The Statute of Repose Defense is Expanded
9/23/19
By: Jeff Alitz In John C. Rankin v. South Street Downtown Holdings, Inc v. Truexcullins and Partners Architects, decided August 6, 2019, The New Hampshire Supreme court extended the application of that state’s Statute of Repose to bar not only direct claims filed by plaintiff’s, but also to claims for indemnification and contribution that are…
Georgia Federal Judge Enforces Contractual Liability Limitation, Cuts Jury Verdict in Half
9/19/19
By: Jake Carroll A federal judge in Georgia enforced a limitation of liability clause in a construction contract for engineering services—reducing the jury’s award from $5.7 million to just over $2 million. See U.S. Nitrogen LLC v. Weatherly, Inc., No. 1:16-CV-462-MLB, (N.D.Ga. Sept. 16, 2019). The case arose from the design and construction of an…
California Prompt Payment Act: A Tool In The Tool Belt To Secure Payment
9/13/19
By: David Molinari In the construction industry, payments come slowly. Prompt payment laws exist in some form nationwide and can vary from state to state. These laws serve to create timelines for when payments must be made and institute interest penalties for late payments. In California, the contractors are armed with Civil Code 8800 et…
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace: Construction Claim Arbitration and Res Judicata
8/20/19
By: Catherine Bednar The Supreme Court of Connecticut recently affirmed the Appellate Court’s determination that when a property owner and a general contractor enter into binding, unrestricted arbitration to resolve disputes, the subcontractors are presumptively in privity with the general contractor for purposes of precluding subsequent litigation against them. In Girolametti v. Michael Horton Assocs., 332…
Resilient Design: A Future Requirement?
6/17/19
By: Catherine Bednar Today’s headlines reflect an increasing awareness of climate change and its impacts – rising sea levels, heightened flood risks, and potential wildfires, to name a few. Scientific research and political debate over the causes/effects of and policy responses to climate change will undoubtedly remain at the forefront of our news. Related to…
The Referee Has Decided David Beckham Is Back in The Game
5/6/19
By: Samantha Skolnick Soccer has become Atlanta’s new craze. In 2017, Atlanta’s soccer team Atlanta United broke the Major League Soccer (“MLS”) attendance record in its final regular-season game exceeding the 800,000 mark in its first year in the league. They finished the season with 819,404 tickets sold, soaring above the league’s single-season record of…
The EPA Acts, Kind of, on Asbestos
4/26/19
By: Koty Newman On April 17, 2019, the EPA finalized a significant new use rule (“SNUR”) governing asbestos use. The SNUR ensures that any discontinued uses of asbestos will not re-enter the marketplace without the EPA’s review. The EPA explains that this will close a loophole in its regulatory scheme for asbestos. Thus, if a…
Georgia Court of Appeals Provides Guideline for Drafting Enforceable Exculpatory Clauses in Georgia
4/23/19
By: Bart Gary and Jake Carroll Exculpatory clauses are terms in a contract that shift the risk of loss to the other party or a third-party, or attempt to limit one’s obligations under a contract. A typical exculpatory clause is a “limitation of liability” provision, which is commonly used in agreements for services—especially professional services,…
Who Did What for Whom? Construction Lien Rights in Georgia Depend on the Contractor, Not the Cost
3/18/19
By: Jason Kamp In 2013, the Georgia General Assembly expanded the scope of items covered under its construction lien statute, O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361, by amending subsections (c) and (d). The statute now allows contractors to claim liens for contract expenditures for general conditions or other costs that are not strictly for labor, services, or materials…
The Supreme Court Sets Groundwater Pollution in its Sights
2/20/19
By: Ze’eva Kushner Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided to hear an appeal from the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Hawai’i Wildlife Fund et al. v. County of Maui, 886 F.3d 737 (9th Cir. 2018). The Supreme Court will be hearing this case in the Fall to resolve a circuit split regarding whether discharging pollution…
Georgia Court of Appeals Concludes the Term “Affiliate” is Ambiguous
2/4/19
By: Jake Carroll In Salinas v. Atlanta Gas Light Company,[1] the Georgia Court of Appeals’ recently examined whether Georgia Natural Gas (“GNG”) and Atlanta Gas Light Company (“AGLC”) were “affiliates.” Both AGLC and GNG were owned and controlled, either directly or through an intermediary, by a company named AGL Resources, Inc. In Salinas, AGLC sought…
Amendments To Pennsylvania’s CASPA Will Change The Landscape Of Payment Disputes
8/3/18
By: Jonathan Romvary Anyone who has ever done any amount of work as a contractor or who has represented them in collections cases has learned from hard experience that it can be all but impossible to get paid for one’s work. In Pennsylvania, the Contractor and Subcontractor Act (CASPA) was introduced in 1994 as a…