A Florida federal judge has found architectural firm HKS liable for providing defective structural designs from its engineering subconsultant on a hospital project in Florida. The case involves expansion of an existing hospital in Lake Mary, Florida. The owner, Orlando Health, hired HKS as its architect, who in turn hired BBM Structural Engineers for the structural design.
In construction contracts, proposals, drawings, studies, etc. are often incorporated by reference. A Nebraska federal court recently addressed what language is sufficient to accomplish such incorporation. In Cleaver Brooks Co. v. B&K Mechanical Contractors, LLC, No. 4:23-CV-3243, 2026 WL 2254434 (D. Neb. Aug. 5, 2026), the court rejected an argument that a subcontract’s reference
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the White House Ballroom project can proceed, at least for now. As you may recall from our prior post, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals had enjoined the project on separation of powers ground because the constitution gives Congress exclusive authority to make improvements to federal property.
In our companion post, we looked at the quirks that make Virginia’s mechanic’s lien law unique. A link to that post is here. Just across the Potomac, Maryland’s version of the same tool is built on a completely different foundation. If you build, renovate, or supply materials on a Maryland project — or own
Many construction contracts these days include an arbitration provision. Those provisions generally provide that disputes between the parties will be resolved through private arbitration rather than litigation in the public court system. As with other contractual rights, the right to invoke arbitration is waivable. Waiver may be accomplished expressly or implicitly.
Legendary jurist Frank Easterbrook
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit has affirmed the jury verdict and judgment in favor of engineering firm AECOM Technical Services in its long-running dispute with the Flatiron-AECOM joint venture (JV). The case involves construction of 12.5 miles of express lanes on State Highway C-470 just south of Denver, Colorado. AECOM brought suit to
The most visible construction project in America is back in the news with a federal appeals court affirming a preliminary injunction against above-ground construction on the new ballroom at the White House. The court found that the president had exceeded his authority by starting construction on public property without the necessary funding and approval from
Every state gives contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers some form of lien right when they aren’t paid for work that improves real property. But Virginia’s version of this tool stands out from most other states in several important ways. If you do construction work in the Commonwealth — or own property that’s being built or renovated
A federal judge in Houston has struck down the race-based aspects of two local contracting programs intended to remedy past discrimination as unconstitutional. The City of Houston’s program set goals for the percentage of contracts awarded to minority-owned businesses and allowed departments to impose contract-specific percentage requirements on non-minority-owned businesses. Non-minority-owned businesses were required to meet
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit recently affirmed a decision of the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) denying a contractor’s differing site condition claim on a flood control project along the Trapp Canal in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana. Hamp’s Construction LLC v. Secretary of the Army, No. 2024-1528 (Fed. Cir.