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
On August 12, 2026, the 9th Circuit joined the D.C. Circuit in ruling that the doctrine of forum non conveniens does not apply to an action to confirm a foreign arbitral award under the New York Convention. A three-judge panel unanimously rejected the argument by award debtor, the Indian state-owned company Antrix Corp. Ltd., that
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
Companies in the construction industry face the risk of disputes every day, and defending those disputes means incurring attorneys’ fees. While companies sometimes pay those attorneys’ fees out of pocket, they may be able to trigger insurance coverage — either their own policy or that of another party on the project — to fund their
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.