STANDING SEAM ROOF EXPERT WITNESS CONTRACTING EXPERT WITNESS BUILT UP ROOFING EXPERT WITNESS FORT YUKON ALASKA ALASKA ALASKA ALASKA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

There is No Presumptive Resumption!

January 21, 2025 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
A Louisiana school board filed suit in court in 2018 on a construction project but was rebuffed based upon arguments by the general contractor and surety defendants. Those defendants asserted that the court filings were premature, based upon an arbitration clause in the general contract. The trial court agreed and stayed the litigation, “pending completion of arbitration.” Arbitration was never filed. Interestingly, within the arbitration clause, the following language existed: “For statute of limitations purposes, receipt of written demand for arbitration shall constitute the institution of legal or equitable proceedings based upon the Claim.” Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

---

AEC Business Is a Top 25 Podcast in Construction Tech

April 15, 2025 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Great news! I’m excited to share that the AEC Business podcast has been named one of Feedspot’s Top 25 Construction Technology Podcasts to follow in 2025. Since its launch in 2012, the AEC Business podcast has been about bringing you the latest and greatest in construction innovation and technology. Hosted by me, Aarni Heiskanen, a Finnish construction innovation agent recognized as a Top 100 influencer in construction, we’ve had the pleasure of chatting with a wide range of guests. From industry pioneers to up-and-coming tech entrepreneurs, they’ve shared their insights and experiences with our audience. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business

---

Significant Increase in Colorado Tort Damages Caps Now in Effect Under Recent Legislation

January 28, 2025 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP
Colorado’s recently enacted legislation (HB 24-1472), which significantly increases damages caps for tort actions, is now in effect. Given the legislation’s January 1, 2025, effective date, an early-2025 increase in new filings is anticipated for cases that otherwise could have been filed in 2024. The increases include:

• For noneconomic damages in tort actions (other than against medical professionals), more than double the previous cap to $1.5 million (with future inflation adjustment).[1]
• In wrongful death actions (other than against medical professionals), a greater than threefold increase from the previous limit to $2.125 million (with future inflation adjustment).[2]
• In medical professional actions for wrongful death, a 50% increase from the previous overall cap to $1.575 million in 2029 (with future inflation adjustment). For injury claims, more than double the previous cap for noneconomic damages to $875,000 in 2029 (with future inflation adjustment).[3]

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP

---

Building Bold and Sustainable: A Talk with James O’Callaghan

May 06, 2025 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
James O’Callaghan, the co-founder of Eckersley O’Callaghan, is widely regarded as a leading pioneer in structural glass. More recently, he has been crucial in designing the world’s tallest hybrid timber building: the Atlassian Tower in Sydney. Ahead of his keynote at the Nordic Facade Forum 2025 in Helsinki, I had the pleasure of sitting down with James to explore the ideas that continue to reshape the built environment. A Career Built on Curiosity James’s journey as a structural engineer has been anything but conventional. While trained, he quickly developed a deep appreciation for architecture and innovative use of materials, particularly structural glass. “Transparent structures highlight bad details quite well,” James noted with a smile. His attention to detailing has become part of the DNA of Eckersley O’Callaghan’s culture. Good detailing makes architecture. And that curiosity about detail, rigor, and materials underpins the company’s practice and his professorship at the Technical University of Delft. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business

---

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

---

"Over? Did You Say 'Over'?" Determining the Preclusive Effect of an Earlier Arbitration Award

March 11, 2025 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
In Nat’l Cas. Co. v. Cont’l Ins. Co., 2024 U.S. App. LEXIS 29826 (7th Cir. Nov. 22, 2024), the United States Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that under the Federal Arbitration Act, an arbitrator – and not a court – is to determine the preclusive effect of an arbitrator’s earlier ruling. In the case, insurers engaged in three reinsurance agreements had previously arbitrated concerning one of the insurer’s billing methodologies. When a similar dispute occurred years later, the victors in the first arbitration – rather than pursuing arbitration – filed in federal court in Chicago seeking to have the court declare that the prior arbitration award precluded re-arbitration of the latest dispute. The insurer on the other side of the dispute moved to compel arbitration, a motion granted by the district court. The plaintiff insurers appealed. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

---

Construction Professionals Could Face More Liability Exposure Following California Appellate Ruling

December 17, 2024 — Jamison Rayfield & Brian Slome - Lewis Brisbois
San Diego/San Francisco, Calif. - The California Court of Appeal recently reversed a summary judgment ruling in favor of a geotechnical engineering firm that had conducted a brief inspection of a residential construction project's footing trench for $360. The case arose when homeowner Cheryl Lynch experienced significant property damage after her home's foundation failed and the structure began subsiding into a slope. Lynch sued Peter & Associates for professional negligence and nuisance, despite having no direct contractual relationship with the firm, which had been hired by her contractor to perform the geotechnical inspection. The court distinguished this case from Bily v. Arthur Young & Co. (1992) 3 Cal.4th 370, which had limited auditors' professional duty to third parties, noting that Bily dealt with purely economic damages, whereas Lynch involved physical property damage, making Bily's policy concerns about unlimited liability inapplicable. The court emphasized that construction professional negligence cases, particularly those involving residential property damage, warrant a different analysis than cases involving economic loss. Reprinted courtesy of Jamison Rayfield, Lewis Brisbois and Brian Slome, Lewis Brisbois Mr. Rayfield may be contacted at Jamison.Rayfield@lewisbrisbois.com Mr. Slome may be contacted at Brian.Slome@lewisbrisbois.com Read the full story...

---

Staying Single?

April 08, 2025 — Daniel Lund III - Lexology
A recent decision by the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals underscores the real concern regarding the proverbial “empty chair” in arbitrations: when parties tangentially or even directly involved in the circumstances of a claim cannot be compelled to arbitrate in a single arbitration. The case involved multiple parties and a series of arbitrations that resulted in conflicting awards. The arbitration provision at issue incorporated the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Commercial Arbitration Rules (although the arbitrations were not administered by the AAA, per the agreement among the parties), which was pivotal in delegating significant questions to the arbitrators. In part, the appellate court addressed the enforceability of a contractually imposed four-month deadline to complete arbitration and the permissibility of simultaneous arbitrations, both of which were questions adjudged to have been delegated to the arbitrators. The arbitrators deemed the deadline “unconscionable” and also allowed multiple arbitration proceedings, demonstrating the broad discretion arbitrators possess under such agreements. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

---