Showing 4 posts in Construction Litigation & Counseling.

Green Development Risks

February 11, 2021 by Patrick F. Sullivan, Adrienne M. Arlan

The emerging market of sustainable, or “green,” construction is attractive to buyers and developers as both a means of conservation and an effective marketing tool. Many buyers, contractors, and subcontractors are now attempting to enact green construction projects through various certification processes, which substantiate a structure as “green”. The LEED (“Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design”) certification, for example, is an internationally recognized verification that a development was designed and built using strategies aimed at improving performance in energy savings, water efficiency, CO2 emissions reduction, and indoor environmental quality. No matter what the primary focus of a green construction project may be, this relatively new frontier in the industry creates both unique economic opportunities and legal risks that contractors and subcontractors must not overlook when taking on sustainable business ventures. These opportunities and risks are ultimately tied to the methods and material of construction, and the contractual relationship between the developer and contractors. More »

Prefabricated Construction Liability

September 17, 2020 by Patrick F. Sullivan

Introduction

Prefabricated residential and commercial construction brings both new building opportunities and new legal concerns. Building with prefabricated components provides for greater efficiency in cost, development, and installation than traditional building methods – allowing entire commercial and residential structures to be assembled at a worksite like building blocks consisting of prefabricated “units” or “modules.” However, this shift from field construction to field assembly also shifts the scope of potential liability for all parties involves – from engineers designing prefabricated components through component manufacturers and down to contractors completing installation and assembly. Below, we consider how changes to construction from prefabricated components affect liability and coverage in the realm of construction liability. More »

CLIENT ALERT: Seventh Circuit Negates Need for a Certificate of Insurance Before Loss - CGL Coverage Exists for an Additional Insured if an Oral Agreement Prior to Covered Event

January 6, 2016 by Administrator

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, in Cincinnati Ins. Co. v. Vita Food Products, Inc., No. 15–1405 (7th Cir. Dec. 16, 2015), has issued an important decision with far-reaching impact on the interpretation of “additional insured” status under commercial general liability (“CGL”) insurance policies. With this decision, additional insureds should have an easier time seeking coverage. More »

I Know Where You Were Last Summer: Using More Than Just Facebook to Investigate Pending Claims

January 29, 2015 by Administrator

In other articles, we have discussed the importance of obtaining social media data in pre-suit investigations and how to conduct social media discovery in pending litigation. As we discussed there, photographs, video and the like information can all be used for evidentiary purposes to demonstrate state of mind, the existence of mental or cognitive disabilities (or the lack thereof) and the level of activity enjoyed by a litigant.  In those articles, we have focused primarily on recovering such evidence from Facebook since it is one of the most prevalently used social media platforms and permits users to download (at least arguably) the most helpful data. However, Facebook is not the only source of social media data and any thorough investigation should also involve identifying and requesting photographs, video, status updates or comments from other social media platforms. More »

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