CONCRETE EXPERT WITNESS ROOFING MEMBRANE EXPERT WITNESS GRAYLING ALASKA ALASKA ALASKA ROOFING CONSTRUCTION EXPERT SUPPORTING BUILDERS CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Eight Payne & Fears Attorneys Named 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers

March 10, 2025 — Payne & Fears LLP
We’re proud to congratulate eight dedicated Payne & Fears attorneys recognized as 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers® for their excellence across various practice areas. Their commitment to delivering exceptional legal service continues to earn industry recognition. Employment & Labor Jeff Brown Dan Fears Business Litigation Dan Livingston Ben Nix Tom Vincent Employment Litigation: Defense Andrew Haeffele Amy Patton Insurance Coverage Scott Thomas Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Payne & Fears LLP

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Washington State Lawmakers Pass Statewide Rent Stabilization Legislation

May 12, 2025 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
(May 2, 2025) - On April 27, 2025, the Washington state Legislature passed HB 1217, the Housing Stability Act, which caps rent increases for most single-family and multi-family landlords and mandates specific notice requirements for rent increases that landlords must comply with to increase rents. The bill will take effect upon the Governor’s signature or May 20, 2025. Below is a summary of key provisions in the bill.

1. Landlords cannot raise rents in the first year of a tenancy.
2. Any subsequent rent increase cannot exceed seven percent plus the consumer price index or 10 percent, whichever is lower.
3. Landlords cannot impose more burdensome conditions on a month-to-month lease or charge a tenant more than a five-percent difference in rent for different lease terms. This restriction reduces the premium rents charged on month-to-month leases or leases for short-term duration.

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Ken Walton Named a 2025 Massachusetts “Go To Lawyer” for Construction Law

May 06, 2025 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Boston, Mass. (April 29, 2025) – Boston Managing Partner Kenneth B. Walton has been named a 2025 Massachusetts “Go To Lawyer” for Construction Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly’s “Go To Lawyers” list recognizes leading attorneys in specific practice areas who are highly experienced, well-respected by peers, and known for their expertise, creative thinking, and consistent success. Honorees are nominated by colleagues and selected by a panel from the publication. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Decision from Hawaii Supreme Court Amplifies Reasoning for its Prior Order in Maui Fire Cases

March 25, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
Following its order dated February 10, 2025, the Hawaii Supreme Court issued its full opinion, explaining its answers to the reserved questions addressed in the order. In the Matter of the Petition for the Coordination of Maui Fire Cases, Haw Sup. Ct., SCRQ-24-0000602 (March 17, 2025) [Prior post on order here]. The global settlement reached by the individual and class plaintiffs and defendants required, as a condition precedent, either a release by insurance carriers of all subrogation claims against the defendants, or a final, unappealable order and judgment that the insurers' exclusive remedy for all subrogation claims would be a lien against the settlement under Haw. Rev. Stat. 663-10. Mediation between the individual action plaintiffs, consolidated class plaintiffs, defendants, and subrogation insurers resulted in a settlement term sheet signed by all parties except the subrogation insurers. The term sheet contemplated a global settlement that resolved all claims against the defendants. The term sheet also required an agreement or judgment resolving the subrogating insurers' claims against the defendants as a condition precedent to the proposed settlement. 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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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (3/19/25) – Data Center REITs, AI-Based Tools and CHIPS on the Chopping Block

April 01, 2025 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, Wells Fargo sues JPMorgan Chase, mortgage rates drop, and the life science RE market falters, and more!

• Three months into 2025, the artificial intelligence arms race continues for builders as large contractors develop their own AI-based tools to aid their construction processes. (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
• The CHIPS and Science Act could be on the chopping block after recent criticism by President Donald Trump, with its defunding likely hurting U.S. extended stay hotels. (Jenna Graber, Hotel Dive)
• For multifamily’s biggest public companies, 2025 looks to be a year of transition. (Leslie Shaver, Multifamily Dive)

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

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California Levies $1 Billion Assessment on Insurers for LA Fires

February 12, 2025 — Leslie Kaufman, Michelle Ma & Eliyahu Kamisher - Bloomberg
California’s insurance commission plans to impose a $1 billion assessment on private insurers to shore up the FAIR Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort, after last month’s devastating Los Angeles wildfires. Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the assessment is necessary for the FAIR Plan to continue paying out claims to survivors of the fires, which destroyed more than 16,000 structures and resulted in insured losses of as much as $75 billion, according to one analysis. “The FAIR Plan must pay claims just like any other insurance company,” Lara said in a statement Tuesday. Reprinted courtesy of Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg, Michelle Ma, Bloomberg and Eliyahu Kamisher, Bloomberg Read the full story...

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Demolition Started for Boston’s $200M Professional Women’s Soccer Stadium Renovation Despite Looming Trial

April 01, 2025 — Johanna Knapschaefer - Engineering News-Record
Work on a public-private partnership to renovate Boston’s dilapidated White Stadium kicked off weeks before a scheduled trial over the controversial $200 million project. Located in Franklin Park—the centerpiece of landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace—the 11,000-seat stadium is being built for a professional women’s soccer team, Boston Public School athletes and community use. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Johanna Knapschaefer, ENR
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

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GRSM Multi-Office Team Secures Dismissal of Claims for Global Paint and Coatings Manufacturer Under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act

February 03, 2025 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP
Philadelphia Partners Ty Havey and Cathy Slavin, Sacramento Senior Counsel Jennifer Paez, and Associate Erica Briggs successfully defended a leading global manufacturer of premium paint and coating products in a high-stakes case brought under the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA), 15 U.S.C. § 1261 et seq. On November 4, 2024, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment and dismissed all claims against the firm’s client. The case, brought by a subrogating insurance carrier and its policyholders—a vineyard and winery—arose from a total loss structure fire in Sonoma County. The plaintiffs alleged that discarded rags soaked with the client’s wood stain product spontaneously combusted due to inadequate labeling. The GRSM team denied the spontaneous combustion claim and argued that the FHSA, which governs product labeling for hazardous substances, preempted plaintiffs’ claims for additional warnings about spontaneous combustion. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP

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