Wave Breaker: How a Living Shoreline Will Protect a Florida Highway and Oyster Bed
December 23, 2024 —
Derek Lacey - Engineering News-RecordA living shoreline being constructed in the Florida Panhandle's Apalachicola Bay is protecting a critical local highway, while fostering marsh areas and oyster habitat that’s seen years of decline.
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Derek Lacey, Engineering News-RecordMr. Lacey may be contacted at
laceyd@enr.com
Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls
January 21, 2025 —
The Subrogation StrategistIn subrogation cases where the insured’s damages were caused by a defective product, the fact that the product at issue is or was subject to a recall announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) may help to establish that the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s possession and control. On January 16, 2025, the CPSC announced the following recalls related to products that present fire hazards:
- Lexmark International Recalls Specialty Printers Due to Fire Hazard. According to the CPSC’s website, “[a] metal part inside the printer can dislodge, posing a risk of fire.”
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White and Williams LLP
Owners and Contractors are Liable for Injuries Caused by their Independent Contractors under the “Peculiar Risk Doctrine”
October 15, 2024 —
William L. Porter - Porter Law GroupMany contractors and owners believe that if they hire an independent contractor to perform work and that independent contractor causes injury to others during the performance of that work, then it is the independent contractor alone who will be liable for those injuries. In most circumstances, this is correct. The owner or the contractor will not be held liable for injuries caused by his or her independent contractor. However, this is not always the case.
Under the “Peculiar Risk Doctrine” and California cases interpreting the doctrine, a contractor or owner who hires an independent contractor to do work which is considered to be “inherently dangerous work” can be still be held directly liable for damages when that independent contractor causes injury to others by negligently performing the work.
Such liability can generally be imposed on the one hiring the independent contractor under either of two branches of the peculiar risk doctrine. First, where a person hires an independent contractor to do inherently dangerous work, but fails to provide in the contract or in some other manner that special precautions must be taken to avert the peculiar risk of injury related to that work, then the one hiring the independent contractor can be held liable for injuries to others caused by the independent contractor’s negligence. (Restatement Second of Torts Section 413). For example, in Mackey v. Campbell Construction Co. 101 Cal. App. 3d 774, 162 Cal. Rptr. 64 (1980), Western Electric Company, the owner of the project, was found liable for the personal injuries of a subcontractor’s employee because Western’s representatives were on the job at all times, had doubts about the safety of scaffolding being used on the project, yet failed to require use of precautions that could have been taken to avoid injury.
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William L. Porter, Porter Law GroupMr. Porter may be contacted at
bporter@porterlaw.com
Top 10 Take-Aways from the 2024 Fall Forum Meeting in Pittsburgh
December 03, 2024 —
Marissa L. Downs - The Dispute ResolverOver 500 construction law attorneys and consultants convened last week at the confluence of three rivers in what became the first-ever meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of the ABA Forum on Construction Law. The Steel City was a fitting backdrop for a meeting focused on issues of design in construction. Thanks to the hard work of many, most notably the newly minted Forum Chair Keith Bergeron and Meeting Coordinators Kendall Woods and Michael Clark, the meeting's attendees brought home new connections and a host of new lessons learned. Read on for my top 10 take-aways from the 2024 Fall Meeting in Pittsburgh and feel free to share yours in the comments below.
10. An architect's standard of care does not require perfection. A common refrain across many of the meeting's plenary sessions was that any design that is produced by human hands will never be perfect. In recognition of our own fallibility, the legal standard to which design professionals will be held to account does not require that their designs be error-free. A design professional must generally exercise the degree of care and skill ordinarily exercised by professionals performing similar services under similar circumstances. Establishing what that means in each locality will vary and will most likely need to be supported by the expert opinion of another practicing design professional.
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Marissa L. Downs, Laurie & Brennan, LLPMs. Downs may be contacted at
mdowns@lauriebrennan.com
Court Retained Jurisdiction to Enforce Settlement Under Code of Civil Procedure Section 664.6 Despite Dismissal of Complaint
October 21, 2024 —
Garret Murai - California Construction Law BlogAttorneys will commonly add a Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provision in their settlement agreements to ensure that courts have continuing jurisdiction to enforce the terms of a settlement, as opposed to having to file a new complaint in the event of a breach of a settlement agreement.
Oral settlements before a trial court are also enforceable under Section 664.6, but as discussed in Eagle Fire and Water Restoration, Inc. v. City of Danuba, Case No. F086052 (May 30, 2024), in cases involving a complaint and multiple cross-complaints, questions can arise as to whether a trial court has in fact retained jurisdiction under Section 664.6 to enforce an oral settlement and even what the terms of the settlement were.
The Eagle Fire Case
Eagle Fire and Water Restoration, Inc. was hired by the City of Dinuba to reroof the City’s police station and courthouse building. The contract was for approximately $500,000. Before completion of the project, a rainstorm caused significant water damage to the interior of the building. The City incurred over $330,000 in clean-up and repair costs and withheld approximately $319,000 from Eagle as an offset.
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Garret Murai, Nomos LLPMr. Murai may be contacted at
gmurai@nomosllp.com
Why Should Businesses Seek Legal Help Early On?
December 03, 2024 —
Scott L. Baker - Los Angeles Litigation BlogMost business owners are natural problem solvers. They assess the issue that lies before them and develop a strategy to overcome it. It’s a critical mindset to have, but do all business owners have the skillset to solve every issue?
While it is understandable that business owners may want to attempt to resolve issues on their own, it is invariably beneficial to obtain guidance for legal issues earlier rather than later.
3 Reasons to Consult an Attorney Sooner than Later
Many people might consider working with an attorney to be a last resort. Typically, this is not the case; rather, getting knowledgeable legal counsel sooner than later can help business owners because:
- It’s Cheaper: Early legal intervention can often prevent disputes from leading to litigation, which can be expensive. Working with an attorney to resolve a conflict before it escalates into a larger issue is often a good business decision and wise investment.
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Scott L. Baker, Baker & AssociatesMr. Baker may be contacted at
slb@bakerslaw.com
Los Angeles Is Burning. But California’s Insurance Industry Is Not About to Collapse.
January 14, 2025 —
Jerry Theodorou - R StreetFive fires are
raging in the Los Angeles outskirts currently – the Palisades Fire, the Eaton Fire, the Lidia Fire, the Sunset Fire, and the Hurst Fire. They have been stoked by a trifecta of 100 mph wind gusts, elevated heat, and bone-dry grass and shrubs serving as tinder. The severity of the fires has raised questions about the role of climate change in the conflagrations and insurers’ claims-paying capacity. But while we recognize the immensity of the hardship and tragedy to many Angelenos from the fires, we also must recognize that California’s insurance industry is not about to collapse.
Many have ignored or missed
recent reforms to California insurance regulation that are poised to make the private market more sustainable, and help stem an exodus of insurers from the Golden State.
Whether the intensity of wildfires is exacerbated by climate change is an open question. An R Street
study found that natural catastrophes have increased in severity, but not in frequency. And the main reason catastrophe severity has risen is an increase in the built environment – there is simply more stuff now to be destroyed.
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Jerry Theodorou, R StreetMr. Theodorou may be contacted at
jtheodorou@rstreet.org
Dozens Missing in LA as High Winds Threaten to Spark More Fires
January 14, 2025 —
Laura Curtis & Brian K Sullivan - BloombergHot, dry winds are pummeling Los Angeles and surrounding areas of Southern California, raising wildfire risks through at least Wednesday as the region reels from blazes that have killed at least 24 people and burned neighborhoods to the ground.
Tropical-storm-strength winds were raking the mountains around LA on Tuesday, with gusts reaching 60 miles (97 kilometers) per hour. About 2 million people face extreme fire conditions across a swath of land that includes Oxnard, Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley, according to the US Storm Prediction Center. Red-flag fire warnings extend south to San Diego.
Reprinted courtesy of
Laura Curtis, Bloomberg and
Brian K Sullivan, Bloomberg Read the full story...