Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Public Housing Takes Priority in Biden Spending Bill

November 15, 2021 — Kriston Capps - Bloomberg
The White House narrowed its housing agenda with the latest compromise version of President Joe Biden’s social spending bill, lowering funding levels by half while also shifting the bill’s priorities. Representative Maxine Waters and her allies had pushed for $327 billion for rental assistance, affordable housing and other progressive priorities in the reconciliation bill. The most recent White House framework for the Build Back Better Act shows that this figure has been cut in half: The new target is $150 billion, with funding for many of the same programs intact. As a result, the balance of the housing investment has shifted from rental aid to public housing, according to the text of the bill. Funds to repair, replace or build public housing amount to $65 billion, down from a proposed $80 billion yet close to half the total housing package. The White House describes the housing bill as “the single largest and most comprehensive investment in affordable housing in history.” A fact sheet states that it will build or preserve more than 1 million affordable apartments and homes. Biden’s bill also includes a soft repeal of the Faircloth Amendment, a provision that has banned any net new federal public housing units since 1999. Yet the latest version of the bill will not go as far to fulfill Biden’s promise to expand housing vouchers as a federal entitlement program. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Kriston Capps, Bloomberg

What Makes a Great Lawyer?

February 06, 2019 — Danielle Carter - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Good lawyers have mastered and understand the analytical and communication skills taught in law school, but great lawyers build upon this foundation by continuing to develop traits and skills for success. Here are five tips to help good lawyers enhance client outcomes and excel within their profession. Be Objective Lawyers cannot be effective advocates unless they are first willing to perceive and analyze problems from all angles. Lawyers must discern strong claims from weak; urgent concerns from long-term; and large issues from small. A lawyer who adopts the tone of an emotionally-charged client risks alienating the court and jury. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Danielle Carter, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Ms. Carter may be contacted at info@bremerwhyte.com

U.S. Army Corps Announces Regulatory Program “Modernization” Plan

August 03, 2022 — Karen Bennett - Lewis Brisbois
Washington D.C. (June 17, 2022) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of the Army recently announced plans to amend the Corps Civil Works program to better serve Indian nations and other disadvantaged and underserved communities. 87 Fed. Reg. 33758 (June 3, 2022). Comments are due by August 2, 2022. Several items warrant attention. The first are changes to Corps regulations on implementation of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA, or the Act) (33 CFR 325, Appendix C). Proposed options include suspension of the Corps’ Appendix C regulations and adoption of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation’s (ACHP) regulations. Congress established the ACHP, an independent agency whose mission is to provide the President and Congress with advice as to policies and programs on historical preservation. The NHPA authorized the Council to promulgate regulations establishing procedures for evaluating the effect of a federal action on historic property. The Act also provides that a federal agency may promulgate its own regulations, consistent with the Council’s regulations. Where an agency has its own regulations, courts have consistently held that the agency’s regulations govern decision-making, provided they are not inconsistent with the Part 800 regulations. Most courts have generally regarded an agency’s regulations as inconsistent when they are less restrictive procedurally than the Council’s. Until today, the Corps has defended Appendix C and interim guidance (issued in 2005 and 2007) as consistent with the NHPA and specifically tailored for use in the Corps regulatory program. The announcement marks a significant directional change and gives the ACHP a larger role in Corps regulatory decisions. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Karen Bennett, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Bennett may be contacted at Karen.Bennett@lewisbrisbois.com

The Importance of the Recent Amendment to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence

January 22, 2024 — Andrew G. Vicknair - The Dispute Resolver

Every litigator understands that expert witnesses play a key role in litigation, especially when dealing with construction issues. Expert testimony at trial can be a deciding factor in persuading a judge or jury in your client’s favor. It is so important that, as parties get closer to trial, litigators often spend considerable time filing motions to limit or disqualify certain aspects of expert testimony in an effort to gain an advantage at trial. Because experts are a key aspect of the trial process, it is important to understand the various rules governing use of expert testimony, primarily Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

On December 1, 2023, amendments to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence went into effect which added the language in underline below and removed the language which is crossed out:

Rule 702. Testimony by Expert Witness

A witness who is qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education may testify in the form of an opinion or otherwise if the proponent demonstrates to the court that it is more likely than not that:

(a) the expert’s scientific, technical, or other specialized knowledge will help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue;

(b) the testimony is based on sufficient facts or data;

(d) ~~the expert has reliably applied~~ expert’s opinion reflects a reliable application of the principles and methods to the facts of the case.

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Reprinted courtesy of Andrew G. Vicknair, D'Arcy Vicknair, LLC
Mr. Vicknair may be contacted at agv@darcyvicknair.com

Scarce Cemetery Space Creates Prices to Die For: Cities

August 06, 2014 — Flavia Krause-Jackson – Bloomberg
Even in death, you can’t escape the property bubble. From New York to London, growing populations are competing with the deceased for land, driving up real-estate costs well into the afterlife. In Asian megacities, where cremation is the norm, even space for urns is in short supply. “At the end of the day, it’s like any other piece of real estate,” says Amy Cunningham, a New York state licensed funeral director. “Prices have conspired to put burials out of the range of most people’s budgets.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Flavia Krause-Jackson, Bloomberg
Ms. Krause-Jackson may be contacted at fjackson@bloomberg.net

Predicting the Future of Texas’s Grid Is a Texas-Sized Challenge

June 27, 2022 — Nathaniel Bullard - Bloomberg
A little more than a year after a paralyzing winter freeze, the Texas power market just experienced the stress of extreme heat. Last week, power prices in Houston briefly jumped above $5,000 per megawatt-hour as high temperatures coincided with a number of generators being offline for maintenance. Yet a few days earlier, power prices in west Texas had been negative $883 dollars per megawatt-hour, because at the time wind generation was abundant and demand was low. “Dynamic” is one way to describe the price swings within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (Ercot), the grid that provides the majority of the state’s power. “Jarring” or “terrifying” might be other words for it, particularly for those buying power in the spot market. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nathaniel Bullard, Bloomberg

Minneapolis Condo Shortage Blamed on Construction Defect Law

November 20, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Demand for condos in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area is outstripping demand. Currently inventory of available condos represents less than four months’ worth of sales. But despite the demand, only three condominium buildings are under construction in the Minneapolis metropolitan area. Some blame this on difficulty in finding financing, where some lenders are looking for projects to be sold before the builders get the money to build what they’ve just sold. Another problem is Minnesota construction defect law. “There are law firms in this town that have filed lawsuit after lawsuit on behalf of homeowners associations alleging construction defects,” said one builder, Kelly Doran, who now builds luxury apartment buildings. “”With that 10-year warranty, there’s no way I would build condos.” Read the court decision
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Waiver of Subrogation and Lack of Contractual Privity Bars Commercial Tenants’ Claims

May 08, 2023 — Melissa Kenney - The Subrogation Strategist
In United States Automatic Sprinkler Corporation v. Erie Insurance Exchange, et al., No. 2SS-CT-264, 2023 Ind. LEXIS 105, the Supreme Court of Indiana (Supreme Court) reversed an order of the trial court that denied a motion for summary judgment filed by a sprinkler contractor. At issue was whether commercial tenants – one who contracted with the sprinkler contractor and others who did not – could recover for their respective property damages. The court held that under the contract’s subrogation waiver and agreement to insure, the contracting tenant waived its insurer’s rights to recover through subrogation. With respect to the non-contracting tenants, who sought to recover only property damages, the court held that the absence of contractual privity barred their recovery. The case centered around a sprinkler system that malfunctioned and flooded the Sycamore Springs Office Complex (Landlord), causing extensive property damage to four commercial tenants. Surgery Center, one of the four tenants, requested permission from the Landlord to install a sprinkler system inside the building. Landlord agreed, in exchange for Surgery Center agreeing to be solely responsible for maintaining the sprinkler system. Surgery Center hired United States Automatic Sprinkler (Automatic Sprinkler) to both install and conduct periodic inspection and testing of the sprinkler system. The contract terms outlined the scope of work to be performed by Automatic Sprinkler and the work was limited to the inspection and testing of the sprinkler system. Although repairs and emergency services were excluded from the contract, each could be performed upon the request and authorization of Surgery Center for an additional cost. The contract also contained certain risk allocation provisions including a waiver of subrogation and an agreement to insure. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Kenney, White and Williams LLP
Ms. Kenney may be contacted at kenneyme@whiteandwilliams.com

SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES