How To Be A Project Advocate By Diffusing Adjacent Neighbor Tensions
The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (“Ninth Circuit”) addressed in an April 17th Opinion a challenge to a Berkeley, California, building code provision that prohibited the installation of natural gas...more
Under California law, receivers can be appointed for many purposes. Sometimes a “general equity” receiver is appointed to take control of a business entity and its assets where the decision-makers are deadlocked in...more
North Carolina has seen an increase in the need for building repair services following the damage caused by recent hurricanes, including Florence in 2018 and Dorian in 2019....more
In California, lien priority is usually resolved by a straightforward examination of the time of creation or recordation with the County Recorder, which gives “constructive notice” of the lien to the world. But some liens...more
Builders, developers and property owners are often cited for zoning violations that become the subject of criminal enforcement proceedings in court (i.e. appearance tickets). Certainly, a party can have the court decide the...more
Under California’s State Housing Law (Health and Safety Code sections 17910-17998.3), if an apartment building owner fails to comply with a notice to repair or abate building standard violations issued by an enforcement...more
At-will employment is the normal employer-employee relationship in South Carolina. In 2004, the state legislature passed a law stating that handbooks that took certain reasonable steps did not create a contractual exception...more
The law has many terms for the word “fairness,” including due process, good faith, neutral and unbiased. And among the basic principles of fairness, the Latin maxim “nemo debet esse judex in propria causa” stands out. It...more
Week to week we blog about recent developments in the land use arena, which typically arise in the civil context. This week, we thought a recent “criminal” case decided by the Supreme Court, Appellate Term, Second...more
Does the efficient proximate cause rule serve to afford coverage for the additional costs to rebuild the foundation of a home in compliance with changed building code requirements beyond the sublimit of liability of an...more
In Downey v. Chutehall Construction Co. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-001-16), the Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled a contractor can be liable for violating building codes despite the fact that the party suing it directed the...more
Appellate Court Advance Release Opinions: Released after 11:30 a.m. AC36320 - Valencis v. Nyberg - This decision upheld the granting of a PJR for ~ $1.5 million in favor of the plaintiff property owner when the...more
Supreme Court Advance Release Opinions: SC19229 - Michael T. v. Commissioner of Correction - Normally I do not summarize criminal matters due to time constraints. Recently Justice McDonald noted that it was a shame...more