West Coast Casualty Promises Exciting Line Up at the Nineteenth Annual Conference
March 28, 2012 —
CDJ STAFFWest Coast Casualty has announced the lineup for the annual WCC Construction Defect Seminar. This year’s seminar will be the nineteenth anniversary, and it will be held on May 17th and 18th, 2012 in Anaheim, California. They are the largest construction defect event in the world and this year’s seminar will again bring the top people in the field to address many of the current issues and where the construction defect community will be going in the future.
The event, anticipated to be even larger than prior years, will have numerous panels and presentations on the current state of construction defect litigation. Among the topics that will be presented are “Arbitrate? Let’s See You Make Me!” “Defending Construction Defect Failure Mechanisms?An Expert’s Perspective,” and “Current Trends in Effectively Handling SB800 Cases.”
Speakers at the event will include judges, lawyers, and representatives of the insurance industry. One event, “Meet Your Judges, A Candid Discussion on Construction Defect Claims and Litigation from the Bench?” will include judges from five states, including the Honorable Nancy M. Saitta, Chief Justice of the Nevada Supreme Court, the Honorable Clifton Newman of the South Carolina Circuit Court, and the Honorable Rex Heeseman of the Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Daniel A. Berman, Esq. and Stephen Henning, Esq. will be talking on the topic of “Social Networking Sites: Strategies, Ethical Pitfalls, and Practice Pointers for Litigating and Winning Your Construction Defect Case.” Mr. Berman is a Founding and Managing Partner of Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman LLP. He has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for eight consecutive years. Mr. Henning is a Founding Partner of Wood, Smith, Henning & Berman, LLP and Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America. Mr. Henning will also be one of the presenters on the panel “Important Court Decisions Impacting Construction Defect Claims.”
The panel “Why Do We Need to Know Certain Things and How Decisions Are Made” will be presented by important figures in the construction claims industry, including Phyllis Modlin, Todd Schweitzer, Teresa D. Wolcott, and Lee Wright. Ms. Modlin is a Construction Defect Claims Supervisor responsible for nationwide claims for Markel Corporation. Mr. Schweitzer is an Assistant Vice President of Major Case for Construction Defect and Professional Liability Claims Services at Zurich North America. Ms. Wolcott is the National Product Manager for Construction Defect Claims within the Construction Claims Organization at Travelers Insurance. Mr. Wright is an Assistant Vice President and Senior Claims Consultant for XL Specialty Insurance.
The event will also include a Science and Technology Fair in which exhibitors will be presenting technological problem solving and decision making as they relate to resolving ongoing construction and post construction-defect related issues while reducing costs for all those involved in claims and litigation. The fair is dedicated to these novel applications of science and technology that benefit the construction defect community but are not yet commonly available. This will be the third time the Construction Defect Seminar will include a Science and Technology Fair.
Sessions at the event are approved for MCLE credit in Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. MCLE credits vary by state; attendees can obtain up to 10.25 hours of credit in Arizona, California, Maine, and New York. Applications for several other states are still pending. Additionally, the event is also worth continuing education credits with the Florida Department of Insurance and for Registered Professional Adjusters. West Coast Casualty has applications pending for adjuster continuing education in an additional thirty-six states.
West Coast Casualty recommends this event for anyone involved in construction or construction defect claims, whether they are a claims adjuster, a member of a homeowner board, a judge, a property manager, a construction claims attorney, a general contractor, or anyone else with an interest in this area. The event typically has more than 1,600 attendees. Those interested can register online.
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Court of Appeal Confirms Privette Doctrine as Applied to Passive Conduct of Property Owner
March 22, 2018 —
Bruce Cleeland and Frances Ma – Publications & InsightsIn
Delgadillo v. Television Center, Inc., 2018 No. B270985, the California Court of Appeal examined and refined the
Privette doctrine.
Mr. Delgadillo worked as a supervisor/window cleaner for a company named Chamberlin Building Services (CBS). Television Center, Inc. (TCI) purchased an existing building and thereafter contracted with CM Cleaning Solutions, Inc. (CMC) to provide cleaning and janitorial services. CMC, on behalf of TCI, solicited a proposal from CBS to wash the building’s windows. CBS and its employees made all decisions about how the window washing would be accomplished. The window washing equipment used on the job was owned, inspected and maintained by CBS. In violation of CBS’ policy, Mr. Delgadillo, attached a safety line to a single connector which was not an acceptable anchor point. The bracket failed and Mr. Delgadillo fell 50 feet to his death.
Survivors of Mr. Delgadillo filed suit against TCI for negligence and negligence per se, alleging that Mr. Delgadillo was fatally injured because TCI failed to install structural roof anchors, as required by several statutes.
Reprinted courtesy of
Bruce Cleeland, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and
Frances Ma, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Mr. Cleeland may be contacted at bcleeland@hbblaw.com
Ms. Ma may be contacted at fma@hbblaw.com
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Feds Outline Workforce Rules for $39B in Chip Plant Funding
April 10, 2023 —
James Leggate - Engineering News-RecordSemiconductor chip producers must pay their construction workforce prevailing wages and will be “strongly encouraged” to use project labor agreements if they want a piece of the $39 billion available in federal funding to support fabrication plant construction, expansion or modernization projects, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says.
Reprinted courtesy of
James Leggate, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com
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Eighth Circuit Considers Judicial Estoppel in Hazardous Substance Release-Related Personal Injury Case
April 11, 2018 —
Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog On April 5, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit decided the case of
Kirk v. Schaeffler Group USA, Inc., et al., a personal injury action commenced in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri alleging injury resulting from the release of thousands of gallons of trichloroethylene (TCE) at the FAG Bearings Corporation’s (FAG Bearings) facility in Joplin, MO. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court’s judicial estoppel ruling on the successor liability issue and concluded that the jury’s verdict on compensatory damages stands but their general verdict requires a new trial on Plaintiff’s punitive damages claim against FAG Bearings.
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Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLPMr. Cavender may be contacted at
anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com
Product Liability Alert: “Sophisticated User” Defense Not Available by Showing Existence of a “Sophisticated Intermediary”
November 26, 2014 —
R. Bryan Martin & Kristian B. Moriarty - Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLPIn Gottschall v. Crane Co., (No. A136516, Filed 10/8/2014, published 10/22/2014), the Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, held a company that manufactured and sold asbestos-containing products could not prevail under the “sophisticated user” doctrine based on the contention that a “sophisticated intermediary” existed, in an action brought by the end user of the products.
Decedent Robert Gottschall worked in a variety of shipyards for the U.S. Navy between 1957 and 1989. Defendant Crane Co. (“Crane”) manufactured and sold products containing asbestos to the Navy during that time. During his work at the various shipyards, decedent was exposed to asbestos and contracted mesothelioma.
Reprinted courtesy of
R. Bryan Martin, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and
Kristian B. Moriarty, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Mr. Martin may be contacted at bmartin@hbblaw.com; Mr. Moriarty may be contacted at kmoriarty@hbblaw.com
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If You Don’t Like the PPP Now, Wait a Few Minutes…Major Changes to PPP Loan Program as Congress Passes Payroll Protection Program Flexibility Act
July 27, 2020 —
Ryan J. Udell & Adam J. Chelminiak - White and Williams LLPOn June 5, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Payroll Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (the Flexibility Act). The Flexibility Act provides much-needed flexibility for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and its millions of business participants.
The PPP offers loans to small businesses that have been adversely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures taken by various governmental authorities to stem the spread of the virus so that they could keep their employees on the payroll during an eight-week period after receiving the funds. The PPP was particularly alluring to borrowers because the loans could be forgiven. But as the duration of lockdown orders and the accompanying economic aftershocks have extended longer than initially anticipated, particularly in those sectors that depend on in-person business such as restaurants, hospitality and other “main street” retail establishments, many recipients of PPP loans have found it challenging to use the PPP funds for payroll and other authorized purposes within the eight-week period after they had received the PPP funds, as is necessary to preserve eligibility for forgiveness. The Flexibility Act makes several key changes to the PPP program in order to allow borrowers who need a longer re-opening runway to do so without jeopardizing their ability to qualify for loan forgiveness.
This alert outlines the key changes to the PPP made by the Flexibility Act.
Reprinted courtesy of
Ryan J. Udell, White and Williams LLP and
Adam J. Chelminiak, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Udell may be contacted at udellr@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Chelminiak may be contacted at chelminiaka@whiteandwilliams.com;
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The Reptile Theory in Practice
September 06, 2021 —
Nicholas P. Hurzeler - Lewis BrisboisThe “Reptile Theory” is a trial strategy that attempts to use fear and anger to make the jury dislike the defendant so strongly they will award a plaintiff a grossly excessive amount of damages. The plaintiff’s attorney will seek to activate the jurors’ “survival mode” instincts by presenting the defendant’s conduct as highly dangerous and worthy of punishment. The defendant’s conduct will be portrayed as a threat to the safety of the general public, and the award as a deterrent needed to protect the community at large. The Reptile Theory appeals to the jurors’ emotions in place of any rational, impartial evaluation of the evidence.
The term “Reptile Theory” originated in the writings of nuero-physiologist Paul D. MacLean in the 1950s, who suggested that one major part of the brain consisted of a “reptilian complex” that controlled instinctive behaviors involved in aggression, dominance, and territoriality. Then in the 2009 publication “Manual of the Plaintiff’s Revolution” by David Ball and Don Keenan, the authors first described the “Reptile Theory” in the context of litigation. Since then it has become a hot topic in litigation as defense counsel develop methods to combat “Reptile” tactics resulting in runaway jury awards.
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Nicholas P. Hurzeler, Lewis BrisboisMr. Hurzeler may be contacted at
Nicholas.Hurzeler@lewisbrisbois.com
Congratulations 2024 DE, MA, MD, NJ, NY, and PA Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
June 17, 2024 —
White and Williams LLPWhite and Williams congratulates the fifteen attorneys nominated as Super Lawyers and ten attorneys named Rising Stars across our Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia offices. Lawyers are selected through a process that takes into consideration peer recognition and professional achievement. The lawyers named to this year’s list represent a multitude of practices throughout the firm.
Super Lawyers 2024
| Attorney |
Super Lawyers Denoted Practice Area (s)
| |
|---|
| David B. Chaffin |
Business Litigation |
| Robert G. Devine |
Personal Injury, Employment Litigation, Products Liability |
| David D. Gilliss |
Surety, Construction Litigation, Administrative Law |
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White and Williams LLP
