Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Know Whether Your Course of Business Operations Are Covered Or Excluded By Your Insurance

December 27, 2021 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
It is a good idea to know what your insurance covers and does not cover. This way, if your course of business has you performing a certain (risky) operation, you know whether that operation is covered or excluded under your policy. If you are not sure, discuss with your insurance broker — this is important. There is little value performing an operation that is NOT covered by your insurance policy, as you are now performing a risk that is not covered by insurance. If you know it is not covered by insurance you may elect to change your operations or see if there is insurance to cover the risk. Below is a case study of this occurrence dealing with a commercial automobile liability policy where an insured’s operations using a crane mounted to a super duty truck was not covered under their automobile liability policy. In People’s Trust Ins. Co. v. Progressive Express Ins. Co., 46 Fla. L. Weekly D262a (Fla. 3d DCA 2021), homeowners hired a company to install a shed. The company hired another company to deliver and install the shed using a crane; the company used a crane mounted to a Ford F-750 super duty truck. This company improperly operated the crane resulting in the shed falling and damaging the homeowner’s roof. The homeowners submitted a claim to their property insurer and their property insurer subrogated to their rights and sued. The company operating the crane’s commercial automobile liability insurer denied coverage, and thus, denied the duty to defend. As a result, a Coblentz-type agreement was entered into where the company operating the crane consented to a judgment in favor of the property insurer (subrogee) and assigned its rights under its commercial automobile liability policy to the property insurer. The property insurer then sued the automobile liability carrier for coverage. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of the automobile liability insurer finding there was no coverage and this was affirmed on appeal. Why? Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Stormy Seas Ahead: 5th Circuit to Review Whether Maritime Law Applies to Offshore Service Contract

July 26, 2017 — Richard W. Brown & Afua S. Akoto - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Earlier this year, the 5th Circuit applied the Davis factors to determine the validity of an indemnity clause in a Master Services Contract. In Larry Doiron Inc. et al., v. Specialty Rental Tool & Supply LLP et al., the court affirmed the notion that if a contract provides services on navigable waters aboard a vessel, a maritime contract exists, even if the contract calls for incidental or insubstantial work unrelated to the use of a vessel. With this decision, plaintiffs were granted indemnification for a crane injury and all was well on the open seas. The 5th Circuit made waves, however, on July 7, 2017, when it agreed to rehear the case en banc. In its petition for rehearing, defendant STS argued that: (1) the original opinion conflicted with Supreme Court precedent by applying tort law principles to a contract case; (2) the court misapplied the Davis factors and the decision was contrary to Davis because the historical treatment of specialty well service work has been established as non-maritime; (3) the court needed to address whether a contract is subject to maritime or land-based law in the context of offshore mineral exploration. Reprinted courtesy of Richard W. Brown, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and Afua S. Akoto, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. Mr. Brown may be contacted at rwb@sdvlaw.com Ms. Akoto may be contacted at asa@sdvlaw.com Read the court decision
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Caterpillar Forecast Tops Estimates as Construction Recovers

January 28, 2014 — Shruti Date Singh – Bloomberg
Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the largest maker of mining and construction equipment, forecast earnings and revenue for 2014 that topped analysts’ estimates as the recovery in the U.S. building industry spurs sales of bulldozers and excavators. Sales will be about $56 billion plus or minus 5 percent, the company said in a statement today. The average of 13 estimates compiled by Bloomberg was $55.5 billion. Profit will be $5.85 a share excluding $400 million to $500 million in restructuring costs. That’s more than the $5.77 average estimate. Peoria, Illinois-based Caterpillar also said it approved a $10 billion share buyback plan through 2018 and will repurchase about $1.7 billion in stock in the first quarter that will complete its previous authorization. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Shruti Date Singh, Bloomberg
Ms. Singh may be contacted at ssingh28@bloomberg.net

Court of Appeals Rules that HOA Lien is not Spurious, Despite Claim that Annexation was Invalid

March 27, 2019 — Jesse Howard Witt - The Witt Law Firm
Today, the Colorado Court of appeals reversed a order that had deemed a homeowner association’s lien to be spurious. The case arose after a developer approved a property owner’s application to annex additional real estate to a community in 1999. Several years later, the developer repurchased the property through a foreclosure sale. Despite its prior approval of the annexation, the developer refused to pay community maintenance assessments, which prompted the association to record a lien under its covenants and a statutory provision of the Colorado Common Interest Ownership Act (CCIOA). The parties remained in a standoff until 2016, when the Colorado Supreme Court announced two decisions that adopted a stricter standard for annexing property into communities subject to CCIOA. Relying on this new authority, the developer at Stroh Ranch argued that the 1999 annexation was no longer valid. The district court agreed and declared the association’s lien to be spurious. Reprinted courtesy of Jesse Howard Witt, Acerbic Witt Mr. Witt may be contacted at www.witt.law Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Paul Tetzloff Elected As Newmeyer & Dillion Managing Partner

June 03, 2019 — Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Newmeyer & Dillion LLP, a prominent business and real estate law firm, selected Paul Tetzloff as the firm's Managing Partner. His term began on January 1, 2019. A business litigator, Tetzloff will now oversee the firm's strategic plan and manage the firm's day-to-day business affairs. "The Firm is incredibly fortunate to have Paul stepping into the role as Managing Partner. His energy, intelligence, leadership, and drive make him uniquely qualified to lead this Firm for years to come," said former Managing Partner Jeff Dennis. "I am excited to watch where the Firm is headed – we have such an amazing opportunity to continue to develop to even greater heights, and Paul will be a huge part of making that happen." Active in his community, Tetzloff sits on the board for HomeAid Orange County and the Marine Raider Association. Tetzloff is succeeding Dennis, who served in the role from 2012 to 2018. "Jeff was our managing partner for seven years and he did an outstanding job. We owe Jeff a debt of gratitude for his service," said Tetzloff of his predecessor. "I'm looking forward to continuing to build on the groundwork laid to help the firm reach new levels in the years to come." Dennis' leadership allowed the firm to grow substantially under his tenure, including opening a Las Vegas, Nevada office and establishing thriving practice areas throughout various industries. Dennis will focus his energy on overseeing the firm's growing Privacy and Data Security practice. Paul Tetzloff paul.tetzloff@ndlf.com Practice Areas Business Litigation Construction Litigation Real Estate Litigation About Newmeyer & Dillion For almost 35 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, privacy & data security and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client's needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949.854.7000 or visit www.ndlf.com. Read the court decision
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There’s Still No Amazon for Housing, But Fintech’s Working on It

February 14, 2022 — Patrick Clark - Bloomberg
It’s hard to imagine a better scenario for real estate technology than the one that played out in 2021. Low interest rates and pent-up demand ignited the hottest housing market on record, while the pandemic gave buyers and sellers new reasons to conduct business virtually. And yet the year will be better remembered for the way some of the biggest names in the industry struggled. The highest-profile flop was Zillow Group Inc., the online listings giant that pulled the plug on its nascent instant homebuying operation in the face of mounting losses. Compass Inc., the tech-driven real estate brokerage, saw its shares plummet 50% as part of a broader selloff in property-related technology stocks. Better, an online mortgage company, fired 9% of its staff. The bumpy year underscored a problem that’s been holding back the adoption of technology in real estate for the past two decades. Each sale of a home involves hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars, and no two properties are exactly alike. Silicon Valley-backed companies have gone a long way in making searching for homes and advertising them simpler and faster. But it’s a difficult process to move fully online and involves a lot of people such as agents, appraisers, brokers, and contractors, as well as entrenched interests. For example, Zillow’s house buying business—billed as a way for customers to get out of their homes quickly and speed the moving process—faltered in part because the company couldn’t find enough contractors to fix up those homes to resell them. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Patrick Clark, Bloomberg

Construction Defects in Roof May Close School

October 21, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
A school in Wales may have to close due to roof leaks. The school was opened six years ago, but since then the leaks at Ysgol Ffynnonbedr are “leading to the deterioration of the structure and fabric of the school.” The Lampeter city council have budgeted £35,000 (about $56,000) for repairs to the roof. The leaks have already rendered some of the electrical systems and teaching areas unusable. The city council had been in discussion with the builders, Cowlin Construction, when that firm was bought by Balfour Beatty. Balfour Beatty did not comment to the Cambrian Times about resolving the construction defects. Read the court decision
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Quarter Four a Good One for Luxury Homebuilder

December 20, 2012 — CDJ STAFF
Toll Brothers has announced that their fourth-quarter net income is $2.35 per share, which they attribute in part to an income tax benefit. Their revenue, at $632.8 million, easily exceeded analysts’ projections of $565.1 million. Additionally, their number of signed contracts jumped seventy percent while their cancellation rate dropped nearly half to 4.9 percent. Read the court decision
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FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES