FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Las Vegas Harmon Hotel to be Demolished without Opening

May 22, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to Architectural Record, the Harmon Hotel, part of the CityCenter hotel-casino-entertainment complex on the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, “is being razed without ever opening.” MGM Resorts International will be demolishing “the unfinished 27-floor, oval-shaped tower following a protracted legal battle with its contractor, Tutor Perini Corp., over building defects.” Demolition is expected to cost $11.5 million, while the “incomplete construction” had cost $279 million. Problems for the hotel began after the discovery “that reinforcing steel was improperly installed on 15 building floors during construction.” Architectural Record reported that a third-party inspector “had falsified 62 daily reports between March and July of 2008 stating that things were okay when they were not. The findings prompted a temporary project shut-down and eventual building redesign.” Read the court decision
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Someone Who Hires an Independent Contractor May Still Be Liable, But Not in This Case

April 18, 2023 — Katherine Dempsey - The Subrogation Strategist
In Allstate Veh. & Prop. Ins. Co. v. Glitz Constr. Corp., 2023 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 1180, 2023 NY Slip Op 01171, the Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, Second Department (Appellate Court), considered whether a contractor could be found liable for its subcontractor’s alleged negligence in causing injury to a homeowner’s property. The homeowner’s insurer, as subrogee of the homeowner, sought to recover damages from the contractor despite an allegation that the subcontractor – an independent contractor – caused the injury to the homeowner’s property. Finding that there was no evidence that any of the exceptions to the non-liability rule related to hiring independent contractors applied, the Appellate Court affirmed the lower court’s decision granting judgment in favor of the contractor. In this case, the homeowner hired the contractor (defendant) to convert her garage area into a bedroom and an office. The defendant later hired a subcontractor to perform the electrical rough-in work. At trial, the homeowner’s insurer (plaintiff) presented evidence that the subcontractor, who damaged an existing wire with a drill bit, caused an electrical failure that resulted in a fire. The defendant argued that it could not be held liable for the subcontractor’s alleged negligence because the subcontractor was an independent contractor and, on appeal, the Appellate Court agreed. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Katherine Dempsey, White and Williams LLP
Ms. Dempsey may be contacted at dempseyk@whiteandwilliams.com

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Candis Jones Named “On the Rise” by Daily Report's Georgia Law Awards

September 29, 2021 — Candis Jones - Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Atlanta Partner Candis Jones was named a lawyer “On the Rise” by the Daily Report (part of Law.com). Ms. Jones is one of 20 attorneys from Georgia to receive this distinction as part of the publication's 2021 Georgia Law Awards. The Daily Report’s “On the Rise” category recognizes outstanding attorneys under the age of 40 who have made an impression on their colleagues, their clients, and the larger legal community of Georgia. Winners are selected by the publication’s editorial staff. Ms. Jones is a member of Lewis Brisbois' General Liability Practice and has extensive experience with insurance defense, premises liability, personal injury, and medical malpractice cases. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, numerous insurance carriers, and a major metropolitan transit authority. Outside her legal practice, Ms. Jones is an active member of her legal community and was recently installed as President of the Gate City Bar Association, the oldest African-American bar association in the State of Georgia. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Candis Jones, Lewis Brisbois
Ms. Jones may be contacted at Candis.Jones@lewisbrisbois.com

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Keller Group Fires Two Executives in Suspected Australia Profits Reporting Fraud

February 20, 2023 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
London-based geotechnical contracting giant Keller Group's profits from its Australia business unit may have been fraudulently inflated by the U.S. equivalent of as much as $20 million in today’s dollars since 2019, the company has revealed. Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Foreign Entry into the United States Construction, Infrastructure and PPP Markets

September 11, 2023 — Robert A. James - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Two major forces are combining to create extraordinary opportunities for infrastructure project participants in the United States. One is the long pent-up demand for overhaul of the nation’s roads, ports, dams and other civil works. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) routinely awards “C-” or worse grades for the status and safety of the country’s backbone facilities. The lack of prior investment is apparent to anyone who uses public transit in the U.S. and then uses similar conveniences in major cities around the globe. The other is the set of political incentives laid down by recent legislation including the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, which have authorized over $1 trillion for programs, many of which call for new and expanded facilities. According to the 2023 U.S. Construction Industry Databook Report, the national construction market is expected to record a compound annual growth rate of 5.2% during 2023 – 2027, and the aggregate output is expected to reach $1.7 trillion by 2027. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Robert A. James, Pillsbury
Mr. James may be contacted at rob.james@pillsburylaw.com

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Houston Home Sales Fall for the First Time in Six Months

March 19, 2015 — John Gittelsohn and Prashant Gopal - Bloomberg
(Bloomberg) -- Houston home sales fell in February for the first time in six months, a sign lower oil prices are spooking buyers. Sales of single-family houses dropped 5.8 percent from a year earlier to 4,521 homes, the Houston Association of Realtors reported Wednesday. Purchases fell among residences costing less than $150,000 because of tight supply, and among properties selling for more than $500,000 as wealthier buyers paused amid economic uncertainty, said James Gaines, research economist at Texas A&M University’s real estate center. “They don’t know what the real impact of falling oil prices is,” Gaines said in a telephone interview from College Station, Texas. “We’re living in the twilight of uncertainty.” Reprinted courtesy of John Gittelsohn, Bloomberg and Prashant Gopal, Bloomberg Mr. Gittelsohn may be contacted at johngitt@bloomberg.net Mr. Gopal may be contacted at pgopal2@bloomberg.net Read the court decision
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A Court-Side Seat: Butterflies, Salt Marshes and Methane All Around

November 16, 2020 — Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel
Our latest summary of some recent developments in the courts and the federal agencies includes a unique case involving salt marshes adjacent to San Francisco Bay. THE FEDERAL COURTS A Wolf Among the Butterflies On October 13, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided the case of North American Butterfly Association v. Chad Wolf, Acting Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. The National Butterfly Center is a 100-acre wildlife sanctuary located in Texas along the border between the United States and Mexico, and in 2017, the DHS exerted control over a segment of the sanctuary to construct facilities to impede unauthorized entry into the United States. It was alleged that the government failed to provide advance notice to the sanctuary before it entered the sanctuary to build its facilities. The Association filed a lawsuit to halt these actions for several reasons, including constitutional claims and two federal environmental laws (NEPA and the Endangered Species Act), but the lower court dismissed the lawsuit because of the provisions of the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996 (IIRIRA). That law forecloses the applicability of these laws if the Secretary of DHS issues appropriate declaration. On appeal, the DC Circuit held, in a 2 to 1 decision, that the lawsuit should not have been dismissed. The plaintiffs had standing to file this lawsuit, but the jurisdiction stripping provisions of the IIRIRA, when invoked, required that the statutory claims be dismissed as well as a constitutional Fourth Amendment search and seizure claim. However, the plaintiff’s Fifth Amendment claim that the government’s actions violated their right to procedural due process must be reviewed. The Center was given no notice of the government’s claims and no opportunity to be heard before these actions were taken. The dissenting judge argued that the court was being asked to review a non-final decision, which it should not do. 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

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Construction of New U.S. Homes Declines on Plunge in South

July 23, 2014 — Victoria Stilwell – Bloomberg
Housing starts unexpectedly declined in June to a nine-month low, led by a record plunge in the South that shows the construction industry must still overcome hurdles before it can contribute more strongly to U.S. economic growth. Work began on 893,000 homes at an annualized rate, down 9.3 percent from a 985,000 pace in May that was weaker than previously estimated, according to figures from the Commerce Department issued today in Washington. Other reports showed manufacturing was gaining steam this month and fewer Americans filed claims for jobless benefits last week as consumer sentiment hovered near this year’s high. A shortage of buildable lots and experienced construction workers, higher prices and mortgage rates that have climbed from record lows mean residential real estate will struggle to help the world’s largest economy. The figures, along with a decline in building permits, corroborate Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s view that progress in the housing market has been “disappointing.” Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Victoria Stilwell, Bloomberg
Ms. Stilwell may be contacted at vstilwell1@bloomberg.net

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