Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Pollution Exclusion Found Ambiguous

May 23, 2022 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The Mississippi Supreme Court found the pollution exclusion ambiguous under the facts presented. Omega Protein, Inc. v. Evanston Ins. Co., 2022 Miss. LEXIS 90 (Miss. March 31, 2022). Omega Protein, Inc., entered a contract with Ascu-fab to perform welding and other fabrication work at their facility. Accu-fab was required to have CGL coverage naming Omega as an additional insured. Accu-fab purchased a $1 million primer policy from Colony Insurance Company and a $5 million excess policy issued by Evanston Insurance Company. Accu-fab performed welding and other fabrication work on a large metal storage tank used for the temporary storage of stickwater, which was a liquid composed of water, fish oil, and fish solids. An explosion occurred at the Omega plant while Accu-fab workers were welding and grinding on a large metal tank that was used for the temporary storage of stickwater. One of Accu-fab's workers , Jerry Lee Tayler, was killed, another was seriously injured, and still others suffered less serous injuries. 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

Reminder: In Court (as in life) the Worst Thing You Can Do Is Not Show Up

September 28, 2017 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
As long time (and possibly recent) readers of Construction Law Musings know, I am a Virginia Supreme Court Certified Mediator. In that capacity, I spend quite a bit of time sitting in general district court courtrooms in places like Goochland and Caroline Counties “court sitting” awaiting a referral from the judge of a case with parties ready and willing to take advantage of the mediation process. As I sit there wearing my mediator “hat,” I see case after case be called for the first return date. Without fail, several cases are called where the defendant fails to appear after being served with process. There are even a case or two where the plaintiff (the party that picked the return date in the first place) fails to appear. In the first instance, where the defendant doesn’t appear, the judge almost inevitably enters a judgment for the amount sued for by the plaintiff. In the latter instance, the case is dismissed without prejudice to the plaintiff with a shake of the head by the judge at the wasted time and filing fee. This post focuses on the first case. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher G. Hill, Law Offices of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

The Future of Pandemic Coverage for Real Estate Owners and Developers

November 09, 2020 — Ashley McWilliams - Saxe Doernberger & Vita
Shutdowns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have prompted an unprecedented number of business income and business interruption insurance claims. Many claims have resulted in litigation and require judicial intervention to determine whether private insurance carriers owe policyholders indemnification for pandemic related losses. Private insurance carriers that have denied the claims, in large part, argue that they did not underwrite coverage for the pandemic and assert that pandemic coverage is much too unpredictable to underwrite. Private carriers contend that a government-backed insurance program is necessary to mitigate the economic impact resulting from pandemic claims. The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted real estate owners and developers. Real estate owners and developers have sustained business income losses in the form of lost rents at commercial properties, service disruption, labor and/ or material shortages, to name a few. Questions about whether the virus caused “direct physical damage,” as well as whether specific “virus exclusions” on policies, have provided hurdles to coverage under existing schemes, click here.Those that have filed lawsuits against their insurers seeking coverage under current policy terms are having mixed results, at best. Click here to view SDV’s Litigation Tracker. A predictable source of indemnification for future pandemic-related losses would greatly relieve business disruption and, ultimately, the impact on the economy. However, the question remains, who will pay for such massive losses? Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ashley McWilliams, Saxe Doernberger & Vita
Ms. McWilliams may be contacted at AMcWilliams@sdvlaw.com

Texas City Pulls Plug on Fossil Fuels With Shift to Solar

March 19, 2015 — Christopher Martin – Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- A city in the heart of the oil state of Texas is set to become one of the first communities in the U.S. to wean its residents off fossil fuels. The municipal utility in Georgetown, with about 50,000 residents, will get all of its power from renewable resources when SunEdison Inc. completes 150 megawatts of solar farms in West Texas next year. The change was announced Wednesday. It will be the first city to completely embrace clean power in the state, which is the biggest U.S. producer and user of natural gas. More will follow as municipalities seek to insulate themselves from unpredictable prices for fossil fuels, said Paul Gaynor, SunEdison’s executive vice president of North America. Burlington, Vermont, made a similar move with its purchase of a hydroelectric plant last year. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Christopher Martin, Bloomberg
Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin11@bloomberg.net

In Real Life the Bad Guy Sometimes Gets Away: Adding Judgment Debtors to a Judgment

January 05, 2017 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
As most litigators will tell you a plaintiff in a civil lawsuit needs to be able to prove both liability and damages to win a case. That is, you need to show both that the defendant is liable under the law and that you have suffered damages as a result. Proving one but not the other and you’ll lose the case. But there’s one other consideration that is just as important, albeit often elusive, and that is, collectability. Even if you win the case, if you can’t collect on the judgment, you might as well have lost. The following case, Wolf Metals, Inc. v. Rand Pacific Sales, Inc., California Court of Appeals for the Second District, Case No. B264002 (October 25, 2016), describes some of the remedies available, procedures to follow, and difficulties confronted when obtaining a default judgment against a judgment-proof defendant. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Wendel Rosen Black & Dean LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@wendel.com

Hotel Claims Construction Defect Could Have Caused Collapse

December 30, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The owners of the Crowne Plaza New Orleans Airport, in Kenner, Louisiana, have filed a lawsuit claiming that a defective beam installed during renovations put the building at risk of collapse, reports The Louisiana Record. The hotel was sold to its current owners, 2929 Williams Blvd, LLC, in 2006, and the renovations began after Hurricane Katrina in 2007. The renovations converted an indoor pool area into a ballroom. The renovations were finished in 2008, but hotel staff noticed the walls and ceiling of the ballroom were sagging by September 2011. A structural engineer determined that a main beam had failed, risking collapse of the entire building. The hotel owners set upon repairing the structure and now seek reimbursement. 2929 Williams Blvd., LLC is suing Trimark Constructors LLC, Kyle Associates LLC, and Avengo Baily & Associates, Inc. for an unspecified amount of damages. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of

Back to Basics – Differing Site Conditions

December 19, 2018 — Tracey W. Pruiett - Smith Currie
Encountering an unexpected site condition is one of the more common risks on a construction project. A “differing site condition”, or it is sometimes called a “changed condition”, is generally understood to be a physical condition that is discovered while performing work and that was not visible or otherwise expected at the time of bidding. Often, the condition could not have been discovered by a reasonable site investigation. Examples of common differing site conditions include: soil with inadequate bearing capacity to support the building being constructed, soil that cannot be reused as structural fill, unanticipated groundwater, quicksand, mud, rock formations, or other artificial subsurface obstructions. Differing site conditions may also occur within the walls or ceilings of a renovation project such as the renovation of a hospital or historic building. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Tracey W. Pruiett, Smith Currie
Ms. Pruiett may be contacted at twpruiett@smithcurrie.com

On-Site Supersensing and the Future of Construction Automation – Discussion with Aviad Almagor

September 06, 2021 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
For this episode of WDBE Talks, we sat down with Aviad Almagor of Trimble Ltd. to discuss sensor technology in the modern built environment. Our conversation touched on the on-site implementation of robotics and AI-based solutions, the importance of data capture, and the challenges facing the sector today and in the years ahead. Aviad Almagor is the Division Vice President of Emerging Technologies with Trimble Ltd., a California-based hardware, software, and tech company that specializes in the development of Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and recently collaborated with Boston Dynamics to automate construction processes. “AI in construction is a very exciting topic though the industry is traditionally not very well-equipped to adopt technology in a very effective way. AI is an enabling technology that can be used to support and augment work. This means we can automate processes; predict delays in schedule; cost changes; even design issues and prescribe and provide decision-makers with the right information to be efficient and to make the right choices for projects.” Aviad noted in our interview. 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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