Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Wisconsin Court Applies the Economic Loss Doctrine to Bar Negligence Claims for Purely Economic Losses

August 17, 2020 — Rahul Gogineni - The Subrogation Strategist
In Mech. Inc. v. Venture Elec. Contrs., Inc., No. 2018AP2380, 2020 Wisc. App. LEXIS 170, the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, District Two, considered whether a party may bring a negligence claim for purely economic damages. In upholding the lower court, the appellate court found that a party is barred by the Economic Loss Doctrine from bringing a negligence claim for purely economic damages. Both parties involved in this action were subcontractors on a building project at the Great Lakes Research Facility for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As a result of Venture Electrical Contractors, Inc. (Venture) not paying for requested work, Mechanical, Inc. (Mechanical) sued Venture for $11,961.31. Venture, in turn, countersued in negligence for $1.1 million for costs incurred due to delays and untimely performance. Mechanical sought dismissal of the negligence claim based upon the Economic Loss Doctrine. Finding that the Economic Loss Doctrine applies to purely economic losses, the trial court dismissed Venture’s negligence claim. Venture appealed to the Court of Appeals of Wisconsin. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Rahul Gogineni, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Gogineni may be contacted at goginenir@whiteandwilliams.com

Hirers Must Affirmatively Exercise Retained Control to be Liable Under Hooker Exception to Privette Doctrine

September 12, 2023 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Don’t drink and drive people. I mean seriously. It’s been over 40 years since California native Candace Lightner formed Mothers Against Drunk Driving in 1980 after her 13-year-old daughter, Candace, was killed by a drunk driver who later served just 9 months in jail before getting out and getting into his sixth (yes, sixth) drunk driving accident. It hurts the victims and their families, makes a mess for the offender (and their family), and, as the next case, Marin v. Department of Transportation, 88 Cal.App.5th 529 (2023), illustrates, can needlessly draw out the pain as the victim’s family seeks financial recourse for their emotional loss from others. Miguel Angel Rodriguez De La Cruz, a highway construction worker, was killed by a drunk driver. I’m not sure what his family did on the legal front after his death – perhaps sued the drunk driver – but among possible others they sued the California Department of Transportation. And they lost. Although there is no such thing as “winning” and “losing” in these types cases. It’s just losing and losing. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

Homebuilders Call for Housing Tax Incentives

May 10, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The National Association of Home Builders has asked Congress to support tax incentives for home buyers and renters, including the Low Income Housing Tax Credit and the mortgage interest deduction. Robert Dietz, an economist at the NAHB, noted that in 2009, 35 million home owners were able to claim the mortgage deduction. Dietz responded to arguments that the deduction simply lead to people buying bigger homes by saying that “the need for a larger home created the higher loan deduction, not the other way around.” The NAHB notes that one hundred new single-family homes creates more than 300 jobs and generates substantial tax revenues. “Housing provides the momentum behind an economic recovery because home building and associated businesses employ such a wide range of workers” said Dietz. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP Expands into Georgia

November 03, 2016 — Beverley BevenFlorez – CDJ Staff
Wood Smith Henning & Berman LLP (WSHB) has opened a new regional office in Atlanta, Georgia. Richard E. Zelonka, Jr., will be the Managing Partner. With over a decade of trial experience, Mr. Zelonka has handled complex litigation in both state and federal courts throughout the Southeastern United States. “I am thrilled to be joining Wood Smith Henning & Berman. WSHB’s sterling reputation, coupled with its national footprint, is especially attractive. That, coupled with the Firm’s passionate dedication to their clients, made this move a very easy choice for me,” said Mr. Zelonka. “I could not be more excited to lead WSHB’s new Georgia office.” The Firm’s Atlanta office is located at 1170 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 1200, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. The main phone number is (404) 885-5700. The fax number is (404) 506-9108. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

New York Assembly Reconsiders ‘Bad Faith’ Bill

May 31, 2021 — Copernicus T. Gaza, Robert S. Nobel, Craig Rokuson, Eric D. Suben - Traub Lieberman
The New York State Assembly is considering A07285, which creates a private right of action for bad faith “if the insurer unreasonably refuses to pay or unreasonably delays payment without substantial justification.” The bill was first introduced in 2013 but was reintroduced on May 3, 2021 and has received some recent attention. According to the bill, an insurer acts unreasonably when it (among other things):

Fails to provide the claimant with accurate information regarding policy provisions relating to the coverage at issue; or
Fails to effectuate in good faith a prompt, fair, and equitable settlement of a claim or portion of a claim and where the insurer failed to reasonably accord at least equal or more favorable consideration to its insured's interests as it did to its own interests, and thereby exposed the insured to a judgment in excess of the policy limits or caused other damage to a claimant; or
Fails to provide a timely written denial of a claimant's claim, or portion thereof, with a full and complete explanation of such denial, including references to specific policy provisions wherever possible; or
Fails to act in good faith by compelling such claimant to initiate a lawsuit to recover under the policy by offering substantially less than the amounts ultimately recovered in such suit; or
Fails to timely provide, on request of the policy holder or the policy holder's representative, all reports or other documentation arising from the investigation of a claim; or
Refuses to pay a claim without conducting a reasonable investigation prior to such refusal.

Reprinted courtesy of Copernicus T. Gaza, Traub Lieberman, Robert S. Nobel, Traub Lieberman, Craig Rokuson, Traub Lieberman and Eric D. Suben, Traub Lieberman Mr. Gaza may be contacted at cgaza@tlsslaw.com Mr. Nobel may be contacted at rnobel@tlsslaw.com Mr. Rokuson may be contacted at crokuson@tlsslaw.com Mr. Suben may be contacted at esuben@tlsslaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Harmon Towers Demolition Still Uncertain

January 23, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
It would be a "gift" to MGM Resorts if they were able to tear down the Harmon Tower, according to an article in the New York Times, as analysts are cited that a hotel would "struggle during this economic downturn." Further, William Robinson, a professor of economics at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, noted that "MGM has tried to cut back on the whole project," adding that "if you are a conspiracy theorist, you thin they are just looking for a way to get out of it." Professor Robinson thinks they would be unlikely to rebuild if allowed to tear down the building. MGM Resorts has a different take on the matter. Alan M. Feldman, MGM's senior vice president for public affairs, told the New York Times that MGM "had a contract with Perini that we would pay them to give us a certain kind of building type — in this case a luxury hotel." Mr. Feldman contends that Perini had not "kept up their part of the bargain." Perini has stated that the fault was due to the designers and did not comment to the Times. The claims of design and construction defects have left the building unfinished, with only twenty-six of the planned forty-nine floors constructed. Perini contends the building can still be repaired. MGM that its remediation plan is "to take the building down." Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Loan Snarl Punishes Spain Builder Backed by Soros, Gates

July 30, 2014 — Katie Linsell, Manuel Baigorri and Ruth David – Bloomberg
Pressure is mounting on Esther Koplowitz to refinance personal loans before a deadline tomorrow and allow a Spanish builder that counts Bill Gates and George Soros among investors to resolve its own debt tangle. Koplowitz is renegotiating about 1 billion euros ($1.8 billion) of debt tied to her controlling stake in Fomento de Construcciones & Contratas SA, according to two people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because it’s private. Her determination to retain control means that she is unlikely to approve any plan by FCC to raise equity until she refinances her own debt, the people said. Ms. Linsell may be contacted at klinsell@bloomberg.net; Mr. Baigorri may be contacted at mbaigorri@bloomberg.net; Ms. David may be contacted at rdavid9@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Katie Linsell, Manuel Baigorri and Ruth David, Bloomberg

Gene Witkin Celebrates First Anniversary as Member of Ross Hart’s Mediation Team

May 23, 2022 — AMCC
LOS ANGELES, California, May 18, 2022 – With a near perfect record of resolving cases, Gene is particularly passionate about helping parties get closure and minimize the significant costs of civil discovery and trial. He attributes the high success rate to empathy for all sides from his diverse prior experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in civil litigation, as well as his extensive past experience as insurance coverage counsel for both insureds and insurers. In recent months, two cases in particular were at an impasse due to insurance issues. The parties were able to bridge the gap and resolve the disputes, with mediator help on subtle coverage issues in one case (working through technical policy provisions together) and a creative settlement structure in the other (involving allocation of payments under the insurance policy). Gene also credits the successful resolutions in part to pre-mediation calls with the parties to better define the obstacles to resolution. Gene, along with Ross Hart and several AMCC neutrals were thrilled to see many of their colleagues and construction defect stakeholders earlier this month at the West Coast Casualty seminar, which certainly heralded a successful return to in person events. For more information or to schedule a mediation, please contact case administrator Stephanie Felton at admin@amccenter.com. About AMCC For more than 30 years the principals of AMCC have been serving the construction, real estate and insurance industries as a full service ADR firm. In addition to administering multiple terms of the CSLB contract for the state, AMCC is the recognized leader in California for administering insurance appraisals under Insurance Code 2071, as well as numerous other related ADR services such as partnering and dispute review boards. For more information please visit www.amccenter.com. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES