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
An Idaho court has confirmed an arbitration award for a general contractor who left a project and did not return after being told by the owner to “get the f*** off my site.” The case involves the construction of five buildings within 200 days. Dissatisfied with the contractor’s progress, the owner sent written notices demanding
All breaches are not created equal. A minor, technical breach may be deemed “immaterial.” Other breaches – so-called “material” breaches — deprive the non-breaching party of something important or essential to the purpose of the contract. Whether a breach is material or immaterial is normally a question for the finder of fact. The answer determines what remedy
Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed an international arbitration award in a case involving a failed hydroelectric project in Guatemala. The project involved an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction agreement (EPC contract) to build a new hydroelectric power plant on the Ocbolay River in Guatemala. The owner terminated the EPC contract for convenience
The court in AECOM v. Flatiron was back at it last week with rulings on the parties’ post-trial motions. As you may recall, the case was tried to a jury earlier this year. The jury returned a verdict for AECOM in the amount of $5 million. Flatiron’s modified total cost counterclaim in the amount of
The Federal Court of Claims recently ruled in favor of the operator of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in its long-running dispute with the United States over the disposal of spent nuclear fuel (NorthStar Vermont Yankee, LLC v. United States, No. 18-1209C, 2024 WL 3563239 (Fed. Cl. July 29, 2024)). Pursuant to a statutory
Construction law is largely a matter of contract law. Yes, there are federal and state statutes that deal with construction issues and, yes, construction cases sometimes involve tort claims, but more often than not, construction disputes revolve around the parties’ contract. What constitutes the parties’ contract is frequently undisputed. As one developer learned last week, that is
In an unpublished opinion, a California appeals court has upheld a subcontractor’s mechanics lien claim despite the subcontractor’s failure to strictly follow the procedural requirements set forth in the mechanics lien statute (see Ram Concrete v. Montecito, 2024 WL 1879352 (Cal. Ct. Appeal)). In Ram Concrete, the trial court entered judgment for the
We previously blogged about the hotly contested dispute between AECOM and FlatIron involving the I-70 construction project outside of Denver. After an 18-day trial, the jury returned a verdict last month for plaintiff AECOM on its breach of contract claim. Interestingly, the size of the jury’s verdict, roughly $5 million, was consistent with FlatIron’s attempted
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently applied a no-damages-for-delay provision to affirm the dismissal of a demolition contractor’s breach of contract claims. The project involved reconstructing and raising the Bayonne Bridge between Staten Island and New Jersey. The Port Authority awarded the general contract on the $1.29 billion project to the joint venture Skanska