Google Advances Green Goal With AES Deal for Carbon-Free Power
May 17, 2021 —
Mark Chediak - BloombergGoogle’s moving forward with its goal of becoming carbon-free by the end of the decade after AES Corp. agreed to supply the tech giant with renewable energy to power its data centers in Virginia.
AES, an international electricity company and power-plant developer, said the deal will result in the construction of 500 megawatts of solar, wind, small-scale hydroelectric and battery storage projects and supply will begin later this year, according to a statement Tuesday. AES and third-party developers will own the facilities.
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Mark Chediak, Bloomberg
Connecticut Supreme Court Rules Matching of Materials Decided by Appraisers
March 28, 2022 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiThe Connecticut Supreme Court determined that an appraisal panel could resolve whether the insurer must replace undamaged materials so that they match the damaged materials. Klass v. Liberty Mut. Ins. Co., 2022 Conn. LEXIS 2 (Conn. Jan. 11, 2022).
The insured reported damage to the roof of his home to Liberty Mutual. A representative from Liberty Mutual inspected and noticed a few shingles missing from the rear slope of the roof. The representative agreed that the damage was caused by wind damage, a covered loss under the policy. Liberty Mutual accepted coverage and issued an estimate to replace the rear slope of the roof. The insured's contractor inspected the roof and provided an estimate that contemplated replacement of the entire roof at nearly double the cost of Liberty Mutual's estimate.
The insured requested an appraisal. Liberty Mutual responded that the insured could not invoke the appraisal process in the absence of a "competing" estimate (i.e., one that addressed the claim for which coverage was accepted). Any dispute regarding the matching of the front and rear roof slope was a question of coverage, not an issue for appraisal.
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Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak HastertMr. Eyerly may be contacted at
te@hawaiilawyer.com
A Sample Itinerary to get the Most out of West Coast Casualty’s Construction Defect Seminar
May 03, 2018 —
Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFFWith so many worthwhile events stretched across three days, as well as wanting to get out and explore the many attractions in Orange County, California, Construction Defect Journal has come up with a sample itinerary that balances work with recreation.
Day One: Wednesday, May 16th
9:00 a.m. – Breakfast at
Steakhouse 55 (Disneyland Hotel)
Meet up with colleagues at Disney’s Steakhouse 55 where you will find a more peaceful and upscale venue, perfect for networking or just catching up with friends.
10:00 a.m. -
Madara Spa at Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel
With a free morning, this is the perfect time to take advantage of one of the Disneyland Resort’s pools or schedule a massage at the Madara Spa located within the Grand Californian Hotel.
11:30 a.m. – Grab and Go Lunch at
The Coffee House (Disneyland Hotel)
Refuel with a salad or sandwich from one of Disneyland Resort’s quick service restaurants.
12:00 p.m. – Seminar Registration and Schwag Hunting
Start heading over to the seminar to register and be one of the first to check out the amazing exhibitors and grab the free items they have to offer. You don’t want to miss BHA’s golf challenge, where if you sink a putt you win a $25 Amazon gift card for yourself and BHA will match the $25 to the worthwhile WCC charities!
1:00 p.m. – Seminar Begins!
The afternoon starts with a not-to-be-missed panel, “Struggles and Successes of the Past 25 Years.” Next, you’ll learn about “Unwrapped and Unraveled - An insightful (or inciteful?) play at the
changing nature of the relationships between the parties in a wrap program who thought the wrap was supposed to take care of everything.”
3:00 p.m. – Afternoon Break
Get a cup of coffee or water, and head out into the exhibit hall. Don’t forget to go to BHA’s booth to enter to win Dodger tickets.
3:30 p.m. – Seminar Panels Continue
The seminar returns with two more amazing panels: “East Coast Meets West Coast –Hot Construction Defect Issues and Coverage Cases from the Other Coast” and “How to Conduct Your Claim Investigation and Early Claims Handling To Avoid Bad Faith Traps.”
6:00 p.m. – Attend an After Party
After taking a few minutes to unwind and freshen up, go and network as well as have some at one of the reception’s thrown by attending firms. No after party? Head over to the
Uva Bar at Downtown Disney for a cocktail and some people watching.
8:00 p.m. - Late Dinner at
Catal Restaurant (Downtown Disney)
Enjoy a relaxing and sumptuous meal at Catal in Downtown Disney, one of the famed Patina Group’s restaurants.
Day Two: Thursday, May 17th
7:30 a.m. – Breakfast in the Exhibit Hall
Take advantage of West Coast Casualty’s free breakfast, and peruse more exhibits. Check out BHA’s data process collection process and discover meaningful cost improvements that translate to reduced billing while providing superior accuracy and credibility.
8:30 a.m. – Seminar Panels
The seminar returns with more panels you won’t want to miss: “Recent Important Appellate Decisions in California, Nevada, and Arizona” and “Litigating In The Western States - A Judge’s Perspective.”
10:30 a.m. – Morning Break
Grab a cup of coffee or water and chat with your colleagues about the panels you just heard.
10:45 a.m. – Seminar Panel
Another important panel to finish the morning, “Subrogation is not the type of intervention I need. How a subrogated insurer affects construction defect matters.”
11:45 a.m. – Award Presentation
Find out this year’s winners of the Ollie, Legend of the Era and Silver Stars.
12:15 p.m. – WCC Luncheon
Network and chat with your colleagues at one of the meals provided by the seminar.
1:30 p.m. – Seminar Panel
Now that you’ve recharged, you’re ready for another incredible WCC panel: “What Comes Around (Sometimes) Goes Around: Dealing with Recalcitrant Carriers.”
2:30 p.m. – Afternoon Break
Stretch your legs in the exhibit hall and get yourself more schwag. Learn about BHA’s expanding market presence and full range of services in Texas, Florida, and across the Southeast United States.
3:00 p.m. – Seminar Panels Continue
Don’t miss the last two panels of the day: “Effective Use of Experts” and “Claims Managers Speak - A Retrospective & Prospective Discussion.”
5:30 p.m. – Cocktail Reception
With your glass of Cabernet, network with colleagues and then try your hand again at BHA’s golf challenge to win an Amazon gift card and earn money for WCC charities.
6:30 p.m. – Hit the Pool or Jacuzzi
Take those tired feet and soak them in one of the Disneyland Resort’s many pools and jacuzzi’s. Or schedule a spa treatment at
Madara in the Grand Californian Hotel.
7:00 p.m. – After Party or Ball Game
Now that you’ve given yourself some time to rejuvenate, you’re ready to meet up with friends and colleagues at one of the after parties and receptions. Or if you’re a sports fan and want a break from work, go cheer on the
Angel’s as they play Tampa Bay.
8:30 p.m. –
Uva Bar
Unless you chose to go to the game, enjoy a late supper and cocktail under the beautiful southern California sky at the Uva Bar in Downtown Disney.
Day Three: Friday, May 18th
7:30 a.m. – Breakfast at the Seminar
Take advantage of another free meal, and take the time to check out more exhibits as the last day of the seminar begins. Don’t forget to enter BHA’s raffle for Dodger tickets!
8:30 a.m. – Breakout Sessions I
Choose between one of three breakout sessions: “Known Knowns and Known: Unknowns, the Ins and Outs of Extrapolation,” “Risk Transfer Alphabet Soup - A twelve year lookback on legislative tinkering with anti-indemnity statutes - where are we now?” or “Florida – Opening Pandora's Box and How to Close It.”
9:30 a.m. – Breakout Sessions II
Three additional breakout sessions to choose from: “An Update on California’s Right to Repair Act, featuring McMillin Albany et al. v. Superior Court,” “Finding Evidence for your Coverage Case,” or “Northwest Insurance Coverage and Extra-Contractual Issues.”
10:30 a.m. – Morning Break
Refuel with coffee or water before the next group of exciting breakout sessions begins.
11:00 a.m. – Breakout Sessions III
You’ll want to go to one of these three breakout sessions: “Subcontractor Wars: The Last AI,” “Mediating the Luxury Single Family Home Construction Defect Case,” or “Creative Solutions to the Florida Problem: Making No Contribution and No State Law Work for You.”
12:00 p.m. – Breakout Sessions IV and the End of the Seminar
The seminar closes with the last trio of breakout sessions: “Everyone is a Small Player,” “Real World Solutions to the Real Problems Presented By Wrap Up Programs,” or “When Mother Nature Attacks, Are you Covered?”
1:30 p.m. – Lunch at
Corn Dog Castle in California Adventure Park OR
Hollinghead’s Delicatessen in Orange
If you’re a Disney lover, you’ll want to take advantage of the day by going to one of the Disney Resort Parks, of course. Get one of Disney’s amazing corn dogs at Corn Dog Castle in California Adventure Park.
Or if you would rather explore the greater Anaheim area, then head over to Hollinghead’s Delicatessen for a homemade sandwich and a glass of beer on tap.
3:00 p.m. –
Disney Entertainment OR Museum Exploring
If you chose to go to California Adventure, check out the event schedule for the day. Catch the show Frozen – Live at the Hyperion or get a
Fastpass for the Radiator Springs Racers and ride Soarin’ Around the World. If you purchased a two-park pass, don’t forget about Space Mountain or Star Tours located in the Disneyland Park.
North Orange county has many interesting museums. Head to the
Bowers Museum in Santa Ana or the
Muzeo in Anaheim.
7:00 p.m. – Dinner at the
Blue Bayou Restaurant OR the
Summit House Restaurant
Have a one-of-a-kind eating experience at the Blue Bayou in Disneyland Park. Enjoy a dinner in the midst of the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! If you wish to remain in the California Adventure Park, try an alfresco dinner at
Wine Country Trattoria or an indoor, upscale meal at
Carthay Circle.
After an afternoon perusing museums, enjoy a truly superb meal with attentive service at one of Anaheim’s premier restaurants, Summit House. Feeling like having some fun rather than a sedate meal? Head over to the
House of Blues in Anaheim for their Party Like It’s 1999! A Prince Tribute Party.
8:30 p.m. – Paint the Night Parade/Together Forever OR The Blind Rabbit Speakeasy
Head over to watch the
Paint the Night Parade at the California Adventure Park or the fireworks display,
Together Forever — A Pixar Nighttime Spectacular at the Disneyland Park. Be sure to check out the daily
event schedule for up to date information.
End your evening at Anaheim’s only speakeasy,
the Blind Rabbit, located in the Anaheim Meat Packing district. Be sure to check out their “rules” and reserve a table at this popular spot.
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (05/23/23) – Distressed Prices, Carbon Removal and Climate Change
June 05, 2023 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn this week’s roundup, we consider distressed property bonds and loans, cities that are sinking under their own skyscrapers, efforts to lower carbon emissions, the unexpected potential of dirty diapers as a building material, and so much more.
Globally, more than $190 billion of property bonds and loans are
trading at distressed prices, a result of China’s real estate woes. (
Alice Huang and
Erin Hudson, Bloomberg)
PacWest Bancorp sees a stock market boost as it announces the sale of its
real estate loans, valued at around $2.6 billion. (
Jaiveer Shekhawat and
Chibuike Oguh, Reuters)
New construction home sales
exceeded expectations for April while existing home sales dropped. (
Anna Bahney, CNN)
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Delaware Supreme Court Won’t Halt Building
June 28, 2013 —
CDJ STAFFThe Delaware Supreme Court has rejected arguments made by Dewey Beach homeowners over the construction of a new building. The Supreme Court agreed with the Chancery Court which had dismissed the complaint as it was filed more than 60 days after exception to the zoning rules had been voted on. A builder had been granted leave to build higher than thirty-five feet in exchange for public space, public restrooms, and other amenities for the public.
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Nevada’s Home Building Industry can Breathe Easier: No Action on SB250 Leaves Current Attorney’s Fees Provision Intact
June 21, 2017 —
Aaron Lovaas – Newmeyer & Dillion LLPConstruction and design professionals in Nevada’s home building industry breathed a collective sigh of relief on June 5, 2017 when the 79th Session of the Nevada Legislature adjourned without entertaining Senate Bill 250, which sought to reinstate homeowner plaintiffs’ nearly automatic right to recover attorneys’ fees, expert costs, and costs of investigation when bringing suit for alleged constructional defects.
Until 2015, homeowners’ recovery of such damages was the reality of the construction defect landscape in Nevada. While Chapter 40 of the Nevada Revised Statutes specifically allowed for recovery of “reasonable” attorneys’ fees, expert costs, and costs of investigation, the trend in Nevada was that plaintiffs were all but guaranteed awards of all such sums. Of course, this environment incentivized plaintiffs’ lawyers to bring claims of questionable or little repair value in cases where the attorney’s fees and expert costs often far exceeded the costs of repair.
HOW AB125 CHANGED THE LANDSCAPE
Such was the reality in Nevada until 2015 and the passage of Assembly Bill 125, which eliminated the nearly automatic award of attorneys’ fees and expert costs and overhauled Chapter 40 in many other respects. AB125 made over portions of Chapter 40 by:
- Placing awards of attorneys’ fees into the framework of offers of judgment, utilized extensively in other fields of civil litigation and available equally to homeowner plaintiffs as well as construction industry defendants; and
- Reworking expert costs and costs of investigation to allow for the award of those items only in the case of proven defects and only as to those costs directly related to the investigation and proof of those defects.
INTRODUCING SB250
The 2017 Legislative Session saw efforts to return Chapter 40 to its pre-2015 version through the introduction of SB250. Fortunately for construction and design professionals in the home building industry in Nevada, the State Senate Judiciary Committee did not act upon the bill and the effort died having never made it to a floor vote. Considering that Nevada’s Legislature meets biannually, the current framework of Chapter 40 is intact until at least 2019. The 2017 Legislative Session, however, is an illustration to how quickly those of the construction defect plaintiffs’ bar can move to initiate efforts to turn back the clock to a much riskier time for construction and design professionals.
Those in the industry should remain vigilant and monitor future legislative efforts to reinstate such awards or other clearly anti-builder measures. Such measures simply drive-up the overall cost and expense of home construction and, in turn, home ownership, which it is often said, is one of the cornerstones of the American dream.
Aaron Lovaas is a partner in the Las Vegas office of Newmeyer & Dillion. As a transactional attorney and business litigator, Aaron has the ability to evaluate legal issues from both points of view and help his clients understand their best option. He can be reached at aaron.lovaas@ndlf.com.
About Newmeyer & Dillion
For more than 30 years, Newmeyer & Dillion has delivered creative and outstanding legal solutions and trial results for a wide array of clients. With over 70 attorneys practicing in all aspects of business, employment, real estate, construction and insurance law, Newmeyer & Dillion delivers legal services tailored to meet each client’s needs. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, with offices in Walnut Creek, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, Newmeyer & Dillion attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and Super Lawyers as top tier and some of the best lawyers in California, and have been given Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review's AV Preeminent® highest rating. For additional information, call 949-854-7000 or visit www.ndlf.com.
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FBI Makes Arrest Related to Saipan Casino Construction
April 05, 2017 —
Matthew Campbell & Greg Farrell - BloombergThe Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested one person in connection with the death of a construction worker at Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd.’s casino on the remote U.S. island of Saipan, according to an agency spokeswoman.
“The FBI conducted a search and made an arrest in response to the recent death of an individual working at the construction site of the Imperial Pacific Resort,” Michele Ernst, a spokeswoman in the FBI’s Honolulu field office, said in an email Friday. “The investigation is related to allegations of a federal violation of the workplace visa system, including reports the company was systematically harboring individuals who are out of status and in violation of federal statutes."
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Policyholder Fails to Build Adequate Record to Support Bad Faith Claim
May 19, 2011 —
Tred R. EyerlyThe importance of careful preparation and documentation was the take away lesson in a Texas bad faith case, C.K. Lee v. Catlin Specialty Ins. Co., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19145 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 28, 2011).
C.K. Lee owned a commercial shopping center in Houston. Catlin issued a commercial property policy to Lee. On September 12, 2008, Hurricane Ike hit and caused substantial property damage throughout the Texas Gulf Coast area. On September 24, 2008, Lee submitted a claim for damage to the roof of his shopping center to Catlin.
Catlin hired Engle Martin to represent its interests in adjusting the claim. Engle Martin eventually adjusted over 200 Ike-related claims for Catlin.
In November 2008, Engle Martin and Emergency Services Inc., retained by Lee, inspected Lee’s property. Engle Martin observed evidence of roof repairs that had apparently been made both before and after Hurricane Ike. Engle Martin decided it was necessary to use an infrared scan of the roof to help identify which damages, if any, were attributable to wind and which, if any, were attributable to sub par, prior repairs or natural deterioration.
Engle Martin retained Project, Time & Cost (PT&C) to conduct the infrared inspection. PT&C’s inspection determined there was no wind-related damage to the roof and no breaches or openings created by wind. Instead, the roof had exceeded its life expectancy and was in need of replacement due to normal wear and weathering. Consequently, Catlin decided that the damage to Lee’s roof was not caused by winds from Hurricane Ike.
Meanwhile, Lee’s contractor, Emergency Services, prepared a report estimating that the total cost of repairing the roof would be $871,187. Engle Martin’s estimate for repair of the roof was $22,864.
Lee filed suit for breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, and violations of the Texas Insurance Code. Catlin moved for summary judgment on all claims but breach of contract, arguing that because there was a bona fide dispute concerning the cause of the damages and whether they were covered under the policy, there was no evidence of bad faith or violations of the Texas Insurance Code.
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Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Insurance Law Hawaii. Mr. Eyerly can be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com
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