Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Former Hoboken, New Jersey Mayor Disbarred for Taking Bribes

September 17, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The New Jersey Law Journal reported that Peter Cammarano III, a former Hoboken, New Jersey, mayor, was disbarred after admitting “four years ago that he took $25,000 in bribes from a federal informant in exchange for promising his help in getting approval for a high-rise.” Cammarano “was one of 44 public officials and rabbis arrested in July 2009 as part of a massive federal investigation, known as Operation Bid Rig, into public corruption and money laundering operations.” The Disciplinary review board had recommended a three year suspension, however, the New Jersey Supreme Court rejected that recommendation. “An elected official who sells his office—who offers favored treatment in exchange for money—betrays a solemn public trust,” Justice Barry Albin wrote for the court, as quoted by the New Jersey Law Journal. “This form of corruption is corrosive to our democracy and undermines public confidence in honest government, and its rippling pernicious effects are incalculable.” “I believe the Disciplinary Review Board’s decision was right,” Joseph Jr. Hayden, Cammarano’s attorney, told the New Jersey Law Journal. “There were sufficient mitigating factors to justify only a suspension.” Read the court decision
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Surety Bond Producers Keep Eye Out For Illegal Waivers

July 01, 2019 — Richard Korman - Engineering News-Record
The surety bond industry regularly reminds state and local governments, politely, that public works in all states must involve surety bonds. That’s the law. And the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, the bond brokers and agents trade group, has been letting state and local officials know, in writing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Richard Korman, ENR
Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

Rhode Island Finds Pollution Exclusion Ambiguous, Orders Coverage for Home Heating Oil Leak

March 06, 2023 — Kayla S. O'Connor - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
The Rhode Island case of Regan Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc. v. Arbella Protection Insurance Company, Inc., et. al.1 provides much-needed guidance regarding ambiguity and the term “pollution.” In Regan, the Rhode Island Supreme Court held that a pollution exclusion contained in the Plaintiff’s “Commercial Package Policy” was ambiguous as to whether home heating oil that escaped into a customer’s basement constituted a “pollutant” under the policy. This case stems from a 2015 incident wherein Regan was in the process of removing an older heating system and installing a new heating system in a customer’s home when that customer discovered 170 gallons of home heating oil in his basement. The customer sued Regan, alleging negligence and demanding remediation for the property damage caused by the oil leak. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Kayla S. O'Connor, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Ms. O'Connor may be contacted at KOconnor@sdvlaw.com

Construction May Begin with Documents, but It Shouldn’t End That Way

March 02, 2020 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday here at Musings, we welcome back Rob Mathewson. In his role as CEO, Rob handles strategy and partnerships for Geedra in addition to overseeing technology architecture and implementation. He has spent twenty years in sales and marketing management roles with experience in industrial, consumer and construction markets. Rob believes the construction industry is ripe for innovation, based on its massive size, yet low productivity. Even with such inefficiencies, a building still rises from the ground. Rob’s goal with Geedra is to leverage technology to increase transparency and communication so that projects can be completed with less risk, effort and cost. Prior to founding Geedra, Rob was the Chief Marketing Officer for Construction Documentation Services, where he was responsible for sales, marketing and business development. He spent 15 years in the chemical distribution business, including eleven years as the Northwest Branch Manager of a $50 million distributor. Rob was the founder and CEO for On The Spot Games, a board game startup. He is currently in the midst of a streak of over 2,900 consecutive days without a bad hair day. An avid mentor himself, his own business inspirations come from problem solvers like Dean Kamon, innovative communicators like Seth Godin, fierce competitors like Lance Armstrong and global gurus like Thomas Friedman. When he’s not creating innovations in the construction industry, his passions include bike riding, throwing the ball around with his kids, and cooking. He is an accomplished public speaker and is a past president of Emerald City Toastmasters. Rob holds a B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from Boston University and a MBA from Seattle University. Construction folks are a focused bunch. Once a contractor signs a deal for a project, its team will immediately get to work generating and then executing a construction document set. For the entire duration of the schedule to follow, the construction team eats, sleeps and dreams about those documents. Their monomaniacal efforts continue until a building rises up from a patch of dirt in a matter of months. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Best Lawyers® Recognizes 49 White and Williams Attorneys

September 16, 2024 — White and Williams LLP
Thirty-eight White and Williams lawyers were recognized in Best Lawyers in America® 2025. Inclusion in Best Lawyers® is based entirely on peer-review. The methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. Best Lawyers® employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of quality legal services. In addition, eleven lawyers were recognized as Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America. This recognition is given to attorneys who are earlier in their careers for outstanding professional excellence in private practice in the United States. The firm is also pleased to announce Best Lawyers® has recognized three attorneys as "Lawyer of the Year” including: Chuck Eppolito, Litigation - Health Care, Philadelphia, who focuses his practice on medical malpractice defense as well as other insurance-related defense; William D. Kennedy, Litigation – Insurance, Philadelphia, who focuses his practice on complex claims of injury and damage arising in both the professional and general liability contexts; and, Michael O. Kassak, Litigation – Insurance, Cherry Hill, who focuses his practice on large complex commercial matters including insurance coverage and healthcare disputes. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

In Search of Cement Replacements

October 19, 2017 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Could we replace cement as the vital element in concrete some day? We look at two alternative answers to this question. The Problems with Cement Portland cement dominates in the construction and road building industries. From an environmental point of view, cement is not the perfect solution. The cement industry accounts up to 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. For every 600 kg of cement, approximately 400 kg of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. It is possible to recycle concrete by crushing it and using the gravel e.g. in road construction. However, the demand for new concrete is huge and increasing. According to The Washington Post, China used more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the U.S. used in the entire 20th Century. The worldwide production of cement has increased from 3.3 billion tons in 2010 to 4.2 in 2016. Even that is not enough; shortage of cement is a real problem in some countries. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at info@aepartners.fi

Hilary Soaks California With Flooding Rain and Snarls Flights

August 21, 2023 — Brian K. Sullivan & Brian Wingfield - Bloomberg
The remnants of Tropical Storm Hilary pummeled California with record rains on Monday, disrupting flights but sparing its largest cities from widespread destruction. Across the region, “the ongoing and historic amount of rainfall is expected to cause life-threatening to locally catastrophic” floods, along with landslides and mudslides, the National Hurricane Center said in a notice early Monday. The storm, now a post-tropical cyclone, has weakened since coming ashore in California late Sunday. As of early Monday, it had maximum sustained winds of about 35 miles (56 kilometers) per hour and is forecast to move across Nevada and dissipate on Monday. Hilary, a rare storm to hit the Southwest, could bring a year’s worth of rain to parts of a region famous for its usually balmy weather. Heavy rain and flash flooding have already disrupted transportation, and officials warned residents to stay off the roads. In the last 10 years, flooding from rainfall has caused the most deaths from hurricanes and tropical storms in the US. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg

Verdict In Favor Of Insured Homeowner Reversed For Improper Jury Instructions

October 23, 2018 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The appellate court reversed the jury verdict in favor of the homeowners based upon improper instructions purporting to impose a duty to adjust the claim and how to construe a contract. Citizens Prop. Ins. Corp. v Mendoza, 2018 Fla. App. LEXIS 9497 (Fla. Ct. App. July 5, 2018). The insureds incurred water damage to their home caused by a water heater leak. After a claim was filed, the insurer sent an adjuster to investigate the claim. The insurer denied the claim due to an exclusion for constant or repeated seepage or leakage. At trial, the insurer offered testimony that the leak was a continued and repeated seepage of water over a long period of time, which was excluded under the policy, and not a sudden and accidental discharge of water, which would have been covered. 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

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