Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Paul Tetzloff Elected As Newmeyer & Dillion Managing Partner

June 03, 2019 — Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Newmeyer & Dillion LLP, a prominent business and real estate law firm, selected Paul Tetzloff as the firm's Managing Partner. His term began on January 1, 2019. A business litigator, Tetzloff will now oversee the firm's strategic plan and manage the firm's day-to-day business affairs. "The Firm is incredibly fortunate to have Paul stepping into the role as Managing Partner. His energy, intelligence, leadership, and drive make him uniquely qualified to lead this Firm for years to come," said former Managing Partner Jeff Dennis. "I am excited to watch where the Firm is headed – we have such an amazing opportunity to continue to develop to even greater heights, and Paul will be a huge part of making that happen." Active in his community, Tetzloff sits on the board for HomeAid Orange County and the Marine Raider Association. Tetzloff is succeeding Dennis, who served in the role from 2012 to 2018. "Jeff was our managing partner for seven years and he did an outstanding job. We owe Jeff a debt of gratitude for his service," said Tetzloff of his predecessor. "I'm looking forward to continuing to build on the groundwork laid to help the firm reach new levels in the years to come." Dennis' leadership allowed the firm to grow substantially under his tenure, including opening a Las Vegas, Nevada office and establishing thriving practice areas throughout various industries. Dennis will focus his energy on overseeing the firm's growing Privacy and Data Security practice. Paul Tetzloff paul.tetzloff@ndlf.com Practice Areas Business Litigation Construction Litigation Real Estate Litigation About Newmeyer & Dillion For almost 35 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, privacy & data security and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client's needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949.854.7000 or visit www.ndlf.com. Read the court decision
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Southern California Super Lawyers Recognizes Four Snell & Wilmer Attorneys As Rising Stars

July 15, 2019 — Snell & Wilmer
Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that four attorneys in the Orange County and Los Angeles offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2019 Southern California Rising Stars list. Steffi Gascón Hafen, Estate Planning and Probate Hafen is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, California Board of Legal Specialization. Her practice is concentrated in tax, trust, and estate matters with emphasis in estate planning, trust and probate administration, and estate and gift taxation. Irina Ling, Tax Ling's practice is concentrated in estate planning and taxation matters. She has experience assisting clients with all aspects of estate and tax planning, including advising clients on various charitable giving devices and business succession. Irina also assists clients with estate and gift tax issues, property tax issues, and probate and trust administration. Joshua Schneiderman, Mergers and Acquisitions Schneiderman advises clients on a wide range of transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and public and private offerings of debt and equity securities. He advises clients on matters related to franchising, including the establishment of new franchise systems and the expansion of existing franchise systems nationally and internationally. Jeffrey Singletary, Business Litigation Singletary concentrates his practice on business litigation in state and federal courts. He represents clients in matters involving breach of contract, business competition torts, real estate, public and private construction projects, and various intellectual property litigation matters, including trademark, trade dress, trade secret and patent claims. Read the court decision
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London Is Falling Down and It's Because of Climate Change

July 16, 2023 — Priscila Azevedo Rocha - Bloomberg
Britain’s increasingly extreme weather is shaking the very foundations of its centuries-old history. The nation has been experiencing prolonged periods of drought after wet winters since last year. That’s causing the porous rock beneath vast parts of southeast of England, including London, to move more than usual, cracking or tilting many of the city’s historical homes in the plushest neighborhoods. The damage has triggered the highest insurance payout in almost two decades, with experts warning that it could get worse. The London clay, the type of soil that covers most of these areas, “is quite unique” because it can shrink and swell a lot, according to Lee Jones, a geological engineer at the British Geological Survey who has studied UK hazards for over 30 years. “The wetter it gets, the more it swells and expands and the drier it gets, the more it shrinks and cracks,” he said, adding that future temperature extremes will exacerbate the impact on buildings and roads. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Priscila Azevedo Rocha, Bloomberg

'Perfect Storm' Caused Fractures at San Francisco Transit Hub

January 08, 2019 — Nadine M. Post - Engineering News-Record
The underlying causes of the trouble at San Francisco’s 4.5-block-long Salesforce Transit Center are coming into focus. A combination of low fracture toughness deep inside thick steel plates, cracks present as a consequence of normal steel fabrication and stress levels from loads, which are a function of design, apparently caused brittle fractures in the bottom flanges of the center's twin built-up plate girders that span 80 ft across Fremont Street. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nadine M. Post, ENR
Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com

Never, Ever, Ever Assume! (Or, How a Stuck Shoe is Like a Construction Project Assumption)

October 21, 2019 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
This summer, I had the fortune of taking a trip to Europe. The first place I visited was Amsterdam. A lovely town with a lot of culture and more canals than you can shake a stick at. I was meeting family there, but had hours to kill ahead of time. So, I decided to take the train from the airport into the City Centre, leave my bags at the train station luggage locker, and begin exploring. My plan took its first misstep when I attempted to board the train. Not being in a hurry, I let the other passengers get on first. Sure, I noticed the train conductor blowing his whistle while I stepped onto the train, but figured I was fine since I was already on the steps up. Until, that is, the door began to close, with me in the doorway, suitcase in the train, one foot inside, and one foot mid step up to the cabin. The door closed on my backpack (which was still on my back), but I managed to force it into the train compartment. My shoe, however, was not quite as lucky. Part of my shoe made it inside, and part was outside the door. No worry– just look for the door release mechanism, right? Wrong! There was none. The train started up, with my shoe still halfway in and halfway out of the train. (Luckily my foot itself made it inside all in one piece). The conductor came along to scold me, and told me that he could *probably* rescue my shoe once we got to Central Station. In the meantime, I sat on a nearby jump seat, keeping tabs on my shoe and fuming that this was *not* the way I planned to start my vacation. Long story short– the train conductor was able to salvage my shoe, but not without a lot of commentary on how I should never have boarded the train after the whistle blew. Lesson learned. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett PLLC
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

Arizona Supreme Court Confirms a Prevailing Homeowner Can Recover Fees on Implied Warranty Claims

November 21, 2017 — Rick Erickson - Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
Originally published by CDJ on August 30, 2017 On August 9th, in Sirrah Enterprises, L.L.C. v. Wunderlich, the Arizona Supreme Court settled the question about recovery of attorneys’ fees after prevailing on implied warranty claims against a residential contractor. The simple answer is, yes, a homeowner who prevails on the merits can recover the fees they spent to prove that shoddy construction breached the implied warranty of workmanship and habitability. Why? Because, as Justice Timmer articulated, “[t]he implied warranty is a contract term.” Although implied, the warranty is legally part of the written agreement in which “a residential builder warrants that its work is performed in a workmanlike manner and that the structure is habitable.” In other words, a claim based on the implied warranty not only arises out of the contract, the claim is actually based on a contract term. Since, in A.R.S. § 12-341.01, Arizona law provides for prevailing parties to recover their fees on claims “arising out of contract” and because the implied warranty is now viewed by the courts as a contract term, homeowners can recover their fees after successfully proving breach of the implied warranty. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Rick Erickson, Snell & Wilmer
Mr Erickson may be contacted at rerickson@swlaw.com

Construction Trust Fund Statutes: Know What’s Required in the State Where Your Project Is Underway

June 22, 2020 — Christopher D. Cazenave - ConsensusDocs
Construction trust fund statutes have been around for decades. At least 15 states have passed similar statutes. Other states, but not all, do not have an express statute but have interpreted state law to hold that payments received by a general contractor and deposited in a business account establishes a “trust fund.” See e.g., Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7108. The purpose of these laws is straightforward—protect contractors and suppliers against nonpayment for the labor and materials provided for the construction or repair of property. But while the purpose is straightforward, each state’s law differs by imposing different requirements, different privileges, and different remedies. This article provides an overview of how these statutes work as well as a sampling of important requirements and potential pitfalls that you should look out for when a construction trust fund statute applies to your project. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher D. Cazenave, Jones Walker LLP
Mr. Cazenave may be contacted at ccazenave@joneswalker.com

Reminder About the Upcoming Mechanic’s Lien Form Change

August 26, 2019 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
As July 1, 2019 approaches with its inevitable changes to the Virginia Code, I wanted to remind you once again that the statutory form for a Virginia mechanic’s lien will change as of that date. HB2409 passed both houses of the General Assembly and has been signed by the Governor. This bill reconciled the language found in Virginia Code Sec. 43-4 with the various forms for general contractor, subcontractor and sub-subcontractor/supplier forms found in later sections of the code. As you will see if you download the .pdf of the bill as signed, this involved some tweaks to 43-4 and some updates to the mechanic’s lien forms that are in the code. The recent Desai case from the Virginia Supreme Court made it clear that such action was necessary. 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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