Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC Recognized Among The Top 50 Construction Law Firms by Construction Executive
June 20, 2022 —
Scott R. Sleight - Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCACS is proud to announce it has once again been ranked among The Top 50 Construction Law FirmsTM in the Construction Executive 2022 rankings. ACS is the highest ranked law firm in the US practicing out of a single office.
ACS specializes in delivering the highest quality construction law services. ACS prides itself on providing excellent services to clients in matters relating to contract documents, construction dispute resolution, and government contracts. If resolution efforts fail, ACS has the experience and ability to represent clients in high-stakes litigation. Since 2018, ACS has obtained three significant jury verdicts in favor of its general contractor clients, including awards of prevailing party attorneys’ fees and costs and expenses.
Founded in 2007, ACS’ vast knowledge and industry experience led our lawyers to hold many leadership positions. Three of our lawyers are past chairs of the Washington State Bar Association’s Construction Law Section, five of our lawyers have served as the Chair of the Associated General Contractors of Washington’s Legal Affairs Committee, and many of our lawyers are recognized as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars in Super Lawyers Magazine/Thomson Reuters. We have represented construction firms before the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals in numerous precedent-setting cases, and have testified before the Legislature. ACS’ commitment to the construction industry shows in our results.
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Scott R. Sleight, Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCMr. Sleight may be contacted at
scott.sleight@acslawyers.com
A Top U.S. Seller of Carbon Offsets Starts Investigating Its Own Projects
April 19, 2021 —
Ben Elgin - BloombergFollowing concerns that it is facilitating the sale of meaningless carbon credits to corporate clients, the Nature Conservancy says it’s conducting an internal review of its portfolio of carbon-offset projects. The nonprofit owns or has helped develop more than 20 such projects on forested lands mostly in the U.S., which generate credits that are purchased by such companies as JPMorgan Chase & Co., BlackRock Inc., and Walt Disney Co., which use them to claim large reductions in their own publicly reported emissions.
The self-examination follows a Bloomberg Green investigation last year that found the world’s largest environmental group taking credit for preserving trees in no danger of destruction. The internal review is a sign that it’s at least questioning some practices that have become widespread in the environmental world, and could carry implications for the broader market for carbon credits.
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Ben Elgin, Bloomberg
Assessments Underway After Hurricane Milton Rips Off Stadium Roof, Snaps Crane Boom in Florida
November 05, 2024 —
James Leggate - Engineering News-RecordHurricane Milton and tornados it spurred killed at least five people and knocked out power to 4 million homes and businesses in Florida after making landfall Oct. 9 near Siesta Key in Sarasota County. With assessments and rescues still underway, state officials say the damage was not as bad as it could have been.
Reprinted courtesy of
James Leggate, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com
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Collapse Claim Fails Due To Defectively Designed Roof and Deck
May 28, 2024 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiThe insured's claim for collapse of his roof and deck failed due to defective design and other exclusions under the policy. Dudar v. State Farm & Cas. Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 52706 (N.D. Ga. Feb. 6, 2024).
The insured submitted a claim to State Farm for damage to the roof ("Roof Claim"). State Farm's adjuster placed a ladder on the deck to access the roof and a portion of the deck collapsed. The insured then reported a claim to State Farm for damage to the deck ("Deck Claim"). The claims were denied and suit was filed.
The roof had leaked on several occasions prior to submission of the Roof Claim. On February 25, 2022, the insured discovered that a branch had cut a hole in the tarp, causing water to leak into the home. The insured performed repairs on the roof. On March 8, 2022, a storm caused more water to seep through the tarp into the ceilings and walls. Thereafter, the Roof Claim was submitted.
The damage from the leaking roof and the deck collapse were caused by rotting. The rotting, in turn, was caused by a combination of defective building design and resulting water damage from rain and storms over the years. The roof and deck were constructed to provide mutual support to one another. The roof did not contain an adequate slope, which caused water to seep down into the walls and flooring rather than to flow downward and away from the property. Over time, penetrating water caused portions of the roof, the floor, and the supporting wall between the roof and deck to rot.
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Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak HastertMr. Eyerly may be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
No Friday Night Lights at $60 Million Texas Stadium: Muni Credit
March 26, 2014 —
Darrell Preston and Aaron Kuriloff – BloombergPervasive cracking has shuttered the $60 million home of a high-school football championship team in Texas after less than two years. Investors in the tax-free bonds that paid for the stadium are unscathed.
Taxpayers in Allen Independent School District north of Dallas and the $29 billion Texas Permanent School Fund, a state bond insurer, are responsible for $119 million of debt that paid for the venue and other facilities, leading officials to find a new site for graduation and possibly games after closing 18,000-seat Eagle Stadium last month.
The development suggests the fund, created in 1854 to help pay for education, shouldn’t be used for stadiums, said Colby Harlow, president of hedge fund Harlow Capital Management. The Permanent Fund has top credit ratings and secures about $55 billion of bonds, according to the Texas Education Agency. The pool has at times reached the limit of debt it can back, preventing districts from accessing it. The guarantee is still a boon to bondholders.
Mr. Merelman may be contacted at smerelman@bloomberg.net; Mr. Sillup may be contacted at msillup@bloomberg.net
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Darrell Preston and Aaron Kuriloff, Bloomberg
Newmeyer & Dillion Attorneys Selected to the 2016 Southern California Super Lawyers Lists
June 09, 2016 —
Newmeyer & Dillion LLPNEWPORT BEACH, Calif. – JUNE 6, 2016 – Prominent business and real estate law firm
Newmeyer & Dillion LLP is pleased to announce that three of the firm’s attorneys,
Jennifer L. Ferrentino,
Robyn E. Frick and
Michael B. McClellan were selected to the
Southern California Super Lawyers 2016 Rising Stars list for business litigation. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by Super Lawyers to receive this honor. The attorneys will be recognized in the July 2016 issues of Super Lawyers Magazine, Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast magazine.
In addition, twelve of the firm’s Newport Beach attorneys were selected to the
2016 Southern California Super Lawyers list, an honor given to no more than five percent of the lawyers in California.
Michael S. Cucchissi, Real Estate
Mark S. Himmelstein, Construction Litigation
Jane M. Samson, Real Estate
Jeffrey M. Dennis, Construction Litigation
Charles S. Krolikowski, Eminent Domain
Robert K. Scott, Insurance Coverage
Gregory L. Dillion, Business Litigation
Thomas F. Newmeyer, Business Litigation
Michael J. Studenka, Employee Litigation: Defense
Joseph A. Ferrentino, Construction Litigation
John A. O'Hara, Construction Litigation
Carol S. Zaist, Business Litigation
Making the list since it was originally published in 2004 is co-founding litigation partner
Greg Dillion who was again selected to the
Top 50: 2016 Orange County Super Lawyers List. In addition,
Jennifer L. Ferrentino, Robyn E. Frick, Jane M. Samson and
Carol S. Zaist were listed in the
2016 Top Women Attorneys in Southern California by Super Lawyers.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high-degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. The Rising Stars list is developed using the same selection process except a candidate must be either 40 years old and younger or in practice for 10 years or less.
About Newmeyer & Dillion
For more than 30 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, construction 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.
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Lending Plunges to 17-Year Low as Rates Curtail Borrowing
April 15, 2014 —
Kathleen M. Howley, Zachary Tracer and Heather Perlberg – BloombergWells Fargo (WFC) & Co. and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the two largest U.S. mortgage lenders, reported a first-quarter plunge in loan volumes that’s part of an industry-wide drop off. Lenders made $226 billion of mortgages in the period, the smallest quarterly amount since 1997 and less than one-third of the 2006 average, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association in Washington.
Lending has been tumbling since mid-2013 when mortgage rates jumped about a percentage point after the Federal Reserve said it might taper stimulus spending. A surge in all-cash purchases to more than 40 percent has kept housing prices rising, squeezing more Americans out of the market. That will help push lending down further this year, according to the association.
Ms. Howley may be contacted at kmhowley@bloomberg.net; Mr. Tracer may be contacted at ztracer1@bloomberg.net; Ms. Perlberg may be contacted at hperlberg@bloomberg.net
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Kathleen M. Howley, Zachary Tracer and Heather Perlberg, Bloomberg
Can an Owner Preemptively Avoid a Mechanics Lien?
May 25, 2020 —
William L. Porter - Porter Law GroupVarious sections of the California Civil Code, beginning with section 8000, protect the right of contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in the construction industry to obtain payment for work performed and materials supplied to construction projects. Under these statutes, unpaid claimants are entitled to use mechanics liens, stop payment notices and other methods to protect their right to payment. Mechanics liens allow unpaid claimants to sell the property where the work was performed in order to obtain payment. Stop payment notices force the owner or the bank to set money aside to pay unpaid claimants. Article XIV of our California Constitution even elevates the mechanics lien remedy to a “constitutional right”. The system generally works well, and claimants are paid.
As someone who practices and teaches construction law, I have noticed a seldom used statutory tool that seems to provide a mechanism for property owners under certain circumstances to prevent subcontractors and suppliers from imposing enforceable mechanics lien on property where work was performed. Under California Civil Code section 8520, it appears that all that an owner of property need do to avoid a mechanics lien on its property is to give a proper notice (per Civil Code section 8100 et seq.) to a person who has a mechanics lien right (a subcontractor or supplier) that the owner is invoking Civil Code section 8520 and that if the claimant is unpaid for work performed or materials supplied to the owner’s property that the claimant must either provide the owner with a stop payment notice or forfeit the right to a mechanics lien on the owner’s property. This would allow an owner to avoid a mechanics lien on its property if the claimant failed to send a stop payment notice to the owner.
Providing the “notice” under Civil Code section 8100 appears to be easy. It can be sent by “registered or certified mail or by express mail or by overnight delivery by an express service carrier”. It can even be by “hand delivery”. As far as the notice itself, it would seem that it can be very simple and easily performed under the process described below, which can be implemented within the office of any owner or developer.
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William L. Porter, Porter Law GroupMr. Porter may be contacted at
bporter@porterlaw.com
