Procedural Matters Matter!
December 10, 2024 —
Suzanne M. Nicholson - Wilke FleuryAs an appellate practitioner, I am keenly aware that sometimes, a procedural matter can doom what would otherwise be a meritorious issue for appeal. Trial attorneys are well-advised to check and double-check procedural rules and case law governing the issues in their cases. Here’s a few recent developments to be aware of.
The record on appeal: electronic recordings now available in Santa Clara County.
It should not be news to anyone that it is the appellant’s burden to produce an adequate record for appeal. That includes not just the written submissions to the trial court, but also reporter’s transcripts of all proceedings that could have a substantive impact on your case. If you do not have a court reporter present for your hearing, you will be struck trying your best to get an agreed statement or a settled statement should the case go up on appeal. Believe me, that can be a serious challenge. Any omissions or deficiencies are going to result in presumptions made against the appellant.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Suzanne M. Nicholson, Wilke FleuryMs. Nicholson may be contacted at
snicholson@wilkefleury.com
Meet BWB&O’s 2025 Best Lawyers in America!
September 09, 2024 —
Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLPBremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is proud to announce Partners
Nicole Whyte,
Keith Bremer,
Vik Nagpal,
John O’Meara,
Sheila Stiles,
Patrick Au, and
Nicole Schmidt have been selected by their peers for inclusion in the 31st edition of The Best Lawyers in America, and Partner
Devin Gifford, and Associates
Melissa Youngpeter,
Ryan Flanagan, and
Alexandria Zeis are included in the fifth edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America. Each person is being recognized for their diligent work in the areas of Family Law, Construction, Commercial, Personal Injury, and Real Estate Litigation.
Reprinted courtesy of
Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
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Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC Recognized Among The Top 50 Construction Law Firms TM of 2024 by Construction Executive
July 15, 2024 —
Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLCACS is proud to announce that it has once again been ranked among The Top 50 Construction Law Firms in the Construction Executive 2023 rankings.
Since its first publication in 2003, Construction Executive magazine has served as the leading source for news, market developments, and business issues impacting the construction industry, and its articles are designed to help owners and top managers run a more profitable and productive construction business.
Construction Executive established the rankings by asking over 600 hundred U.S. construction law firms to complete a survey. Constructive Executive’s data collection includes: 2023 revenues from the firm’s construction practice, the number of attorneys in the firm’s construction practice, percentage of the firm’s total revenues derived from its construction practice, the number of states in which the firm is licensed to practice, the year in which the construction practice was established, and the number of construction industry clients served during the fiscal year 2023.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Ahlers Cressman & Sleight PLLC
EEOC Focuses on Eliminating Harassment, Recruitment and Hiring Barriers in the Construction Industry
September 09, 2024 —
Aaron C. Schlesinger & Stephen E. Irving - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.The
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), whose mission is to enforce the nation’s anti-discrimination laws, released new guidelines on June 18, 2024, entitled
Promising Practices for Preventing Harassment in the Construction Industry. The guidelines are in support of its Strategic Enforcement Plan for the fiscal years 2024-2028 for combatting systemic harassment and eliminating barriers in recruitment and hiring in the construction industry. With these guidelines, the EEOC has identified harassment as an ongoing issue in the construction industry, and that immediate attention and resolution is required.
The EEOC specifically recommends that the following five core principles that it has found effective in preventing and addressing harassment be implemented by construction industry employers:
- Committed and engaged leadership;
- Consistent and demonstrated accountability;
- Strong and comprehensive harassment policies;
- Trusted and accessible complaint procedures; and
- Regular, interactive training tailored to the audience and the organization.
Reprinted courtesy of
Aaron C. Schlesinger, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and
Stephen E. Irving, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Schlesinger may be contacted at aschlesinger@pecklaw.com
Mr. Irving may be contacted at sirving@pecklaw.com
Read the full story...
Civil Engineers: Montana's Infrastructure Grade Declines to a 'C-'
December 23, 2024 —
American Society of Civil EngineersHelena, MT — The Montana Section of the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) today released the
2024 Report Card for Montana's Infrastructure, assigning 14 categories of infrastructure a cumulative grade of 'C-', which is on par with the national average from the
2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. This is a one-notch decrease from the 'C' grade Montana received in its last report in 2018, citing increasingly severe weather events putting strain on aging and underfunded assets, and one of the fastest growing populations requiring expansions of transportation, water and energy infrastructure.
The report includes the first-ever chapter on Montana's broadband infrastructure, assigning an 'I' grade for 'incomplete' due to a lack of sufficient condition data; however, the chapter does note that 71% of Montana residents have access to adequate broadband service, and the IIJA provided nearly $630 million to expand this access across the state.
ABOUT THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS
Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 160,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. ASCE works to raise awareness of the need to maintain and modernize the nation's infrastructure using sustainable and resilient practices, advocates for increasing and optimizing investment in infrastructure, and improve engineering knowledge and competency. For more information, visit www.asce.org or www.infrastructurereportcard.org and follow us on Twitter, @ASCETweets and @ASCEGovRel.
Second Circuit Affirms Win for General Contractor on No Damages for Delay Provision
September 02, 2024 —
Bill Wilson - Construction Law ZoneIn NASDI, LLC v. Skanska Koch Inc. Kiewit Infrastructure Co. (JV), 2024 WL 1270188 (2d Cir. Mar. 26, 2024), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the District Court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing a subcontractor’s delay claim against a general contractor on a public project in New York state. The Court enforced a typical no-damages-for-delay provision to bar the subcontractor’s breach of contract claim. The no-damages-for-delay provision in the subcontract at issue provided:
NO DAMAGE FOR DELAY. Except as otherwise provided …, Subcontractor agrees that it shall have no Claim against Contractor for any loss or damage it may sustain through delay, disruption, suspension, stoppage, interference, interruption, compression, or acceleration of Subcontractor’s Work (‘Delay Damages’) caused or directed by Contractor for any reason, and that all such Claims shall be fully compensated for by Contractor’s granting Subcontractor such time extensions as it is entitled to as a result of any of the foregoing.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Bill Wilson, Robinson & Cole LLPMr. Wilson may be contacted at
wwilson@rc.com
‘The Ground Just Gave Out’: How a Storm’s Fury Ravaged Asheville
October 07, 2024 —
Michael Smith, Devon Pendleton, Claire Ballentine & Michael Sasso - BloombergEric 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...
OSHA Finalizes PPE Fitting Requirement for Construction Workers
December 31, 2024 —
Jonathan H. Schaefer - Construction Law ZoneOn December 11, 2024, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it finalized a revision to the personal protective equipment (PPE) standard for the construction industry. The
final rule adds specific language to the existing standard requiring employers to provide properly fitting PPE for construction industry workers. This change aligns the construction industry with the standards in place for the general industry.
According to OSHA, many types of PPE must properly fit workers. Improperly sized PPE can ineffectively protect workers, creating new hazards for them, such as oversized gloves or protective clothing being caught in machinery and discouraging use because of discomfort or poor fit. OSHA stated that the longstanding issue with improperly fitting PPE particularly impacted women, as well as physically smaller or larger workers.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Jonathan H. Schaefer, Robinson+ColeMr. Schaefer may be contacted at
jschaefer@rc.com
