Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Champagne Wishes and Caviar Dreams. Unlicensed Contractor Takes the Cake

August 31, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Before the Kardashians, before Empire, before Crazy Rich Asians there was Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous with Robin Leach. The next case, Moore v. Teed, Case No. A153523 (April 24, 2020), 1st District Court of Appeals, is about the unfulfilled wishes and dashed dreams of the $13 million dollar “fixer upper.” Moore v. Teed The $13 Million Dollar “Fixer Upper” Justin Moore just wanted to buy a house in San Francisco. But he couldn’t afford one in the neighborhoods he preferred. But in 2011, luck struck, when Moore met Richard Teed, a real estate agent with “over 25 years of experience as a building contractor,” “an extensive background in historic restorations” and a “deep understanding of quality construction.” Teed told Moore that he could locate a “lower-priced fixer-upper in a choice neighborhood and then renovate it.” Moore was sold. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

New York High Court: “Issued or Delivered” Includes Policies Insuring Risks in New York

December 20, 2017 — Bethany Barrese & Samantha Martino - Case Alert Blog
On November 20th, the New York Court of Appeals reinstated a case seeking more than six million dollars in damages against the insurers for DHL Worldwide Express Inc. (“DHL”), originating from a fatal head-on car crash between Claudia Carlson and a truck owned by MVP Delivery and Logistics Inc. (“MVP”), a DHL contractor. The truck, which bore DHL’s logo, was owned by MVP and driven by an MVP employee. The MVP employee was running an errand unrelated to his job at the time of the accident. Mrs. Carlson’s husband sued the employee, DHL, and MVP. The jury award of $20 million was reduced to $7.3 million by the Appellate Division. MVP’s insurer paid Mr. Carlson just over $1 million, and the employee assigned his rights to any other insurance coverage to Mr. Carlson Mr. Carlson sued DHL and its insurers, seeking the balance of the outstanding judgment pursuant to New York Insurance Law § 3420. The defendants successfully moved to dismiss Mr. Carlson’s claims, which dismissal was affirmed by the Appellate Division on the basis that § 3420 did not apply since the policies in question were not “issued or delivered” in New York; they had been issued in New Jersey and delivered in Washington and Florida. The Court of Appeals was subsequently presented with two questions: (1) whether the DHL policies fell within the purview of Insurance Law § 3420 as policies “issued or delivered” in New York; and (2) whether MVP was an “insured” pursuant to the “hired auto” provisions of DHL’s policies. Reprinted courtesy of Bethany Barrese, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and Samantha Martino, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. Ms. Barrese may be contacted at blb@sdvlaw.com Ms. Martino may be contacted at smm@sdvlaw.com Read the court decision
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False Implied Certifications in Making Payment Requests: What We Can Learn from Lance Armstrong

January 20, 2020 — Brian S. Wood & Alex Gorelik - ConsensusDocs
In April 2018, the Department of Justice announced a $5M settlement reached in its lawsuit against former professional cyclist, Lance Armstrong. While the fallout from Armstrong’s latently-admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs (“PEDs”) was well-publicized, including lost sponsorship deals, stripped Tour de France titles, and damage to his reputation, few were aware of Armstrong’s exposure to liability and criminal culpability for false claims against the government. The DOJ’s announcement reminded Armstrong and the rest of us of the golden rule of dealing with the government: honesty is the best policy. The corollary to that rule is that dishonesty is costly. Armstrong’s liability stemmed from false statements (denying the use of PEDs) he made, directly and through team members and other representatives, to U.S. Postal Service (“USPS”) representatives and to the public. USPS was the primary sponsor of the grand tour cycling team led by Armstrong. The government alleged in the lawsuit that Armstrong’s false statements were made to induce USPS to renew and increase its sponsorship fees, in violation of the False Claims Act. The Statute Enacted in 1863, the False Claims Act (“FCA”) was originally aimed at stopping and deterring frauds perpetrated by contractors against the government during the Civil War. Congress amended the FCA in the years since its enactment, but its primary focus and target have remained those who present or directly induce the submission of false or fraudulent claims. The current FCA imposes penalties on anyone who knowingly presents “a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval” to the federal Government. A “claim” now includes direct requests to the Government for payment, as well as reimbursement requests made to the recipients of federal funds under federal benefits programs (such as Medicare). Thirty-one states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have also enacted laws imposing penalties for false claims against state agencies and their subdivisions, with most of these laws modelled after the federal FCA. Reprinted courtesy of Brian S. Wood, Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP and Alex Gorelik, Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP Mr. Wood may be contacted at bswood@smithcurrie.com Mr. Gorelik may be contacted at agorelik@smithcurrie.com Read the court decision
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The Role of Code Officials in the Design-Build Process

November 16, 2023 — Grace Calengor - Construction Executive
Building codes are an integral part of the design-build process, but what role do building code professionals play throughout that process? Kevin McOsker, vice president of technology services for the government relations department at the International Code Council, breaks it down, from basic design to groundbreaking ideas to incorporating new technology and retrofitting older builds. McOsker, whose experience includes serving as building official for the city of Las Vegas, is no stranger to striking architecture and the safety protocols that go along with it. He believes that safety protocol starts before the contractors begin building and that contractors should be involved throughout the entire journey. Reprinted courtesy of Grace Calengor, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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$48 Million Award and Successful Defense of $135 Million Claim

June 04, 2024 — Peckar & Abramson
Peckar & Abramson is proud to have represented one of the nation’s largest general contractors in the achievement of a $48 million award in its favor and the denial of a $135 million claim against it in Federal Court in the Middle District of Florida on May 3, 2024 arising out of the FDOT’s $2.3 billion reconstruction of I-4, a P3 project and the Department’s largest project ever in the State of Florida. After a 2-week bench trial, P&A secured the favorable decision which found that the general contractor client was entitled to recover $48 million on its affirmative claim against the party who initiated the lawsuit and that it did not breach its fiduciary duties and was not grossly negligent as was claimed which resulted in a denial of the initiating party’s $135 million claim in its entirety. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Peckar & Abramson

Gibbs Giden is Pleased to Announce Four New Partners and Two New Associates

January 08, 2024 — Gibbs Giden Locher Turner Senet & Wittbrodt, LLP
We take great pleasure in announcing that Richard Marks and Kyle Marks have joined the firm. They bring a combined 60 years of real property law experience to Gibbs Giden. Well known Title Insurance and seasoned real estate attorneys they have both served as chair of the Title Insurance Subsection of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and are adjunct professors at Southwestern University School of Law. We are excited to welcome these two exceptional partners and their commitment to representing clients with honesty, integrity, and excellence. You can find them in our firm’s Westlake office. Talented attorneys Samantha Riggen and Christopher Trembley have been named partners. Samantha represents clients in all areas of business and commercial matters with an emphasis on construction litigation on both public and private projects. Christopher’s practice also focuses on construction litigation on behalf of a wide spectrum of industry-stakeholder clients, including suppliers, contractors, and owners. Both work in our firm’s Westlake Village office. We are also pleased to announce we’ve hired two new associates. Sarah La Mendola and Madison Wedderspoon. Sarah has developed an expertise in a wide range of real estate, business, and corporate matters. She received her JD from the University of Pavia, one of the top universities in Italy, in 2012 and her LLM from UCLA in 2015. You can find Sarah in our Westlake Village office. Madison recently graduated from the Boyd School of Law cum laude, is based in our Las Vegas office and works in the areas of business law, contracts, healthcare law, construction, real estate, and common interest community transactional and litigation work. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Gibbs Giden

Index Demonstrates Increase in Builders’ Sentiment

September 17, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The National Association of Home Builders’ Eye on Housing reported that “[b]uilders’ sentiment jumped four points to 59, the highest level since November 2005, according to the September NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index.” Furthermore, builders mentioned “renewed interest by potential home buyers and higher traffic in their models and through their phone calls.” Eye on Housing also reported that the “inventory of new home for sale has increased to over 200,000.” While still lower than the 300,000 typical in 1990s and early 2000s, “the steady increase has provided a better selection for consumers.” Read the court decision
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Natural Hydrogen May Seem New in Town, but It’s Been Here All Along

April 22, 2024 — Elina Teplinsky & Sheila McCafferty Harvey - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
When it comes to renewable energy, hydrogen is hailed as a pivotal resource in the zero-carbon game plan. Hydrogen energy is accessible, produces lower greenhouse gas emissions and can use existing gas infrastructure to power electricity and heat, produce other gases and fuels, and more. Recently, a “new” type of hydrogen—has captured the attention of climate scientists. Natural hydrogen—often referred to as gold hydrogen—stands apart from other, more established types of hydrogen, which require extraction and expensive maneuvering to produce. Natural hydrogen exists underground in its pure form (i.e., it’s not combined with other molecules). Estimates vary, but some researchers suspect that Earth holds as much as five million megatons of hydrogen beneath our feet. Extracting just 2 percent of that supply, in theory, has the potential to get us to net-zero emissions for 200 years. From Past Prediction to Accidental Discovery Viacheslav Zgonnik, CEO of the Denver-based startup Natural Hydrogen Energy, told the New York Times that Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (also known as the “Father of the Periodic Table”) wrote about the presence of natural hydrogen as long ago as 1888. Somehow, the information was lost along the way, and when pockets of such hydrogen were occasionally found, they were treated as anomalies. Reprinted courtesy of Elina Teplinsky, Pillsbury and Sheila McCafferty Harvey, Pillsbury Ms. Teplinsky may be contacted at elina.teplinsky@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Harvey may be contacted at sheila.harvey@pillsburylaw.com Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES