FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Steven Cvitanovic Recognized in JD Supra's 2017 Readers' Choice Awards

April 05, 2017 — Steven M. Cvitanovic - Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
JD Supra named Partner Steven Cvitanovic among the Top 10 Authors in the construction industry in its 2017 Readers’ Choice Awards, which recognizes the excellence and achievement of firms and authors who published their substantive work on JD Supra in 2016. JD Supra editors chose the 25 industries and topics covered in these awards for their timeliness as well as their proven, ongoing importance. In each category, one firm and ten authors were recognized for consistently achieving the highest readership and engagement for all of 2016. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Steven M. Cvitanovic, Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
Mr. Cvitanovic may be contacted at scvitanovic@hbblaw.com

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Condo Association Settles with Pulte Homes over Construction Defect Claims

November 06, 2013 — CDJ STAFF
The Springton Point Condominium Association has settled its construction defect claims against Pulte Homes for $5.6 million. The residents of the 152-unit condominium community alleged a variety of defects which led to water intrusion, as well as a variety of other problems, including defective fire sprinkler systems and missing insulation. Pulte filed lawsuits against its subcontractors on the project, however all but one of these were settled before the case went to trial. The lawsuit started in 2007, with Pulte adding the subcontractors in 2009. On October 25, a jury had been selected, but the case settled before opening statements. Read the court decision
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (3/6/24) – Steep Drop in Commercial Real Estate Investment, Autonomous Robots Being Developed for Construction Projects, and Treasury Department Proposes Regulation for Real Estate Professionals

April 08, 2024 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, major league sports franchises turn to real estate to increase their value, the Associated Builders and Contractors releases a guide on artificial intelligence, New York City helps landlords convert empty office space into housing, and more!

• The Treasury Department proposed a regulation that would require real estate professionals to report information to the agency about all-cash sales of residential real estate to legal entities, trusts and shell companies. (Fatima Hussein, AP)
• For decades, major league teams depended on ticket sales, concessions and TV deals to generate revenue, but team owners in recent years have turned to real estate development to bring in extra cash and drive up the values of their franchises. (Nathaniel Meyersohn, CNN)
• The U.S. commercial real estate market saw a steep drop in investment last year, with the market plummeting by more than 50% to the lowest level since 2012 and CBRE noting a 91% year-over-year drop in direct real estate company investments. (Yuheng Zhan, Business Insider)

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

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Surety Trends to Keep an Eye on in the Construction Industry

March 25, 2024 — Oliver Craig - Construction Executive
Reflecting on the dynamics of the 2023 construction and surety industries, it is evident that opportunities and challenges have emerged for contractors that will shape the landscape for the year ahead. Contractors can not only capitalize on these trends but protect the successful companies they have already built. PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES There has been a notable increase in public works opportunities, driven by increased government spending and the aging infrastructure in the United States. This trend is expected to continue in 2024 and beyond, with a notable portion of work coming in transportation- and public-utility-related infrastructure. Due to increased spending, many contractors are reporting historically high backlogs—and that often includes the largest project their company has contracted in their history. While increased spending presents more opportunity, it’s critical contractors be even more diligent about new opportunities, giving additional consideration to the following: Job Selection: New geographies, scope, project owners and/or subcontractor relationships commonly come with a learning curve. With the current state of the market, it’s not the ideal time to be learning costly lessons. Contractors should focus on having a proactive go/no-go strategy when reviewing potential projects to identify risks early and plan accordingly. Reprinted courtesy of Oliver Craig, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the court decision
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Construction Law Job Opps and How to Create Them

October 24, 2021 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this weeks Guest Post Friday, Kirsten Grant (@kgrantcareers on Twitter) has graced us with her thoughts on a very timely topic: How to get a job as a construction attorney. Before becoming a career specialist at Kaplan University, one of the largest online universities in the nation, Kirsten Grant had faxed almost 1000 resumes, e-mailed close to 300 resumes, personally mailed 20 resumes with each one featuring “special inserts” to encourage hiring managers to read her resume (50% of those resumes received calls for an interview) and interviewed with 50 companies over the course of 5 months. Based on the feedback hiring managers provided, in addition to 10 years experience in human resources, training, recruiting and staffing she REALLY learned what hiring managers look for in a candidate and today helps over 40,000 adult learners understand how to conduct successful job searches and earn a promotions. As the real estate industry makes torrid adjustments to right itself due to foreclosures, short sales, and falling house prices, court rooms are seeing more construction law cases. As houses and properties fall into states of disrepair and as efforts are taken to repair them a chain of events take place:

1. Property is purchased
2. Contractors are hired to make repairs to a property
3. The selected contractor files permits for the type of work performed
4. After work has been performed, contactor receives compensation

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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

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Multiple Construction Errors Contributed to Mexico Subway Collapse

June 21, 2021 — Jim Parsons - Engineering News-Record
The May 3 collapse of an elevated section of the Line 12 subway in Mexico City that killed 26 passengers appears to have resulted from multiple construction faults, according to a risk management firm's preliminary report. Reprinted courtesy of Jim Parsons, Engineering News-Record ENR may be contacted at ENR.com@bnpmedia.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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Traub Lieberman Attorneys Recognized as 2022 New York – Metro Super Lawyers®

October 17, 2022 — Traub Lieberman
Traub Lieberman is pleased to announce that seven Partners from the Hawthorne, NY Office have been selected to the 2022 New York - Metro Super Lawyers list. 2022 New York – Metro Super Lawyers

• Copernicus Gaza – Insurance Coverage
• Jonathan Harwood – Professional Liability
• Lisa Rolle – Construction Litigation
• Christopher Russo – Professional Liability
• Lisa Shrewsberry – Professional Liability
• Stephen Straus – Insurance Coverage
• Richard Traub – Insurance Coverage

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Reprinted courtesy of Traub Lieberman

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The Great Skyscraper Comeback Skips North America

February 05, 2015 — Patrick Clark – Bloomberg
Tall buildings are back. Developers around the globe completed a record 97 buildings of at least 200 meters (656 feet) in height in 2014, according to a new report from the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, as size-obsessed builders got back on a growth track after a two-year skyscraper dip. It’s not hard to explain the pattern. A typical skyscraper takes two to four years to finish, says report co-author Daniel Safarik. Work back from the year of completion, and the global financial crisis looks like an easy explanation for the drop-off in tall buildings. If you thought it was hard to get a home loan in 2009, imagine asking bankers to finance a gravity-and-wind-defying symbol of luxury, industry, and capitalist will. Especially, as Bloomberg Businessweek’s Bryant Urstadt pointed out, since supertall buildings are notorious for being hard to fill with tenants. (It’s worth noting that “tall” isn’t a technical term, though “supertall,” which is used to describe buildings more than 300 meters tall, is. And construction schedules vary. The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea, planned for 330 meters, has been under construction for 28 years, according to a CTBUH report last year.) Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Patrick Clark, Bloomberg

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