Columbus Ohio Building Expert Directory

Nine ACS Lawyers Recognized as Super Lawyers – Two Recognized as Rising Stars

August 26, 2024 — Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
Going outside the norm of our blogs, which usually discuss construction related issues, Ahlers, Cressman, & Sleight is pleased to announce that nine members of our firm have been selected to the 2024 Washington Super Lawyers list. Each year, a rigorous process that involves a nomination by peers and a third-party verification of honors, awards, verdicts, settlements, and other criteria relating to their work as an attorney, aims to select no more than five percent of the lawyers in Washington state from no more than seventy practice areas for this distinction. As mentioned, the first step in the process is to be evaluated on their work as an attorney, next candidates are evaluated by their peers and given ratings based on the information known about their work. Finally, candidates are grouped into four firm-size categories and final selections are made. The grouping process is done so that candidates are compared fairly to their peers by firm size, eliminating the potential unfairness that comes with comparing large and small firm outcomes and attorney practices. The Rising Star list involves an even narrower criteria than the Super Lawyers list. The initial process is the same, however, candidates for the Rising Stars list must be under the age of forty or have less than ten years of experience. For this category less the two and a half percent of lawyers in Washington are selected, making this quite a feat for those who have accomplished the honor. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC

Mind Over Matter: Court Finds Expert Opinion Based on NFPA 921 Reliable Despite Absence of Physical Testing

September 12, 2022 — Gus Sara - The Subrogation Strategist
In Smith v. Spectrum Brands, Inc., 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 142262, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (District Court) considered whether the plaintiffs’ liability expert met the requirements of Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence and could testify that a filter pump for an aquarium tank was defectively designed and caused a fire at the plaintiffs’ home. The defendant filed a motion to exclude the plaintiffs’ liability expert on grounds that the expert’s opinion did not satisfy the reliability element of Rule 702 because the expert never conducted physical testing on the filter pump. The court found that the cognitive testing employed by the expert through various methods, including visual inspections of the evidence, a review of photographs of the scene and literature from the manufacturer, and research on similar products, was sufficiently reliable to admit his opinion. The Smith case involved a civil action brought by Jeanette Scicchitano Smith and Alexander Smith that arose from a 2019 fire at their residence in Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. The fire purportedly started in a filter pump, which was operating at the time of the fire, that the plaintiffs purchased in 2002 as part of an aquarium tank kit. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Gus Sara, White and Williams
Mr. Sara may be contacted at sarag@whiteandwilliams.com

The Biggest Thing Keeping Young Homebuyers out of the Market Isn't Student Debt

September 17, 2015 — Patrick Clark – Bloomberg
Conventional wisdom has it that the staggering student debt incurred by the current generation of young professionals has made it harder to save for a home—and deprived the U.S. housing market of the first-time buyer lifeblood it depends on. But not so fast. A blog post published by Zillow today shows that student-loan debt has little impact on the homebuying prospects of young families. This is not the first report to poke holes in the student-debt-holding-back-home-ownership theory, but Zillow's research makes its point by limiting the data to married couples in their early-30s with at least one child. The idea was to cut out the student debtors who don't own homes because they haven't yet started a family and attempt to isolate the effect of student debt on home ownership. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Patrick Clark, Bloomberg

Biden’s Solar Plans Run Into a Chinese Wall

May 23, 2022 — Liam Denning - Bloomberg
A new and unexpected obstacle to President Joe Biden’s green ambitions has emerged: a tiny solar-power company based in San Jose. Auxin Solar Inc., which accounts for all of 2% of U.S. solar-module manufacturing, recently persuaded the Commerce Department to open a potentially devastating trade inquiry. After the U.S. imposed anti-dumping measures against Chinese solar-cell and module manufacturers just over a decade ago, alternative suppliers sprang up in South Korea and Southeast Asia. Auxin now contends that those other Asian suppliers are effectively used by Chinese companies to circumvent the anti-dumping measures. If Commerce ultimately agrees, then more than four-fifths of solar-module imports to the U.S. and half of all cells could suddenly be subject to steep tariffs, perhaps levied retroactively. The Solar Energy Industries Association warns of dire consequences for U.S. solar-power development — critical to Biden’s decarbonization targets — claiming that some suppliers are already backing away because of the risk. Heavyweight NextEra Energy Inc. warns that the investigation may delay 2.8 gigawatts of projects slated for this year. Timothy Fox of ClearView Energy Partners, a Washington-based analysis firm, says Commerce’s “structural” inclination toward protectionism may lead it to concur with Auxin. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Liam Denning, Bloomberg

Between Scylla and Charybids: The Mediation Privilege and Legal Malpractice Claims

August 19, 2015 — Garret Murai – California Construction Law Blog
I attended a mediation earlier this month in a real estate case. I won’t say more through because . . . well . . . it’s confidential. The confidentiality of mediations and of settlement discussions generally – the idea being that parties are more likely to resolve their differences if they can speak honestly and frankly with one another without fear that their words or actions can later be used against them in trial – has long been a hallmark of California law. But that may not be the case for long. In 2012, the California State Legislature directed the California Law Review Commission (“Commission”), the state agency responsible for recommending reforms to California law, to review and make recommendations regarding the relationship between California’s laws which make mediation discussions confidential and attorney malpractice. And it appears that the Commission will be reaching a recommendation soon. 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

TRI Pointe Merges with Weyerhaeuser’s Real Estate Company

July 09, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to Big Builder, “TRI Pointe settled--expectedly--on its mammoth $2.8 billion deal to acquire Weyerhaeuser's five home building operations in the Northwest, California/Nevada, Arizona, Texas, and the Mid-Atlantic regions, a talent-rich operator group, 27,000 building lots, and power brand names via a complex Reverse Morris Trust financial transaction.” This now makes TRI Pointe “one of the top 10 largest public homebuilders in the United States by equity market capitalization based on the closing price of TRI Pointe common stock on July 8, 2014,” according to their press statement, as quoted in Big Builder. Read the court decision
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Architect Plans to 3D-Print a Two-Story House

August 27, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to Housing Wire, Andrey Rudenko, who succeeded in 3D-Printing a backyard castle, now plans on building a two-story home, complete with insulation, wiring and plumbing. Rudenko has a background in engineering, architecture and contracting, and has developed his own 3D printer. In an interview with 3DPrint.com (reported in Housing Wire), Rudenko said that he is “currently conducting a large scale of experiments to extend the possibilities of this new technology – printing different elements, structures, and studying and developing new techniques.” Rudenko still must find investors, obtain building permits, as well as make certain that the end result complies with certain code requirements. If he succeeds, Rudenko plans to sell DIY kits. Read the court decision
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First Trump Agenda Nuggets Hit Construction

January 26, 2017 — Pam Radtke Russell, Mary B. Powers & Debra K. Rubin - Engineering News-Record
President Donald J. Trump began making good on campaign promises to put Americans back to work and reduce the size of government, as he signed orders and memoranda setting in motion approval of the Obama administration-halted Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines and streamlining of infrastructure and manufacturing permitting processes. But firms and watchdog groups are concerned how an announced freezing of government hiring and contracting will play out, as well as the future of environmental protection. Reprinted courtesy of Engineering News-Record staff Pam Radtke Russell, Mary B. Powers and Debra K. Rubin Read the court decision
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Ms. Rubin may be contacted at rubind@enr.com

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