6/28/22
By: William Cheney In 2017, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in Palisades at Fort Lee Condominium Association, Inc. v. 100 Old Palisade, LLC, et al., held that the statute of limitations for construction defect claims brought by a condominium association begins to run upon “substantial completion” of the structure. While the Supreme Court recognized that the discovery…
Down It Goes! Illinois Prejudgment Interest Struck Down – What To Do Now
5/31/22
By: Jonathan Schwartz and Patrick Eckler Judge Marcia Maras of the Circuit Court of Cook County struck down as violative of the Illinois state constitution, PA 102-0006, which permits prejudgment interest in personal injury and wrongful death cases. This ruling is of great significance for those with cases that predate the statute’s effective date, July…
Changing Tides: WOTUS and the Jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act
5/23/22
By: Alec D. Tyra Clean Water Act: What is WOTUS? The Clean Water Act (CWA) was enacted to “restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation’s waters.” The act, among other things, regulates the discharge of any pollutant from any point source to navigable waters and the discharge of dredged or…
New Bridge Projects Raise New Opportunities and Risk Considerations
4/14/22
By: Eric Asquith It made national news when the Fern Hollow bridge collapsed in Pittsburg, PA on January 28, 2022. Vehicles and a transit bus were on the bridge at the time of the collapse – 10 people were injured. The shocking aftermath of the collapse is seen in the photograph above. The National Transportation…
2/1/22
By: Joshua Ferguson The Pennsylvania legislature seeks to adjust risk transfer between parties to snow and ice management services contracts. By a unanimous vote, the Pennsylvania House of Representatives approved the Snow Removal Limited Liability Act, House Bill 1665, sending it on to the state senate where it has been assigned to the Judiciary Committee. The…
1/28/22
By: Paul Piantino III, Esq., Kaitlyn Grajek, Esq. and Julia Bover, Esq. On December 31, 2021, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act, (the “Act”). It takes effect immediately and applies to all pending civil actions in the State of New York. The Act amends CPLR 3101(f), a discovery…
New Year’s resolutions for design professionals: negotiate new contracts carefully
1/20/22
By: Catherine Bednar The start of a new year is an excellent time for design professionals to review and implement measures for avoiding and minimizing their potential exposure from liability claims. Below are some key contract issues to consider as you pursue new projects and business opportunities. Avoid Heightened Standards of Care and Warranties. Architects…
PFAS and CERCLA – Potential Liability for Contractors
1/19/22
By: Alec D. Tyra PFAS in Construction Materials Per-and-Poly Fluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) are a broad class of manmade, highly stable chemicals. PFAS exhibit both grease repelling (lipophobic) and water repelling (hydrophobic) properties due to their unique chemical structure. These unique properties have contributed to the use of PFAS in a number of consumer and industrial…
Arbitration v. litigation: dispute resolution considerations for construction professionals
12/7/21
By: Nicolas Bohorquez An often-overlooked side effect of litigation, particularly in the construction industry, is the impact that it has on day-to-day operations. The more involved and protracted the litigation, the more your company must reallocate its resources (i.e. time and money) to tend to the litigation instead of focusing on projects that generate revenue. Despite the headache, litigation serves a necessary purpose to protect what owners and their employees…
11/30/21
By: J. Austin Anderson In 2014, U.S.-based company Eisenmann was selected to act as a general contractor for a large-scale construction project at a Tesla facility in Fremont, California. Eisenmann contracted with Slovenia-based construction company Vuzem to provide labor for the project. Ex-Vuzem employees, all residents of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, or Croatia, have now…
9/30/21
By: Hannah-Kate Gosch Are general contractors covered when the cost of repairing or removing a subcontractor’s defective work results in the loss of use of the tangible property which is not itself physically damaged? The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit recently addressed this issue in Tricon Development of Brevard, Inc. v. Nautilus…
Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduces anti-indemnity bill
9/23/21
By: Joshua Ferguson The Pennsylvania House of Representatives introduced House Bill 1886, legislation amending Act 164 of 1970, which relates to Indemnification Agreements in certain contracts. Like Act 164, the bill itself appears to cover agreements between ”architects, engineers or surveyors and owners, contractors, subcontractors or suppliers.” Beyond the limited Act 164, Pennsylvania does not have an anti-indemnity statute regarding contracts for the industries identified above. …