A recent decision from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida demonstrates how facts supported by documents generated during the project can be vital to prime contractor/subcontractor disputes. In Berkley Ins. Co. v. Suffolk Constr. Co., No. 19-23059-CV, 2024 WL 3631226 (S.D. Fla. July 22, 2024), following a two-week bench trial
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
On June 18, 2024, Treasury and the IRS released the final rule for compliance with the prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (PWA requirements) pursuant to the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA). This final rule is scheduled to be formally published on June 25, 2024.
The final rule includes important affirmations and clarifications of the
Construction contracts for private projects will soon be subject to a new retainage law in Mississippi. On April 19, 2024, Gov. Tate Reeves approved SB 2762 into law, and after July 1, 2024, most construction contracts on projects in Mississippi will comply with a set of retainage laws similar to those that have governed public
In an unpublished opinion, a California appeals court has upheld a subcontractor’s mechanics lien claim despite the subcontractor’s failure to strictly follow the procedural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
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
A California federal court ruled last week that a surety can enforce an arbitration clause in a contract to which it is not a party. The dispute involves performance and payment bond claims brought by solar contractor Swinerton Builders, Inc. Swinerton brought the claims in California federal court against Argonaut Insurance, the surety of a
I have practiced law for 40 years, with the vast majority spent as a “construction lawyer.” I have seen great… and bad… construction lawyering, both when on the other side of a dispute, as well as when serving well over 300 times as a mediator or arbitrator in construction disputes. To be clear, I have
The words breach and default are often used interchangeably to indicate that somebody hasn’t done what they were legally required to do. According to Black’s Law Dictionary, the words do appear somewhat interchangeable. Black’s defines breach as “a violation or infraction of a law, obligation, or agreement, especially of an official duty or a legal
In the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) appeal of McCarthy HITT – Next NGA West JV, ASBCA No. 63571, 2023 WL 9179193 (Dec. 20, 2023), a contractor brought suit for a collection of COVID-19-related claims on behalf of three of its subcontractors. The government moved to dismiss, arguing the subcontractors’ appeal failed