Godfather Charged with Insurance Fraud
July 01, 2011 —
CDJ STAFFTexas-based Godfather Construction is a recipient of a fraud suit from the Cook County state attorney’s office. The firm incorporated in Illinois in April 2010, moving there to do business after storms damaged homes in the Chicago suburbs, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune. The state attorney alleges that Godfather brought unlicensed out-of-state workers and the work they performed was “incomplete or shoddy.” Godfather is claimed to have received about $60,000 from Illinois homeowners. The prosecutors are seeking restitution for Godfather’s clients and seek to forbid the firm from doing business in Illinois.
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Eastern District of Pennsylvania Confirms Carrier Owes No Duty to Defend Against Claims for Faulty Workmanship
April 05, 2021 —
Anthony L. Miscioscia & Marianne Bradley - White and Williams LLPOn March 17, 2021, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued its decision in Estate Chimney & Fireplace v. IFG Companies & Burlington Insurance Company, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 50360 (E.D. Pa. March 17, 2021), finding that an insurance carrier had no duty to defend its insured where the allegations in the underlying litigation involved claims of faulty workmanship.
Estates Chimney & Fireplace, LLC (Estates Chimney) had performed inspections and replaced chase covers for a number of chimneys in a condominium complex. Chase covers are pieces of metal, which are placed over chimneys in order to keep out environmental elements. Several condominium owners sued Estates Chimney, alleging that Estates Chimney had improperly installed, then improperly replaced, their chimney caps, which caused their chimneys to cease working properly. As a result, the underlying plaintiffs allegedly incurred costs to repair or replace the chimney caps and chimneys.
Estates Chimney sought coverage from its carrier, who denied coverage based upon its determination that the claims in the underlying lawsuits arose out of faulty workmanship, which did not result in damage to the property of a third party. Estates Chimney filed a declaratory judgment action, seeking a declaration that it was entitled to coverage under the policy. Both parties moved for summary judgment, and the Eastern District ruled in favor of the carrier.
Reprinted courtesy of
Anthony L. Miscioscia, White and Williams LLP and
Marianne Bradley, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Miscioscia may be contacted at misciosciaa@whiteandwilliams.com
Ms. Bradley may be contacted at bradleym@whiteandwilliams.com
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NCCER Celebrates Construction Education Programs and Products in 2024
January 07, 2025 —
The National Center for Construction Education and ResearchALACHUA, Fla., Dec. 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) released several new or updated educational products in 2024, serving its ongoing mission to provide workforce development solutions for the construction industry and impacting 330,000 people.
NCCER's newest craft training products include a new certification program, multiple curricula updates, new Spanish curriculum translations, and NCCERconnect digital courses and resources.
One of the highlights of the year was the launch of the brand-new
Construction Foreman Certification Program. Helping to fill a significant gap in formal training for frontline supervisors, the program covers critical areas of field leadership such as people management, communication, quality, safety and productivity. The Construction Foreman Certification Program is the latest offering in NCCER's Construction Leadership Series (CLS), which provides turnkey, self-paced online certification solutions for leadership development. The first title in the CLS, the
Construction Superintendent Certification Program, debuted in 2023.
About NCCER – The National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit education foundation and the leading provider of construction education for industry and career and technical education programs. With flexible workforce development and learning solutions, NCCER's programs provide consistency and quality to ensure craft professionals and learners receive industry-recognized credentials and certifications. To learn more, visit www.nccer.org.
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Federal Court Requires Auto Liability Carrier to Cover Suit Involving Independent Contractor Despite “Employee Exclusion”
August 30, 2017 —
H. Scott Williams & Brendan Holt - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.A recent federal court decision rendered in July of 2017 highlights the importance of worker classification in the transportation industry and the potential insurance implications. In Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Grp., Inc. v. Kailey, 1 the court determined that an “employee exclusion” in a motor carrier’s automobile liability insurance policy did not exclude coverage for liability resulting from the bodily injury of an independent contractor operating the motor carrier’s tractor-trailer. In April of 2014, a team of two drivers hired by the motor carrier, Kailey Trucking Line (KTL), were involved in a collision while operating KTL’s truck. The passenger in the truck, who was not operating the vehicle at the time, was killed in the accident. Subsequently, the spouse of the decedent filed suit against KTL as well as the driver of the truck.
KTL sought coverage for the suit under its automobile liability insurance policy, issued by Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group, Incorporated (Spirit). However, Spirit took the position that it had no duty to defend or indemnify KTL, and ultimately filed a declaratory judgment action in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri. The policy issued to KTL provided coverage for damages due to bodily injury or property damage caused by an accident resulting from the ownership, maintenance, or use of a covered auto. However, the policy excluded from coverage any bodily injury to an employee or fellow employee of the insured arising out of and in the course of employment of the insured. Accordingly, to the extent that the decedent qualified as an “employee” of KTL, Spirit had no duty to indemnify KTL in the litigation.
Reprinted courtesy of
H. Scott Williams, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and
Brendan C. Colt, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Holt may be contacted at bch@sdvlaw.com
Mr. Williams may be contacted at hsw@sdvlaw.com
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Craig Holden Named Top 100 Lawyer by Los Angeles Business Journal
June 27, 2022 —
Craig Holden - Lewis BrisboisLos Angeles, Calif. (May 17, 2022) - Los Angeles Partner Craig Holden has been named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s (LABJ) “Top 100 Lawyers” list, which recognizes the most impactful attorneys in the Los Angeles region for their ongoing efforts as outstanding legal professionals. The attorneys on the list were honored on May 12 at LABJ’s inaugural Top 100 Lawyers Awards at the ASU California Center.
In the publication’s special section, LABJ Publisher Josh Schimmels noted that the attorneys on the Top 100 Lawyers list “have demonstrated exceptional legal skill and achievements across the full spectrum of responsibility, exemplary leadership and contributions to the Los Angeles community at large.” He also observed, “Considering the fact that the Los Angeles region has long been known for its status as a hub for legal [through] leaders and record-setting attorneys, being a standout in that field is particularly impressive.”
Likewise, in discussing his inclusion on the list, Mr. Holden remarked, “I am honored to be included on this list with so many exceptional attorneys from the LA legal community.”
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Craig Holden, Lewis BrisboisMr. Holden may be contacted at
Craig.Holden@lewisbrisbois.com
From Both Sides Now: Looking at Contracts Through a Post-Pandemic Lens
August 03, 2020 —
Lori S. Smith - White and WilliamsA little over a year ago, I wrote a blog post about the danger of relying on precedent. Now, more than ever, clients and their advisors need to revisit contract forms on which they may have been relying for years. While many of us have lived through times that required certain adjustments in how we viewed contractual obligations — recessions, wars, oil embargoes, natural disasters, 9/11 — none of these events had the widespread and long-lasting impact that the current COVID-19 pandemic is having. None of these events shut down the U.S. economy and impacted global supply chains across every industry in the manner we are now experiencing.
With this in mind, there is a need to figure out what the “new normal” will look like for contract negotiations in a post-pandemic world. Business professionals need to now anticipate more widespread disruption than we could have ever before imagined. It isn’t just force majeure clauses or material adverse effect provisions, as these will likely add pandemics and government shutdowns to their ever-growing list of contemplated risks, if they were not already expressly covered. And it is not clear, at least in the near-term, whether a resurgence or mutation of COVID-19 or the emergence of another virus can truly be seen as unforeseeable in a post-COVID world. The issues are much more fundamental to the approach that parties may take in negotiating contracts. Commercial contracts between purchasers, vendors, distributors, licensors and licensees will need to evaluate allocation of risk from both sides and come to a new happy medium that all can live with in an ever-evolving world. While parties should review their standard contracts in their entirety, some key provisions to think about include:
- Length of the contract and exclusivity. Depending on which side you are on, you may want to reconsider a long-term arrangement that ties your company to a particular vendor or distributor. Supply chain disruption can have a seriously detrimental impact on your business. Are requirements contracts where a particular supplier is required to make available all of your needs for a certain good or service really the best arrangement for your business? What about take or pay arrangements where you are obligated to which are common in certain industries pay a minimum amount or a penalty to a supplier whether or not you actually purchase the contemplated volume of goods ? Do you really want to be tied up in an exclusive arrangement, or do you need flexibility to maintain secondary or tertiary sources of supply? Do you want to provide a licensee with an exclusive right to your technology (even within a limited field of use or industry sector)?
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Lori S. Smith, White and WilliamsMs. Smith may be contacted at
smithl@whiteandwilliams.com
Brown and Caldwell Team with AECOM for Landmark Pure Water Southern California Program
May 15, 2023 —
Brown and CaldwellLOS ANGELES, May 09, 2023 — A joint venture of AECOM and Brown and Caldwell (AECOM-BC Team) has been chosen to provide program and project management support and engineering design services for the
Pure Water Southern California program, one of the largest water reuse programs in the world.
The innovative program, being developed by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan) in partnership with the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts (Sanitation Districts), will produce up to 150 million gallons of high-quality, purified water per day for up to 15 million people.
Anticipated for water delivery by 2032 and potentially earlier, the program will reuse the largest untapped wastewater source in the region that currently flows to the ocean to increase water resiliency, enhance water quality, and fuel economic growth. It will lower Southern California’s reliance on imported water supplies from the Colorado River and Sierra Nevada and replenish groundwater basins while leveraging cutting-edge research and development to increase regional water reuse.
About Brown and Caldwell
Headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, Brown and Caldwell is a full-service environmental engineering and construction services firm with 52 offices and over 1,900 professionals across North America and the Pacific. For more than 75 years, our creative solutions have helped municipalities, private industry, and government agencies successfully overcome their most challenging water and environmental obstacles. As an employee-owned company, Brown and Caldwell is passionate about exceeding our clients’ expectations and making a difference for our employees, our communities, and our environment. For more information, visit www.brownandcaldwell.com
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Back to Basics – Differing Site Conditions
December 19, 2018 —
Tracey W. Pruiett - Smith CurrieEncountering 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.
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Tracey W. Pruiett, Smith CurrieMs. Pruiett may be contacted at
twpruiett@smithcurrie.com
