FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

A New Digital Twin for an Existing Bridge

May 01, 2023 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
The smartBRIDGE Hamburg project devised a digital twin of a 1970s bridge using open BIM technologies. Allplan and Solibri were instrumental in developing the twin that enables the Hamburg Port Authority, HPA, to maintain the critical infrastructure asset predictively. Built in 1974, the Köhlbrand Bridge is Germany’s second-longest road bridge and one of its busiest. The cable-stayed bridge serves around 36,000 vehicles daily, thus being crucial to the local economy. The age of the bridge and the amount of daily traffic it supported meant that continuous real-time monitoring was the best way to identify repairs and minimize disruption to traffic. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

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Run Spot...Run!

November 18, 2024 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
"The 'classic' definition of spot zoning is 'the process of singling out a small parcel of land for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area for the benefit of the owner of such property and to the detriment of other owners.’ Anderson’s American Law of Zoning, 4th Edition, § 5.12 (1995)” (from plannersweb.com). A wireless carrier rebuffed in Jennings, Louisiana, on an application to rezone residential property to site a monopole cell tower sought relief from the federal court for the Western District of Louisiana. The city lacked any wireless tower provisions in its ordinances, and the carrier asserted that existing “commercial property within the appropriate range” was unavailable. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

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Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up (09/21/22) – 3D Printing, Sustainable Design, and the Housing Market Correction

October 17, 2022 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
The first 3D-printed home is under construction, construction contractors could face liability for not securing employee data, the housing market correction continues, and more.

• Sustainable home design has become key focus of builders and homeowners, helping reduce carbon emissions and other environmental impacts. (Kristi Waterworth, U.S.News)
• Construction contractors could face legal consequences for failing to manage employee data correctly. (Robyn Griggs Lawrence, Construction Dive)
• The home price correction continues to spread across the U.S., with an interactive map showcasing local housing markets that have been impacted. (Lance Lambert, Fortune)

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Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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Online Meetings & Privacy in Today’s WFH Environment

May 25, 2020 — Heather Whitehead & Joshua Anderson - Newmeyer Dillion
As a result of the COVID-19 (commonly referred to as the Coronavirus) pandemic, remote working arrangements have become the new norm. For those working from home (WFH), the software program “Zoom Meetings,” has found a substantial increase in demand and popularity as a means to facilitate meetings online rather than meeting in person. There are also a number of other similar platforms available for online meetings such as Skype and Teams (from Microsoft), Go to Meeting (from LogMeIn) and WebEx Meetings (Cisco). Best Practices for Businesses - Privacy and Security Protocols With these platforms becoming a necessity for businesses, there are a number of best practices that should be considered to safely conduct online meetings and teleconferences as well as protect information. These include the following:

1. Upgrade to the most recent version of the program or application;
2. Use passwords, especially with recurring meetings;
3. Protect all passwords as well as personal meeting identifiers used in Zoom and other platforms;
4. Carefully moderate meetings and ask meeting attendees to identify themselves at the beginning of a meeting;
5. Consider allowing only authenticated users to participate in meetings;
6. Use the Waiting Rooms feature in Zoom; and
7. Enable features available only to meeting hosts.

Reprinted courtesy of Heather Whitehead, Newmeyer Dillion and Joshua Anderson, Newmeyer Dillion Ms. Whitehead may be contacted at heather.whitehead@ndlf.com Mr. Anderson may be contacted at joshua.anderson@ndlf.com Read the court decision
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Pennsylvania Supreme Court Denies Review of Pro-Policy Decision

October 22, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
According to McCarter & English, LLP, “product manufacturers relied on commercial general liability policies to defend and indemnify them for product liability claims,” however, in result of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Kvaerner Metals Division of Kvaerner U.S., Inc. v. Commercial Union Ins. Co., 908 A.2d 888 (Pa. 2006), “[i]nsurers began denying coverage to Pennsylvania companies – and companies around the country – arguing that a design or manufacturing defect was not an ‘accident.’” McCarter & English, LLP reported that “the tide has begun to turn, and product manufacturers may once again be reliably protected by from product liability claims.” Read the court decision
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Real Protection for Real Estate Assets: Court Ruling Reinforces Importance of D&O Insurance

October 01, 2024 — Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
Earlier this month, an Illinois federal district court held that a liability insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify a property management company or its owner in lawsuits that included allegations of intentional conduct. The suits accused the owner of concealing financial information from and engaging in a scheme to increase tax liability and decrease profit distributions to a minority owner. This case reinforces the importance of maintaining D&O insurance as part of a comprehensive liability insurance program to protect against potential gaps in coverage that could result from allegations of intentional or knowing acts. Background The court in Old Guard Insurance Company v. Riverway Property Management, LLC et al., No. 1:23-cv-01098 (C.D. Ill. Sep. 6, 2024) was asked to determine whether Old Guard Insurance Co. was required to defend or indemnify Riverway Property Management LLC or its owner under two commercial general liability policies in relation to state court lawsuits. The lawsuits alleged that Riverway’s owner intentionally and improperly misappropriated funds and that the property management company knowingly and substantially assisted with this wrongful scheme. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

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California Complex Civil Litigation Superior Court Panels

December 31, 2014 — Richard H. Glucksman, Esq., Jon A. Turigliatto, Esq., and David A. Napper, Esq. – Chapman Glucksman Dean Roeb & Barger Bulletin
The Complex Civil Litigation Program is relatively new as it has only existed in California since 2000. Complex divisions dedicate courtrooms solely for litigation of complex civil cases that require exceptional judicial management including construction defects, antitrust, securities, toxic torts, mass torts, and class actions. Complex civil courtrooms help the trial court operate in a more efficient, expeditious, and effective manner. A complex court reduces costs for litigants by streamlining motion practice and expeditiously resolving discovery disputes. Not all counties have dedicated complex civil divisions. For those that do, each county has its own local rules, and some complex divisions have their own particular set of rules. The Judicial management of complex cases begins early, and is applied continuously and actively with the idea that final resolution be expedited as much as possible. In focusing on cooperation amongst the parties to achieve these goals, often requiring joint statements to the court and a prohibition on discovery motions until after the parties have formally metand- conferred on the issues. Moreover, complex cases are centralized and are assigned to one highly skilled Judge for all purposes. The first six California counties to create a Complex Civil division include Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco, and Santa Clara. Riverside County Superior Court is the most recent California County to add a Complex division, effective January 2015. Riverside county Superior Court’s Complex department consists of ten civil judges, seven of which are in the main courthouse with Riverside. Riverside county expects to consolidate all complex civil litigation into one courtroom by January 2015. Riverside county Judge Sharon Waters state that "[i]t's been something that I personally have felt has been long overdue" and that "[t]he idea is that put it with one judge and let him or her develop the expertise." Judge Waters believes "[t]he potential value of establishing a complex litigation courtroom [is that] it allows the judge to focus on the cases full time."1 As of October 2014, Riverside county had about 450 to 500 pending cases designated as complex, over fifty percent (50%) of which involved construction defect matters. The sole Judge who will preside over the complex cases has not yet been named. 1 Jolly, Vik. "Riverside to Shift Complex Civil Cases to 1 Courtroom." Los Angeles Daily Journal (October 13, 2014) Reprinted courtesy of Chapman Glucksman Dean Roeb & Barger attorneys Richard H. Glucksman, Jon A. Turigliatto and David A. Napper Mr. Glucksman may be contacted at rglucksman@cgdrblaw.com; Mr. Turigliatto may be contacted at jturigliatto@cgdrblaw.com; and Mr. Napper may be contacted at dnapper@cgdrblaw.com Read the court decision
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Alabama Still “An Outlier” on Construction Defects

October 14, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
While many state Supreme Courts have determined that faulty construction work can be an occurrence under a standard commercial liability policy, the Alabama Supreme Court has taken the contrary view. Writing on the Kilpatrick Townsend blog, Carl A. Salisbury and Edmund M. Kneisel point out that the decision makes Alabama “an outlier,” and they ask, “how much longer will the outliers hold out?” They note that in the underlying construction defect case, “the arbitrator awarded $3 million in compensatory damages to the homeowners because of improperly installed flashing; improperly installed brick; the lack of weep holes in the brick; improperly installed doors and windows; improper construction of the upper porches; faulty construction of the roof; improper installation of a bathtub.” They summarize: “the house must have leaked like a colander.” When the insurer denied coverage, the contractor sued. The insurer argued that “the CGL policy form does not cover construction-related acts or omissions because such acts are not an insured ‘occurrence.’” Mr. Salisbury and Mr. Kneisel point out that “the Alabama Supreme Court agreed.” The problem they see is that “if there is no insurance for any intentional act, then insurance is simply a rip-off — it covers nothing.” They quote Justice Benjamin Cardozo to this effect: “To restrict insurance to cases where liability is incurred without fault of the insured would reduce indemnity to a shadow.” Their argument is that the Alabama decision was not the “correct position,” as exemplified by recent decisions from West Virginia, North Dakota, Connecticut and Georgia. The case “was a prime opportunity for the Alabama Supreme Court to leave the ranks of the outliers and join the majority view.” Read the court decision
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