Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Triggering Duty to Advance Costs Same Standard as Duty to Defend

April 11, 2018 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Interpreting Hawaii law, the federal district court held that the standard for triggering the duty to defend is the same as the standard for the duty to advance costs under a D&O policy. Maui Land & Pineapple Co. v. Liberty Ins. Underwriters, 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56949 (D. Haw. April 3, 2018). The underlying plaintiffs sued 22 defendants, including Maui Land Pineapple (MLP) and Ryan L. Churchill, concerning a residential development project known as The Ritz-Carlton Club & Residences. The underlying complaint alleged that MLP "directly or indirectly through wholly owned subsidiaries exerts control" over Kapalua Bay, LLC, the defendant in the underlying lawsuit. Kapalua Bay, LLC was created as a joint venture of which MLP held 51%. Churchill was a senior executive officer of MLP, President of Kapalua Bay, and an executive officer of Kapalua Realty, which participated in all aspects of the Project, such as financing, development, and construction. In their second amended complaint, the underlying plaintiffs alleged nine Counts against the defendants, including breach of fiduciary duty. It was alleged that defendants were not transparent and kept owners in the dark regarding the status of the project. Several allegations named Churchill individually and described his alleged material misrepresentations to the underlying plaintiffs regarding the project's financing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Building a Case: Document Management for Construction Litigation

October 07, 2019 — Robert A. Gallagher, Jane Fox Lehman, & Michael I. Frankel, Pepper Hamilton LLP - ConsensusDocs
Success in construction litigation often turns less on counsel’s ability to craft legal arguments and more on counsel’s ability to gather, master and present the often complex set of facts underlying the case. In construction matters, most of the key facts are found in documents: contract documents, drawings, plans and specifications, schedules, submittals, progress reports, daily logs, change orders, invoices and payment records. Nowadays, these documents will almost certainly be created, exchanged and stored electronically; many will never exist in hard copy. As such, timely collection, organization and analysis of electronically stored information (ESI) is crucially important in construction litigation. The construction industry has always involved a large quantity of records. Today, the majority of those records exist only as ESI: Design professionals use computer-aided design (CAD) software to create construction plans. Construction managers use Primavera or similar software to create schedules and workflows. Estimators use job cost control programs. Innovative firms capture digital photos of the project, from mobilization through the punch process. Because ESI is created and exchanged at a higher rate than hard-copy documents, ESI has facilitated a dramatic increase in the volume of records associated with construction projects. Further compounding the increase is the proliferation of mobile devices. With a smartphone in every pocket, ESI creation has moved out of the home office and the site trailer and onto the site itself. As the volume of ESI expands, so too does the time and expense associated with storing, processing, reviewing and producing these records. This article will cover strategies for balancing time and expense with the requirements of the rules and the needs of the case. Reprinted courtesy of Pepper Hamilton LLP attorneys Robert A. Gallagher, Jane Fox Lehman and Michael I. Frankel Mr. Gallagher may be contacted at gallagherr@pepperlaw.com Ms. Lehman may be contacted at lehmanj@pepperlaw.com Mr. Frankel may be contacted at frankelm@pepperlaw.com Read the court decision
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New Washington Law Nixes Unfair Indemnification in Construction Contracts

April 25, 2012 — Douglas Reiser, Builders Council Blog

Contractual fairness ? it is part of my mantra. If you read the blog, you probably know that I preach brevity, balance and clarity in contracting. The State of Washington did well to finally eliminate something that has angered me for quite some time ? unfair indemnification.

One of my favorite construction contract revisions is mutual indemnification. Many “up the chain” contractors and owners are going to stick you with a unilateral indemnification clause that protects them for just about everything, including their own fumbling of a project. Adding mutual indemnification provides some balance, and keeps parties reliant upon each other for success on the job site.

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Reprinted courtesy of Douglas Reiser of Reiser Legal LLC. Mr. Reiser can be contacted at info@reiserlegal.com

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Performance Bond Primer: Need to Knows and Need to Dos

February 01, 2022 — Rafael Boza - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
If you are a construction contractor, you deal with performance bonds as part of your business and daily work. They are necessary for almost every project you are participating or will participate in, and, along with other sister bonds, constitute a basic tool to be able to work in construction. However, how much do you really know about this tool? Who in your organization knows how to use it? Are you relying on your insurance broker to procure the bonds? Can your broker competently review the terms of the bond? Are you, as a contractor, relying on the surety to explain and determine what you need for the project—a fox guarding the hen house? To understand how a performance bond works and how to effectively tailor it to your needs, we need to understand the basics. What is a performance bond? Who are the parties to a performance bond? What does performance bond not do? What should be covered under a performance bond? How does a performance bond fit in a company’s overall risk management processes? A clear understanding of these and other basic topics will facilitate operations and reduce the risk of claims. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Rafael Boza, Pillsbury
Mr. Boza may be contacted at rafael.boza@pillsburylaw.com

Heat Exposure Safety and Risk Factors

July 04, 2023 — The Hartford Staff - The Hartford Insights
Summer is here and being outside in the heat can take a toll on your body if you’re not properly prepared. It’s important to regulate your body temperature by both hydrating and gradually acclimating your body to withstand the increasingly hot conditions. Your body has “heat control mechanisms” which get overworked in hot, humid and poorly ventilated areas. When you’re exercising or doing physical labor, your muscles generate heat as a metabolic by-product. Sweating can dissipate heat when the air is dry or a breeze is blowing. But when humidity rises and the air becomes denser, sweat doesn’t evaporate from the skin as readily. When this occurs, your core body temperature becomes too high and you can suffer from heat cramps, heat exhaustion or heat stroke. This heat stress can occur suddenly and be very dangerous, that’s why it’s important to be able to recognize the warning signals. This chart will help you identify your body’s heat stress signals and apply the appropriate action to prevent heat-related problems. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Hartford Staff, The Hartford Insights

Ivanhoe Cambridge Plans Toronto Office Towers, Terminal

October 01, 2014 — Scott Deveau and Katia Dmitrieva – Bloomberg
Ivanhoe Cambridge, the real estate arm of the Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, plans to build a C$2-billion ($1.8 billion) officer tower and bus terminal complex in Toronto’s financial district in partnership with regional transport authority Metrolinx. Construction is expected to begin as early as spring 2015, with a new GO bus terminal set to open three years later, the parties said in a joint statement. “We want this project to be iconic for Toronto through inspired design and intelligent integration of public transit with green spaces,” Daniel Fournier, chief executive officer of Montreal-based Ivanhoe Cambridge, said in the statement. The total cost of the complex is expected to be C$2 billion, Fournier said at a press conference in Toronto. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Scott Deveau and Katia Dmitrieva, Bloomberg
Mr. Deveau may be contacted at sdeveau2@bloomberg.net

Quick Note: Unenforceable Language in Arbitration Provision

November 06, 2018 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Although arbitration is a dispute resolution provision provided for in a contract, the scope of judicial review of an arbitrator’s award is still governed by law. There are limited circumstances in which an arbitrator’s award can be challenged under the law. One of those circumstances is not because a party believes that an arbitrator applied the incorrect law. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Vegas Hi-Rise Not Earthquake Safe

July 12, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

If an earthquake hit Las Vegas, the Harmon Tower would not withstand it. A report from Weidlinger Associates told MGM Resorts that “in a code-level earthquake, using either the permitted or current code specified loads, it is likely that critical structural members in the tower will fail and become incapable of supporting gravity loads, leading to a partial or complete collapse of the tower.” The inspection came at the request of county officials, according to the article in Forbes.

According to Ronald Lynn, directory of the building division in the county’s development services division, “these deficiencies, in their current state, make the building uninhabitable.” The county is concerned about risks to adjacent buildings.

MGM Resorts is currently in litigation, separate from the stability issues, with Perini Corp., the builders of Harmon Tower.