Are Housing Prices Poised to Fall in Denver?
December 10, 2015 —
Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFFDenver, Dallas, and Houston’s housing markets are rising too quickly and will soon hit “’bubble territory’” according to a housing market index by Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University, reported the Denver Business Journal.
"There is about a 70 percent chance that renters in Denver will get more wealth on average than buyers," Ken Johnson, a real estate economist at the university in Boca Raton, Florida, told the Denver Post.
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Contractor Sues Supplier over Defective Products
June 28, 2011 —
CDJ STAFFFast Track Specialties has sued RJF International after needing to remove wall protection units at Methodist West Houston Hospital, according to an article in the Houston Chronicle. Fast Track claims that contractors had to disconnect gas, water, and electric from the area to facilitate removal of corner guards, handrails, and crash guards from the hospital. This cost the contractor more than $135,000.
Fast Track is claiming that RJD International has committed breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligent representation.
Read the full story…
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Citigroup Pays Record $697 Million for Hong Kong Office Tower
June 18, 2014 —
Michelle Yun – BloombergCitigroup Inc. (C) paid a record HK$5.4 billion ($697 million) to a unit of Wheelock & Co. for a Hong Kong office tower that will bring most of its 5,000 employees under one roof.
The price for the 512,000 square-foot property in Kowloon is the largest ever office transaction in Hong Kong, the New York-based bank said in a statement yesterday. The tower, scheduled for completion by the end of 2015, will be used to house staff currently spread out across offices in the city, said Weber Lo, the bank’s chief executive officer for Hong Kong and Macau.
Citigroup joins banks and insurers in buying buildings in the city as falling vacancies pose a challenge for companies looking for large office spaces, realtor CBRE Group Inc., which advised the deal, said in a first-quarter review report.
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Michelle Yun, BloombergMs. Yun may be contacted at
myun11@bloomberg.net
Claim for Collapse After Demolition of Building Fails
January 09, 2023 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiAfter several city citations and the eventual demolition of the insureds' apartment building, their claim for coverage based on collapse was unsuccessful. Barker v. AmGuard Ins. Co., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 202069 (W.D. Mo. Nov. 7, 2022).
The plaintiffs purchased a three-story multi-family apartment building on March 9, 2009. Prior to the purchase, steel beams were installed in the basement along the east and south walls. By 2013, the south and east walls were leaning.
On March 13, 2017, the city building inspector observed "the foundation failing in several areas and deflection in the south wall." The building inspector issued a citation for a pubic nuisance in violation of the City Code. This was followed by several more citations against plaintiffs. The plaintiffs' inspector reported the basement walls were experiencing "extensive lateral deflections primarily due to the inadequate design of the basement walls."
Plaintiffs understood the issues to be "cosmetic.'" They had no work done on the property besides aesthetic upgrades. After additional citations were entered, the building was ordered demolished.
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak HastertMr. Eyerly may be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Reaffirms Validity of Statutory Employer Defense
March 31, 2014 —
Michelle Coburn and Michael Jervis – White and Williams LLPIn Patton v. Worthington Associates, Inc., the Pennsylvania Supreme Court reaffirmed the continuing validity of the longstanding statutory employer doctrine and related five-part test of McDonald v. Levinson Steel Co. In doing so, the court overruled the Superior Court and held that Worthington was immune from tort liability as the statutory employer of plaintiff Earl Patton.
Worthington was the general contractor for a project to construct an addition to a church. Worthington subcontracted with Patton Construction, Inc. to perform carpentry work. Earl Patton was an employee and the sole owner of Patton Construction, Inc. He was injured in a scissor lift accident while performing work on the church. Patton sued Worthington alleging failure to maintain safe conditions at the worksite. After a trial, a jury awarded Patton and his wife a little more than $1.5 million in damages.
Before trial, Worthington had moved for summary judgment arguing that it was Patton’s statutory employer and thus immune from tort liability under Pennsylvania’s Workers’ Compensation Act. Under that law, general contractors are secondarily liable for payment of workers’ compensation benefits to employees of subcontractors. Like traditional employers, statutory employers are immune from tort liability for work-related injuries in situations where they are secondarily liable for workers’ compensation payments.
Reprinted courtesy of
Michelle Coburn, White and Williams LLP and
Michael Jervis, White and Williams LLP
Ms. Coburn may be contacted at coburnm@whiteandwilliams.com; Mr. Jervis may be contacted at jervism@whiteandwilliams.com
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Record Keeping—the Devil’s in the Details
July 30, 2015 —
Craig Martin – Construction Contract AdvisorAnother court has found that poor record keeping will prevent recovery on a claim. The court in Weatherproofing Tech., Inc. v. Alacran Contracting, LLC found that a contractor’s documents were a mess and that no reasonable jury could base a verdict on the contractor’s records.
The underlying project involved the construction of an army training facility. The total project cost approximated $13 million. Alacran, the general contractor, subcontracted about $3 million of the work to Weatherproofing Tech. Alacran paid Weatherproofing $700,000 for its work, even though Weatherproofing submitted invoices of more than $2 million. Alacran justified its refusal to pay Weatherproofing on the grounds that the parties had agreed to split the profit and loss on the project and the project was out of money. Not surprisingly, Weatherproofing sued Alacran for the amount owed.
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLPMr. Martin may be contacted at
cmartin@ldmlaw.com
FirstEnergy Fined $3.9M in Scandal Involving Nuke Plants
February 06, 2023 —
Annemarie Mannion - Engineering News-RecordHaving admitted to participating in the largest energy-involved bribery scandal in Ohio history, provider FirstEnergy Corp., based in Akron, has agreed to pay a $3.9-million fine for withholding lobbying and accounting information from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s enforcement office.
Reprinted courtesy of
Annemarie Mannion, Engineering News-Record
Ms. Mannion may be contacted at manniona@enr.com
Read the full story... Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
SEC Recommendations to Protect Against Cybersecurity Threats
March 09, 2020 —
Shaia Araghi and Jeffrey Dennis – Newmeyer DillionWhat Happened?
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations ("OCIE") issued a detailed
report on January 27, 2020 regarding various ways for organizations to safeguard data and protect against security and data breaches. Cyber threat actors are now invading data in a more sophisticated manner than ever before, and implementation of the SEC's recommended practices are essential in order to protect from outside vulnerabilities.
What is at Risk?
If market participants fail to implement these recommended policies, they will become more vulnerable to external attacks and data breaches. This can weaken an organization or firm if all employees are not properly trained and informed of the increasing dangers of cybersecurity breaches.
What Can You Do to Protect Yourself from a Cybersecurity Threat?
1.
Governance and Risk Management. Senior leaders should make efforts to improve the cyber safety at their organization. Some of these efforts may include:
- Devote attention to overseeing the organization's cybersecurity and resilience programs;
- Develop a risk assessment process to identify and mitigate cybersecurity risks to the organization;
- Adopt and implement policies and procedures regarding these risks;
- Promptly respond and adapt to changes by updating policies and procedures when necessary; and
- Establish communication policies and procedures to provide timely information to customers, employees, and others when needed.
2.
Access Rights and Controls. Implement updated controls to determine appropriate users for organization systems, limit access as appropriate to authorized users (including the set-up of multi-factor authentication) and monitor user access.
3.
Data Loss Prevention. OCIE has recommended various important data loss prevention measures for organizations:
- Establish a vulnerability management program;
- Implement capabilities that can monitor network traffic and detect threats on endpoints;
- Establish a patch management program covering all software and hardware;
- Maintain an inventory of hardware and software assets;
- Encrypt data and implement network segmentation;
- Create an insider threat program to monitor any suspicious behaviors; and
- Secure legacy systems and equipment through disposal of sensitive information from hardware and software and by reassessing vulnerability and risk assessments.
4.
Mobile Security. Establish policies and procedures for mobile device use, manage use of mobile devices through a mobile device management application, implement security measures for internal and external users, and train employees on mobile device policies and effective practices.
5.
Incident Response and Resiliency. Detect and disclose material information regarding incidents in a timely manner and assess appropriateness of corrective actions taken in response to incidents. Organizations should develop a plan if an incident occurs, address applicable reporting requirements, assign staff to execute specific areas of the plan, and test and assess the plan. In the event that a data breach occurs, an organization should improve its resiliency by maintaining an inventory of core business services and prioritizing business operations based on an assessment of risks.
6.
Vendor Management. Establish a vendor management program to ensure that vendors meet your organization's security requirements. Organizations should aim to understand all contract terms with vendors to ensure that all parties are in agreement regarding risk and security. Organizations should also monitor third-party vendors and ensure that the vendor continues to meet the organization's security requirements.
7.
Training and Awareness. Train staff to implement cybersecurity policies of the organization. Organizations should provide cybersecurity and resiliency training and re-evaluate the effectiveness of training procedures.
A Final Reminder for Organizations
Organizations should strive to implement as many of the SEC's recommended protection measures as possible. Ensuring that senior members of an organization are leading the initiative in increased awareness about cybersecurity threats through training of employees will lead to greater cyber safety for the overall organization. Although prevention of all breaches cannot be guaranteed, developing data loss prevention plans to keep the organization and its core businesses safe from attack will benefit the entire organization.
How We Can Help
If you feel that your business falls below the SEC's recommended security measures, our firm can assist with compliance. Contact us for a free initial consultation to determine a reasonable and practical way for your business to become compliant with these guidelines.
Shaia Araghi is an associate in the firm's Privacy & Data Security, and supports the team in advising clients on cyber-related matters, including compliance and prevention that can protect their day-to-day operations. For more information on how Shaia can help, contact her at shaia.araghi@ndlf.com.
Jeff Dennis (CIPP/US) is the Head of the firm's Privacy & Data Security practice. Jeff works with the firm's clients on cyber-related issues, including contractual and insurance opportunities to lessen their risk. For more information on how Jeff can help, contact him at jeff.dennis@ndlf.com.
About Newmeyer Dillion
For 35 years, Newmeyer Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results that achieve client objectives in diverse industries. With over 70 attorneys working as a cohesive team to represent clients in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, environmental/land use, privacy & data security and insurance law, Newmeyer Dillion delivers holistic and integrated legal services tailored to propel each client's success and bottom line. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California and Nevada, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949.854.7000 or visit www.newmeyerdillion.com.
Read the court decisionRead the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
