At Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, they teach an Executive Education course called Negotiation Strategies upon an adage, among others, that negotiation is the art of letting the other side have it your way....more
Our clients probably spend significant time, money and effort refining and updating their contract provisions covering indemnification and the duty to defend claims arising on their projects. But they should also consider...more
Welcome to 2022! This year, the construction industry will undoubtedly reflect on the last two years as unprecedented times plagued by construction project delays. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to suspension of work and...more
Last November, Arizona’s Court of Appeals issued a memorandum decision analyzing Arizona’s Prompt Pay Act. Though the decision was not published and is not binding authority, it does guide the construction industry and...more
Settlement of a complex construction dispute at mediation can mean the end to sleepless nights for our clients. Resolution at mediation avoids the unpredictable risks and inordinate costs of seeing a dispute through to the...more
Contractors and suppliers are sometimes challenged to secure a claim for past due payment with a lien on the project, all subject to lien laws that vary throughout the United States. In Arizona, as in most states, the...more
Construction accidents are inevitable, even for clients who implement and enforce a meticulous safety plan on a project. Despite best intentions and protections afforded to contractors, employees, subcontractors, vendors and...more
In its recent Cybersecurity Strategy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defined “cyberspace” as “the independent network of information technology infrastructure, including the Internet, telecommunications...more
8/21/2018
/ Chief Information Officers (CIO) ,
Cyber Attacks ,
Cyber Insurance ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
National Security ,
Popular ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Threat Management ,
Vulnerability Assessments
Lately, we’ve been spending more time as litigators pursuing and defending claims of abandonment against contractors. It has become apparent that abandonment is often misinterpreted in its legal meaning and effect. Here are...more
Letter from the Editor -
Welcome to the final 2017 edition of our Under Construction newsletter. It is hard to believe that 2018 is right around the corner!
In this issue, we highlight several topics affecting the...more
12/11/2017
/ Commercial General Liability Policies ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
Deadlines ,
Endorsements ,
Insurance Industry ,
Liquidated Damages ,
No Damage For Delay ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Prompt Payment ,
Public Projects ,
Required Documentation ,
Wage and Hour
On August 9th, in Sirrah Enterprises, L.L.C. v. Wunderlich, the Arizona Supreme Court settled the question about recovery of attorneys’ fees after prevailing on implied warranty claims against a residential contractor. The...more
8/25/2017
/ Attorney's Fees ,
AZ Supreme Court ,
Breach of Contract ,
Breach of Warranty ,
Construction Industry ,
Contractors ,
Faulty Workmanship ,
Homeowners ,
Implied Warranties ,
Liability Insurance ,
Prevailing Party
Recently in Johnson v. Arizona Registrar of Contractors, the Arizona Court of Appeals affirmed dismissal of a homeowner’s late appeal of an adverse decision by the Registrar of Contractors (“Registrar”)...more
Yesterday, the Arizona Court of Appeals issued an interesting opinion in Hatch Development v. Solomon. Hatch illustrated two key points in real estate and construction litigation: (1) a contractor’s indemnity does not always...more
Welcome to the first edition of our Under Construction newsletter for 2016.
Indemnity laws and clauses are a big part of construction contracts. They can make or break a project. Defend and indemnify obligations have the...more
The often staggering cost of litigation has prompted an equally staggering amount of regulatory complaints against contractors in recent years. Why? Because filing a complaint against a contractor may not cost a complainant...more
Welcome to the fall edition of our Under Construction newsletter. The first article in this edition highlights the pros and cons of joint venturing on a construction project, and items to consider in preparing the joint...more
9/10/2015
/ Construction Industry ,
Contract Termination ,
Contractors ,
Cost Recovery ,
Joint Employers ,
Joint Venture ,
NLRB ,
Subcontractors ,
Suppliers ,
Termination ,
Terms and Conditions ,
Wage and Hour ,
Women-Owned Businesses
Recently, the Arizona Court of Appeals answered another lingering question of paramount importance to the construction industry – whether homebuilders and other construction industry professionals may be indefinitely subject...more
In Lee v. M and H Enterprises, Inc., — P.3d —- (decided Apr. 21, 2015), the Arizona Court of Appeals recently clarified why, in most cases, landowners and general contractors are not liable when subcontractor employees are...more
Recently, in Marco Crane & Rigging Co. v. Masaryk, 703 Ariz. Adv. Rep. 29 (Dec. 30, 2014), the Arizona Court of Appeals established that a subcontractor on a residential project has no lien rights against an owner-occupant,...more
United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132, 39 S.Ct. 59 (1918) is almost 100 years old, and it is still one of the most oft-cited cases in a construction lawyer’s playbook. In numerous contested cases, Spearin has given...more
The smoke has finally cleared in a hard and long-fought battle between a bank and contractor both claiming priority to foreclose millions of dollars on a Phoenix condominium project. The project, well-known as Summit at...more
9/2/2014
/ Banks ,
Condominiums ,
Construction Contracts ,
Contractors ,
Deed of Trust ,
Equitable Subrogation ,
Foreclosure ,
Liens ,
Mechanics Lien ,
Mortgages ,
Subcontractors ,
Subrogation
After many years of U.S. military mobilizations and overseas deployments since 2001, our clients have learned some valuable lessons about consumer rights and privileges triggered by military service. Here are some of the...more
Sweeping changes at the Registrar of Contractors have the construction and real estate industries concerned and curious. The Registrar recently received some poor performance reports by the Auditor General and State...more
For many U.S. construction businesses, the term “P3” may conjure images of “the big catch”—much discussed but rarely seen, at least not at your fishing hole. While the public-private partnership model has long been used in...more
Architects occasionally get into payment disputes with project owners in much the same way as general contractors do. When that relationship sours, and litigation becomes necessary to secure payment, architects and...more