of the court brief seeking to have the indictment of five members of the Teamsters Union in Boston dismissed. The Teamsters members are facing federal charges that they extorted non-union contractors and owners that employed non-union contractors. The Massachusetts AFL-CIO is arguing that under the Supreme Court’s 1972 decision in U.S. v. Enmons the Teamsters alleged conduct was in furtherance of a legitimate union objective and, therefore, no illegal. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Wally Zimolong, Supplemental Conditions
Mr. Zimolong may be contacted at wally@zimolonglaw.com

Last Parcel of Rancho del Oro Masterplan Purchased by Cornerstone Communties

August 06, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to San Diego Source, “A partnership controlled by Ure Kretowicz's Cornerstone Communities has paid a reported $25 million for a 28-acre residential parcel located on the northwest corner of College Avenue and Old Grove Road in the Rancho del Oro masterplan in Oceanside,” California. Cornerstone plans to create a “338-unit luxury apartment development,” with amenities including “resort-level clubhouse with an Olympic size swimming pool, spa, barbecue area, conferencing center” and more. Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES