Millbrae California Construction Expert Witness Directory

Thank You All for 10 Years Straight of VA Super Lawyers

May 05, 2026 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
It is with humility and a sense of accomplishment that I announce that I have been selected for the tenth straight year to the Virginia Super Lawyers in the Construction Litigation category for 2026. Add this to my recent election to the Virginia Legal Elite in Construction and I’ve had a pretty good year. As always, I am thrilled to be included on these peer-elected lists. Your confidence in my work is very gratifying. So without further ado, thank you to my peers and those on the panel at Virginia Super Lawyers for the great honor. I feel quite proud to be part of the 5% of Virginia attorneys that made this list for 2026. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

Defend Now, Allocate Later? An Unresolved Tension in Colorado Construction Law

August 16, 2026 — David McLain - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
For decades, Colorado law has recognized an important distinction between the duty to defend and the duty to indemnify. The former ordinarily arises at the beginning of litigation; the latter generally cannot be determined until the underlying liability is known. That distinction makes intuitive sense. A defense that becomes due only after litigation concludes is not much of a defense. But Colorado’s construction anti-indemnity statute, C.R.S. § 13-21-111.5(6), raises an interesting question about how that familiar rule operates in construction disputes. The statute expressly regulates contractual obligations not only to indemnify, but also to insure and defend, and it reflects a legislative policy that construction businesses should bear financial responsibility for their own negligence. Those principles have developed along separate tracks. At some point, a Colorado appellate court may have to decide precisely how they fit together. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David McLain, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC
Mr. McLain may be contacted at mclain@hhmrlaw.com

Builders Risk/Construction All Risks and Delay in Start-Up Coverage for Large Energy Projects: Protecting Revenue Before Operations Begin

September 21, 2026 — Will Bennett - SDV Fenchurch
The Most Significant Loss May Be the Delay, Not the Damage Power and energy projects are uniquely vulnerable to losses during construction. Whether the project involves a utility-scale solar facility, battery storage installation, a wind farm, transmission project, LNG terminal, or conventional generation facility, loss events in this sector often have consequences far more impactful than the actual cost of repairing damaged property. Any number of construction losses can delay commercial operation of the facility by months, triggering lost revenues, financing impacts, contractual penalties, and investor concerns. In many cases, those delay-related losses significantly exceed the underlying repair costs. Construction All Risk (“CAR”) insurance and Delay in Start-Up (“DSU”) coverage are designed to respond to these exposures. However, recovering delay-related losses is far more complicated than many insureds anticipate, particularly when projects involve international stakeholders, global supply chains, and London market insurance placements. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Will Bennett, SDV Fenchurch
Mr. Bennett may be contacted at will.bennett@sdvfenchurch.us

GRSM Defeats Class Certification in Precedent-Setting HOA Management Case

September 15, 2026 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners Fletcher Alford and Kevin Liu and Associate Jigar Desai secured a favorable outcome on behalf of an HOA management company in a precedent-setting class action before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, obtaining denial of the plaintiff’s motion for class certification and dismissal without prejudice of the three claims at issue. The plaintiff alleged that the defendant received earnings credit payments from a bank in exchange for maintaining HOA deposit accounts and failed to disclose the arrangement to its HOA clients. The plaintiff sought more than $40 million in damages, asserting five claims: (1) breach of contract for failing to act in class members’ best interests by not disclosing the alleged earnings credit arrangement; (2) violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL) based on alleged violations of California Civil Code §§ 5375, 5375.5, and 5380; (3) breach of fiduciary duty based on the alleged undisclosed arrangement; (4) violation of the UCL for unfair business practices arising from the alleged nondisclosure; and (5) unjust enrichment. The plaintiff sought class certification under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2) and 23(b)(3) only as to its second, third, and fourth causes of action. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

ACEC Supports BUILD America 250 Act as Important First Step on Surface Reauthorization

May 26, 2026 — The American Council of Engineering Companies
WASHINGTON -- The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the business voice of America’s engineering and design services industry released the following statement on the BUILD America 250 Act: "Chairman Graves and Ranking Member Larsen have taken an important bipartisan step toward reauthorizing the federal surface transportation programs that are critical to economic growth in every state. The BUILD America 250 Act provides five years of stability in funding road and transit projects, raises new revenues to address the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, and includes meaningful provisions to strengthen project delivery, advance digital infrastructure, and improve the contracting framework that engineering firms rely on every day. ACEC will continue to advocate for investment levels that keep pace with the country's growing infrastructure needs, and we urge the Committee to keep this process moving forward." The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) is the business association of America’s engineering industry, representing more than 5,500 independent engineering firms and more than 650,000 professionals throughout the United States engaged in the development of America’s transportation, water, and energy infrastructure, along with environmental, industrial, and other public and private facilities. Founded in 1906 and headquartered in Washington, D.C., ACEC is a national federation of 51 state and regional organizations.

Insufficient Notice of Commencement and Construction Lien Rights

August 03, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
When a party is preserving their construction lien rights, the party will look to the recorded Notice of Commencement. This is the recorded document that provides the lienor with the information for purposes of preserving construction lien rights. A Notice to Owner company will typically rely on the Notice of Commencement to serve Notices to Owners from lower tiers not in contract with the owner. However, when it comes to preparing the lien, a lienor should look beyond just the Notice of Commencement and also look to the property appraiser’s website as a backstop. In a recent case, a window company had the homeowner sign the Notice of Commencement and then filled in the information. The company naturally did this for the convenience of the homeowner that probably was unfamiliar with the Notice of Commencement process. Regardless, information in the Notice of Commencement was inaccurate. It failed to include all the real property owners. Thus, when a payment dispute arose and a construction lien was prepared, it did not identify all of the real property owners. All of the real property owners were added later during the pendency of a lien foreclosure lawsuit. The trial court denied the lien because of the defective / insufficient Notice of Commencement — the lienor assumed the risk of error by filling out the information in the Notice of Commencement. The trial court further denied the lien holding that because the work did not commence within 90 days of the Notice of Commencement, the Notice of Commencement is void. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (8/19/26) – Single-Family Housing Investors Worry, Confidence in Multifamily REITs and Construction Backlog Falls

September 08, 2026 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, U.S. Chamber of Commerce creates Housing Advisory Council, a legal battle develops over new federal rules related to mortgage escrow accounts, hospitality dealmakers pursue ‘bigger, higher-conviction’ M&A, and more!

In the wake of the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act becoming law, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has created a Housing Advisory Council with the goal of advancing market-driven policies that help increase housing supply and promote affordability. (Julie Strupp, Multifamily Dive)
Investors in the single-family housing market are increasingly concerned about interest rates, rising insurance and home costs, and the ongoing war with Iran. (Diana Olick, CNBC)
A legal battle is brewing over new federal rules related to accounts that hold money to pay homeowners’ property taxes and insurance payments. (Sarah Agostino, CNBC)

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

$356 Million Judgement Against Developer for Defective Construction of DC Condominium

August 16, 2026 — Nicholas D. Cowie - Cowie Law Group
On July 31, 2026, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia entered a $356,085,513.00 judgment against developers JBG Smith for defective construction and renovation of the Wardman Tower Residential Condominium in Washington, D.C. The case is Wardman Tower Residential Condominium Unit Owners Association v. JBG Smith Properties, et al., No. 2020 CA 004807 B (D.C. Super. Ct.). In a 148-page Trial Order, the D.C. Superior Court awarded $118,695,171.00 in damages in favor of the condominium association and against the condominium developers, including JBG Smith. The Court trebled those damages pursuant to the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”) to reach an ultimate judgment of $356,085,513.00. See Cowie Law Group: DC Condominium Construction Defects: Recovering Attorney’s Fees, Litigation Expenses & Treble Damages Under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act. Cowie Law Group, P.C. filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Association in 2020. The firm represented the Association throughout years of pretrial discovery and ultimately served as trial counsel with Williams & Connolly LLP during a lengthy bench trial before the Honorable Yvonne Williams. The Cowie Law Group team included attorneys, George A. Bealefeld, III, Albert G. McCarraher, Stanford L. Kimmel, III and Nicholas D. Cowie. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Nicholas D. Cowie, Cowie Law Group
Mr. Cowie may be contacted at ndc@cowielawgroup.com

MILLBRAE CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES