Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

4 Breakthrough Panama Canal Engineering Innovations

October 11, 2017 — Hobbes S. Sujith - Construction Informer
Through the rainforest of Central America stretches one of the seven wonders of the modern world. It’s the mother of all shortcuts – the Panama Canal. Over 300 million tons of cargo pass through its gates every year. Stretching through the heart of the Americans, this canal has changed the face of global trade. Ships traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific used to sail thousands of kilometers around Cape Horn. So in 1879 engineers planned to cut a channel through the Isthmus of Panama. And that, was going to become the history of Panama Canal engineering. To understand how the Panama Canal can carry such a huge amount of cargo, we need to travel back in time to 17th century France. There, engineers building the Briare Canal (Canal de Briare) faced an big problem. How to make water flow up a hill? Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Hobbes S. Sujith, Construction Informer

Bridge Disaster - Italy’s Moment of Truth

September 10, 2018 — Flavia Krause-Jackson & Kathleen Hunter - Bloomberg
The tragedy of modern Italy, so beautiful yet so decrepit, can be told through its bridges. Italians love to point to the Romans as the first engineers – the country boasts some of the world’s oldest viaducts. It’s a source of national pride that blinded the nation to the reality of today, where decades of neglect led to a moment of reckoning. The collapse of the Morandi bridge in Genoa, leaving 43 dead, was followed by the usual mud-slinging, including within a tenuous ruling coalition and more importantly, to soul-searching. Meant to last 100 years, the bridge was hated more than loved – everyone who crossed it felt unsafe. Reprinted courtesy of Flavia Krause-Jackson, Bloomberg and Kathleen Hunter, Bloomberg Read the court decision
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Home Builder Doesn’t See Long Impact from Hurricane

November 07, 2012 — CDJ STAFF
No one needs to tell Toll Brothers about the impact of Hurricane Sandy. The Wall Street Journal reports that the home building company lost power as a result of the storm. Martin Connor, the company’s CFO, told the Journal that he did not expect the hurricane to have a big effect on sales. Luckily for the company, many of its large projects are either sufficiently completed to provide shelter or too early in the process to be affected by the storm. “This type of weather event has limited impact on the market. It may move settlements later, and may defer people a weekend or two until they go out shopping. But it doesn’t have a long impact.” Read the court decision
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Sometimes It’s Okay to Destroy Evidence

August 17, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ruled in the case of Miller v. Lankow that Mr. Miller was within his rights to remediate his home, even though doing so destroyed the evidence of water intrusion.

Linda Lankow built a home in 1992. In 2001 or 2002, Lankow discovered a stucco problem at the garage which she attributed to moisture intrusion. She asked the original contractor to fix the wall. In 2003, Lankow attempted to sell her home, but the home inspection revealed fungal growth in the basement. Lankow made further repairs, including alterations to the landscaping.

In 2004, Lankow put her house on the market once again and entered into an agreement with David Miller. Miller declined to have an independent inspection, as the home had been repaired by professional contractors.

In 2005, Miller put the house on the market. A prospective buyer requested a moisture inspection. The inspection firm, Private Eye, Inc. found “significant moisture intrusion problems.”

Miller hired an attorney who sent letters to the contractors and to Lankow and her husband. Lankow’s husband, Jim Betz, an attorney, represented his wife and sent a letter to Miller’s attorney that Miller had declined an opportunity to inspect the home.

In 2007, Miller’s new attorney sent letters to all parties that Miller had decided to begin remediation work on the house. All stucco was removed. Miller then filed a lawsuit against the prior owners, the builders, and the realtors.

Two of the contractors and the prior owners moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Miller had spoliated evidence by removing the stucco. They requested that Miller’s expert reports be excluded. The district court found for the defendants and imposed sanctions on Miller.

The Minnesota Supreme court found that “a custodial party’s duty to preserve evidence is not boundless,” stating that “it may be particularly import to allow remediation in cases such as the one before us.” Their reasoning was that “remediation of the moisture intrusion problem in the home may be necessary, even essential, to address immediate health concerns.”

Given that Miller needed to remediate the problem in order to continue living there, and that he had given the other parties a “full and fair opportunity to inspect,” the court found that he was within his rights. The court reversed the judgment of the lower court and remanded it to them for review.

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Payne & Fears Recognized by Best Lawyers in 2025 Best Law Firms®

December 03, 2024 — Payne & Fears LLP
Payne & Fears LLP has been named to the 2025 Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” list. This recognition highlights firms that demonstrate professional excellence, receiving outstanding ratings from both clients and peers. Payne & Fears has been ranked in the following practice areas: Metropolitan Tier 1

Orange County

Commercial Litigation
Employment Law – Management
Insurance Law
Labor Law – Management
Litigation – Labor and Employment
Litigation – Real Estate

Metropolitan Tier 2

Las Vegas

Commercial Litigation

Metropolitan Tier 3

Orange County

Litigation – Intellectual Property

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Reprinted courtesy of Payne & Fears LLP

Industry News: New Partner at Burdman Law Group

March 30, 2016 — Burdman Law Group
Burdman Law Group, a boutique civil litigation law firm with offices in California, Nevada, and Arizona, is pleased to announce that Pieter M. O’Leary, was named a Partner in January 2016. Mr. O’Leary is an experienced litigator who has represented individuals and businesses in both state and federal court in actions involving breach of contract, negligence, construction, fraud, product defect, and business torts. Read the court decision
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Sean Shecter to Join American University Environmental and Energy Law Alumni Advisory Council

November 01, 2021 — Lewis Brisbois
Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (October 6, 2021) – Fort Lauderdale Partner Sean P. Shecter will join his alma mater American University Washington College of Law’s Environmental and Energy Law Alumni Advisory Council, advising on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related issues and helping support the program. The Program on Environmental and Energy Law (PEEL) provides an interdisciplinary education on domestic environmental, energy, and natural resources law, international and comparative environmental and energy law, environmental and climate justice, and animal law. Its mission is to foster passion for the environment and cultivate legal excellence, cultural competency, and global awareness. “The professors, staff, and members of the PEEL are global leaders in their field, and so it is an absolute privilege to reconnect with my law school so that I can help support this amazing program,” said Mr. Schecter on the invitation. “I am also looking forward to counseling students on issues concerning the accurate reporting of ESG data and the intersection between ESG and my white collar practice.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

Deescalating Hyper Escalation

July 05, 2023 — Paul F. Williamson - Construction Executive
Recent years have seen the construction industry get hit by a perfect storm of rising costs, workforce shortages, delivery delays, supply-chain issues, inflation, interest-rate hikes and materials price escalation. The cost of construction has become more expensive, leaving all parties to grapple with the sufficiency of their risk-management strategies and the ramifications of contracts that are ill-equipped to deal with unprecedented cost increases. Of particular concern to industry participants are the volatile price fluctuations that construction materials have undergone and how to appropriately mitigate the risks they present. Although owners, general contractors and subcontractors may seek to mitigate future risks, many who are party to an existing contract all too often must scramble to divine how to absorb significantly more financial risk than they expected pre-pandemic. Contracts that were bid and entered into prior to the pandemic may have seen, in some instances, double- and triple-digit percent increases in prices due to hyper escalation, with little recourse to address such situations. While parties to private contracts are free to mitigate their risk through contract negotiations, parties to federal or state public procurements are somewhat more constrained. Reprinted courtesy of Paul F. Williamson, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES