FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Candis Jones Named to Atlanta Magazine’s 2021 “Atlanta 500” List

March 01, 2021 — Candis Jones - Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Atlanta Partner Candis Jones has been named to Atlanta Magazine’s 2021 “Atlanta 500” list of the most powerful business leaders in Atlanta. To compile this list, the publication reviewed nominations from the public and consulted experts across various sectors. The magazine’s editors and writers considered not only the status of the nominees within their respective organizations, but also whether the nominees were visionary by, for example, leading programs for their communities or creating opportunities for employees. Ms. Jones is a member of Lewis Brisbois’ General Liability Practice. Representing a wide array of clients, including Fortune 500 companies, insurance carriers, and a major metropolitan transit authority, she focuses her practice on insurance defense, premises liability, personal injury, and medical malpractice. She was recently installed as the President of the Gate City Bar Association, the oldest African-American bar association in the state of Georgia, and also serves as a member of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association and the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Candis Jones, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Jones may be contacted at Candis.Jones@lewisbrisbois.com

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Fifth Circuit Confirms: Insurer Must Defend Despite Your Work/Your Product Exclusion

February 14, 2022 — Nathan A. Cazier & Scott S. Thomas - Payne & Fears
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently confirmed that liability insurers have a duty to defend their insureds in construction defect cases when the underlying complaint alleges damage to property beyond the product and work of the insured – even if the complaint merely implies that the insured seeks such damage, without explicitly alleging so. Siplast, Incorporated v. Employers Mutual Casualty Company, No. 20-11076, 2022 WL 99303 (5th Cir. Jan. 11, 2022). The Archdiocese of New York replaced the roof over Cardinal Spellman High School in the Bronx, using a roofing membrane manufactured by Siplast, Inc. (“Siplast”). After a rainstorm a few years later, school officials reported water damage to the ceiling tiles throughout the school, and repair attempts only made the leaking worse. Siplast disputed that the leaks were its fault and refused to replace the roof, so the Archdiocese sued. Reprinted courtesy of Nathan A. Cazier, Payne & Fears and Scott S. Thomas, Payne & Fears Mr. Cazier may be contacted at nac@paynefears.com Mr. Thomas may be contacted at sst@paynefears.com Read the court decision
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Expired Contract Not Revived Due to Sovereign Immunity and the Ex Contractu Clause

October 27, 2016 — Chadd Reynolds and David Cook – Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP
A few months ago, a decision by the Supreme Court of Georgia in Georgia Department of Labor v. RTT Associates, Inc. provided a strict rule for contractors that work with state agencies to determine whether a state agency has waived its sovereign immunity. The issue as framed by the Court was “whether an agency’s waiver of immunity from a breach of contract claim as a result of entering into a written contract remains intact in the event the contract is extended without a written document signed by both parties expressly amending the contract, as required by its terms.” Reprinted courtesy of David Cook, Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP and Chadd Reynolds, Autry, Hanrahan, Hall & Cook, LLP Mr. Cook may be contacted at cook@ahclaw.com Mr. Reynolds may be contacted at reynolds@ahclaw.com Read the court decision
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Hirer Liable for Injury to Subcontractor’s Employee Due to Failure to Act, Not Just Affirmative Acts, Holds Court of Appeal

December 11, 2018 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
The Privette doctrine, named after the court case Privette v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 689, provides that a higher-tiered party such as an owner or general contractor is not liable for injuries sustained by employees of a lower-tiered party such as a subcontractor on a construction project. There are, however, exceptions to the Privette doctrine. One of these exceptions is known as the “retained control doctrine.” Under the retained control doctrine, a higher-tiered party cannot avoid liability under the Privette doctrine if the higher-tiered party: (1) retains control over the conditions of the work; (2) negligently exercises control over such conditions; and (3) its negligent exercise of control contributes to the injuries sustained by the employee of the lower-tiered party. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel, Rosen, Black & Dean LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

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2014 WCC Panel: Working Smarter with Technology

May 13, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Don MacGregor, Project Manager and General Contractor with Bert L. Howe & Associates, will be joining Brian Kahn, Esq. of Chapman, Glucksman, Dean, Roeb & Barger, Paul R. Kiesel, Esq. of Kiesel Law, Hon. Peter Lichtmen (ret), Hon. Nancy Wieben Stock (ret), and Peter S. Curry of Curry Stenger Engineering as a panelist in the break-out session Working Smarter With Technology at the 2014 West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar being held May 15th and 16th at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. With a strong focus on the topic of this year’s seminar, Back to Business . . . Working Smarter, Not Harder, the panel will discuss ways that technology can assist our industry in working more efficiently, saving money and providing a better product. Conversely, the panel will also acknowledge the limitations of technology and areas where the use of advanced technology may not be appropriate. The information provided will be of benefit to the construction defect litigator but equally valuable to other types of complex litigation. Accordingly, this panel will appeal to those whose scope of work goes beyond the bounds of construction defect. A brief outline of topics that will be addressed by each panelist include remote virtual appearance and deposition attendances, document management software, how to create, manage and edit documents using remote technology, technological tools that allow for easier communications, transfer of information and flexibility, expert technology, and technology in mediation and trial. The panel discussion will go beyond past seminar discussions in that they will discuss and demonstrate tools that are just coming into use now as well as new tools which are being released prior to the seminar. Read the court decision
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Risky Business: Contractual Versus Equitable Rights of Subrogation

December 16, 2023 — Kyle Rice - The Subrogation Strategist
In Zurich Am. Ins. Co. v. Infrastructure Eng’g. Inc., 2023 Ill. App. LEXIS 383, the insurer, Zurich American Insurance Company (Insurer) proceeded as subrogee of Community College District No. 508 d/b/a City Colleges of Chicago and CMO, a Joint Venture. The Appellate Court of Illinois, First District (Appellate Court) addressed whether Insurer – who issued a builder’s risk policy to insure a building during construction – could subrogate on behalf of the building owner, City Colleges of Chicago (City Colleges), who was part of the joint venture and an additional named insured, but who had not been directly paid for the underlying loss. The Appellate Court determined that the policy language established that the carrier was contractually permitted to subrogate on behalf of all additional named insureds on the policy, including the building owner. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Kyle Rice, White and Williams
Mr. Rice may be contacted at ricek@whiteandwilliams.com

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Ongoing Operations Exclusion Bars Coverage

December 09, 2019 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The insurer denied the insured contractor's claim seeking a defense for faulty workmanship based upon the ongoing operations exclusion. PJR Constr. of N.J. v. Valley Forge Ins. Co., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 127973 (D. N. J. July 31, 2019). PJR Construction was the general contractor to build a swim club and pavilion building for Cambridge Real Property, LLC. PJR began construction on May 29, 2012, and was to complete the construction by March 1, 2013. The project took much longer than anticipated. PJR was denied access to the site on November 13, 2014. Cambridge contended PJR tolerated shoddy workmanship and breached the terms of the contract documents. Cambridge estimated that the project was between 55% and 74.3% complete. PJR and Cambridge went to arbitration. PJR sought a defense from the insurers. Coverage was denied based upon exclusions j (5) and j (6). Exclusion j (5), which the court referred to as the "Ongoing Operations Exclusion," provided the policy did not apply to,

Property Damage to . . . [t]hat particular part of real property on which you or any contractors or subcontractors working directly or indirectly on your behalf are performing operations, if the property damage arises out of those operations.

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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. Court Finds Indemnity Provision Went Too Far

May 25, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
We all love David and Goliath stories. The underdog winning against the far stronger (and dastardly) opponent. Think Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago, the Star Wars Rebellion versus the Galatic Empire, Indiana Jones versus a good chunk of the Third Reich. And now, we have Margaret Williams. The Story of Margaret Williams and her LLC The story, told in Long Beach Unified School District v. Margaret Williams, LLC, Case No. B290069 (December 9, 2019), is about Margaret Williams. Ms. Williams (we’ll just call her “Margaret” going forward because it just sounds better when telling a story) worked for nearly ten years full-time for the Long Beach Unified School District, toiling day in and day out doing construction management and environmental compliance work, including work involving the clean up of material at a school construction site contaminated with arsenic. Although she worked full-time for the District for nearly ten years, she wasn’t an employee. Rather, she was a contractor. And, on top of it all, as a condition of working for the District, the District required that she form a company in order to contract with the District. According to Margaret, “In order to work with the District, I was directed . . . to form a corporation or partnership. This was the only way I could work for the District: I could not enter into a contract with the District as an individual.” So, in 2006, she formed a company, simply called Margaret Williams, LLC. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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