A Colorado federal court will allow a contractor to prove up more than $250 million in damages using the modified total cost method (see AECOM Technical Services v. Flatiron AECOM, LLC, Case No. 19-CV-2811, 2024 WL 22640 (D. Co. Jan. 2, 2024)). The AECOM v. Flatiron case involves a Colorado DOT project to add
A Utah federal court recently held that when negotiating a pass-through settlement agreement, a contractor has a duty to disclose information to its subcontractor regarding the viability of the claims to be passed through. See Ludvik v. Vanderlande, 2023 WL 8789379 (D. Utah, Dec. 19, 2023). If it breaches that duty, the contractor may
Recently, the Oregon Court of Appeals reinstated a contractor’s mechanics lien claim notwithstanding the owner’s offer of payment because the offer was conditioned on the contractor signing a broad lien waiver that would have released other claims. See, Development Northwest, Inc. v. Zhiryada, 329 Or. App. 427 (December 6, 2023).
After completing its work, the
Back in April we examined the court’s decision in Boldt v. Black & Veatch, which dismissed a subcontractor’s counterclaim for wrongful termination on a 60-turbine wind farm project. As you may recall, the subcontractor hired to erect the turbines alleged that it was wrongfully terminated for delays that were not its fault but were
A Minnesota federal court dismissed a tunnelling contractor’s differing site condition claim because notice of the condition was given eight days after the conditions were first observed whereas the contract required notice within three days (see Engineering & Construction Innovations, Inc. v. Bradshaw Construction Corp.). The project at issue involves installation of a
A fundamental premise of contract law is that promises must be kept. If legally enforceable promises or “contracts” are not kept, courts may step in to enforce them by ordering performance, awarding damages, or granting some other form of relief. Over time, courts have developed exceptions to the general rule that promises must be kept.
A Texas court has rejected a pipeline contractor’s $25 million claim for additional costs based on broad release language include in an executed change order (see Wood Group, USA v. Targa NGL Pipeline Company, LLC, No. 01-21-00542, 2023 WL 5280249 (Tex. Ct. App. Aug. 17, 2023)). The change order at issue increased the contract
You’re in the middle of a job and the party with whom you have a contract breaks a material term of the agreement. What does the law allow you to recover? The answer is found in the law of damages. While the law of damages can vary, some general principles typically apply in most jurisdictions in the
Construction contacts often include provisions that provide for pre-determined or “liquidated” damages in the event of a breach. Such provisions can provide certainty to the parties as to the consequences of a breach and can simplify the task of proving up damages at trial. However, as one contractor found out recently, courts may refuse to
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision last week upholding an arbitral award, despite the failure of the arbitrators to make certain pertinent disclosures. The case involves an international arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) stemming from the design and construction of the Panama Canal expansion, which was “severely delayed and