Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

A Court-Side Seat: Flint Failures, Missed Deadlines, Toad Work and a Game of Chicken

October 05, 2020 — Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel
The last few weeks have yielded a number of interesting developments in the Federal courts. FEDERAL COURTS OF APPEAL In re Flint Water Cases Several local and State of Michigan officials, including the former governor, requested dismissal from the civil litigation seeking damages for the massive failure of Flint, Michigan’s public drinking water system. On August 5, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit agreed that the plaintiffs, residents of Flint, have successfully pled a case that the conduct of the defendants so “shocked the conscience” that a claim for a violation of their substantive due process rights was appropriately alleged. The defendants, including the former governor, argued that they were entitled to a qualified immunity defense. The court rejected this argument on the basis of the earlier decisions made by the court in this matter. Judge Sutton concurred because he was bound by this precedent, but remarked that the evidence for the governor’s culpability was very thin; he was not intimately connected to the extraordinary error in judgment. The majority was very upset with this concurrence as indicted by their own opinion. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury
Mr. Cavender may be contacted at anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com

Housing Starts Surge 23% in Comeback for Canadian Builders

July 15, 2019 — Theophilos Argitis - Bloomberg
Canadian housing starts unexpectedly surged in April, in another sign of recovery for the nation’s battered real estate market. Builders started work on an annualized 235,460 units last month, the highest level in 10 months and up 23 percent from 191,981 units in March, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. reported Wednesday. The gain was driven by new multi-unit construction in Toronto and Vancouver. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Theophilos Argitis, Bloomberg

Timber Prices Likely to Keep Rising

October 30, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Lumber prices are expected to keep rising, and according to Terry Shumacher, who does business acquisition for private equity firms, that’s a sign to invest in lumber stocks. Writing at Seeking Alpha, he looks at one such company, Tembec, the eleventh largest lumber producer in North America. Tembec is headquartered in Canada, but its stock trades on both the Canadian and American markets. Mr. Schumacher points out that one of the advantages of Tembec as an investment is that its stock is currently trading at about $2.59 a share, so a $50 per million board feet increase in the cost of lumber would make a large percentage change to its earnings to price ratio. (As comparison, Mr. Schumacher offers West Fraser, which is trading at about $89.59. There, the increase in lumber prices would have a much smaller effect on the stock price.) There’s going to be a greater demand for lumber, not only due to increased housing starts but that North American firms have started exporting lumber to China. Add to that the loss of trees in some areas due to beetle infestations. The death of standing timber has lead to some sawmills shutting down for lack of logs. All of which points to increased timber prices. Read the court decision
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Golf Resorts Offering Yoga, Hovercraft Rides to the Green

June 18, 2014 — Nadja Brandt – Bloomberg
Florida’s Woodmont Country Club, which once boasted 1,200 members, has been hit hard in the past decade as hurricanes and then the recession kept golfers away. Now the club’s owner is adding conference space, stores, restaurants, a spa and a hotel as part of a planned revival. About $100 million will be spent on the revamp of the property in Tamarac, about 14 miles (23 kilometers) northwest of Fort Lauderdale, owner Mark Schmidt said. After years of negotiations with local authorities, he expects to receive approval this month for the planned Woodmont improvements. While tennis courts and swimming pools have long had a place at golf clubs, a growing number of course owners are embracing mixed-use real estate, a concept more often used in urban developments to hedge risk and diversify returns. Property investors are adding everything from medical facilities to amphitheaters and hovercraft operations to increase revenue. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Nadja Brandt, Bloomberg
Ms. Brandt may be contacted at nbrandt@bloomberg.net

Insurance Company’s Reservation of Rights Letter Negates its Interest in the Litigation

November 12, 2019 — Frank Ingham - Colorado Construction Litigation
The Colorado Court of Appeals held that an insurance company, which issues a reservation of rights letter to its insured, loses its interest in the litigation, pursuant to C.R.C.P. 24(a)(2), when the insured settles the claims and assigns the bad faith action against the insurance company to the plaintiff. Bolt Factory Lofts Owners Association, Inc. v. Auto-Owners Insurance Company, 2019WL 3483901(Colo. App. 2019). In a 2016 lawsuit in Denver District Court, 2016CV3360, the Bolt Factory Loft Owners Association, Inc. (“Association”) asserted construction defect claims against six contractors. Two of those contractors then asserted claims against other subcontractors, including Sierra Glass Co., Inc. (“Sierra Glass”). After multiple settlements, the only remaining claims were those the Association, as assignee of the two contractors, asserted against Sierra Glass. Auto-Owners Insurance Company (“AOIC”) issued policies to Sierra Glass and defended it under a reservation of rights. The policy afforded AOIC the right to defend Sierra Glass, and it required Sierra Glass to cooperate in the defense of the legal action. The Association presented a settlement demand of $1.9 million to Sierra Glass, which AOIC refused to pay. To protect itself from an excess judgment that AOIC might not have paid, Sierra Glass entered into an agreement with the Association whereby Sierra Glass would refrain from offering a defense at trial and assign its bad faith claim against AOIC to the Association in exchange for the Association’s promise that it would not pursue recovery against Sierra Glass of any judgment entered against it at trial. Such agreements, known as Bashor or Nunn Agreements, are allowed in Colorado. Nunn v. Mid-Century Insurance Co., 244 P.3d 116 (Colo. 2010). Therefore, Sierra Glass was entitled to protect itself in the face of AOIC’s potential denial of coverage and refusal to settle. Bolt Factory Lofts, at ¶ 15. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Frank Ingham, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. Ingham may be contacted at ingham@hhmrlaw.com

“Pay When Paid” Provisions May Not Be Dead, at Least Not Yet

August 24, 2020 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Sophisticated contractors know that in California contractual “pay when paid” provisions are enforceable but that “pay if paid” provisions are not. “Pay If Paid” v. “Pay When Paid” Provisions A “pay if paid” provision is one in which a higher tier party agrees to pay a lower tier party “if” it is paid in turn by a still higher party. Most commonly they are found in subcontracts between general contractors and subcontractors and provide that the general contractor will pay the subcontractor “if” the general contractor is paid by the project owner. However, they can also be found in subcontracts between higher and lower tiered subcontractors and between subcontractors and material suppliers and equipment lessors. In California, such provisions, which create a condition precedent to payment, namely, a condition that must precede payment to a lower tiered party, are void as a matter of law. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Garret Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

N.J. Voters Approve $116 Million in School Construction

March 19, 2014 — Stacie Sherman – Bloomberg
New Jersey voters in 11 of 13 school districts with bond referendums this week approved $116.1 million of construction. The largest project, out of a total of $180 million proposed, failed. Voters in the Greater Egg Harbor Regional High School District rejected $37 million in renovations to three schools. The work would have increased property taxes as much as $36 a year, according to the district, which serves four towns at the Jersey Shore. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Stacie Sherman, Bloomberg
Ms. Sherman may be contacted at sbabula@bloomberg.net

Former Zurich Executive to Head Willis North America Construction Insurance Group

March 01, 2012 — CDJ STAFF

Insurance Journal reports that Sean McGroarty will be directing surety operations for their construction practice in North America. Previously, Mr. McGroarty was the senior vice president and head of international surety with Zurich Financial Services. He has also worked for Liberty Mutual Group and the St. Paul Companies.

Mr. McGroarty will be leading a team of professionals offering brokerage services for contract and commercial surety.

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