Anaheim California Expert Witness Engineer Directory

Top Developments 2025 - Issue 4

December 22, 2025 — John S. Anooshian, Paul A. Briganti, Elizabeth L. Ferguson, Alexandra M. George & Haley S. Newman - The Complex Insurance Coverage Reporter
“ARISING OUT OF” Rowe v. State Mut. Ins. Co., 2025 Me. LEXIS 89 (Me., Sept. 23, 2025) Maine Supreme Court, in the premises liability context, holds that an exclusion in a mobile homeowners policy for injury or damage "arising out of a premises . . . that is not an insured location'” precluded coverage for underlying negligent failure-to-warn claims. The court looked to authority from a workers compensation case, where it stated that “the term ‘arising out of' employment means that there must be some causal connection between the conditions under which the employee worked and the injury, or that the injury, in some proximate way, had its origin, its source, or its cause in the employment. . . . [T]he employment need not be the sole or predominant causal factor for the injury and . . . the causative circumstance need not have been foreseen or expected.” In this case, it found there to be “an immediate relationship between the injury and a condition of the uninsured premises” (specifically, a gap created by the owner-insured at the entrance to a mobile home), and rejected the claimant’s argument that the injury instead arose from the insureds’ negligent conduct in failing to warn. Separately, the court held that the property did not qualify as an “insured location,” reasoning it was not listed in the declarations and there was no evidence the insureds had resided there or acquired it for use as a residence. Reprinted courtesy of John S. Anooshian, White and Williams LLP, Paul A. Briganti, White and Williams LLP, Elizabeth L. Ferguson, White and Williams LLP, Alexandra M. George, White and Williams LLP and Haley S. Newman, White and Williams LLP Mr. Anooshian may be contacted at anooshianj@whiteandwilliams.com Mr. Briganti may be contacted at brigantip@whiteandwilliams.com Ms. Ferguson may be contacted at fergusone@whiteandwilliams.com Ms. Newman may be contacted at newmanh@whiteandwilliams.com Read the full story...

HHMR and Every One of its Partners Recognized by Legal 500 in Denver Elite – Real Estate

April 20, 2026 — David McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC is pleased to announce its recognition as a Tier 1 firm in the Denver Elite rankings for Real Estate, a category that includes construction law and construction litigation, by The Legal 500. In addition, each of the firm’s partners has been individually recognized in the same rankings. The firm’s individual recognitions include:

David M. McLain — Tier 1
Ricky L. Nolen, Jr. — Tier 2
Lisa Bondy Dunn — Tier 3

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Reprinted courtesy of David McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com

John Palmeri and Peter Siachos Named to 2026 Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America

February 17, 2026 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani is proud to announce that Partners John Palmeri and Peter Siachos have been named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America for 2026. Their inclusion reflects their extensive trial experience, national leadership roles, and sustained excellence representing clients in complex, high-stakes matters. Now in its 21st year, the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America guide honors attorneys who lead the profession through exceptional advocacy, dedication to clients, and influence within their firms and communities. Selected through yearlong research, peer discussion, and robust nominations, the guide recognizes lawyers who continue to shape the legal landscape at the highest levels. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

Federal Court Upholds Uninsured Contractor Endorsement; Finds Duty to Defend Anyway

November 04, 2025 — Craig Rokuson - Traub Lieberman
In the recent case of LM Ins. Corp. v. James River Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189320 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 25, 2025), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York had occasion to interpret an Uninsured Contractor Endorsement in the context of an additional insured tender. After a construction accident, the owner and general contractor tendered to a subcontractor, DATO, who had hired plaintiff's employer, Star. Investigations later revealed that DATO did not have a written contract with Star for the work at issue. DATO's insurer, Arch, denied any obligation to provide coverage to all parties seeking coverage, including additional insureds, based on DATO's failure to comply with the "New York Limitation Endorsement," which requires that "you," defined to be Arch's named insured, obtain certain pass through protections from subcontractors for New York projects, including a written contract. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Craig Rokuson, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Rokuson may be contacted at crokuson@tlsslaw.com

Why Travelers Fought a Fire Claim for Invisible Smoke Damage

February 23, 2026 — Elaine Silver - Engineering News-Record
Just 40 minutes after midnight on Sept. 27, 2018, the sky lit up over Birmingham, Ala. A fire engulfed an apartment building under construction—the last-to-be completed section of a wood-framed complex called the Metropolitan. It fueled one of the largest recorded blazes in the city’s history. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Elaine Silver, Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

$400M Tunnel Project Faces Scrutiny from Nashville Leaders

November 21, 2025 — Vince Kong - Engineering News-Record
As state and local officials in Tennessee raise concerns over limited transparency surrounding the proposed $400-million Music City Loop - a transit tunnel in Nashville intended to connect downtown with the city’s international airport - lead developer The Boring Co. has quietly begun excavation near the Tennessee State Capitol. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Vince Kong, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Kong may be contacted at kongv@enr.com

HHMR: A Retrospective — Chapter One (2001–2025)

January 26, 2026 — David McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
There comes a point in every career when you stop long enough to look back, not out of nostalgia, but out of clarity. You begin to see the arc, the accidents, the grace, and the moments when others carried more of the burden than you realized at the time. For me, that moment came recently, somewhere between the twenty-fifth year of practicing construction litigation and the rewriting of our firm’s operating agreement. I found myself asking a question I should have asked long ago: What are we building, and will it last? The truth is that we at HHMR do not build anything. Our clients do. They are the ones building Colorado, from single-family homes and multifamily developments to commercial, industrial, and infrastructure projects, navigating every constraint, hurdle, and barrier this state presents to them. They are the men and women in the arena, in Theodore Roosevelt’s sense. They pour foundations, frame walls, manage subs, balance supply chains, and take the risks inherent in the act of building anything of value. And for that work, they get sued. My job, and the job of this firm, is to defend them. We are their champions. Understanding this truth is the starting point of HHMR 2.0. But to appreciate where we are going, you must first understand from where we came. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com

Don’t Ignore Prejudgment Interest

February 02, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
When it comes to contracts, there may be a clause that provides that untimely payments shall bear interest at a particular rate. Or it may be the statutory rate. That clause will come into play when determining prejudgment interest. In ANY dispute, prejudgment interest can be an important damages component that accrues from the date of the loss. Don’t ignore prejudgment interest. The Fourth District of Florida, in a construction dispute, maintained:

“[I]f a plaintiff establishes that he sustained out-of-pocket loss, prejudgment interest must be awarded from the date of the loss. The trial court has no discretion regarding awarding prejudgment interest and must do so applying the statutory rate of interest in effect at the time the interest accrues.”

Bensusan v. Design Engineering Group, LLC, 2025 WL 3466367 (Fla. 4th DCA 2025) (citation omitted).

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Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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