FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Meet the Forum's In-House Counsel: J. PAUL ALLEN

May 28, 2024 — Jessica Knox - The Dispute Resolver
Company: Fischer Homes Email: paul@jpaulallen.com Law School: Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University (JD 1992) States Where Company Operates/Does Business: Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Missouri, Florida Q: Describe your background and the path you took to becoming in-house counsel. A: I started at a large Cincinnati firm straight out of law school. I moved in-house for a client of the firm after about 8 years and have remained in-house ever since. The in-house experience has been rewarding and varied over the last 24 years. I have worked for a Fortune 500, publicly traded steel company, a private equity led construction products company, and, finally, a family-owned residential homebuilder. I had the good fortune to be General Counsel at the last 2 in-house companies and was able to establish a legal department from scratch at Fischer Homes. As time went on and I gained experience, I stayed in-house because of the ability to work for a single client and have a greater impact on the business side of things. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jessica Knox, Stinson LLP
Ms. Knox may be contacted at jessica.knox@stinson.com

---

Florida Issues Emergency Fraud Prevention Rule to Protect Policyholders in Wake of Catastrophic Storms

November 05, 2024 — Geoffrey B. Fehling & Olivia G. Bushman - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
Last week, just before Hurricane Milton made landfall, Florida state officials issued an emergency decree to all licensed insurance adjusters in the state to protect homeowners against “unfair and deceptive acts” and “post-storm fraud” by insurance carriers. According to The Washington Post, the Florida Department of Financial Services is requiring that all claim adjusters provide an explanation for each change they make to a consumer’s loss estimate, document those changes, and retain all versions of the estimate and identify who made those revisions. When processing claims, adjusters must also use an electronic estimating system that provides an itemized report of all damage, as well as labor, materials, equipment and supplies. Those costs should be consistent with what a contractor or a repair company in that particular area would charge. “Property damage from Hurricane Milton will be catastrophic and may result in billions of dollars in property losses,” the emergency rule states. “Fair and transparent loss estimates and claims adjustments will be crucial to ensure Floridians are properly and fairly compensated under the terms of their property insurance contracts, while also ensuring ongoing insurer solvency after potentially momentous financial losses.” Reprinted courtesy of Geoffrey B. Fehling, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Olivia G. Bushman, Hunton Andrews Kurth Mr. Fehling may be contacted at gfehling@HuntonAK.com Ms. Bushman may be contacted at obushman@HuntonAK.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

New OSHA Rule Creates Electronic Reporting Requirement

June 22, 2016 — John K. Baker & Kevin Conrad – White and Williams LLP
The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a Final Rule revising portions of its Recording and Reporting Occupational Injuries and Illnesses regulations (Recording and Reporting Regulations). The revisions take effect August 10, 2016. Employers subject to the new requirements have until July 1, 2017 to submit electronically the required information for calendar year 2016. OSHA will make electronically-submitted workplace-safety data for each reporting employer available publicly in an online database. Reprinted courtesy of John K. Baker, White and Williams LLP and Kevin Conrad, White and Williams LLP Mr. Baker may be contacted at bakerj@whiteandwilliams.com Mr. Conrad may be contacted at conradk@whiteandwilliams.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Construction in the Time of Coronavirus

March 30, 2020 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
One cannot look look at one’s phone, computer or even the road outside the window without seeing signs of the impact that coronavirus (COVD-19) is having on the world at large. Schools are shut down, traffic is lighter and there is the daily count of new confirmed cases, in Virginia and elsewhere. “Social distancing” is the buzzword of the day. I am writing this post from a home office because of CDC and other guidance regarding the best way to “flatten the curve.” We have all been told to avoid large groups and stay close to home. All of this is well and good, but construction must go on. In travelling around Richmond, I see construction vehicles on the road quite a bit. This is a good thing. It seems that most of the Richmond, Virginia area contractors are trying to stay as close to “business as usual” as possible while still remaining vigilant and careful to follow CDC and OSHA guidelines on workplace activity and COVD-19. However, the situation is ever changing and government and other outside forces could lead to project slowdowns, project shutdowns or other virus related impacts to everything from permitting to staffing of a project. As I have discussed, likely ad nauseam, any commercial or residential construction project is controlled by a series of contracts (hopefully well drafted) that control the relationships on the job. Subcontractors in particular have the provisions of their subcontract and those of the prime contract to worry about. One of the major provisions that could trip up any construction professionals on these jobs is the notice provision of the subcontract (thanks for the reminder go to a friend and fellow construction lawyer Mark Cobb at his blog). Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

---

Lessons from the Sept. 19 Mexico Earthquake

October 19, 2017 — Nadine M. Post - Engineering News-Record
On the 32nd anniversary of the magnitude-8.1 earthquake that devastated Mexico City on Sept. 19, 1985, 41 U.S. seismic experts were in a workshop near Los Angeles, polishing a new tool to identify “killer” buildings: non-ductile concrete structures that often perform poorly in quakes. Suddenly, the attendees started getting pager alerts from the U.S. Geological Survey: A magnitude-7.1 quake had struck about 120 kilometers from Mexico City. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Nadine M. Post, ENR
Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com

---

Fifth Circuit: Primary Insurer Relieved of Duty to Defend Without Release of Liability of Insured

March 02, 2020 — Bethany L. Barrese & Ashley McWilliams - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
In Aggreko, LLC v. Chartis Specialty Ins. Co.,1 the Fifth Circuit affirmed a decision by the Texas District Court and held that a Covenant Not to Execute constituted a “settlement” sufficient to exhaust policy limits and terminate a primary insurer’s duty to defend. This case arose out of a wrongful death suit filed by the parents of James Brenek II (“Brenek”). In 2014, Brenek was fatally electrocuted by an electrically energized generator housing cabinet while performing work on a rig in Texas for Guichard Operating Company, LLC (“Guichard”), a Louisiana-based drilling subcontractor. Guichard had leased the generator from Aggreko, LLC (“Aggreko”). A rental agreement between Guichard and Aggreko required Guichard to maintain commercial general liability insurance during the lease period and list Aggreko and the rig owner, Rutherford Oil Corporation (“Rutherford”), as additional insureds under the policy. Guichard’s primary insurance carrier, The Gray Insurance Company (“Gray”), agreed to defend and indemnify Aggreko and Rutherford in the wrongful death suit. The Gray policy had a limit of $1,000,000, subject to a $50,000 self-insured retention. Reprinted courtesy of Bethany L. Barrese, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and Ashley McWilliams, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. Ms. Barrese may be contacted at blb@sdvlaw.com Ms. McWilliams may be contacted at amw@sdvlaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

PA Superior Court Provides Clarification on Definition of CGL “Occurrence” When Property Damage Is Caused by Faulty Building Conditions

September 30, 2019 — Anthony L. Miscioscia & Konrad R. Krebs - White and Williams LLP
The standard for an “occurrence” under a commercial general liability (CGL) insurance policy has been addressed on several occasions by Pennsylvania courts when an insured has allegedly performed faulty workmanship on a construction project. Specifically, in Pennsylvania, a claim for damages arising from an insured’s performance of faulty workmanship pursuant to a construction contract, where the only damage is to property supplied by the insured or worked on by the insured, does not constitute an “occurrence” under the standard commercial general liability insurance policy definition. But what about the circumstance when the insured has failed to perform contractual duties where the claim is for property damage to property not supplied by the insured or unrelated to the service the insured contracted to provide? The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently addressed this question in Pennsylvania Manufacturers Indemnity Co. v. Pottstown Industrial Complex LP, No. 3489 EDA 2018, 2019 Pa. Super. 223, 2019 Pa. Super. LEXIS 729* (Pa. Super. 2019). Pottstown Industrial Complex arose out of an underlying dispute between a landlord and a commercial tenant who had leased space to store its product inventory. The tenant alleged that the landlord was responsible under the lease for keeping the roof “in serviceable condition in repair.” Notwithstanding this responsibility, the tenant alleged that the landlord failed to properly maintain and repair the roof, resulting in leaks and flooding during four separate rainstorms, destroying over $700,000 in inventory. The tenant specifically alleged that the floods were caused by poor caulking of the roof, gaps and separations in the roofing membrane, undersized drain openings, and accumulated debris and clogged drains. The insurer filed a declaratory judgment action, seeking a determination that there was no coverage under a commercial general liability policy issued to the landlord. Following a motion for judgment on the pleadings, the trial court entered an order in favor of the insurer, holding that allegations of inadequate roof repairs were claims for faulty workmanship and were not covered under Kvaerner Metals Division of Kvaerner U.S., Inc. v. Commercial Union Insurance Co., 908 A.2d 888 (Pa. 2006) and Millers Capital Insurance Co. v. Gambone Brothers Development Co., 941 A.2d 706 (Pa. Super. 2007). Reprinted courtesy of Anthony Miscioscia, White and Williams LLP and Konrad Krebs, White and Williams LLP Mr. Miscioscia may be contacted at misciosciaa@whiteandwilliams.com Mr. Krebs may be contacted at krebsk@whiteandwilliams.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Floating Cities May Be One Answer to Rising Sea Levels

August 07, 2022 — Adam Minter - Bloomberg
Thanks to climate change, sea levels are lapping up against coastal cities and communities. In an ideal world, efforts would have already been made to slow or stop the impact. The reality is that climate mitigation remains difficult, and the 40% of humanity living within 60 miles of a coast will eventually need to adapt. One option is to move inland. A less obvious option is to move offshore, onto a floating city. It sounds like a fantasy, but it could real, later if not sooner. Last year, Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, signed on to host a prototype for the world's first floating city. In April, Oceanix Inc., the company leading the project, unveiled a blueprint. Representatives of SAMOO Architects & Engineers Co., one of the floating city's designers and a subsidiary of the gigantic Samsung Electronics Co., estimate that construction could start in a "year or two," though they concede the schedule might be aggressive. “It's inevitable,” Itai Madamombe, co-founder of Oceanix, told me over tea in Busan. “We will get to a point one day where a lot of people are living on water.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Adam Minter, Bloomberg

---