Cambridge Massachusetts Building Expert Directory

Jason Smith and Teddie Arnold Co-Author Updated “United States – Construction” Chapter in 2024 Legal 500: Country Comparative Guides

May 28, 2024 — Jason Smith & Edward (Teddie) Arnold - The Construction Seyt
Jason Smith and Teddie Arnold, partners in Seyfarth’s Washington, DC office, have co-authored an updated “United States – Construction” chapter in the 2024 edition of The Legal 500: Country Comparative Guides. Seyfarth continues to participate as an exclusive contributor for this comprehensive overview of construction-specific laws and regulations in the United States. Topics covered include, but are not limited to, requirements and obligations, permits and licencing, procurement, financing and security, and disputes, as well as insight and opinion on current challenges and opportunities. To access and download a copy of the chapter, click here. Reprinted courtesy of Jason N. Smith, Seyfarth and Edward V. Arnold, Seyfarth Mr. Smith may be contacted at jnsmith@seyfarth.com Mr. Arnold may be contacted at earnold@seyfarth.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Res Judicata Bars Insured from Challenging Insurer's Use of Schedule to Deduct Depreciation from the Loss

June 10, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The insured was barred by res judicata from filing a second lawsuit challenging the insurer's method of establishing the amount of the loss. Burke v. GeoVera Spec. Ins. Co., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 9186 (5th Cir, April 16, 2024). On August 29, 2021, Hurricane Ida caused wind damage to the Burkes' home. They filed a claim with their insurer, GeoVera Specialty, and received payment. In calculating the payment, GeoVera Specialty adjusted the damage claim pursuant to its Roof System Payment Schedule, which lists the criteria used in reducing roof damage claims based on depreciation. Based on that schedule, GeoVera Specialty reduced the roof damage component of the Burkes' claim by forty-eight percent. In March 2022, the Burkes filed suit alleging that GeoVera Specialty undervalued their claim. On September 8, 2022, the parties filed a joint motion to dismiss the lawsuit after reaching a settlement, which the district court granted. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Eye on Housing Examines Costs of Green Features

July 09, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing reported that it costs more to build a green home, however, builder’s experience with green techniques reduces costs. According to McGraw Hill Construction survey data (as quoted by Eye on Housing), “the incremental cost for builders to construct green homes was 8% in 2013. For remodelers, green projects raised costs by 9% on average.” Furthermore, “McGraw Hill’s analysis found that the cost to build green varied to some degree by the amount of green construction undertaken.” Read the court decision
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Contractor Allegedly Stole Construction Materials

October 16, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
A Bronx man has been arrested for the theft of about $5,000 of construction materials and equipment from a New Hyde Park residence. When construction workers informed the homeowner of the missing items, the homeowner contacted Damion Brown, who apparently had previously been doing construction work at the home. Mr. Brown admitted he had taken the items but would not return them to the homeowner. The homeowner contacted police, who took M. Brown into custody. Read the court decision
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Alabama Limits Duty to Defend for Construction Defects

October 10, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
While supreme courts in several states have expanded what is covered under a commercial general liability policy, Alabama has bucked the trend. Martha P. Brown and David L. Brown discuss this in a post on the site of their firm, Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton. They note that in a recent case, Owners Insurance Company v. Jim Carr Homebuilders, “the court held that liability for defective construction resulting in water intrusion damage to otherwise properly constructed component parts is not covered under a general contractor’s commercial general liability (CGL) policy because such damages are not caused by an ‘occurrence.’” The background of Owners v. Jim Carr was that the work of the subcontractors was found not only to be defective, but responsible for damage to correctly performed work. The court held, however, that it was all part of the same project. The court “distinguished the present case from a situation where the insured’s work results in damages to other property outside the scope of the insured’s work,” which they noted could be covered under a CGL policy. Read the court decision
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Client Alert: Naming of Known and Unknown Defendants in Initial Complaints: A Cautionary Tale

September 24, 2014 — R. Bryan Martin & Whitney L. Stefko – Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
On September 12, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in Butler v. National Community Renaissance of California, upheld a district court's dismissal of certain defendants named in amended complaints, affirming the necessity of naming those known and unknown defendants in Plaintiff's original complaint. In April 2009, Plaintiff Zina Butler filed an action in federal district court, naming a single defendant, National Community Renaissance Corporation ("National"), for an alleged warrantless search of Plaintiff's apartment on April 18, 2007. The single page complaint asserted that the apartment manager provided a Section 8 investigator, a City employee and Sherriff deputies keys to Plaintiff's apartment and conducted a search in violation of her Fourth Amendment rights. Shortly after, Plaintiff filed a first amended complaint, with the only change being the addition of defendant, the Housing Authority of the County of Los Angeles ("HACoLA") in the caption. In May 2009, the court (on its own accord) dismissed the first amended complaint with leave to amend as "it [was] unclear whom Plaintiff intend[ed] to sue." In June 2009, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint, identifying National and HACoLA in the caption as defendants, but separately identifying several other individuals and entities allegedly involved in the incident occurring in April of 2007 in the complaint's statement of facts. The Court, once again, dismissed the second amended complaint with leave to amend for the same reasons it dismissed Plaintiff's first amended complaint. Reprinted courtesy of R. Bryan Martin, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Whitney L. Stefco, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Martin may be contacted at bmartin@hbblaw.com; Ms. Stefko may be contacted at wstefko@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
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Contract Construction Smarts: Helpful Provisions for Dispute Resolution

June 03, 2019 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday, Musings welcomes back Doug Reiser (@douglasreiser), though from new digs. Doug is a construction attorney, LEED AP and the principal at Reiser Legal LLC in Seattle, WA. His office provides effective construction counsel for businesses in the construction industry. He also runs the Builders Counsel Blog, a blog focused on progressive issues in Washington construction law. Doug is a former partner/member at Wolfe Law Group LLC and former owner and director of Express Lien Inc. There are many types of attorneys out there, but there are certainly two styles: ones looking for the fight and ones trying to prevent the fight. I take the preventative approach. Client funds do not grow on trees. That old saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” should say a “ton of cure.” It’s that valuable. Sometimes the problem for prevention attorneys is trying to relay that message to a construction business. The cost of smart prevention is mainly thought of as just that – a cost. But when it buys you a cure for pennies on the dollar, it’s worth it. You will know it’s worth it when you finally become engaged in a costly three year long legal proceeding over a construction dispute. 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

Construction Defects Claims Can Be Limited by Contract Says Washington Court

February 11, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The firm Lane Powell has issued a construction law update on the recent Washington Supreme Court decision in Washington State Major League Baseball Public Facility District v. The Baseball Club of Seattle, LP. In the underlying construction defect claim, the Public Facility District found defects in the structural steel at Seattle’s Safeco Field. The contractor, Huber, Hunt & Nichols-Kiewit Construction Company claimed that construction claims could not be made, as it was barred by the statue of repose. Washington State has a six-year limitation on its statute of repose, however, the court noted that the contract contained a clause that, as noted by Lane Powell, “any alleged causes of action automatically accrue at substantial contemplation,” instead of within six years of substantial completion. The court concluded that the statue of repose could be rendered inoperative by contract. Further, the court found that these contract clauses pertained to subcontractors as well. Nevertheless, as PFD is a subdivision of the state, the court found that no statue of limitations could be appled. Read the court decision
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