Cambridge Massachusetts Construction Expert Witness Directory

Big News for “Smaller” Construction Cases

July 22, 2025 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
As a Virginia construction attorney and solo practitioner, I represent many clients that have construction claims that cover the spectrum from $20,000 (and possibly less) to somewhere in the millions. Back in 2011, the Virginia General Assembly updated the General District Court (the court “not of record” that takes less time and costs less in litigation costs) jurisdictional limit from $15,000 to $25,000. Back then, this was a welcome change and also seemed like enough. These days, between inflation and the general cost of living, I run into a number of cases that are in the $30,000 to $40,000 range that back in 2015 or so may have been in the $20,000 range. Such cases always started a debate between lawyer and construction client as to whether it was worth the additional fees and litigation costs to chase the extra $5,000 to $10,000 in Circuit Court or simply forgo it and use the General District Courts knowing that the limit on recovery would be capped at the $25,000. Such a “Hobson’s Choice” should not have been required, but the rules were the rules. Luckily, the General Assembly actually did something helpful for the legal system and for both access to justice generally and for the ability to efficiently prosecute legitimate claims that were there at the margins. As of July 1, 2025, the new jurisdictional limit for claims in General District Court will be $50,000. Senate Bill 1291 passed and was signed by Governor Youngkin so there is come cause to celebrate for those subcontractors and general contractors that have legitimate and larger claims that previously would have been subject to that marginal gain discussion I describer previously in this post. This is a general limit increase for all claims where before the $50,000 limit had only been increased for personal injury claims. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Mechanic’s Liens and Contracts: A Roundup

October 06, 2025 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Musings thought that it would step away from its discussion of “green” construction to discuss a few interesting construction cases that came down recently in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The first of these is another warning to contractors that arbitration provisions can be waived by conduct. In Shoosmith Bros., Inc. v. Hopewell Nursing Home, the Hopewell Circuit Court of Virginia found that Kenbridge Construction Company’s waived its right to arbitration by its use of the Courts for a substantial period of time and its use of the discovery “machinery” of the Court. In short, if you want to enforce an arbitration clause, do it early to avoid an argument that you have waived arbitration. The second case is in relation to mechanic’s liens. I find this one interesting because the Court actually refused to invalidate a lien for a minor inaccuracy in the description of the work performed. In B.P. Realty LP v. Urban Eng'g Associates, Inc. et. al., the Fairfax, Virginia Circuit Court refused to invalidate a lien because the engineering firm and defendant in the case failed to include the word “surveying” in its description of the work. The court held that this is an excusable inaccuracy. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Law Office of Christopher G. Hill, PC
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Bronx Public Housing Tower Partially Collapses

October 06, 2025 — Associated Press - Bloomberg
NEW YORK (AP) - A massive brick chimney running 20 stories up the side of a New York City apartment building collapsed after an explosion Wednesday, sending tons of debris plummeting to the ground. The falling bricks buried a sidewalk, landed on the playground of the public housing building and sent a cloud of dust billowing over the block in the Bronx, but amazingly did not injure anyone. “We avoided a major disaster here,” said Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson at a news conference. Mayor Eric Adams confirmed no injuries or deaths were reported in the collapse of the chimney, which rose up the side of the building from the boiler room. Authorities learned of an explosion just after 8 a.m. and were trying to determine if there had been a gas leak. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bloomberg

Green Cement? You Bet!

August 05, 2025 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
For this week’s Guest Post Friday, Musings has the privilege of a post from Kelly McGinnis of the Portland Cement Association. As PCA’s Program Coordinator of Sustainable Development Ms. McGinnis is responsible for several green outreach and education programs for the design and construction community. Additionally, she oversees content development for www.ConcreteThinker.com and its companion sustainably-focused e-newsletter. Ms. McGinnis is a member of the Chicago Chapter USGBC and serves on its Education and Research Committee. She has more than 6 years experience in the environmental sciences and has a Bachelors degree in Environmental Science and Ecology from Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash. Follow the Portland Cement Association on Twitter @concretethinker. The cement industry is aware of the environmental impacts of cement manufacturing and continues to work toward reducing those impacts. Because of environmental concerns, some dismiss cement products as sustainable building materials. These naysayers, however, are missing the ability of concrete building systems to actually negate the initial impact of cement manufacturing through concrete’s incredible durability and the long-term energy efficiency it provides. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Mountain States Super Lawyers Recognizes 19 Nevada Snell & Wilmer Attorneys in 2025 Rankings

October 13, 2025 — Snell & Wilmer
LAS VEGAS and RENO-TAHOE - Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 19 attorneys from its Nevada offices have been named to the 2025 edition of Mountain States Super Lawyers. Among those honored, 13 attorneys earned recognition on the Rising Stars list. Super Lawyers highlights attorneys across more than 70 practice areas who have achieved significant professional accomplishments and earned the respect of their peers. Selection is determined through a rigorous, multi-step process involving independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. The publication, first released in 1991 by Law & Politics and later acquired by Thomson Reuters in 2010, continues to be a trusted resource for identifying distinguished attorneys. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

Construction and Green Building Roundup

July 28, 2025 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Over the past week or so, several great pieces have been written across the web relating to green building and other construction industry related topics. Without re-hashing the great analysis found in those articles, I thought that it would be helpful to point them out. On the green building front, the International Green Construction Code or IGCC (2.0) was introduced at Green Build to much debate and acclaim. As pointed out by my friend and fellow LEED AP construction attorney, Doug Reiser (@douglasreiser) in his Builder’s Counsel Blog, several states and municipalities have adopted this construction code. Whether you agree or disagree with this move, it is time to get educated on this development and how it could affect your business going forward. To do so, check out the webinar and audio at Chris Cheatham’s (@chrischeatham) Green Building Law Update for some great analysis. Chris also has a series of articles analyzing the IGCC that are worth a read. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

ABA’s False Claims in Construction Contracts, 2nd Edition

August 18, 2025 — Michael A. Branca, Patrick J. Greene, Jr. & Abby Bello Salinas - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Michael Branca, Co-Managing Partner of P&A’s Washington D.C. office, Abby Bello Salinas, Associate, and Patrick Greene, Jr., Of Counsel, have co-authored chapters in the American Bar Association (ABA)’s False Claims in Construction Contracts, 2nd Edition book. Patrick co-authored Chapter 3, “Elements of a False Claims Act Violation”. The chapter discusses:

Direct False Claims Act Liability
Fraudulent Inducement Liability
“Reverse” False Claims Liability

Michael and Abby wrote Chapter 12, “Corporate Compliance and Ethics Programs for Construction Enterprises”. The chapter discusses:

What Is “Compliance”?
Why Should Construction Contractors Be Concerned?
Federal Laws That Punish Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Reprinted courtesy of Michael A. Branca, Peckar & Abramson, P.C., Patrick J. Greene, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Abby Bello Salinas, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Branca may be contacted at mbranca@pecklaw.com Mr. Greene may be contacted at pgreene@pecklaw.com Ms. Salinas may be contacted at asalinas@pecklaw.com Read the full story...

Are You Overpromising on Your Construction Contracts? Here's How to Build With Transparency

July 28, 2025 — Michael Pink - Construction Executive
We’ve all done it at one time or another--overpromising on the completion date of finishing a project, a report, a chore, virtually any type of commitment you can name. The reasons are almost limitless: starting too late, wanting to impress someone or appease their anger, or simply not caring. Overpromising is a pervasive challenge in the construction industry, leading to project delays, cost overruns and strained relationships between contractors and clients. Further, it can lead to quality issues as contractors look for ways to make up time in an effort to get the schedule back on track. Reprinted courtesy of Michael Pink, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

CAMBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES