PONCHA SPRINGS COLORADO CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

One Industry, One Goal: Construction Safety Week 2026

May 05, 2026 — Maggie Murphy - Construction Executive
Construction safety has long been a top priority across the industry. Yet fatality rates have remained stubbornly flat for more than a decade. Steven Carter, global health and safety director at Gilbane chair company for Construction Safety Week 2026—believes the industry has reached a pivotal moment. This year’s theme—”All In Together: Recognize. Respond. Respect.”—is a unified call to action for owners, designers, contractors and craft professionals around a shared, risk-based approach to preventing serious injuries and fatalities. In a recent interview with Construction Executive, Carter discusses why the industry must move beyond incremental improvements, how technology and AI can support better planning and what it will take to create a true culture of psychological safety on jobsites. Reprinted courtesy of Maggie Murphy, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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Can Foreclosure Sale Be Overturned Because Sale Price Is Grossly Inadequate?

January 26, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Foreclosure actions are equity actions. See Verzura Construction, Inc. v. Hotel La Petitite Muse, LLC, 50 Fla.L.Weekly D2500a (Fla. 3d DCA 2025). Can a sale price at a foreclosure auction sale be set aside because the foreclosed party believes the sale price is grossly inadequate? A recent case discusses this question and, as you will see, the argument that the sale price is grossly inadequate is not enough to overturn a sale. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Insured General Contractor Prevails on Motion for Summary Judgment to Establish Builder’s Risk Coverage

July 06, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The general contractor’s motion for partial summary judgment successfully established that damage to footings in place before the policy period was covered after the collapse of a building. Big D Builders, Inc. v. Am Zurich Ins. Co., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72012 (D. Idaho March 31, 2026). Big D was the general contractor for building a new airplane hangar by erecting a 38,000 square foot structure. Before Big D began construction, the site of the hangar did not contain any pre-existing structures or buildings. Before completion of the hangar, it collapsed and caused extensive property damage. The builder’s risk policy issued by Zurich covered certain aspects of the construction project for the policy period December 28, 2023, to December 28, 2024. Zurich accepted coverage for most of the damage but not for damage to footings and columns installed prior to the start date of the policy. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

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Alert: Fraudulent Notice of Nonpayment Defense Applies to Payment Bond Claims

April 27, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Under Florida’s Lien Law, there’s an affirmative defense or affirmative claim known as a “fraudulent lien.” The fraudulent lien defense or claim is set out in Florida Statute s. 713.31. This defense also extends to payment bond claims, whether under a private statutory payment bond (Florida Statute s. 713.23) or a public payment bond (Florida Statute s. 255.05), as it pertains to the notice of nonpayment. A notice of nonpayment needs to be served within 90 days from final furnishing to preserve a claimant’s rights against the bond. However, there really has not been a case, until now, that discusses a “fraudulent notice of nonpayment.” In K&M Electric Supply, Inc. v. Brown Electrical Solutions, LLC, 51 Fla.L.Weekly D672a (Fla. 4th DCA 2026), a prime contractor and surety prevailed at the trial level on their fraudulent notice of nonpayment defense based on a supplier’s notice of nonpayment and action against a public payment bond (under Florida Statute s. 255.05). Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Southwest Super Lawyers Recognizes 50 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys in 2026 Rankings

June 15, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
PHOENIX (April 22, 2026) – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 50 attorneys in the Phoenix and Tucson offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers publication. Of those 50, four were recognized for the first time and 24 were recognized as Southwest Rising Stars. Super Lawyers is a listing of lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. Super Lawyers was first published in 1991 by Law & Politics and was acquired by Thomson Reuters, Legal in February 2010. Thomson Reuters is a leading source of information for businesses and professionals. The below Snell & Wilmer attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers rankings. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

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Ninth Circuit Holds That Policies Covering Environmental Claims Do Not Have Aggregate Limits

May 12, 2026 — Lorelie S. Masters & Joseph T. Niczky - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
In the case of County of San Bernardino v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, the Ninth Circuit recently addressed the issue of whether general liability policies issued in the 1960s and 1970s included aggregate limits for claims arising under the premises-operations coverage in CGL policies. The difference between the policyholder’s interpretation of the policies’ limits clauses and the insurer’s interpretation was worth hundreds of millions of dollars in exposure for the insurer. The Court closely examined the policy language and extrinsic evidence from both the insurance industry’s drafting history and the parties before concluding that the policies were ambiguous. The Court construed that ambiguity in favor of the policyholder and ruled that aggregate limits did not apply to the claims at issue. The Court’s decision underscores the importance of carefully examining a policy’s limits, especially for older policies written before 1986 when the insurance industry revised the standard-form CGL policy to state the aggregate limits apply not only to products liability claims but to premises-operations claims as well. Decades of insurance industry drafting history confirms, as the policyholder’s submissions in this case indicate, that the industry well understood that operations claims like the environmental waste-disposal claims at issue here typically were not subject to aggregate limits. Reprinted courtesy of Lorelie S. Masters, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Joseph T. Niczky, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Ms. Masters may be contacted at lmasters@hunton.com Mr. Niczky may be contacted at jniczky@hunton.com Read the full story...

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Cross-Office Team Secures Litigation Stay and Order of Arbitration on Behalf of Hotel Developer

February 17, 2026 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
New York Partner Minyao Wang, Chicago Partner Bryan Sugar, and Denver/Washington, D.C. Partner Christopher Wood secured a victory on behalf of Lewis Brisbois’ client, a hotel developer, when the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois granted the client’s motion to dismiss and ordered the parties to proceed to arbitration. In this matter, the 39 plaintiffs, represented by a New York based law firm that focuses on EB-5 litigation against high-end real estate developers, were foreign nationals living in China or Taiwan who were seeking EB-5 visas and invested in a lending company. The lending company loaned money to entities that were managing a project that involved renovating a hotel and constructing a mixed-use tower in downtown Chicago. Disputes developed among the parties. The foreign investors organized informally and ultimately filed suit against Lewis Brisbois’ client, alleging claims of breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, conversion, and conspiracy, as well as aiding and abetting conversion. The defendants faced exposure of at least $20 million. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Congratulations to BWB&O’s 2026 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Honorees!

February 23, 2026 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is proud to announce that Partners Nicole Whyte, Keith Bremer, John Toohey, and Tyler Offenhauser have been named to the 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers list. Notably, Nicole Whyte was also selected to the Top 50 Orange County Super Lawyers list, an honor reflecting her outstanding work, leadership, and impact in the legal community. Partners Kyle Riddles and Courtney Serrato, along with Associate Kevin Moore, were also recognized as 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

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