Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Insurer’s Attempt to Shift Cost of Defense to Another Insurer Found Void as to Public Policy

June 09, 2016 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
While construction can sometimes be risky, construction litigation is almost always expensive. This volatile mix of risk and expense has made risk shifting, through indemnity and insurance, a primary goal and concern of project owners, contractors and suppliers alike. Construction insurers know this all too well and insurers, even between themselves, seek to shift risk. As one primary insurer found, however, risk shifting provisions in their policies – specifically, one which sought to shift the cost of defense to another insurer – is not without its limitations. 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

Construction Attorneys Get an AI Assist in Document Crunch

May 20, 2024 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record
Artificial intelligence is often touted as a gamechanger for construction processes, and Document Crunch, a company co-founded by a longtime construction attorney, is already changing up one key area: construction contracts. Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, Engineering News-Record Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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How Your Disgruntled Client Can Turn Into Your Very Own Car Crash! (and How to Avoid It) (Law Tips)

January 21, 2019 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
Over the summer, I was involved in a car crash. It was *not* my fault– heck, I wasn’t even driving but riding shotgun. But it wasn’t my husband’s fault either. A guy pulling out of a parking lot was watching the traffic coming up the road, but failed to see our car sitting in the same intersection waiting to turn into the same parking lot. He ran right into us. It may not look like much, but the panels were so damaged it cost almost $9k in damages, over a month of car rental fees, and a LOT of aggravation on our part. The guy who hit us was very nice, apologized, and was concerned if we were injured. His insurance company ultimately paid for all of the damage. However– it wasn’t he who suddenly got a new part time job– that was me. I had to spend lots of time with police, insurance representatives, auto body mechanics, rental car places, you name it. If you’ve ever been in an accident, you know the headache involved. In fact, I have had 2 other accidents over the years (again, neither of which were my fault– I think I’m just a beacon for bad drivers?). One of those accidents was a 4 car accident– a driver hit my car, pushing it into the car ahead, which went into the car ahead of that. In that accident, my car was actually totaled. Fun times! How is this relevant to your life as an architect or engineer? If you stay in the game (that is, the design field) long enough, chances are, you will, at some point, end up dealing with disgruntled clients. One of those clients may even file a lawsuit against you. Or, for that matter, you may end up getting sued by another party involved in your construction projects– one that you don’t even have a contract with. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett PLLC
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

Shoring of Problem Girders at Salesforce Transit Center Taking Longer than Expected

November 14, 2018 — Nadine M. Post - Engineering News-Record
The Transbay Joint Powers Authority announced on Oct. 10 that emergency remedial work at the 4.5-block-long Salesforce Transit Center in San Francisco, on the closed Fremont Street between Howard and Mission streets, will continue into early next week. The block, which crosses under the hub, will reopen to traffic and the public on Wednesday, Oct. 17, rather than Oct. 12, as previously announced, says TJPA. The transit center itself, which opened in August, is temporarily closed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nadine M. Post, ENR
Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com

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

Businesspeople to Nevada: Revoke the Construction Defect Laws

March 01, 2012 — CDJ STAFF

The Nevada chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses has said that Nevada’s construction defect and minimum wage laws are hampering job growth. The organization conducted a survey, and although only about two percent of the members responded, they passed the opinions of the group on to Governor Brian Sandoval. Sandoval has said, according to the report by Fox News Reno, that he wants the state to be more business friendly. He supports reforms to Nevada’s construction defect laws, saying that he’d “like to see some reform” on the issue of mandatory attorney’s fees.

Randi Thompson, the spokesperson for the Nevada chapter of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, said that members of her organization would like to see current Nevada construction defect law revoked. She described current law as “driven towards lawyers and not toward protecting consumers.”

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Drastic Rebuild Resurrects Graves' Landmark Portland Building

September 14, 2020 — Nadine M. Post - Engineering News-Record
Fifteen minutes into a 105-minute job interview for the $195-million overhaul of the long-troubled Portland Public Service Building in Oregon’s largest city, owner’s rep Mike Day threw a curve ball to the unwitting design-build team of Howard S. Wright Construction Co. and architect DLR Group. Already hard at work solving Day’s first faux crisis scenario—a budget buster that threatened the viability of the makeover of the notoriously dysfunctional landmark—they had to regroup. Reprinted courtesy of Nadine M. Post, Engineering News-Record Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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ASCE and Accelerator for America Release Map to Showcase Projects from Bipartisan Infrastructure Law

November 15, 2022 — The American Society of Civil Engineers
RESTON, Va. – The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in partnership with Accelerator for America today announced the release of a new map which features projects that are getting underway with funding from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), otherwise known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). As the one year anniversary of the BIL approaches on November 15th, funding has been steadily making its way to state and local agencies across the nation, and now it is possible to track how communities are benefiting from investments. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in all 17 of the infrastructure categories included in ASCE's 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, which was released eight months before official passage of the law and had assigned our nation's infrastructure a cumulative grade of 'C-'. Communities are now benefiting from replaced lead service lines, safer roads and bridges, and new transit connections. To view the map, please visit https://infrastructurereportcard.org/bil-project-map/. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 150,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel. Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES