Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Insurer's Summary Judgment Motion on Business Risk Exclusions Fails

November 15, 2017 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The insurer unsuccessfully moved for summary judgment on the CGL policy's business risk exclusions. Scottsdale Ins. Co. v. TL Spreader, LLC, (W.D. La. Oct. 20, 2017). Helena Chemical Company contracted with its customer Wild Farms to sell and apply certain herbicides and pesticides to Wild Farms' 123 acre rice filed. Helena subcontracted the TL Spreader, LLC (TLS) to apply the chemicals to Wild Farm's rice field. The TLS employee failed to properly neutralize a chemical being used in the spray. TLS finished its work on May 6, 2014, completing all its work for Helena's contract with Wild Farms. Three days after completion of the spraying, the rice crop first began to exhibit physical damage in the form of abnormal stunting, lesions, yellowing and death. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Contractor Sentenced to Seven Years for Embezzling $3 Million

July 20, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Michael Medeiros was not a good guy. Ok, on a scale of 1 to 10, maybe not a 9 or 10 (when you’re including guys like Charles Manson), but a solid 6 or 7 at least. The next case, People v. Medeiros, Case No. A155648, 1st District Court of Appeals (March 26, 2020), is less important for its legal holding than as a reminder that while most legal disputes on construction projects end up with one party owing the other party money, sometimes, when a party’s conduct has been really bad, it can end in a loss of liberty (i.e., jail time) as well. People v. Medeiros Medeiros was a painting contractor operating under the name Professional Painting Company, Inc. In the early 1990s, Medeiros met Susan Lambert, who served as the property manager for a homeowners’ association, Woodlake Association, in Hayward, California. Lambert was an alcoholic. Following a series of surgeries in 2005 and 2007 she became addicted to opiates as well. She also had a gambling problem. As a result, Lambert regularly found herself in financial difficulty. And this is where Lambert and Medeiros found that they shared common ground. At some point, Medeiros confided to Lambert that he was having cash flow and tax problems. 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 Addition To New Jersey Court Rules Impacts More Than Trial Practice

November 16, 2020 — Thomas Regan & Karley Kamaris - Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
On September 1, 2020, New Jersey adopted a brand-new rule of procedure, Rule 4:25-8, which properly defines motions in limine. On its face, the new rule prohibits, broadly, filing motions in limine that may have a dispositive effect on the case. Most notably, the rule expressly eliminates the ability to move, on motion in limine, to bar expert testimony in matters in which such experts are required to sustain a party’s burden of proof. This effectively makes the summary judgment phase of litigation the last chance to bar experts from a jury trial or take any other dispositive action The new rule comes at a time in which the evidentiary standard for experts is shifting in New Jersey. In October 2018, the New Jersey Supreme Court reconciled the framework for analyzing the reliability of expert testimony under N.J.R.E. 702 and 703 in In re: Accutane Litigation. Significantly, New Jersey, a traditional Frye jurisdiction, incorporated certain federal Daubert factors for expert “use by our courts” but, overall, fell short of adopting the Daubert standard as a whole. In applying the relevant Daubert factors, the trial court in Accutane held that the subject experts’ methodologies were unsound due to the failure to apply fundamentals of the scientific method of the medical-evidence hierarchy. The decision resulted in the dismissal of over 3,000 claims. Reprinted courtesy of Thomas Regan, Lewis Brisbois and Karley Kamaris, Lewis Brisbois Mr. Regan may be contacted at Thomas.Regan@lewisbrisbois.com Ms. Kamaris may be contacted at Karley.Kamaris@lewisbrisbois.com Read the court decision
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Bad Faith Jury Verdict Upheld After Insurer's Failure to Settle Within Policy Limits

June 30, 2016 — Tred R. Eyerly – Insurance Law Hawaii
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the jury verdict which determined that the insurer acted in bad faith for failing to settle within policy limits. Bamford, Inc. v. Regent Ins. Co., 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 8787 (8th Cir. May 13, 2016). Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Congratulations to Haight Attorneys Selected for the 2024 Edition of Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch

September 11, 2023 — Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Best Lawyers and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch – 2024 Edition Best Lawyers 2024 Edition

Bruce Cleeland
Peter Dubrawski
Denis Moriarty
Theodore Penny

Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch 2024 Edition

Frances Brower
Kyle DiNicola
Kristian Moriarty
Arezoo Jamshidi
Josh Maltzer
Philip McDermott
Patrick McIntyre
Annette Mijanovic
Kathleen Moriarty
Bethsaida Obra-White

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Reprinted courtesy of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

Phoenix Flood Victims Can’t Catch a Break as Storm Nears

September 17, 2014 — Brian K. Sullivan – Bloomberg
A week ago, Hurricane Norbert pumped tropical moisture across the U.S. Southwest, touching off record rainfall in Phoenix and Tucson that killed at least two people, flooded hundreds of homes and shut highways throughout the region. This week, Hurricane Odile moved onto the Baja California peninsula after becoming the strongest system since 1967 to hit that part of Mexico, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said. While it isn’t time to get the rowboat out again for the morning commute, the earth in the desert Southwest doesn’t absorb water very well, the way a Florida swamp or Louisiana bayou might. A lot of rain can be far more unpredictable. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Brian K. Sullivan, Bloomberg
Mr. Sullivan may be contacted at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net

Are Defense Costs In Addition to Policy Limits?

December 02, 2015 — Craig Martin – Construction Contractor Advisor
I recently had a discussion with an insurer about whether defense costs were included within the policy limits of a client’s coverage or in addition to policy limits. This was an important discussion because if costs of defense were included in the policy limits, my client was going to exceed those policy limits in a hurry. How would this situation play out with your insurance? Fortunately, the majority of insurance policies, such as Commercial General Liability (CGL) policies, provide that defense costs are “in addition” to the policy limits. But some policies, often times referred to as “burning limits” policies, provide that cost of defense is included in the policy limits. This means that if you have $1,000,000.00 policy limits, your costs of defense will reduce that limit throughout the course of litigation. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Craig Martin, Lamson, Dugan and Murray, LLP
Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@ldmlaw.com

Meet Your Future Team Members: AI Agents

December 10, 2024 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
If you’ve been following the discussion around AI, you’re familiar with the concept of AI agents. AI agents can be understood as intelligent automation that operates independently, monitoring its environment and taking action without constant human input. Unlike traditional software requiring specific inputs to produce predictable outputs, AI agents can adapt to varying conditions and user needs. AI agents can be based on various technologies, including Large Language Models. They can also be constructed using other AI technologies, such as rule-based systems, machine learning algorithms, and specialized models tailored to specific tasks. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

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