Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up (10/06/21)

October 18, 2021 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Real estate tokenization and smart home technology continue to grow, negotiations surrounding the bipartisan infrastructure bill stall its passing, artificial intelligence is poised to transform the construction industry, and more.

Contra Global leverages real estate tokenization, the process of creating tokens on the Blockchain and assigning them to real estate properties that already exist or are under construction, to remove traditionally high barriers to investment entry as well as intermediary fees in the industry. (Navid Ladani, Yahoo Finance)
Following the 2-week closure of the construction industry after protests turned violent over vaccine mandates, the Victorian government announced its reopening with up to 25 percent capacity of workers and new vaccination rules. (ABC News)
Though the construction industry has traditionally relied heavily on human experience and expertise to complete projects, the industry is rapidly adopting digital solutions to adapt to chronic labor shortages, the need for sustainable solutions, and supply-chain disruptions. (Tom Taulli, Forbes)

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

Amazon Can be Liable in Louisiana

August 05, 2024 — Michael J. Ciamaichelo - The Subrogation Strategist
In June 2024, the Supreme Court of Louisiana held that: (1) Amazon can be considered a “seller” of defective products sold by third parties on its website; and (2) Amazon can be liable under a theory of negligent undertaking for third-party products. In Pickard v. Amazon.com, Inc., No. 2023-CQ-01596, 2024 La. LEXIS 1112, a Louisiana man, Archie Pickard, died from burns sustained in a house fire allegedly caused by a defective battery charger purchased on Amazon from a third-party seller located in China. Mr. Pickard’s family filed a lawsuit against Amazon in the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana alleging claims under the Louisiana Products Liability Act (LPLA) and for negligent undertaking. Amazon filed a motion for summary judgment, which prompted the federal court to certify questions to the Supreme Court of Louisiana regarding these two claims. Amazon Can be a “Seller” Under the Louisiana Products Liability Act Amazon does not neatly fit within the definition of “seller” under the LPLA because the LPLA was drafted in 1988, before the internet existed. The LPLA defines a “seller” as a person or entity (who is not the manufacturer) who conveys title or possession of the product to another for something of value. La R.S. 9.2800.53(s) (emphasis added). The Supreme Court of Louisiana determined that Amazon was a “seller” because it conveyed “possession” of the charger to Mr. Pickard through the “Fulfillment by Amazon” (FBA) program, which provides storage, delivery, customer service, and returns of third-party products sold on Amazon. Most products on Amazon are sold by third parties, rather than Amazon. Many third-party sellers are small or medium-size companies, and some are individuals seeking to make supplemental income. Amazon offers the FBA program to handle storage and logistics to third-party sellers. When a product is sold through the FBA program, the seller sends the product to Amazon’s warehouses, where it is stored until it is purchased. When an FBA-product is purchased, Amazon collects payment, delivers the product (often in an Amazon van), and handles the potential return of the product. The Supreme Court of Louisiana determined that Amazon was a “seller” of the battery charger even though Amazon did not pass title to Mr. Pickard because: (1) Amazon had physical custody of the charger while stored in the warehouse; and (2) Amazon controlled the transaction and logistics through its FBA program. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Michael J. Ciamaichelo, White and Williams
Mr. Ciamaichelo may be contacted at ciamaichelom@whiteandwilliams.com

Denver Passed the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance

August 27, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
ABC 7 reported that Denver, Colorado has passed a city ordinance that will require “developers building 30 or more units to offer 10 percent of them at a cheaper rate.” The Inclusionary Housing Ordinance is meant to increase the number of homes for “middle income earners.” "This city is really facing a housing crisis when it comes to affordability," Samaria Crews, deputy director of the Front Range Economic Strategy Center, told ABC 7. Builders can opt out of the ordinance by paying a fee, and a “new amendment would allow builders to build the low-income inventory off-site.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

No Coverage for Repairs Made Before Suit Filed

August 22, 2022 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
After a hurricane damaged the building the insured was constructing, there was no coverage under the CGL policy for repairs the insured made in the absence of a suit being filed. Planet Construction J2911 LLC. v. Gemini Ins. Co., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105468 (W.D. La. June 13, 2022). Planet Construction was a general contractor hired to build a fitness club. On August 27, 2020, Hurricane Laura struck the area. After the storm, a pipe in the sprinkler system broke, allegedly due to faulty materials and workmanship by a subcontractor, S&S Sprinkler. Planet Construction sought coverage under its policy with Gemini as well as under S&S's policy with Zurich. Both insurers denied coverage and Planet Construction filed suit. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Attention Contractors: U.S. Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Avoiding Discrimination When Using AI in Hiring

November 25, 2024 — Matthew DeVries - Best Practices Construction Law
I recently blogged about the use of AI and ChatGBT in the construction industry. Today’s guest post by Alexandra Shulman and Leah Lively addresses the recent guidance by the USDOL on the issue of using AI when hiring in recruitment, which is applicable to those constructions who use AI in the recruitment process. AI in hiring: About 80% of U.S. and almost all Fortune 500 companies use AI-powered hiring software. AI may be used to target online advertising for job opportunities and to match candidates to jobs on employment platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Indeed). AI may also be used to reject or rank applicants using automated resume screening and chatbots based on knockout questions, keyword requirements, or specific qualifications or characteristics. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Matthew DeVries, Buchalter
Mr. DeVries may be contacted at mdevries@buchalter.com

Efficient Proximate Cause Doctrine Bars Coverage for Collapse of Building

July 31, 2013 — Tred Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
The court rejected the insured's argument that there was coverage for the collapse of a building caused by water leakage (a covered peril) and landslide (an uncovered peril). Stor/Gard, Inc. v. Strathmore Ins. Co., 2013 U.S. LEXIS App. 11015 (1st Cir. May 31, 2013). A severe rain storm caused soil to slide down a hill and over a retaining wall, thereby damaging a building owned by the insured. Investigators hired by Strathmore Insurance Company determined that rain had soaked into the soil, causing the landslide. Although the investigators found some water leakage, they determined the leakage was not a cause or contributing factor, and was negligible compared to the rain amount. The insured's policy with Strathmore was an all-risk policy. Loss caused by a landslide was excluded. Further, loss caused by collapse was excluded from coverage except as set forth in the policy's "additional coverage for collapse" section. This section provided coverage for a collapse caused by water damage or a leakage of water. Another exclusion barred coverage for loss caused by weather conditions. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred Eyerly
Tred Eyerly can be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

No Choice between Homeowner Protection and Bankrupt Developers?

February 10, 2012 — CDJ STAFF

Donna DiMaggio Berger, writing in the Sun Sentinel argues those may be the only current choices in Florida. A recent court case, Lakeview Reserve HOA v. Maronda Homes has caused a swift response from the legislators. Ms. Berger notes that the construction defect bill, HB 1013, “would take away a homeowner’s rights to pursue a developer for defects to the driveways, roads, sidewalks, utilities, drainage areas and other so-called ‘off-site’ improvements.” The alternative? She notes that applying the Maronda decision would “bankrupt developers who don’t build defect-free roads and sidewalks.”

Read the full story…

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

Courts Will Not Rewrite Your Post-Loss Property Insurance Obligations

June 14, 2021 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
In the preceding posting, I wrote about making sure you comply with your property insurance policy’s post-loss policy obligations. By failing to comply, you can render your policy ineffective meaning you are forfeiting otherwise valid insurance coverage, which was the situation discussed in the preceding posting. As an insured, you should never want this to occur! In another case, discussed here, the property insurance policy had a preferred contractor endorsement. This means that instead of paying the insured insurance proceeds, the insurer could perform the repairs with its preferred contractor. Typically, the insured will pay a discount on their premium for this preferred contractor endorsement. The insurer elected to move forward with the repairs based on the preferred contractor endorsement but the insured performed the repairs on his own and then sold the house. By doing this, the appellate court held the insured rendered his policy ineffective by breaching his own policy (and failing to allow this post-loss obligation to take place). The explicit terms of the policy allowed the insurer to perform the repairs instead of paying the insured insurance proceeds. The court could NOT rewrite the post-loss obligations in the policy by requiring the insurer to pay insurance proceeds when the insurer, per the preferred contractor endorsement, elected to perform the repairs. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES