Fairfield Connecticut Building Expert Directory

Terms of Your Teaming Agreement Matter

July 30, 2019 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
These days in construction, and other pursuits, teaming agreements have become a great method for large and small contractors to work together to take advantage of various contract and job requirements from minority participation to veteran ownership. With the proliferation of these agreements, parties must be careful in how they draft the terms of these agreements. Without proper drafting, the parties risk unenforceability of the teaming agreement in the evewnt of a dispute. One potential pitfall in drafting is an “agreement to agree” or an agreement to negotiate a separate contract in the future. This type of pitfall was illustrated in the case of InDyne Inc. v. Beacon Occupational Health & Safety Services Inc. out of the Eastern District of Virginia. In this case, InDyne and Beacon entered into a teaming agreement that provided that InDyne as Prime would seek to use Beacon, the Sub, in the event that InDyne was awarded a contract using Beacon’s numbers. The teaming agreement further provided:

The agreement shall remain in effect until the first of the following shall occur: … (g) inability of the Prime and the Sub, after negotiating in good faith, to reach agreement on the terms of a subcontract offered by the Prime, in accordance with this agreement.

InDyne was subsequently awarded a contract with the Air Force and shortly thereafter sent a subcontract to Beacon and requested Beacon’s “best and final” pricing. Beacon protested by letter stating that it was only required to act consistently with its original bid pricing. Beacon then returned the subcontract with the original bid pricing and accepting all but a termination for convenience provision. Shortly thereafter, InDyne informed Beacon that InDyne had awarded the subcontract to one of Beacon’s competitors. Beacon of course sued and argued that the teaming agreement required that InDyne award the subcontract to Beacon. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Hunton Insurance Practice, Partners Recognized by The Legal 500

July 16, 2023 — Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP’s insurance practice was recognized among the top policyholder insurance practices nationally, receiving a Band 2 national ranking in the 2023 United States Edition of The Legal 500 for Advice to Policyholders. The Legal 500 ranks the nation’s top law firms, practices, and lawyers, highlighting those that consistently provide “the most cutting edge and innovative advice to corporate counsel … based on feedback from 300,000 clients worldwide, submissions from law firms and interviews with leading private practice lawyers, and a team of researchers who have unrivalled experience in the legal market.” Bolstering the team’s national recognition, two of its partners received individual accolades. Lorie Masters was named in The Legal 500 Hall of Fame and Andi DeField was named a Next Generation Partner, while team head Syed Ahmad and partners Walter Andrews, Michael Levine and Geoffrey Fehling also were recognized. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

San Francisco Law Firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman Hired New Partner

May 21, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
The San Francisco law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman has hired Clark Thiel as a new partner. Thiel has “significant experience in construction disputes” and “bolsters Pillsbury’s capabilities in litigation, mediation and domestic and international arbitration,” according to The Lawyer. Furthermore, Thiel is a licensed contractor and registered architect. Formerly, he was a partner at the firm Jones Day. Read the court decision
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Florida Condo Collapse Shows Town’s Rich, Middle-Class Divide

August 04, 2021 — The Associated Press (Terry Spencer & Freida Frisaro) - Bloomberg
The condo tower collapse in Surfside could exacerbate the division that already exists between the tiny Florida town’s new luxury buildings built for the global elite and those constructed decades ago for the middle class. It is already creating headaches for some small businesses. The town has seen the construction of numerous new condos in recent years, where large oceanfront units exceeding 3,000 square feet (280 square meters) with modern amenities can fetch $10 million and up. Meanwhile, small units of 800 square feet (75 square meters) in neighboring condo buildings constructed decades ago can be had for $400,000. Ana Bozovic, a South Florida real estate broker, said the June 24 collapse of the 40-year-old, middle-class Champlain Towers South will exacerbate this division. At least 46 people were killed and more than 90 remain missing. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg

New Safety Requirements added for Keystone Pipeline

June 11, 2014 — Beverley BevenFlorez-CDJ STAFF
After learning about construction defects on the “southern leg of the Canada-to-Texas project,” safety regulators have added two additional conditions “on construction of TransCanada Corp.’s Keystone XL oil pipeline,” according to Claims Journal. The defects, which have been fixed, included “high rates of bad welds, dented pipe and damaged pipeline coating.” The first condition requires “TransCanada to hire a third-party contractor chosen by the pipeline safety agency to monitor the construction” and report to the U.S. government, while the second condition requires “TransCanada to adopt a quality management program.” Both conditions were “buried near the end of the 26 appendices in a voluminous environmental impact statement on Keystone XL released by the State Department on Jan. 31.” Read the court decision
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BWB&O Senior Associate Kyle Riddles and Associate Alexandria Heins Obtain a Trial Victory in a Multi-Million Dollar Case!

May 01, 2023 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is excited to share that Newport Beach Senior Associate Kyle Riddles and Associate Alexandria Heins obtained a significant trial victory on behalf of their client in a multi-million dollar dispute stemming from the construction of a commercial expansion project at a beachfront resort. The owner of the resort alleged that the general contractor was responsible for a significant delay to the completion of the expansion project. The general contractor filed a cross-complaint against BWB&O’s client in an attempt to pass through the delay claims to BWB&O’s client. The general contractor’s delay expert alleged a total 441 days of delay to the completion of the project. A significant portion of the delay was apportioned to BWB&O’s client, for which it faced substantial contractual damages. Senior Associate Kyle Riddles expertly crossed key witnesses and obtained testimony that was extremely favorable to its client. Read the court decision
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Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

Newmeyer & Dillion Gets Top-Tier Practice Area Rankings on U.S. News – Best Lawyers List

November 03, 2016 — Newmeyer & Dillion LLP
Prominent business and real estate law firm Newmeyer & Dillion LLP is pleased to announce that U.S. News–Best Lawyers® recognized six practice areas from its Orange County office for inclusion in its Best Law Firms rankings for 2017. Five of the six areas were ranked as tier 1, the highest ranking available, including commercial litigation, construction law, insurance law, litigation- construction and litigation- real estate. Real estate law as also recognized as tier 3. Jeff Dennis, Newmeyer & Dillion’s Managing Partner, believes these rankings reflect the quality of work Newmeyer & Dillion offers. “Our firm was built on the culture of excellent personalized service and achieving the best results possible. This is a great honor for our firm knowing that our clients and peers value the offerings we provide.” 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. Read the court decision
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French Government Fines National Architects' Group $1.6M Over Fee-Fixing

December 09, 2019 — Debra K. Rubin - Engineering News-Record
The French government’s anti-trust agency has fined the national architects’ registration group and four regional councils $1.64 million (€1.5 million) for price-fixing design fees on public works. Reprinted courtesy of Debra K. Rubin, Engineering News-Record Ms. Rubin may be contacted at rubind@enr.com Read the full story... Read the court decision
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