ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Newport Beach Partners Jeremy Johnson, Courtney Serrato, and Associate Joseph Real Prevailed on a Demurrer in a Highly Publicized Shooting Case!

November 11, 2024 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara’s Partners Jeremy Johnson, Courtney Serrato, and Associate Joseph Real prevailed on a Demurrer in a highly publicized shooting case. Plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging negligence, negligent hiring, supervision and retention, and public nuisance against BWB&O’s clients, a highly recognized hospitality and lifestyle company with nightlife and restaurant venues, in addition to other celebrity defendants. Plaintiffs were the victims of a shooting that occurred by an unknown individual(s) outside and near the restaurant/venue owned by BWB&O’s clients. Plaintiffs alleged it was BWB&O’s clients that were responsible for the third parties’ criminal acts because BWB&O’s clients attracted more people than the venue’s capacity, causing people to occupy the street, sidewalk, and property nearby. Plaintiffs further alleged that BWB&O’s client should have anticipated or known that criminal conduct, including gun violence, would take place. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

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Kahana Feld Texas Team Obtains a Summary Judgment Motion

April 08, 2025 — Linda Carter - Kahana Feld
Kahana Feld is pleased to announce partner Elliott Wright and senior attorney Farrah Ahmed received a Traditional Summary Judgment motion on a premises liability case in the 40th Judicial District Court in Ellis County, Texas. The matter involved a Claimant who slipped and fell in a restaurant and claimed over $100,000 in medical damages. During an intense line of questioning, Kahana Feld attorneys Wright and Ahmed were able to get the Claimant to admit that she saw a well-placed “Caution” sign prior to her fall. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Linda Carter, Kahana Feld
Ms. Carter may be contacted at lcarter@kahanafeld.com

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The Benefits of Incorporating AI Into the Construction Lifecycle

December 23, 2024 — Ian Warner - Construction Executive
Interest in artificial intelligence has been spreading like wildfire over the past few years. AI is not a new term for Trimble, which has been capturing and leveraging construction data for decades. From hardware to software, the field to the office or among stakeholders, harnessing and making meaning out of data is the crux of Trimble’s business. Generative AI is simply a new set of tools that provide a richer narrative around data, making it more insightful and actionable. As a company that helps connect stakeholders across the entire construction lifecycle—design, construction and operations/ maintenance—AI has been woven in and leveraged across a number of Trimble solutions to help contractors do more with less, while also giving them greater decision-making power and the ability to focus on other key challenges. While the use cases for AI are diverse and ever-changing, below are a few key areas where Trimble has doubled down on AI, with the goal of making contractors’ jobs less cumbersome and repetitive, safer and more capable of being upskilled—efforts which will only continue to grow in the coming years. Reprinted courtesy of Ian Warner, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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Suit Limitation Provisions in New York

January 28, 2025 — Bill Wilson - Construction Law Zone
New York law generally enforces a contractual suit limitation that specifies a “reasonable” period of time (usually shorter than the applicable statute of limitations) within which an action must be commenced. The contractual suit limitation needs to be fair and reasonable, given the circumstances of each particular case. The New York Court of Appeals recently examined this precedent in the context of an insurance policy enforcing an insurance contract’s two-year suit limitation period in Farage v. Associated Insurance Management Corp., 2024 N.Y. Slip Op. 05875 (Nov. 26, 2024). In Farage, a Staten Island multi-unit apartment building was damaged in a fire. The plaintiff owner filed its full repair claim for damages with its insurer six years after the fire and four years after the expiration of the contractual limitation period. The insurer denied the claim. The plaintiff filed suit for breach of contract and breach of the covenant of good faith fair dealing. The insurer moved to dismiss the action based on the two-year limitation provision in the insurance contract. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bill Wilson, Robinson & Cole LLP
Mr. Wilson may be contacted at wwilson@rc.com

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Alaska Supreme Court Rules That “Total Pollution Exclusion” in Homeowners Insurance Policy Does Not Bar Coverage for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

April 15, 2025 — Geoffrey B. Fehling, Andrew S. Koelz & Lorelie S. Masters - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
For decades, homeowners and other insurance policies have included broad pollution exclusions, often referred to as a “total pollution exclusion.” In a recent decision in Wheeler v. Garrison Prop. & Cas. Ins., No. S-18849 (Alaska Feb. 28, 2025), the Alaska Supreme Court held that a “total pollution exclusion” in a homeowners insurance policy did not apply to exclude coverage for injury arising out of exposure to carbon monoxide emitted by an improperly installed home appliance. Examining the breadth of the exclusion and applying the generally held principle that exclusions are to be construed narrowly, the court thus fulfilled the policyholder’s reasonable expectation of coverage for injuries resulting from the carbon monoxide exposure. Background A 17-year-old minor rented a cabin in Alaska and, during his tenancy, was found dead in the cabin’s bathtub. An autopsy and investigation by the deputy fire marshal determined that the tenant died of acute carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an improperly vented propane water heater installed in the same bathroom. Testing showed that the bathroom had accumulated high levels of carbon monoxide when the water heater was running. Reprinted courtesy of Geoffrey B. Fehling, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Andrew S. Koelz, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Lorelie S. Masters, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Mr. Fehling may be contacted at gfehling@hunton.com Mr. Koelz may be contacted at akoelz@hunton.com Ms. Masters may be contacted at lmasters@hunton.com Read the full story...

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Las Vegas Stadium for Athletics, Now $1.75B Project, Gains Key OK

December 31, 2024 — Doug Puppel - Engineering News Record
Construction start of a new stadium in Las Vegas to host the former Oakland, Calif.-based Athletics Major League Baseball team gained a key approval on Dec. 5, with the municipal stadium authority unanimously greenlighting the now $1.75-billion facility. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Doug Puppel, ENR

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Insurer's Motion to Compel Inspection Denied

March 11, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court denied the insurer's motion to compel an inspection of the insured's residential rental property and the insurer's request for attorney fees. Bradley v. Evanston Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14522 (E.D. La. Jan. 27, 2025). Plaintiff suffered damage to her property due to Hurricane Ida. Evanston insured the property. Plaintiff submitted a claim for loss sustained in the storm. Evanston sent a claims adjuster to inspect the property. Plaintiff alleged that Evanston failed to pay sufficient funds for her loss. Plaintiff filed suit raising claims of breach of contract and bad faith. Evanston filed a Motion to Compel plaintiff to allow the insurer's engineer, Kevin Vanderbrook, P.E., to inspect the property. Evanston contended plaintiff had retained her own engineer and public adjuster but denied Evanston's request to allow Vanderbrook to inspect the property to evaluate plaintiff's experts' opinions. Plaintiff argued that Evanston should be prohibited from inspecting the property so late in the litigation, especially considering that Evanston failed to follow through on any of its multiple attempts to schedule Vanderbrook's inspection before plaintiff filed suit. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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Oracle Sues Procore, Claims Theft of Trade Secrets for ERP Integration

November 25, 2024 — Jeff Yoders - Engineering News-Record
Oracle, Inc., has sued Procore in federal court in Northern California, accusing the construction management platform provider of stealing confidential information related to developing enterprise resource planning products for contractors. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jeff Yoders, ENR
Mr. Yoders may be contacted at yodersj@enr.com

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