Congratulations to Partner Alex Giannetto for Being Named to San Diego Business Journal’s Top 100 Leaders in Law List
December 03, 2024 —
Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLPCongratulations to Partner Alexander Giannetto for being selected as a “2024 Leaders of Influence in Law” by the San Diego Business Journal! To read and download the SDBJ publication, please click
here.
Alex Giannetto is a managing partner with Bremer, Whyte, Brown & O’Meara LLP’s San Diego office. He has extensive experience in all aspects of civil litigation handling liability matters including slip and falls, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, traumatic brain injuries, landslides, and construction claims. He has obtained favorable trial results defending clients on personal injury and premises matters in San Diego and Los Angeles. He also has appellate experience. He is an AV-rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell who has been voted Best of the Bar in San Diego as well as a Top Lawyer in San Diego.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Rhode Island Sues 13 Industry Firms Over Flawed Interstate Bridge
September 23, 2024 —
Richard Korman - Engineering News-RecordIn an attempt to recoup any money Rhode Island will owe to others for rerouting traffic on half of a high-volume interstate bridge in Providence after structural flaws had been detected, the state Dept. of Transportation filed a lawsuit Aug. 16 against 13 engineers and contractors that had inspected or performed work on the Washington Bridge in the last decade.
Reprinted courtesy of
Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com
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Top 10 Insurance Cases of 2024
January 21, 2025 —
Jeffrey J. Vita & Michelle A. Grieco - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.Federal and state courts tackled a myriad of interesting insurance-related issues this past year. The U.S. Supreme Court also surprisingly addressed coverage issues in 2024, in not one—but two—decisions. It is rare for the Supreme Court to confront insurance coverage issues which usually involve matters of state law. The highest court’s assessment of the nuances of insurance to resolve maritime choice of law issues and interpret an insurer’s role in bankruptcy proceedings is indicative of the significant role that insurance coverage plays in resolving commercial disputes.
Additionally, 2024 included a pivotal opinion from the 5th Circuit, which welcomed the principle that negligent construction can constitute “property damage” under a CGL policy if it causes a harmful change to the property. Elsewhere in the country, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that reckless conduct can qualify as an “accident” under a CGL policy’s definition of “occurrence”; however, the court simultaneously ruled that greenhouse gases fall within the scope of “pollutants” under the policy’s pollution exclusion. Cyber coverage decisions were also prominent, and the 5th Circuit chimed in with an interesting decision interpreting the scope of coverage afforded under a “system failure” provision. These decisions represent a mere sampling of the multitude of insurance issues courts nationwide have grappled with in 2024.
Reprinted courtesy of
Jeffrey J. Vita, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and
Michelle A. Grieco, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Vita may be contacted at JVita@sdvlaw.com
Ms. Grieco may be contacted at MGrieco@sdvlaw.com
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Run Spot...Run!
November 18, 2024 —
Daniel Lund III - Lexology"The 'classic' definition of spot zoning is 'the process of singling out a small parcel of land for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area for the benefit of the owner of such property and to the detriment of other owners.’ Anderson’s American Law of Zoning, 4th Edition, § 5.12 (1995)” (from plannersweb.com).
A wireless carrier rebuffed in Jennings, Louisiana, on an application to rezone residential property to site a monopole cell tower sought relief from the federal court for the Western District of Louisiana. The city lacked any wireless tower provisions in its ordinances, and the carrier asserted that existing “commercial property within the appropriate range” was unavailable.
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Daniel Lund III, PhelpsMr. Lund may be contacted at
daniel.lund@phelps.com
Unlocking the Hidden Power of Zoning, for Good or Bad
October 21, 2024 —
David Zipper - BloombergNo longer dismissed as an insomnia-curing corner of local governance, zoning is having a moment. It’s at the heart of the pro-housing Yes In My Backyard — or YIMBY — movement, which seeks to reform the rules that mandate the construction of single-family homes across much of the US, and the arcane details of land use policy are being debated in national outlets and city councils across the US. In much of this discourse, zoning is the clear villain, blamed for feeding societal ills ranging from housing costs to racial discrimination to greenhouse gas emissions.
In her new book Key to the City, Sara Bronin examines zoning with a critical but sympathetic eye. Bronin brings deep experience to the topic, having studied zoning as an architect and lawyer before overhauling the land use regulations of Hartford, Connecticut. A professor of architecture and planning at Cornell University (and an occasional Bloomberg CityLab contributor), she is currently on leave to chair the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.
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David Zipper, Bloomberg
Wave Breaker: How a Living Shoreline Will Protect a Florida Highway and Oyster Bed
December 23, 2024 —
Derek Lacey - Engineering News-RecordA living shoreline being constructed in the Florida Panhandle's Apalachicola Bay is protecting a critical local highway, while fostering marsh areas and oyster habitat that’s seen years of decline.
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Derek Lacey, Engineering News-RecordMr. Lacey may be contacted at
laceyd@enr.com
Suffolk Construction Drywall Suits Involve Claim for $3 Million in Court Costs
November 11, 2024 —
Richard Korman - Engineering News-RecordSuffolk Construction lost a breach-of-contract contract lawsuit in July with a former drywall subcontractor's surety—but the contractor's payout may dramatically increase if the presiding U.S. district court judge in Miami allows the surety to collect $3 million more in requested attorneys' fees and trial costs.
Reprinted courtesy of
Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com
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Rikus Locati Selected to 2024 Northern California Rising Stars!
August 05, 2024 —
Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLPCongratulations to BWB&O’s 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars!
BWB&O is proud to announce that Walnut Creek Associate
Rikus Locati has been selected to the 2024 Northern California Super Lawyers list as Rising Stars for his work in Personal Injury.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The objective of Super Lawyers’ patented multiphase selection process is to create a credible, comprehensive, and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel.
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Dolores Montoya, Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
