Massachusetts Nuclear Verdict Leads To $90M Bad Faith Award
February 10, 2026 —
Eric B. Hermanson & Timothy J. Langan - White and WilliamsInsurers in Massachusetts have long struggled with the demands of MGL ch. G.L.c 176D, § 3(9)(f), which requires “prompt, fair and equitable settlements of claims in which liability has become reasonably clear.” Last month a Superior Court ruling illustrated the potentially draconian consequences of a violation: finding an insurer liable for more than $90 million in bad faith damages, in a case that might have settled under $3 million with proper handling.
The claimant, John Rooney, was a mason who fell off a scaffold at a construction site. He sued the general contractor. The general contractor, in turn, sought coverage as an additional insured under a series of Liberty Mutual policies issued to Rooney’s employer – the masonry company – with combined aggregate limits of $19.5 million.
Reprinted courtesy of
Eric B. Hermanson, White and Williams and
Timothy J. Langan, White and Williams
Mr. Hermanson may be contacted at hermansone@whiteandwilliams.com
Mr. Langan may be contacted at langant@whiteandwilliams.com
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2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Recognizes 14 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys
March 03, 2026 —
Snell & WilmerLOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 14 attorneys in its Los Angeles and Orange County offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers publication. Of those 15, six were recognized as 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. The final published list represents no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Snell & Wilmer
Reducing Rework on Construction Projects Benefits Budget, Schedule and Financial Loss
February 10, 2026 —
Brian Clarke - Construction ExecutiveThe costs of not building it right the first time is statistically staggering—some research suggests up to 20% of the total project costs. This article highlights the costs of re-work, provides a financial worksheet to track the costs of re-work, and a trusted tool to help reduce the impact of re-work.
Typically, when discussing rework, one thinks of the labor and material costs, but there are other costs associated with rework that are less easily quantified:
- Liquidated damages and related legal costs
- Potential for increasing safety incidents associated with rework
- Morale loss due to performing rework
- Loss of previously trained workers due to delays caused by rework
- Reputational loss and the inability to bid on future work
- Challenges of future work to be performed due to schedule delays on a current project
Reprinted courtesy of
Brian Clarke, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
Mr. Clarke may be contacted at brianclarke1121@aol.com
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Tutor Perini Damages Trial Is Set Over Costly Philadelphia Hotel Floor Slab Problems
December 08, 2025 —
Richard Korman - Engineering News-RecordTutor Perini Building Corp. faces a potentially expensive damages trial next year after a Pennsylvania state court judge ruled in late October that the company breached its contract with the developer of a 51-story downtown Philadelphia hotel on which floor slab deflections delayed curtain-wall installation and added to completion delays and cost overruns.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Richard Korman, Engineering News-RecordMr. Korman may be contacted at
kormanr@enr.com
Reminder: You Can’t Make Others Indemnify You for Your Own Actions
January 13, 2026 —
Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law MusingsI have spoken about
Virginia Code 11-4.1 and the prohibition on
forcing others to indemnify for the actions of the indemnitees on a few occasions here at Construction Law Musings (See
Uniwest Posts). The Western District of Virginia gave its take on indemnification clauses and why they need to be carefully drafted in a December 2024 case,
Sauer Construction, LLC v. MC3 Solutions, LLC et al.
In Sauer, the Court looked at, among other things, an indemnification provision between MC3, a subcontractor to Sauer, and MC3s sub-subcontractor, Bonitz Flooring Group. This was the relatively typical construction dispute where a general contractor sues a subcontractor and then that subcontractor sues its supplier and sub-subcontractors for indemnity pursuant to its contract. When faced with the indemnification claim, Bonitz argued that the indemnification provision violated the Va. Code 11-4.1 because it required Bonitz to indemnify MC3 for MC3’s actions. The provision follows the break.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
The Law Office of Christopher G. HillMr. Hill may be contacted at
chrisghill@constructionlawva.com
It’s That Time of Year: Contract Review Time
February 02, 2026 —
Garret Murai - California Construction Law BlogMy father used to make me wash the family cars every weekend . . . rain or shine. The nice thing about washing a car in the rain is that you don’t need to dry it. Once, while sudsing up one of the family cars in the rain I spotted a couple of Jehovah Witnesses making house calls along our street. As they approached our house, they looked at me, said something to one another, and decided membership probably wasn’t a good fit for our family. If my dad saw that he probably would have thought that was reason enough to have me wash the family cars in the rain. Obviously, I never mentioned it to him.
This is all a rather nostalgic way of reminding myself to get off my duff. The holidays are over. There’s stuff needing doing. Whether you like it or not. Like updating my contracts. You might consider doing the same. A few suggestions:
Retention
For certain private works construction contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026, retention is now capped at 5%, mirroring the 5% retention cap on state and local public works construction contracts. The 5% retention cap applies to contracts between owners and direct contractors, between direct contractors and subcontractors, and between subcontractors. So, basically, everyone up and down the construction change.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Garret Murai, Nomos LLPMr. Murai may be contacted at
gmurai@nomosllp.com
A Couple of Mechanic’s Lien Bills in VA [UPDATED]
February 23, 2026 —
Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law MusingsWell, its that time of year again, the Virginia General Assembly is in session and looking to make changes to all kinds of things here in the Commonwealth. While most of those changes are well outside of the subject of Construction Law Musings, changes to the
mechanic’s lien statutes certainly are not. This year, the Virginia General Assembly is poised to make some big changes if certain legislation gets out of committee and passes the legislature, a description and some comments on these follow:
HB752 – Mechanics’ liens; liens attaching to property; memorandum of lien. [Original Description] Removes the exclusion of the attachment of a mechanic’s lien to property improved or repaired when the lien is based on a claim for repairs or existing structures. The bill further removes (i) the ability of a lien claimant to file any number of memoranda of lien including the details relating to the lien and (ii) the provisions of the Code specifying that no memorandum filed shall include sums due for (a) labor or materials furnished more than 150 days prior to the last day labor was performed or (b) material furnished to the job preceding the filing of such memorandum.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
The Law Office of Christopher G. HillMr. Hill may be contacted at
chrisghill@constructionlawva.com
Circuit Court Supports Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Protections in Connection with Internal Investigations
November 21, 2025 —
Jason Spitalnick, Taryn J. Gallup & Kourtney George - Snell & WilmerOn October 3, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reaffirmed that the attorney-client privilege and work-product protections cover documents and communications concerning corporate internal investigations - even when companies later use those documents or related findings to make business decisions.
1 In doing so, the court vacated a district court order that would have required FirstEnergy Corporation to produce, in civil litigation, privileged and work-product-protected documents related to two internal investigations.
FirstEnergy, a public utility company headquartered in Ohio, became embroiled in a high-profile public-corruption scheme involving substantial alleged payments to state officials in exchange for favorable legislative efforts. In response, FirstEnergy and an independent committee of its board retained separate outside counsel to conduct internal investigations. FirstEnergy then faced civil litigation related to the
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