It’s that time of year again when we Americans stop and give thanks for all that has been provided to us by gathering with friends and family to gorge ourselves on food. The traditional Thanksgiving meal, at least where I am from, always includes certain core dishes: turkey, dressing, sweet potato casserole, and cranberry sauce. These staples
The Alabama Legislature recently made several changes to requirements for public works projects that go into effect September 1, 2023. Here’s a summary of the notable changes:
Section 39-1-1 mandates that a contractor performing public works furnish a performance bond equal to 100% of the contract price and a payment bond equal to
Imagine receiving an arbitration award in favor of your client. You move to confirm the award, and the award is vacated because the parties failed to mediate prior to arbitration. That is exactly what happened in Burke v. Roberson.
In December 2020, the First Court of Appeals in Houston affirmed the vacatur of an
Suppliers of construction products and materials frequently find that their products and materials are used in projects located in states where the supplier may not have an office, factory, or production facility. Some suppliers may believe that because they don’t have an office or factory in Texas, they cannot be sued in a Texas court.
As an ever-increasing amount of contract negotiation and execution is done online, new legal issues have arisen from such transactions. Consider the following scenario:
You are a general/prime contractor. You have a subcontractor’s electronic signature on an arbitration agreement. When a dispute arises with the subcontractor, you raise the arbitration agreement and attempt to submit
Even as the construction industry continues its recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also continues to focus on worker safety. Consistent with this focus, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) scheduled the eighth annual “National Safety Stand-Down to Prevent Falls in Construction” event for May 3-7, 2021.
For our friends who litigate (or arbitrate!) in Alabama, take note of this recent Alabama Supreme Court decision. Although not a construction case, this recent decision dramatically illustrates what not to do if you want to arbitrate your dispute, as is the preferred dispute resolution mechanism in many design and construction contracts. In The Health
An important update to Georgia’s statutory lien waiver laws took effect on January 1, 2021. The amendment to Georgia’s mechanic’s lien law alters the form for interim and final lien waivers. Essentially, the new statute clarifies that lien waivers only waive lien or bond rights against the property and do not waive the right to
The Alabama Supreme Court recently found that a party was in breach of an arbitration agreement for declining to pay the fee schedule set forth by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and thus lost the right to compel arbitration. This case serves as a reminder to follow the orders of arbitral institutions or risk losing
The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, one of the leading international arbitral institutions, has released revised Rules of Arbitration to take effect in January 2021. The 2021 ICC Rules contain some important updates, especially for the construction and energy sector, which constitutes approximately 40% of the ICC’s overall caseload. The 2021