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DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Traub Lieberman Partners Lisa Rolle, Erin O’Dea, and Nicole Verzillo Win Motion for Summary Judgment in Favor of Property Owner

September 30, 2024 — Lisa M. Rolle, Erin O’Dea, Nicole Verzillo - Traub Lieberman
Traub Lieberman Partners Lisa Rolle, Erin O’Dea, and Nicole Verzillo won motion for summary judgment in a premises liability matter brought before the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Westchester County. The Plaintiff allegedly tripped and fell in a pothole on the common driveway of five abutting properties and sustained an injury. The firm represented one of the multiple property owners. Traub Lieberman moved for summary judgment, asserting that the claims against the firm’s client should be dismissed as they did not own, operate, control or make special use of the driveway where the incident occurred. The firm also asserted that the alleged condition of the driveway that allegedly caused Plaintiff’s accident was a non-actionable, trivial defect. The firm also moved to dismiss the cross-claims asserted against them, contending that there was no evidence of negligence on behalf of the firm’s client. As such, the court found that the defect was a non-actionable, trivial defect. The firm secured dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims against the firm’s clients and against all moving and non-moving Defendants. Reprinted courtesy of Lisa M. Rolle, Traub Lieberman, Erin O’Dea, Traub Lieberman and Nicole Verzillo, Traub Lieberman Ms. Rolle may be contacted at lrolle@tlsslaw.com Ms. O'Dea may be contacted at eodea@tlsslaw.com Ms. Verzillo may be contacted at nverzillo@tlsslaw.com Read the full story...

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Five Kahana Feld Attorneys Selected to 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers List

March 04, 2025 — Linda Carter - Kahana Feld
Kahana Feld is pleased to announce that partners Avi Attal, Ron Brand, Jason Feld, Amir Kahana, and Sharon Oh-Kubisch were selected to the 2025 Southern California Super Lawyers list. Avi Attal is co-chair of Kahana Feld’s Labor & Employment Counseling and Litigation Group and trial counsel for the firm’s General Liability Group. An experienced trial lawyer, Attal has represented clients through every part of the employment dispute process, including compliance consultations, pre-litigation investigations, DFEH & EEOC investigations, worker compensation disputes, Department of Industrial Relations hearings, mediations, binding arbitrations, bench trials, jury trials, and appeals. Ron Brand is co-chair of Kahana Feld’s Labor & Employment Counseling and Litigation Group, where he provides legal guidance and representation to employers in all aspects of labor and employment law, including defense against federal and state-based wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment, discrimination, wage and hour, whistleblower, defamation, breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, and other similar claims. He also provides preventive counseling and advice to employers on a wide variety of human resources and personnel issues. 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 Ground Just Gave Out’: How a Storm’s Fury Ravaged Asheville

October 07, 2024 — Michael Smith, Devon Pendleton, Claire Ballentine & Michael Sasso - Bloomberg
Eric Becker was at his vacation home in western North Carolina, in a community bordering the Pisgah National Forest and Blue Ridge Parkway, when the rain began to pour. Becker, co-founder of the private wealth management firm Cresset, lives in Florida for most of the year. He had lived through a hurricane — but nothing like what he saw during Helene. “Mud was liquefying around tree bases. You could see the root systems,” said Becker, who first began visiting the Asheville area 20 years ago and was smitten by its natural scenery, excellent food and lively arts and music scene. “The ground just gave out.” Becker is part of a wave of affluent homebuyers who have flocked to the southern Appalachian region. Transplants from wealth managers and retirees to artists and young outdoors enthusiasts have helped create a real estate goldrush in cities including Asheville, where home prices have climbed 69% in the past five years. Reprinted courtesy of Michael Smith, Bloomberg, Devon Pendleton, Bloomberg, Claire Ballentine, Bloomberg and Michael Sasso, Bloomberg Read the full story...

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Keep an Eye Out on What Your Insurance Policy and Contract Says

February 19, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
There is a very good reason the contract requires the party providing a service (e.g., subcontractor) to name the paying party (e.g., general contractor) as an additional insured under its liability policies (e.g., CGL policy) on a primary and non-contributory basis. There is also a very good reason why you, as an insured, should read the contracts you sign with the party providing a service for you. In other words, keep an eye out on what your insurance policy says and what your contract says! This is an ABSOLUTE!! If you want to know the good reasons, look no further to the recent case of Colony Insurance Co. v. Titan Restoration Construction, Inc., 2025 WL 45160 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025). In this case, a general contractor’s CGL policy contained an endorsement that stated there would be no coverage UNLESS the general and subcontractor executed an agreement containing, “A requirement for the [subcontractor] to name the insured [general contractor] as an additional insured under their Commercial General Liability policy on a primary and non-contributory basis in favor of the insured [general contractor].” Colony Insurance, supra. The general contractor hired a roofing subcontractor. There was no requirement for the roofing subcontractor to name the general contractor as an additional insured on a primary and noncontributory basis. Also, the proposal the general contractor signed contained a disclaimer from the roofing subcontractor that the subcontractor “will not be held responsible for water damage to the exterior or the interior of the premises.” Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Federal District Court Addresses Anti-concurrent Cause Language in Property Policy

February 04, 2025 — James M. Eastham - Traub Lieberman
In Surchi1, LLC v. Travelers Indem. Co., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 227796 (N.D. Ill. Dec. 17, 2024), the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois addressed a carrier’s obligation to cover costs associated with remediating water-related damage to insured property. In July 2022, the insured property experienced water-related damage and resulting repair costs. A claim was submitted for coverage under a property policy issued by Travelers. Travelers denied the claim and the insured initiated an action against Travelers seeking coverage. During the litigation Travelers maintained its position that it was not obligated to cover the water-related damage, because (1) under the policy, Travelers is not obligated to cover damage caused by surface water, even if surface water contributed only in part to the damage, and (2) the pleadings irrefutably establish that surface water contributed, at least in part, to the property damage. The insured took the contrary view arguing that Travelers was obligated to cover water-related damage (1) because the damage was the result of a water or sewage backing up or overflowing from sewers, and (2) this obligation remains, even if surface water contributed in part to the damage. The court began with a review of the relevant policy language. Under the policy, Travelers "will not pay for loss or damage caused directly or indirectly by ... surface water." At the same time, under a change endorsement to the policy, Travelers agreed to cover "direct physical loss of or damage to Covered Property at the described premises caused by or resulting from water or sewage that backs up or overflows from a sewer, drain, or sump." In light of this language, the parties dispute centered on whether Travelers is obligated to cover damages caused concurrently by surface water (an excluded peril) and by water or sewage that backs up or overflows from a sewer, drain, or sump (a covered peril). Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of James M. Eastham, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Eastham may be contacted at jeastham@tlsslaw.com

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Time Is Money on Construction Projects and Categories of Delay

March 04, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
As we know on construction projects, the adage “time is money” always applies. It applies to contractors just as much as owners. If a project is delayed, a contractor incurs additional overhead costs known as general conditions and general requirements which are driven by time. Similarly, an owner experiences its own delay damages driven by time which can be in the form of loss of use, increased or additional financing, and increased or additional consulting (architect/engineering) costs. From an owner’s perspective, an owner’s damages are oftentimes captured in a negotiated liquidated damages clause designed to capture owner’s delay damages by liquidating the daily amount. A contractor typically would prefer liquidated damages versus the unknown and uncapped exposure of actual damages which could be astronomical depending on the project. A contract could also include a stipulated daily rate for the contractor’s delay damages (general conditions and general requirements) which a contractor may or may not want to negotiate and include. Regardless, this all stems from the adage “time is money” which means what it says to all parties on a construction project. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Florida Issues Emergency Fraud Prevention Rule to Protect Policyholders in Wake of Catastrophic Storms

November 05, 2024 — Geoffrey B. Fehling & Olivia G. Bushman - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
Last week, just before Hurricane Milton made landfall, Florida state officials issued an emergency decree to all licensed insurance adjusters in the state to protect homeowners against “unfair and deceptive acts” and “post-storm fraud” by insurance carriers. According to The Washington Post, the Florida Department of Financial Services is requiring that all claim adjusters provide an explanation for each change they make to a consumer’s loss estimate, document those changes, and retain all versions of the estimate and identify who made those revisions. When processing claims, adjusters must also use an electronic estimating system that provides an itemized report of all damage, as well as labor, materials, equipment and supplies. Those costs should be consistent with what a contractor or a repair company in that particular area would charge. “Property damage from Hurricane Milton will be catastrophic and may result in billions of dollars in property losses,” the emergency rule states. “Fair and transparent loss estimates and claims adjustments will be crucial to ensure Floridians are properly and fairly compensated under the terms of their property insurance contracts, while also ensuring ongoing insurer solvency after potentially momentous financial losses.” Reprinted courtesy of Geoffrey B. Fehling, Hunton Andrews Kurth and Olivia G. Bushman, Hunton Andrews Kurth Mr. Fehling may be contacted at gfehling@HuntonAK.com Ms. Bushman may be contacted at obushman@HuntonAK.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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