FAIRFIELD CONNECTICUT BUILDING EXPERT
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Nancy Conrad Recognized in Lehigh Valley Business 2024 Power in Law List

July 31, 2024 — White and Williams LLP
Nancy Conrad, Chair of the Higher Education Group, Managing Partner of the Lehigh Valley Office and the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), has been named to the Lehigh Valley Business 2024 Power in Law List, for her work as a leader in the legal field. This year’s honorees were asked to relate inspiration that pushed the pursuit of their career. One of her inspirations, as explained by Nancy in the article, was the opportunity to instruct and impact students while teaching during the day and pursuing a legal career in the evening at Temple Law which cemented a “commitment to excellence in the practice of law and service to the community.” Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

---

Defining Constructive Acceleration

March 22, 2021 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
When it comes to the definition of “constructive acceleration,” the case of Fraser Const. Co. v. U.S., 384 F.3d 1354 (Fed.Cir. 2004) is a cited case and contains an instructive definition, quoted below, for proving a constructive acceleration claim. In a nutshell, a constructive acceleration claim is when the contractor incurs added costs for trying to complete the contract on time when it should be provided extensions of time to perform based on excusable delay (i.e., delay not caused by the contractor). These added costs could be bringing in additional supervision to manage the work, adding manpower to perform the work, working overtime, working weekends, adding more shift work, stacking trades, etc. However, just because a contractor claims they have been constructively accelerated does not make it so. The contractor has to actually ask for an extension of time based on an excusable delay and the owner either denied the extension or unreasonably sat on the request for an extension of time; thus, the contractor incurred significant costs to accelerate in order to finish the project on time because it was deprived of a requested time extension for excusable delay. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

---

Courthouse Reporter Series - How to Avoid Having Your COVID-19 Expert Stricken

September 25, 2023 — Andrew G. Vicknair - The Dispute Resolver
Expert witnesses play a key role in litigation, especially when dealing with construction issues. The testimony of an expert at trial can be a deciding factor in helping persuade a jury or judge in your client’s favor. Thus, it is imperative that your expert’s opinion meet the proper legal standard. In Polaris Engineering, Inc. v. Texas International Terminals, LTD, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas reiterated the importance of an expert’s opinion complying with the applicable legal standards governing expert testimony. 2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 109413 (S.D. Tex. June 26, 2023). The legal standard at issue in Polaris was Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Polaris involved a suit arising from a contract related to the design, engineering, and construction of a terminal and crude-oil processing facility for Texas International Terminals in Galveston, Texas. There were four separate contracts that governed the Project. One of the contracts governed the creation of the 50,000 barrel per day crude processing unit. Because the parties wanted to move quickly, they agreed to certain assumptions about the Project and specifically designed a change order process whereby the price and schedule could be adjusted if the agreed upon assumptions were incorrect. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Andrew G. Vicknair, D'Arcy Vicknair, LLC
Mr. Vicknair may be contacted at agv@darcyvicknair.com

---

Arbitrator May Use Own Discretion in Consolidating Construction Defect Cases

September 01, 2011 — CDJ STAFF

The Mississippi Court of Appeals has ruled in the case of Harry Baker Smith Architects II, PLLC v. Sea Breeze I, LLC. Sea Breeze contracted with Harry Baker Smith Architects II, PLLC (HBSA) to design a condominium complex, which would be built by Roy Anderson Corporation. All parties agreed to arbitration.

Subsequently, Sea Breeze alleged defects and sought arbitration against the architectural firm and started a separate arbitration proceeding against the contractor. The special arbitrator appointed by the American Arbitrators Association determined that it would be proper to consolidate the two actions “since they arose from a common question of fact or law.” HBSA filed in chancery court seeking injunctive relief and a reversal of the decision. Sea Breeze and Roy Anderson filed a motion to compel the consolidated arbitration.

The court noted that the special arbitrator “established that the contract between Sea Breeze and Roy Anderson expressly allowed for consolidation of the two cases.” Further, the arbitrator “concluded that HBSA expressly agreed to consolidation by written consent through its 2008 letter, through which it insisted upon Roy Anderson’s involvement ‘in any mediation and/or arbitration.’”

The court concluded that the chancery court “did not have the power to fulfill HBSA’s request.” The court affirmed the chancery court’s judgment.

Read the court’s decision…

Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

New Jersey Court Washes Away Insurer’s Waiver of Subrogation Arguments

May 27, 2019 — William L. Doerler - The Subrogation Strategist
Subrogating insurers often address waiver of subrogation clauses in the form contracts drafted by the American Institute of Architects. In ACE Am. Ins. Co. v. Am. Med. Plumbing, No. A-5395-16T4, 2019 N.J. Super. LEXIS 45 (App. Div.), ACE American Insurance Company (ACE) argued that the waiver clause in the AIA General Conditions form A201-2007 did not extend to the post-construction loss at issue. Adopting what the court termed the “majority” position, the Appellate Division held that, by reading §§ 11.3.5 and 11.3.7 together, the waiver applied to bar the insurer’s subrogation claim. The Appellate Court’s ruling makes pursuing subrogation against New Jersey contractors using AIA contract forms more difficult. In this matter, Equinox Development Corporation (Equinox Development), ACE’s insured, contracted with Grace Construction Management Company, LLC (Grace Construction) to build the “core and shell” of a new health club (the Work). Grace Construction subcontracted the plumbing work to American Medical Plumbing, Inc. (AM Plumbing). Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of William L. Doerler, White and Williams LLP
Mr. Doerler may be contacted at doerlerw@whiteandwilliams.com

---

Sanibel Causeway Repair: Contractors Flooded Site With Crews, Resources

November 15, 2022 — Derek Lacey - Engineering News-Record
After Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida, washing out the Sanibel Causeway and cutting off thousands of Sanibel Island residents, another flood hit the area: construction crews and resources that swarmed the area to rebuild two roadway sections and five washed-out approaches to restore access. Reprinted courtesy of Derek Lacey, Engineering News-Record Mr. Lacey may be contacted at laceyd@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

ASCE Statement on Devastating Impacts of Hurricane Helene

October 07, 2024 — Marsia Geldert-Murphey, P.E., President - American Society of Civil Engineers
WASHINGTON, DC. – We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life across six states, in addition to the immeasurable damages caused by Hurricane Helene throughout the Southeast this past week. Hundreds of communities are without power. Citizens cannot move safely from one place to another. And in its wake, the storm has left many without drinking water and sewage services. As civil engineers, our first priority when we design and build the structures that connect us is the public's safety and well-being; we are heartbroken to see so many lives lost or upended by Hurricane Helene. As someone who has experienced losing everything in a catastrophic flood event, I have seen first-hand the need for making communities more resilient, and the consequences of failing to do so. Although hurricanes have consistently been a threat in the U.S., particularly in the Southeast, extreme weather events and 500-year floods are increasing in regularity and our aging infrastructure systems were not built to withstand storms of this magnitude. Total prevention of loss of life or property damage can never be guaranteed, but Helene is a reminder of the importance of widespread adoption of up-to-date, modern building codes and standards. We are thankful for the hard work of first responders, the military, and other organizations working around the clock to save lives and meet the immediate needs of people affected by this storm. As communities begin the long recovery process, civil engineers will be there to help communities rebuild the roads, bridges, dams, water systems, and other infrastructure damaged or destroyed by the storm. ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel. Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---

Whose Employee is it Anyway?: Federal Court Finds No Coverage for Injured Subcontractor's Claim Based on Modified Employer's Liability Exclusion

September 28, 2020 — Jeffrey J. Vita & Kerianne E. Kane - Saxe Doernberger & Vita
In Nagog Real Estate Consulting Corp. v. Nautilus Insurance Co.,1 the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that an insurer had no duty to defend its insureds against claims brought by an injured subcontractor, based on an overbroad employer’s liability exclusion in the policy. Nautilus Insurance Company issued a commercial general liability policy to developer Nagog Homes LLC and its related construction company, Nagog Real Estate. The policy was endorsed with an Employer’s Liability Exclusion (the L205 Endorsement) that expanded the scope of the standard exclusion in the coverage form to include bodily injury claims of employees of “any” insured and their contractors or subcontractors, as opposed to simply the employees of the named insured. Nagog Homes was the developer, and Nagog Real Estate was the general contractor for a residential construction project. An employee of the framing subcontractor hired by Nagog Real Estate was injured while working on the project and sued both Nagog entities for his injuries. Nautilus, relying on the modified employer’s liability exclusion, denied coverage for the lawsuit based on allegations that the Nagog entities hired the framing subcontractor to perform work, which effectively made the plaintiff an employee of one or both of the Nagog entities. Reprinted courtesy of Jeffrey J. Vita , Saxe Doernberger & Vita and Kerianne E. Kane, Saxe Doernberger & Vita Mr. Vita may be contacted at jjv@sdvlaw.com Ms. Kane may be contacted at kek@sdvlaw.com Read the court decision
Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of

---