Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Hammer & Hand’s Top Ten Predictions for US High Performance Building in 2014

January 22, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
On Hammer & Hand’s blog, Sam Hagerman, Skylar Swinford, and Dan Whitmore discuss how they expect US high performance building policy to evolve in 2014. The three consultants and builders have built “some of the most notable high performance green building projects around, including Karuna House,” “Pumpkin Ridge Passive House,” and the “Glasswood Commercial Passive House Retrofit,” according to the blog. Hagerman and Whitmore also have served on the Passive House Alliance US board. Predictions cover topics such as Net Zero Energy to Net Positive Energy buildings, renewable energy productions, building energy codes, CO2 heat pumps, and more. Read the court decision
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Best Lawyers® Recognizes 29 White and Williams Lawyers

October 07, 2019 — White and Williams LLP
Twenty-nine White and Williams lawyers were recognized in The Best Lawyers in America© 2020. Inclusion in Best Lawyers® is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers® employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of quality legal services. In addition, Randy Maniloff was named the Best Lawyers® 2020 Insurance Law "Lawyer of the Year" in Philadelphia. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

The Importance of Providing Notice to a Surety

October 21, 2015 — Craig Martin – Construction Contractor Advisor
A recent case out of Missouri emphasizes the importance of providing notice to a surety when a bonded subcontractor is in default. When the question of whether a surety will be obligated under the bond is in the balance, notice is crucial. In CMS v. Safeco Insurance Company, Safeco provided a performance bond to a subcontractor for the benefit of CMS. The bond specifically provided:

“PRINCIPAL DEFAULT. Whenever the Principal [Subcontractor] shall be, and is declared by the Obligee [CMS] to be in default under the Subcontract, with the Obligee having performed its obligations in the Subcontract, the Surety [Safeco] may promptly remedy the default, or shall promptly: 4.1 COMPLETE SUBCONTRACT. . . . 4.2 OBTAIN NEW CONTRACTORS. . . . 4.3 PAY OBLIGEE. . . . 4.4 DENY LIABILITY. . .”

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Reprinted courtesy of Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLP
Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@ldmlaw.com

Kahana Feld Partner Noelle Natoli Named President of Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles

October 07, 2024 — Linda Carter - Kahana Feld
LOS ANGELES – Sep. 16, 2024 – Kahana Feld is pleased to announce that partner Noelle Natoli was recently installed as the 2024-25 president of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA). The mission of WLALA is to promote the full participation in the legal profession of women lawyers and judges from diverse perspectives and backgrounds, maintain the integrity of our legal system by advocating principles of fairness and equality, and improve the status of women by supporting their exercise of equal rights. Natoli is a partner based in Kahana Feld’s Los Angeles office and focuses her civil trial practice on the defense of both insurers and insureds primarily in the areas of elder abuse, transportation defense, and general liability. Her clients include individuals, family-owned businesses, and national corporations. Natoli also chairs the Diversity & Inclusion Committee for the Trucking Industry Defense Association and serves as a board member of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Linda Carter, Kahana Feld
Ms. Carter may be contacted at lcarter@kahanafeld.com

Report to Congress Calls for Framework to Cut Post-Quake Recovery Time

February 01, 2021 — Bruce Buckley - Engineering News-Record
Engineers and government agencies along with model building code and standard developers should work together to create a national framework more focused on earthquake resilience and post-quake recovery time, according to a report delivered to Congress last week. While current seismic codes address life safety, the report says stakeholders should also consider re-occupancy and functional recovery time, taking into account the potential impacts to a community as a whole. Reprinted courtesy of Bruce Buckley, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Insured Under Property Insurance Policy Should Comply With Post-Loss Policy Conditions

June 10, 2019 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Your property insurance policy will contain post-loss policy conditions. Examples include submitting a sworn statement in proof of loss, providing documentation to your insurer, and sitting for an examination under oath. Insurers will require you, as the insured, to comply with post-loss policy conditions unless they elect to promptly deny coverage. If you do not comply with such post-loss policy conditions you can forfeit coverage under the policy and/or give the insurer the argument that any lawsuit you filed against the property insurer is premature. Thus, there really is no upside in refusing to comply with the post-loss policy conditions, which should be done in consult with an attorney or, as the case may be, a public adjuster. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Contractual “Pay if Paid” and “Pay when Paid” Clauses? What is a California Construction Subcontractor to Do?

November 29, 2021 — William L. Porter - Porter Law Group
The Situation California Construction Subcontractors Face in Obtaining Payment: California construction subcontractors find themselves faced with a significant payment issue every time they are asked to sign a subcontract on a major project. Invariably, the subcontract the prime contractor presents to the subcontractor for signature will contain a clause by which the prime contractor imposes a condition on payment from the prime contractor to the subcontractor. The condition will be either one or the other of two general types. Either the prime contractor will specify that it never has to pay the subcontractor if the prime contractor itself is not paid by the owner (a “pay-if-paid” clause), or the prime contractor will pay the subcontractor only after the prime contractor has first exhausted all its efforts to obtain payment from the owner through litigation, arbitration or otherwise, possibly delaying payment to subcontractors by months or even years (a “pay-when-paid” clause). Goal of the Article: The goal of this article is to draw a distinction between the pay-if-paid and pay-when-paid clauses, discuss the legality of these clauses in California, the problems these clauses create for subcontractors, advise the reader of helpful recent legal developments in this area of law, address the possibility of a further legislative remedy to address the issue, and discuss what the subcontractor might do to protect itself while awaiting a legislative remedy that may or may not ever arrive. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of William L. Porter, Porter Law Group
Mr. Porter may be contacted at bporter@porterlaw.com

COVID-19 Business Closure and Continuity Compliance Resource

March 30, 2020 — Adam Chelminiak, Joshua Mooney & Ryan Udell - White and Williams LLP
In less than a few weeks’ time, COVID-19 has changed the way we live and work. Businesses, large and small, have had to grapple with unprecedented challenges, including orders to close or significantly curtail operations in order to stem the transmission of the coronavirus. Often, these orders have not been clear or businesses are unsure whether they fit in a category that is deemed essential, life sustaining or other similar category that permits them to continue to operate. Or, the business believes that it is necessary for it to continue to operate for reasons that may not have been apparent to the governmental authority issuing the order. White and Williams has been busy assisting our clients in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and other states in understanding these orders. Below are government orders, and related resources, that have been announced and/or are currently in effect. White and Williams will continue to monitor these orders and add additional orders and resources as they are announced. Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP attorneys Adam Chelminiak, Joshua Mooney and Ryan Udell Mr. Chelminiak may be contacted at chelminiaka@whiteandwilliams.com Mr. Mooney may be contacted at mooneyj@whiteandwilliams.com Mr. Udell may be contacted at udellr@whiteandwilliams.com Read the full story for government orders, and related resources, that have been announced and/or are currently in effect. Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES