Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Insurance Company Must Show that Lead Came from Building Materials

August 17, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals for Louisiana has reversed the summary judgment of a lower court in the case of Widder v. Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Company. Judge Roland L. Belsome wrote the opinion for the panel of three judges. Ms. Widder discovered that her home and its content were contaminated by lead. She applied to her insurer, Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance, which denied her claim.

In response to Ms. Widder’s suit, LCPIC applied for a summary judgment on the grounds that there was no physical loss and that the policy did not cover defective material, latents defects, and pollution damage.

The appeals court found that the lead contamination of Widder’s home did meet the standards of a direct physical loss, citing a recent Chinese Drywall case. There, it was found, “when a home has been rendered unusable or uninhabitable, physical damage is not necessary.”

The lower court addressed only one of LCPIC’s exclusions, addressing only the exclusion on basis of “faulty, inadequate or defective material.” The appeals court noted that the evidence offered at trial does not show that the building materials were the source of the lead. This provided the appeals court with a matter of fact to remand to the lower court.

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NYC Luxury-Condo Buyers Await New Towers as Sales Slow

September 24, 2014 — Oshrat Carmiel – Bloomberg
Sales at One57, the ultra-luxury Manhattan condominium tower that set off a high-end residential construction boom, have slowed to a trickle amid competition from newer properties reaching the market. Only two units at Extell Development Co.’s Midtown property went under contract this year through June 30, according to filings on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, where the company sells debt to investors. There were no sales in the final three months of 2013 at the building, which had earlier found buyers for two penthouses at more than $90 million each. About 25 of the 94 units on the market were unsold as of June 30, the filings show. “This is not a normal pace,” Jonathan Miller, president of New York-based appraiser Miller Samuel Inc., said in an interview. “This building had many price increases when it was the only building out there, so maybe they overdid it. In other words, the sky is not the limit.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Oshrat Carmiel, Bloomberg
Ms. Carmiel may be contacted at ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net

BWB&O Attorneys are Selected to 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars

July 22, 2024 — Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
BWB&O is proud to announce Senior Family Law Associate Pamchal Deylami, Newport Beach Partner Kyle Riddles, Newport Beach Partner Courtney Serrato, Newport Beach Associate Kevin Moore, Woodland Hills Associate Brian Taylor have been selected to the 2024 Southern California Super Lawyers list as Rising Stars for their work in Family Law, Civil Litigation, Business Litigation, and Personal Injury.

SELECTED AS RISING STARS Pamchal Deylami: 2020-2024 Kyle Riddles: 2024 Courtney Serrato: 2023-2024 Kevin Moore: 2021-2024 Brian Taylor: 2023-2024

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Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Hunton Insurance Practice, Attorneys Recognized in 2024 Edition of The Legal 500 United States

July 02, 2024 — Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s insurance coverage practice was once again recognized among the top policyholder insurance practices nationally, receiving a Band 2 national ranking in the 2024 United States Edition of The Legal 500 for Insurance: Advice to Policyholders. The Legal 500 ranks the nation’s top law firms, practices, and lawyers, highlighting those that consistently provide “the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel … based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market.” Bolstering the team’s national recognition, several of the team’s lawyers received individual accolades: partner Lorelie (Lorie) Masters was named to The Legal 500’s Hall of Fame; team head Syed Ahmad was named a Leading Lawyer; partner Andrea DeField was named a Next Generation Partner; and counsel Latosha Ellis was named a Rising Star. In addition, partners Walter Andrews, Michael Levine, and Geoffrey Fehling were recognized as key lawyers on the team. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Big League Dreams a Nightmare for Town

April 03, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The town of Gilbert, Arizona had their own big dreams for Big League Dreams Gilbert, which the town was convinced would bring in financial benefits. Now the amateur sports complex is plagued by defects and failing infrastructure. The town was wondering how to create sufficient recreation facilities when Big League Dreams made a proposal that would bring tax revenue from a new stadium complex. Ten years later, Gilbert says it’s not getting enough of the revenue from the parks. The proposal, created by Big League Dreams, estimated an economic benefit of $40 million over 30 years with a construction cost of $22.7 million. Instead, construction ran to $42.7 million and over the last two years the town has received only $250,570. Then there are the construction defects. The structure was warranteed for only one year. That warrantee long over, the complex has problems with various concrete surfaces and has generated injury claims. The town did not inspect the park after Big League Dreams started operating it. They later found out that some parts did not conform to code, with 39 problem areas referenced in a report. Some of these included safety issues like missing handrails. Read the court decision
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Luxury Home Sales are on the Rise

February 04, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The New York Times reports that the sale of luxury homes is on the rise: “Yet despite the bursting of the housing bubble, the ensuing recession and the slow recovery, buyers have not abandoned luxury homes. It turns out that they just took a break. In July 2013, sales of homes costing more than $1 million were up 46.6 percent from the previous July.” “The housing market is being driven by the move-up buyer, the luxury buyer,” Brad Hunter, chief economist and director of consulting at Metrostudy told the New York Times. “And those who have strong incomes, secure jobs, their stock portfolio is doing well — they are able to buy whatever they want. And what they are buying is larger houses.” Toll Brothers design director, Tim Gehman, said that “the homes that sell best today are those with the biggest kitchens and most expansive master suites — much as they were before the recession,” according to the New York Times. Read the court decision
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Best Lawyers Recognizes Twelve White and Williams Lawyers

September 15, 2016 — White and Williams LLP
The 2017 Best Lawyers in America list includes twelve White and Williams lawyers. 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.

2017 Best Lawyers

Frank Bruno, Patent Law
Richard Campbell, Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
James Coffey, Mergers and Acquisitions Law
Timothy Davis, Real Estate Law
William Hussey, Tax Law; Trusts and Estates
Michael Kraemer, Employment Law - Management; Labor Law - Management; Litigation - Labor and Employment
Randy Maniloff, Insurance Law
John Orlando, Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants
Thomas Rogers, Real Estate Law
Joan Rosoff, Real Estate Law
Craig Stewart, Insurance Law; Product Liability Litigation - Defendants
William Taylor, Construction Law