Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Kushner Cos. Probed Over Harassment of Low-Income Tenants

July 21, 2018 — Erik Larson - Bloomberg
Kushner Cos. is being investigated in New York over allegations the real-estate company used disruptive construction projects to harass rent-regulated tenants so they’d move out of their apartments. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Tenant Protection Unit opened the probe after residents of Austin Nichols House in Brooklyn accused Kushner Cos. in a lawsuit of doing work "that released dangerous toxins into the air and created unlivable conditions for tenants, including vermin and excessive construction noise," the state said Monday in a statement. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Erik Larson, Bloomberg

Settlement Reached in California Animal Shelter Construction Defect Case

May 13, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
A construction defect case involving an animal shelter in Healdsburg, California has settled after two years of litigation, according to The Press Democrat. The $3.5 million, 7,500-square foot building had been “built largely with a behest from the estate of the late vintner Rodney Strong and his wife, Charlotte.” However, “shortly before the facility could be completed in late 2011, general contractor Syd Kelly went bankrupt. Unpaid sub-contractors filed liens for payment against the Healdsburg Animal Shelter, which in turn alleged construction and design defects in the building.” The Press Democrat reported that “[t]he most visible signs of problems were cracks in the cement foundation.” Robert Wilkie, the Healdsburg Animal Shelter board’s secretary-treasurer, stated that the shelter is “perfectly structurally viable and a rather attractive building” and that “the defects that make it not usable today can be mitigated in a variety of different ways.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Sierra Pacific v. Bradbury Goes Unchallenged: Colorado’s Six-Year Statute of Repose Begins When a Subcontractor’s Scope of Work Ends

November 03, 2016 — Luke Mecklenburg – Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
It’s official: the October 20, 2016 deadline to petition for certiorari to the Colorado Court of Appeals on its decision in Sierra Pacific Industries, Inc. v. Bradbury has passed, so it appears that decision will stand. In Sierra Pacific, the Court of Appeals held as a matter of first impression that the statute of repose for a general contractor to sue a subcontractor begins to run when a subcontractor’s scope of work is substantially complete, regardless of the status of the overall project. Sierra Pac. Indus., Inc. v. Bradbury, 2016 COA 132, ¶ 28, ___ P.3d ___. The Court of Appeals interpreted the statute of repose in C.R.S. section 13-80-104, which requires that “all actions against any architect, contractor, builder or builder vendor, engineer, or inspector performing or furnishing the design, planning, supervision, inspection, construction, or observation of any improvement to real property” must be brought within six years of substantial completion of that improvement. C.R.S. § 13-80-104(1)(a). Recognizing that “an improvement may be [to] a discrete component of an entire project” under Shaw Construction, LLC v. United Builder Services, Inc., 296 P.3d 145 (Colo. App. 2012), the Court of Appeals determined that “a subcontractor has substantially completed its role in the improvement at issue when it finishes working on the improvement.” Sierra Pac., 2016 COA at ¶¶ 20, 28. In doing so, it rejected Sierra Pacific’s argument that the statute could be tolled under the repair doctrine “while others worked to repair [the subcontractor’s] ‘improper installation work and flawed repair work.’” Id. at ¶ 29. Because six years had undisputedly passed since the subcontractor completed its scope of work when Sierra Pacific filed suit against it, the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s order granting the subcontractor’s motion for summary judgment under Section 13-80-104(1)(a). Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Luke Mecklenburg, Snell & Wilmer Real Estate Litigation Blog
Mr. Mecklenburg may be contacted at lmecklenburg@swlaw.com

Traub Lieberman Attorneys Recognized as 2024 “Top Lawyers” in New York by Hudson Valley Magazine

July 15, 2024 — Traub Lieberman
Traub Lieberman is pleased to announce four New York partners have been included in the 2024 edition of the Hudson Valley Magazine "Top Lawyers in the Hudson Valley in 2024.” This annual guide recognizes over 260 of the region's leading attorneys. Lisa Shrewsberry, Hillary Raimondi and Jonathan Harwood are noted for their professional skills in the category of Professional Malpractice Non-Medical Defense and Copernicus “Cope” Gaza in the Insurance category. Insurance:

Copernicus T. Gaza

Professional Malpractice Non Medical Defense:

Jonathan R. Harwood
Hillary J. Raimondi
Lisa L. Shrewsberry

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Traub Lieberman

In Appellate Division First, New York Appellate Team Successfully Invokes “Party Finality” Doctrine to Obtain Dismissal of Appeal for Commercial Guarantors

December 23, 2024 — Dean Pillarella - Lewis Brisbois
New York, N.Y. (November 20, 2024) - In Roc-Le Triomphe Associates, LLC v. DeSouza, 2024 NY Slip Op 05654 (1st Dep’t 2024), Associate Dean Pillarella, a member of the Appellate Practice, successfully invoked the party finality doctrine to obtain the dismissal of an appeal for the firm’s commercial guarantor clients. The action concerned rent allegedly due and owing under a commercial lease by the lease’s tenant and guarantors. Pursuant to a 2022 order, the guarantors were awarded summary judgment and dismissal of all claims against them, with the landlord’s claims against the tenant left intact. After the decision and order was served with notice of entry by the prevailing party, the landlord did not file a notice of appeal from the order but, instead, filed a notice of appeal from a later judgment months after the time to appeal the order had expired. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Dean Pillarella, Lewis Brisbois
Mr. Pillarella may be contacted at Dean.Pillarella@lewisbrisbois.com

Hold on Just One Second: Texas Clarifies Starting Point for Negligence Statute of Limitations

July 11, 2022 — Lian Skaf - The Subrogation Strategist
In construction or similar ongoing projects, problems often pop up. Sometimes they can pop up again and again. Making things even more complicated, one problem may affect another, seemingly new problem. When these construction problems result in property damage, timelines tend to overlap and determining when a statute of limitation begins to run for a particular claim can be difficult. Especially in states with short statute of limitations for tort claims like Texas, knowing when a statute begins to run is crucial for a subrogation professional. In Hussion St. Bldgs., LLC v. TRW Eng’rs, Inc., No. 14-20-00641-CV, 2022 Tex. App. LEXIS 2193, 2022 WL 1010313, the Court of Appeals of Texas provided clarity on when the two-year statute of limitations for tort claims begins to run. Reversing the judgment from the lower court, the appellate court denied summary judgment to the defendant, holding that, despite there being existing issues with the ongoing construction project, the negligence cause of action for Hussion Street Buildings, LLC (Hussion) did not begin to run more than two years prior to filing suit. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lian Skaf, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Skaf may be contacted at skafl@whiteandwilliams.com

Builders FirstSource to Buy ProBuild for $1.63 Billion

April 15, 2015 — Prashant Gopal – Bloomberg
Builders FirstSource Inc., a Dallas-based maker of materials for new homes, rose the most on record after saying it agreed to buy competitor ProBuild Holdings LLC for $1.63 billion. ProBuild, based in Denver, operates about 400 lumber and building product distribution, manufacturing and assembly centers serving 40 U.S. states, according to a statement Monday. The companies had 2014 combined revenue of $6.1 billion. Builders FirstSource surged 68 percent to $11.57. It was the biggest one-day gain ever for the shares, which began trading in June 2005. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg

Construction Defect Journal Marks First Anniversary

January 06, 2012 — CDJ STAFF

November 2011 marked the first anniversary of the Construction Defect Journal. During the first year our staff and contributors in the insurance and legal communities have compiled several hundred articles of interest to the construction defect and claims community.

Each of these articles are maintained in the CDJ archives, and are accessible at http://www.constructiondefectjournal.com/archives.html. Each story in the archives is listed in the order it was posted to the archives. Each story in the archives opens up in its own page, so you can easily locate topics and articles of interest.

If you’re new to Construction Defect Journal, or just want peruse past articles, please take a moment to visit the CDJ Archives page. Also please feel encouraged to submit your firm’s articles or legal publications of interest to the CD community at http://www.constructiondefectjournal.com/submitStory.html.

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES