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Construction Law

Construction Attorney Blog

A construction law blog for architects, attorneys and contractors.

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Last Entry: June 13, 2013 at 12:49:23

Supreme Court Narrows Review of Arbitration Award

Posted on June 13, 2013
On June 10, 2013, the Supreme Court in Oxford Health Plans v. Sutter, declined to overturn an arbitrator's decision to permit class arbitration. Various commentators have written about this decision, including this one at the International Institute for Conflict Prevention...

New Video Discusses Reliance on Owner-Furnished Information by Architects

Posted on June 12, 2013
We have posted a new video in which James Zahn discusses whether architects should be able to rely on owner-furnished information. To subscribe to our channel, at SaboZahn, just click on this link.

Video: How to Register an Architectural Copyright

Posted on May 30, 2013
The United States Copyright Office now allows for on-line registration of copyrights. Design professionals can register their creations (typically, their drawings) through that site. Sabo & Zahn has created a video in three parts that walks you through the process:...

New Video Discusses Negotiating Basic and Additional Services for Owner/Architect Agreements

Posted on May 28, 2013
James Zahn discusses the negotiati0n of basic and additional services for architects in their agreements with owners:

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New Video Discusses Letter Agreements

Posted on May 17, 2013
Sabo & Zahn is proud to announce the creation of a new Youtube channel that will have videos of interest to anyone associated with the construction industry. The first of these features James Zahn discussing whether architects should use letter...

Architect's Consent to Assigment

Posted on May 13, 2013
Today?s financial institutions are very concerned about potential defaults by their borrowers during the design and construction phases of projects for which the bank is providing financing. They worry that the borrower may default midway through the design or construction...

Florida Passes Law Allowing Design Professionals to Limit Liability by Contract

Posted on May 07, 2013
Florida recently enacted litigation (SB 286, approved by Governor on 4/24/13) that allows design professionals, including architects, interior designers, landscape architects, engineers, and surveyors to contractually limit the liability of individual professionals so long as certain requirements are met: A...

Do it Yourself Mechanics Liens Not a Good Idea

Posted on May 06, 2013
View Shawn Goodman's article in the Spring, 2013, edition of Licensed Architect.

Repair to Retaining Wall is not an Improvement to Real Property

Posted on May 02, 2013
A recent Illinois appellate case, Schott v. Halloran Construction Co, 982 N.E.2d 965 (5th Dist., 2013) held that a repair to a retaining wall was not an "improvement to real property" and was not covered by the statute of repose...

Acceptance of Final Payment

Posted on January 08, 2013
The Supreme Court of Wyoming, in Jackman Construction, Inc. v. Town of Baggs, Wyoming, 278 P.3d 247 (2012), upheld summary judgment against a contractor. Jackman was hired to be the general contractor for a project to improve the Town water...

New Website Provides Language for Arbitration and Mediation Agreements

Posted on December 05, 2012
The American Arbitration Association has announced a new website that allows a party to construct clauses for a contract providing for alternative dispute resolution. The site is ClauseBuilder.org. Anyone drafting a contract, including non-attorneys, can take advantage of this site...

Supreme Court Overturns Oklahoma Arbitration Decision

Posted on November 26, 2012
The United States Supreme Court has overturned an Oklahoma Supreme Court decision in Nitro-Lift Technologies LLC v. Eddie Lee Howard (No. 11-1377, Nov. 26, 2012), involving arbitration: State courts rather than federal courts are most frequently called upon to apply...

Illinois Design Professionals Targeted by Scam

Posted on November 07, 2012
A firm called Corporate Records Service has been targeting Illinois design firms with an official-looking letter that asks for $125 to prepare corporate minutes. The Secretary of State has posted the following alert on its website: Illinois Secretary of State...

Arbitration v. Mediation

Posted on October 23, 2012
Alternative dispute resolution, or ?ADR,? comes in many forms. Arbitration and mediation are the two most commonly used techniques to resolve disputes outside the courtroom. Yet many people, including sophisticated businesspeople and even attorneys, do not fully understand the differences...

Five year statute of limitations applies to fraud actions against architects in Illinois

Posted on October 18, 2012
A Fourth District appellate court in Illinois has held that an action for fraud (specifically, fraudulent misrepresentation) is governed by the five-year statute of limitations found at 735 ILCS 5/13-205. The four-year statute of limitations relating to construction contains an...

Arbitrability: does the court or arbitrator decide when the agreement is challenged?

Posted on October 09, 2012
The Second Circuit, in Ipcon Collections LLC v. Costco Wholesale Corp. (No. 11-3944, October 9, 2012), upheld the district court?s dismissal of a case where there was an arbitration clause in the parties? contract. Ipcon?s predecessor in interest, Leadsinger, was...

ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT DEEMS MECHANICS LIEN COUNTERCLAIM UNTIMELY

Posted on October 07, 2012
The Illinois First District Appellate Court recently issued its opinion in the case of Bank of New York v. Jurado, which involved competing lien claims. The plaintiff bank filed suit to foreclose on a mortgage. The defendant, RBM Development, held...

Does Equitable Estoppel apply to a Municipality?

Posted on September 21, 2012
The Illinois Supreme Court has held that the doctrine of equitable estoppels may apply against a municipality only in specific circumstances. It reversed the appellate court and reinstated the trial court?s judgment against an engineering firm. Patrick Engineering v...

Posting Architectural Elevations on a Website without Authorization may Constitute Copyright Infringement

Posted on August 29, 2012
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court?s dismissal of a copyright suit. The trial court had determined that the plaintiff?s architectural drawings were not detailed enough to construct the building, meaning that the drawings were not...

Court imposes sanctions for challenging arbitration award

Posted on July 27, 2012
A federal court in the Southern District of New York has imposed sanctions on the loser in an arbitration who sought to vacate the award. DigiTelCom, Ltd. v. Tele2 Sverige AB (No. 12 Civ. 3082, July 25, 2012). The two...

Incorporating AAA Rules gives arbitrator power to determine arbitrability

Posted on July 20, 2012
A decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Petrofac v. DynMcDermott, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 14610 (July 17, 2012), held that, by incorporating the American Arbitration Association Rules into their contract, the parties agreed that the arbitrator would...

Seventh Circuit examines "pay-if-paid" provision

Posted on July 20, 2012
The Seventh Circuit has affirmed a lower court ruling in favor of a surety on a payment bond. In BMD Contractors v. Fidelity, 679 F.3d 643 (May 11, 2012, amended July 13, 2012), the owner became insolvent and unable to...

Seventh Circuit addresses duties of construction manager to injured worker; analysis of Local Rule 56.1

Posted on July 12, 2012
In Sojka v. Bovis Lend Lease the Seventh Circuit reversed the trial court's summary judgment in favor of Bovis, the construction manager. Sojka was a carpenter on the Trump Tower construction project. He was working on the upper floors of...

Seventh Circuit finds no coverage where underlying complaint fails to allege damage to other property

Posted on June 27, 2012
In Lagestee-Mulder, Inc. v. Consol. Ins. Co., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 13004, decided on June 26, 2012, the Seventh Circuit held that there was no duty to defend by the CGL carrier where the underlying complaint is devoid of any...

Misclassification of professional employees can be dangerous

Posted on June 22, 2012
According to a recent blog by the ABA Journal, Maricopa County, AZ, has filed a would-be class action lawsuit against its law firm for 36 instances in which non-attorney law grads were classified as associates (meaning they were licensed attorneys).....

Unlimited liability for designers and contractors

Posted on May 30, 2012
The Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from the Minnesota supreme court that approved legislation that effectively wiped out that state's statute of repose. The case arose out of the collapse of a bridge across the Mississippi River...

IDAHO SUPREME COURT ALLOWS ARCHITECT TO RECOVER DESPITE THE ABSENCE OF A WRITTEN CONTRACT, AND DESPITE THE LACK OF A LICENSE WHEN SOME OF THE SERVICES WERE PROVIDED

Posted on May 20, 2012
The Idaho Supreme Court, in a case decided earlier this year, Farrell v. Whiteman, 268 P.3d 458 (Idaho 2012), took up for the second time a dispute between two former friends. The defendant, Whiteman, is an attorney who went into...

FEDERAL APPEALS COURT HOLDS THAT PLAINTIFF MUST ARBITRATE WITH COMPANY WHICH ACQUIRED HIS ACCOUNT

Posted on May 04, 2012
In a case decided earlier this year, Gore v. Alltel Commc'ns, 666 F.3d 1027 (7th Cir. 2012), the Seventh Circuit overturned a lower court's ruling and granted the defendant's motion to compel arbitration. The plaintiff, Gore, entered into a two-year....

Construction Contract's arbitration provision is separable, based on Rent-A-Center

Posted on May 02, 2012
The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a decision involving a dispute between Mortenson, a contractor, and Saunders, the concrete subcontractor. Mortenson demanded arbitration and Saunders opposed. Mortenson won the issue. The contract contained four paragraphs related to arbitration...

Florida court holds that statute of limitations does not apply to certain arbitrations

Posted on May 01, 2012
A Florida appellate court has affirmed a trial court ruling that Florida's statute of limitations does not apply to an arbitration where the arbitration provision does not expressly state that the statute of limitations applies. The court based this, in...

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