Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

New York’s 2022 Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act: Significant Amendments to the C.P.L.R.

January 17, 2022 — Ellen H. Greiper & Kristen Carroll - Lewis Brisbois
New York, N.Y. (January 4, 2022) - On December 31, 2021, New York State Governor Hochul signed into law the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act. The alleged justification for the act was to reduce the use of “delaying tactics” by compelling disclosure of the complete primary, excess, and umbrella policies implicated by the claim. These amendments will be unduly onerous on both carriers and defense counsel—for a multitude of reasons. It imposes an obligation on the insurer to immediately identify excess policies, eroding policies, and other information or contracts that affect the available coverage. Reprinted courtesy of Ellen H. Greiper, Lewis Brisbois and Kristen Carroll, Lewis Brisbois Ms. Greiper may be contacted at Ellen.Greiper@lewisbrisbois.com Ms. Carroll may be contacted at Kristen.Carroll@lewisbrisbois.com Read the court decision
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Policing Those Subcontractors: It Might Take Extra Effort To Be An Additional Insured

June 14, 2011 — Douglas Reiser, Builders Council Blog

I just came across a case that I think truly paints the insurance dilemma for contractors. Thanks to this recent Illinois case, I don’t have to make up any factual scenarios—so kudos to Attorney Robert Boylan for posting it.

In reading over my RSS feeds this weekend, I noticed a great writeup on long-time blogger Josh Glazov’s Construction Law Today. Attorney Robert Boylan’s post describes a recent Illinois case where a general contractor was denied its additional insured status on a second-tier subcontractor’s insurance. The reason for the denial: the general contractor failed to procure an agreement in writing with the second-tier subcontractor, requiring it to be listed as an additional insured.

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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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Investigation Continues on Children Drowning at Construction Site

August 13, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
Two months ago, in Hobart, Illinois, two young boys (brothers) “drowned in an unsecured, excavated pit that filled with water” on a site owned by Goldschmidt Construction Services LLC of Hobart. The Post-Tribune reported that “Police Chief Richard Zormier said the department is waiting on reports from other agencies as it continues to investigate circumstances surrounding” the accident. “We want to be thorough. The young boys deserve it. Their family deserves it,” Zormier told the Post-Tribune. The family of the victims has filed a $60 million lawsuit against Goldschmidt Construction. Read the court decision
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No Coverage for Negligent Misrepresentation without Allegations of “Bodily Injury” or “Property Damage”

February 10, 2012 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii

Jeff City Industries was the general contractor for a sewer system improvement project in Branson, Missouri. Bituminous Cas. Corp. v. United HRB Gen. Contractors, Inc., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 145666 (W.D. Mo. Dec. 19, 2011). Branson sued Jeff City, alleging breach of the construction contract for the project. The claims included improperly bedded sewer piping, improper aligning portions of trenching for the sewer piping, improper service line connections to the sewer piping, etc.

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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii. Mr. Eyerly can be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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Home Buyers Lose as U.S. Bond Rally Skips Mortgage Rates

September 03, 2014 — Jody Shenn – Bloomberg
Potential home buyers watching this year’s plunge in 10-year Treasury yields can be forgiven for wondering why their borrowing costs aren’t falling at the same pace. The last time the benchmark Treasury rate fell as low as the 2.34 percent level reached last week, in June 2013, interest rates on typical mortgages were almost 0.2 percentage point less than they are now. There are a number of explanations: Yields on five-year Treasuries, which also help determine loan rates, have actually increased. And lenders that cut staff aren’t competing as aggressively by adjusting their pricing. No matter the cause, the effect is that a potential catalyst to get the faltering U.S. housing recovery back on track is failing to materialize. With home-loan rates stagnating at about 4.1 percent during the past three months, a renewed boom in refinancing also sits just out of reach. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Jody Shenn, Bloomberg
Ms. Shenn may be contacted at jshenn@bloomberg.net

Appraisal Can Go Forward Prior to Resolution of Coverage Dispute

April 08, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The Florida Supreme Court found that a trial court could compel an appraisal of the insured's loss prior to resolving coverage issues. Am. Coastal Ins. Co. v. San Marco Villas Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 2024 Fla. LEXIS 185 (Fla. Feb. 1, 2024). Hurricane Irma damaged San Marco Condominium Association's buildings. American Coastal paid $192,629.75 for the loss. San Marco estimated the damage to be in excess of eight million dollars. San Marco demanded an appraisal under the policy. American Coastal refused to submit to appraisal because it was premature as its investigation was still ongoing. San Marco sued American Coastal and asked the court to compel appraisal. American Coastal argued that San Marco had committed fraud or had made material misrepresentations regarding its claim. The trial court heard San Marco's appraisal motion and entered an order compelling appraisal. American Coastal appealed, bu the Second District Court affirmed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

'Perfect Storm' Caused Fractures at San Francisco Transit Hub

January 08, 2019 — Nadine M. Post - Engineering News-Record
The underlying causes of the trouble at San Francisco’s 4.5-block-long Salesforce Transit Center are coming into focus. A combination of low fracture toughness deep inside thick steel plates, cracks present as a consequence of normal steel fabrication and stress levels from loads, which are a function of design, apparently caused brittle fractures in the bottom flanges of the center's twin built-up plate girders that span 80 ft across Fremont Street. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nadine M. Post, ENR
Ms. Post may be contacted at postn@enr.com

Heads I Win, Tails You Lose. Court Finds Indemnity Provision Went Too Far

May 25, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
We all love David and Goliath stories. The underdog winning against the far stronger (and dastardly) opponent. Think Rocky Balboa versus Ivan Drago, the Star Wars Rebellion versus the Galatic Empire, Indiana Jones versus a good chunk of the Third Reich. And now, we have Margaret Williams. The Story of Margaret Williams and her LLC The story, told in Long Beach Unified School District v. Margaret Williams, LLC, Case No. B290069 (December 9, 2019), is about Margaret Williams. Ms. Williams (we’ll just call her “Margaret” going forward because it just sounds better when telling a story) worked for nearly ten years full-time for the Long Beach Unified School District, toiling day in and day out doing construction management and environmental compliance work, including work involving the clean up of material at a school construction site contaminated with arsenic. Although she worked full-time for the District for nearly ten years, she wasn’t an employee. Rather, she was a contractor. And, on top of it all, as a condition of working for the District, the District required that she form a company in order to contract with the District. According to Margaret, “In order to work with the District, I was directed . . . to form a corporation or partnership. This was the only way I could work for the District: I could not enter into a contract with the District as an individual.” So, in 2006, she formed a company, simply called Margaret Williams, LLC. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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