Anaheim California Expert Witness Engineer Directory

Dispute Among Joint Venture Partners and Joint Venture Agreement

January 28, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
In a dispute involving joint venture partners and a joint venture agreement, one of the partners sued a third party (which purchased the assets of the other partner). Claims against the third party included tortious interference of the joint venture agreement between the partners, conspiracy to tortiously interfere with the joint venture agreement between the partners, aiding and abetting a breach of fiduciary duty by the other partner, and conspiracy with the other partner to breach a fiduciary duty. The dispute was tried in a non-jury trial. The other partner and the third party prevailed. A few key points on the above claims asserted against the third party that failed:

Tortious interference of the contract -- Since the trial court found that the other partner did NOT breach the joint venture agreement, the cause of action for tortious interference failed. “No cause of action for tortious interference with a contract can exist in the absence of a breach.”
Conspiracy to tortiously interfere with a contract -- “If an underlying tort [e.g., tortious interference] has not been established, a count for conspiracy to commit that tort will not lie.”

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

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 Read the full story...

Insurers' Motion to Determine Lack of Occurrence Fails

August 19, 2024 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The federal district court, interpreting Massachusetts law, found there were genuine issues of fact as to whether the insured's mixing of biodiesel with home heating fuel was an occurrence. United States Fire Ins. Co. v. Peterson's Oil Serv., Inc., 2024 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 106980 (D. Mass. June 17, 2024). Homeowners sued Peterson's Oil Service, alleging that Peterson sold them fuel for home heating which contained more that 5% biodiesel. The homeowners further alleged that fuel containing more than 5% biodiesel did not meet industry standards and caued damage to their home heating equipment. Peterson allegedly did not fully disclose the presence of biodiesel in their fuel, despite knowing the risk posed by high-biodiesel blended fuel. The insurers, United States Fire Insurance Company and The North River Insurance Company, defended Peterson under a reservation of rights. United States Fire issued priomary policies with limits of $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 as a general aggregate limit. An endorsement titled "Limited Coverage - Failure to Supply" limited the amount covered for "property damage arising out of the failure of any insured to adequately supply gas, oil, water, electricty or steam" to $250,000. North River issued umbrella policies with additional coverage in the amount of $15,000,000 per occurrnce and in the aggregate if property damage was caused by an occurrence. The umbrella policies also contained a "Failure to Supply Exclusion" which excluded coverage for "property damage arising out of the failure of an insured to adequately supply gas, oil, water, electricty or steam." Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Boston Team Secures Summary Judgment Dismissal on Client’s Behalf in Serious Personal Injury Case

October 21, 2024 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
Boston, Mass. (October 14, 2024) - Boston Managing Partner Kenneth B. Walton and Partner Matthew M. O' Leary recently secured summary judgment on behalf of a civil engineering firm in a serious personal injury matter arising from a trip-and-fall incident in a mall parking lot. The client was retained to provide site civil engineering design for the parking lot of a local mall. The design included multiple bioretention areas known as rain gardens. In November of 2019, a woman tripped and fell while attempting to cross a rain garden to reach her car. She suffered significant bodily injuries, including a fracture of the cervical spine that resulted in partial paralysis. The woman and her husband sued the mall's owner for negligence and loss of consortium in June 2021. The owner, in turn, impleaded Lewis Brisbois' client and the lot's builder, asserting third-party claims for contribution, contractual and common law indemnity, and breach of contract. In addition, the builder cross-claimed against Lewis Brisbois' client for contribution and common law indemnity. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

EPA Looks to Reduce Embodied Carbon in Materials With $160M in Grants

August 19, 2024 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that construction materials used for buildings and built infrastructure account for more than 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The agency now hopes to boost adoption of materials with lower embodied emissions by offering $160 million in grants to better track and ultimately reduce climate pollution associated with those materials. Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com Read the full story...

GRSM Team Wins Summary Judgment in Million-Dollar HOA Dispute

December 17, 2024 — Robert A. Bragalone & B. Ryan Fellman - Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partner Bob Bragalone and Senior Counsel Ryan Fellman won a complete summary judgment on behalf of five board members who had been added to an HOA dispute by the defendant homeowners. The GRSM team resolved the matter within just 60 days of taking over the case, bringing an end to a legal battle that had lasted more than four years. The dispute began when the HOA, as plaintiff, filed suit against the homeowners in Denton County District Court. The HOA alleged that the homeowners had violated the HOA’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions by constructing a non-conforming carport and sought a declaratory judgment to resolve the issue. In response, the homeowners filed a counterclaim and third-party petition, adding the individual HOA board members to the lawsuit. They accused the board members—who were serving in a voluntary capacity—of mishandling the dispute and filed claims against them for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and gross negligence. Reprinted courtesy of Robert A. Bragalone, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani and B. Ryan Fellman, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Mr. Bragalone may be contacted at bbragalone@grsm.com Mr. Fellman may be contacted at rfellman@grsm.com Read the full story...

Owners and Contractors are Liable for Injuries Caused by their Independent Contractors under the “Peculiar Risk Doctrine”

October 15, 2024 — William L. Porter - Porter Law Group
Many contractors and owners believe that if they hire an independent contractor to perform work and that independent contractor causes injury to others during the performance of that work, then it is the independent contractor alone who will be liable for those injuries. In most circumstances, this is correct. The owner or the contractor will not be held liable for injuries caused by his or her independent contractor. However, this is not always the case. Under the “Peculiar Risk Doctrine” and California cases interpreting the doctrine, a contractor or owner who hires an independent contractor to do work which is considered to be “inherently dangerous work” can be still be held directly liable for damages when that independent contractor causes injury to others by negligently performing the work. Such liability can generally be imposed on the one hiring the independent contractor under either of two branches of the peculiar risk doctrine. First, where a person hires an independent contractor to do inherently dangerous work, but fails to provide in the contract or in some other manner that special precautions must be taken to avert the peculiar risk of injury related to that work, then the one hiring the independent contractor can be held liable for injuries to others caused by the independent contractor’s negligence. (Restatement Second of Torts Section 413). For example, in Mackey v. Campbell Construction Co. 101 Cal. App. 3d 774, 162 Cal. Rptr. 64 (1980), Western Electric Company, the owner of the project, was found liable for the personal injuries of a subcontractor’s employee because Western’s representatives were on the job at all times, had doubts about the safety of scaffolding being used on the project, yet failed to require use of precautions that could have been taken to avoid injury. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of William L. Porter, Porter Law Group
Mr. Porter may be contacted at bporter@porterlaw.com

Nancy Conrad Recognized in Lehigh Valley Business 2024 Power in Law List

July 31, 2024 — White and Williams LLP
Nancy Conrad, Chair of the Higher Education Group, Managing Partner of the Lehigh Valley Office and the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), has been named to the Lehigh Valley Business 2024 Power in Law List, for her work as a leader in the legal field. This year’s honorees were asked to relate inspiration that pushed the pursuit of their career. One of her inspirations, as explained by Nancy in the article, was the opportunity to instruct and impact students while teaching during the day and pursuing a legal career in the evening at Temple Law which cemented a “commitment to excellence in the practice of law and service to the community.” Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES