Seattle Washington Building Expert Directory

Beyond the Disneyland Resort: Museums

May 03, 2018 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
North Orange County has a variety of interesting museums from intimate to extravagant to peruse. Bowers Museum, located in Santa Ana, has several special exhibitions on display around WCC Seminar: Endurance: The Antarctic Legacy Of Sir Ernest Shackleton And Frank Hurley, American Visionary: John F. Kennedy’s Life And Times, Gemstone Carvings: The Masterworks Of Harold Van Pelt, And First Americans: Tribal Art From North America. Muzeo, a Museum and Cultural Center located in Anaheim, will be showcasing the Trash Artist Challenge Expo & Exhibition from May 12th -27th, and also has on permanent display Anaheim: A Walk through Local History. Star Wars and Disney fans will want to make their way to the Hilbert Museum of California Art. In the city of Orange, this museum is located at Chapman University. Two of their many exhibitions include Magical Visions: The Enchanted Worlds Of Eyvind Earle (Disney’s Sleeping Beauty designer) and A New Hope: The Star Wars Art of Robert Bailey. Learn about American history at the Richard Nixon Library, located in nearby Yorba Linda. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Building Growth Raises Safety Concerns

November 20, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
With the resurgence of the construction industry, another trend is going up and it’s not good. The workplace fatality rate for the construction industry has increased for the first time since 2006, according to a new report from Marsh Risk Consulting, based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase to 9.5 deaths per 100,000 workers is attributed to “an influx of new, inexperienced workers” and that “some contractors are stretching their hiring standards to meet project demands.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Storm Debby Is Deadly — Because It’s Slow

September 16, 2024 — Brian K Sullivan - Bloomberg
Tropical Storm Debby has killed at least five people as it churns across the US East, where it’s expected to inflict $1 billion or more in damage and losses. One reason for the storm’s destructive power: It’s moving very slowly. Although Debby came ashore with hurricane-strength winds, its rainfall — forecast to exceed two feet in some areas — is even more dangerous. The St. Marys River in northern Florida rose more than 10 feet in one day, while New York will likely see downpours from Debby later in the week. Homes, businesses and farms may be deluged, putting crops and infrastructure at risk. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Brian K Sullivan, Bloomberg

Maryland Legislation Prohibits Condominium Developers from Shortening Statute of Limitations to Defeat Unit Owner Construction Defect Claims

May 16, 2018 — Nicholas D. Cowie - Maryland Condo Construction Defect Law Blog
New Maryland legislation prevents developers from shortening the time period within which condominium associations and their unit owner members can assert claims for hidden construction defects in newly constructed condominium communities. The legislation known as HB 77 and SB 258 passed both houses of the Maryland General Assembly and was signed into law by Governor Lawrence J. Hogan on April 24, 2018 (see photo above). Nicholas D. Cowie, Esq. is the author of the legislation, which will be codified as Section 11-134.1 of the Maryland Condominium Act, effective October 1, 2018. This article discusses how this new legislation ends the practice by which some condominium developers attempted to use condominium documents to shorten the normal statute of limitations in order to prevent condominium associations and their unit owner members from having a fair opportunity to assert their warranty and other legal claims for latent construction defects. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Nicholas D. Cowie, Esq., Cowie & Mott
Mr. Cowie may be contacted at ndc@cowiemott.com

Appeal of an Attorney Disqualification Order Results in Partial Automatic Stay of Trial Court Proceedings

October 11, 2017 — Howard M. Garfield & Renata L. Hoddinott - Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In URS Corporation v. Atkinson/Walsh Joint Venture (No. G055271 filed September 26, 2017), Division Three of the Fourth Appellate District dealt with, for the first time, the question of whether an appeal of an attorney disqualification order results in an automatic stay of the trial proceedings and, if so, how far the automatic stay extends. The underlying action involved a construction dispute between a contractor and subcontractor. During the pendency of that action, one party’s counsel filed a motion to disqualify another party’s counsel based on an alleged misuse of mediation-privilege protected documents. The trial court granted the disqualification motion and the disqualified counsel promptly filed a notice of appeal. The trial court then denied an application to stay proceedings pending the appeal, rejecting the assertion that the appeal automatically stayed the underlying proceedings. Reprinted courtesy of Howard M. Garfield, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP and Renata L. Hoddinott, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP Mr. Garfield may be contacted at hgarfield@hbblaw.com Ms. Hoddinott may be contacted at rhoddinott@hbblaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Despite Misapplying California Law, Federal Court Acknowledges Virus May Cause Physical Alteration to Property

October 26, 2020 — Scott P. DeVries, Michael S. Levine & Michael L. Huggins - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
On August 28, Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the Central District of California, entered the latest ruling in the ongoing saga of the COVID-19 business interruption coverage dispute between celebrity plaintiff’s attorney Mark Geragos and Insurer Travelers. The case, 10E, LLC v. The Travelers Indemnity Co. of Connecticut, was filed in state court. Travelers removed to federal court, where Geragos sought remand and Travelers moved to dismiss. Judge Wilson denied remand and granted the Motion to Dismiss, finding plaintiff did not satisfactorily allege the actual presence of COVID-19 on insured property or physical damage to its property. This holding is inconsistent with long standing principles of California insurance law and appears to improperly enhance the minimal pleading threshold under Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) (To survive a motion to dismiss, a complaint need only allege a claim “that is plausible on its face.”). After rejecting Geragos’ attempt to have the case remanded based on a finding that Geragos had fraudulently joined a defendant to avoid removal, the Judge proceeded to the Motion to Dismiss which raised three issues: (1) the effect of the Virus Exclusion in the Travelers’ Policy, (2) whether plaintiff failed to allege that the governmental orders prohibited access to its property, and (3) whether plaintiff could “‘plausibly allege that it suffered ‘direct physical loss or damage to property’ as required for civil authority coverage.’” Rather than address the effect of the exclusion, which would be the narrowest issue (this exclusion is not present in all policies), the Court proceeded directly to the third issue, which has the broadest potential application. Reprinted courtesy of Scott P. DeVries, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Michael S. Levine, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Michael L. Huggins, Hunton Andrews Kurth Mr. DeVries may be contacted at sdevries@HuntonAK.com Mr. Levine may be contacted at mlevine@HuntonAK.com Mr. Huggins may be contacted at mhuggins@HuntonAK.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Chinese Drywall Manufacturer Claims Product Was Not for American Market

October 22, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. Claimed in a hearing at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that when they sold about $8.5 million of contaminated drywall to Venture Supply Inc. of Virginia, that they had no awareness that the drywall would be sold in the United States. Joe Cyr, an attorney for Taisan told the court that “Venture Supply never said it was going to distribute the goods in Virginia.” One of the judges on the three-judge panel, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod, was skeptical of Taishan’s claim, asking, “it was packed and labeled for the Virginia market, isn’t that correct?” When asked by a judge if Taishan was trying to avoid accountability, Cyr said that Tiashan “has not said that it doesn’t want to be accountable for its drywall.” Taishan holds the position that claims against it should be arbitrated in the People’s Republic of China. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

Back to Basics: What is a Changes Clause?

July 18, 2018 — J. Cole Phillips – Smith Currie
The Changes Clause is one of the most important, perhaps the most important, provision in any construction contract. Project designs are rarely perfect. A Changes Clause provides a mechanism for dealing with such imperfections as well as allowing project owners the flexibility to update a project’s design as the project progresses. A good Changes Clause specifies when an owner can change the original scope of the contract, how the parties should resolve the value of the changed scope and when payment should be made to the contractor or a credit given to the owner. A good Changes Clause will also provide a mechanism for the contractor to notify the owner when it believes a change order is due and specify the time within which such notice must be given. For the contractor, failure to pay attention to the requirements of the Changes Clause can lead to forfeiture of the right to seek an adjustment to the contract value or contract completion date. For an Owner, failure to pay attention to and enforce the requirements of the Changes Clause can result in unnecessary payments to the Contractor. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of J. Cole Phillips, Smith Currie
Mr. Phillips may be contacted at jcphillips@smithcurrie.com

SEATTLE WASHINGTON BUILDING EXPERT DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES