New Florida Law Adds Licensing Risk to Contractor/Subcontractor Payment Disputes
September 29, 2026 —
Brett J. Moritz & Ali Heyat - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.Effective July 1, 2026, Florida’s newly enacted Section 489.1295 of the Florida Statutes, titled “Prohibition Against Nonpayment,” requires licensed contractors to timely compensate subcontractors and suppliers for labor, services, or materials. Enacted as part of Senate Bill 290 (Ch. 2026-3, Laws of Fla.), the statute adds a new basis for instituting disciplinary proceedings against a contractor’s license if a payment is knowingly or willfully withheld.
While this is not a sweeping overhaul of Florida construction payment laws by any means, contractors should be aware that nonpayment disputes with subcontractors and suppliers may carry potential licensing consequences.
Reprinted courtesy of
Brett J. Moritz, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and
Ali Heyat, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Moritz may be contacted at bmoritz@pecklaw.com
Mr. Heyat may be contacted at aheyat@pecklaw.com
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Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (6/24/26) – HUD to Fund AI Grants, Luxury Hotel Deal Investment Activity to Surge, ESPCs to Fund Energy and Infrastructure Improvements
July 06, 2026 —
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogIn our latest roundup, data centers are exposed to climate change, commercial tenant sues CoStar, cities see opportunities in emerging sports markets, and more!
- With deferred maintenance growing and capital dollars stretched thin, local governments are using ESPCs to fund energy and infrastructure improvements through future operational savings. (Vicky Uhland, Construction Dive)
- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering up to $3 million in grants for local governments to deploy automated permitting and building code systems. (Ryan Kushner, Construction Dive)
- Luxury hotel deals are set to see a surge in investment activity due to strong fundamentals and strengthening capital markets. (Noor Adatia, Hotel Dive)
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team
373 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys Recognized in the 2027 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America®
October 06, 2026 —
Snell & WilmerPHOENIX – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 373 of the firm’s attorneys were recently selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® including the prestigious “Lawyer of the Year” honors, and “Ones to Watch” list. Attorneys listed as Ones to Watch typically have been in practice for five to nine years.
“Lawyer of the Year” recognition is awarded to individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region. Only one lawyer is recognized for each practice area and location. The following Snell & Wilmer attorneys were named 2027 “Lawyer of the Year” award recipients: Cortland P. Andrews, Troy J. Aramburu, Brian L. Blaylock, M. Lawrence Brown, Brian D. Cunningham, Michael M. Donahey, Jason Ebe, Matthew P. Fischer, Brett W. Johnson, Nathan G. Kanute, William A. Kastin, Timothy J. Kay, James D. Kilroy, Joseph A. Kroeger, Matthew L. Lalli, John F. Lomax, Anne M. Meyer, Robin L. Miskell, Patrick J. Paul, Amit D. Ranade, and M. Roxanne Veliz.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Snell & Wilmer
Traub Lieberman Wins Affirmation of Judgment on Pleadings Before the Seventh Circuit
August 16, 2026 —
Dana A. Rice & Adam P. Joffe - Traub LiebermanTraub Lieberman Partners Dana Rice and Adam Joffe obtained affirmation of judgment from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of an Insurance Company. The Insurance Company filed suit seeking a declaration that it had no duty to defend or indemnify its Insured, a Roofing Contractor, in an underlying lawsuit. The Insurance Company issued a commercial general liability policy with a one-year policy term. The policy included an exclusion that barred coverage for any losses arising out of work the insured completed before the date the policy incepted.
Reprinted courtesy of
Dana A. Rice, Traub Lieberman and
Adam P. Joffe, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Rice may be contacted at drice@tlsslaw.com
Mr. Joffe may be contacted at ajoffe@tlsslaw.com
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Arizona Court of Appeals Clarifies Homeowners Association Open Meeting Requirements
June 29, 2026 —
Jill Casson Owen, Benjamin J. Hawkins & Stephen Wright - Snell & WilmerA Z N H Revocable Trust v. Sunland Springs Village Homeowners Association, No. 1 CA-CV 25-0424 (Ariz. Ct. App. Apr. 28, 2026)
OVERVIEW
The Arizona Court of Appeals issued an opinion clarifying how homeowners associations must conduct meetings under A.R.S. § 33-1804. The decision reinforces the legislative policy favoring transparency in association governance, bringing association meeting requirements more in line with the open meeting standards applicable to public bodies under A.R.S. § 38-431 et seq. (Arizona’s Open Meeting Law).
KEY HOLDINGS
1. All Voting and Formal Actions Must Occur in Open Meetings
The Court affirmed that association boards cannot vote or take formal action during closed (executive) sessions. Under A.R.S. § 33-1804(A), associations may close portions of meetings only for “consideration” of certain enumerated topics, such as legal advice, pending litigation, or personal/financial information about individual members. The Court interpreted “consideration” to mean discussion and deliberation, not voting. The Court noted that dictionaries define “consider” as “spending time thinking about a possibility” and “formulating an opinion,” which are processes that precede formal action. This interpretation mirrors how Arizona’s Open Meeting Law (A.R.S. § 38-431.03(D)) prohibits public bodies from voting in executive session.
Reprinted courtesy of
Jill Casson Owen, Snell & Wilmer,
Benjamin J. Hawkins, Snell & Wilmer and
Stephen Wright, Snell & Wilmer
Ms. Owen may be contacted at jowen@swlaw.com
Mr. Hawkins may be contacted at bhawkins@swlaw.com
Mr. Wright may be contacted at swright@swlaw.com
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"Resilient Rebuild Hub" Helps Wildfire-Impacted Homeowners Build Back Stronger
September 21, 2026 —
California Nevada Cement AssociationNEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Sept. 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- When homeowners in a fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood banded together last year to rebuild with fire-hardened materials rather than standard wood framing, they weren't just rebuilding houses: they were rewriting the playbook for how California communities can rebuild after wildfire. Today, the Building with Resilience effort is making that playbook available to every homeowner facing the same decision with the launch of its new Resilient Rebuild Hub for exploring fire resistant, non-combustible construction options.
The Resilient Rebuild Hub helps homeowners understand options for fire-resistant, concrete-based construction and connect with architects, engineers, and contractors who can build them. This includes six noncombustible building systems:
- Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF): stackable, high-density foam blocks filled with concrete which save 20-50% on monthly heating and cooling costs, reduce outside noise by up to 80%, offer exceptional earthquake performance and 4-hour fire resistance rating.
- Insulated Composite Concrete Forms (ICCF): similar formwork to ICF construction with composite materials that enhance strength, simplify installation, and improve long-term performance.
- Concrete Masonry: strong, durable wall systems used for decades across California and the U.S.
- Precast Insulated Sandwich Panels: a complete building enclosure system consisting of two layers of concrete separated by a continuous layer of rigid insulation.
- 3D Shotcrete: air-sprayed concrete for strong, fast, and versatile wall systems that enable a high degree of artistic freedom together with unparalleled fire resistance.
- 3D Concrete Printing: the cutting edge of residential construction, a large-scale robotic 3D printer "squeezes" a specialized concrete mixture layer by layer to allow for organic, curved designs that are often too expensive or impossible to build with traditional methods.
The Resilient Rebuild Hub is available now at buildingwithresilience.com/how-to-build. Each part is free to access and includes case studies, technical resources, and a directory of architects, engineers, and contractors experienced in each building method.
CNCA is a not-for-profit organization committed to developing sustainable and economical construction solutions for California and Nevada with an emphasis on the use of cement and concrete. For more information, visit www.cncement.org.
CalCIMA is a trade association for the construction and essential mineral industries in California, including aggregate, essential and rare earth minerals, ready mixed concrete, and asphalt producers. In all, there are about 70 producer member companies that include 500 production sites in every county of California. Our members also include more than 100 suppliers and service providers to the industry.
Founded in 1930, the National Ready Mixed Concrete Association (NRMCA) is the leading industry advocate with a mission to provide exceptional value for our members by responsibly representing and serving the entire ready mixed concrete industry through leadership, promotion, education and partnering to ensure ready mixed concrete is the building material of choice.
California Poised for the Most Significant Residential Construction Defect Reforms in Decades
September 01, 2026 — Thomas D. Fama & Andrew J. Mallon - Wood Smith Henning Berman
The California Legislature is considering legislation that would dramatically alter the landscape of residential construction defect litigation. Assembly Bill 1903, currently pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee, proposes extensive amendments to California's Right to Repair Act (Civil Code sections 895-945.5) that would substantially strengthen procedural protections for builders while narrowing the scope of recoverable construction defect claims.
If enacted, the legislation would affect virtually every stage of a construction defect dispute- from the initial notice of claim through litigation and settlement- and would introduce an entirely new certification process for newly constructed condominium projects. This article details some of the most significant proposed changes.
Higher Burden for Construction Defect Plaintiffs
Perhaps the most consequential change is the bill's modification of the proof required to establish liability. current law generally requires a claimant to demonstrate the residence fails to satisfy one of the statutory performance standards established under the Right to Repair Act. AB1903 would instead require claimants to establish three separate elements:
- A violation of an applicable statutory performance standard;
- The violation caused appreciable, present, non-speculative physical damage to another building component; and
- The violation resulted from the original construction.
Reprinted courtesy of Thomas D. Fama, Wood Smith Henning Berman and Andrew J. Mallon, Wood Smith Henning Berman
Mr. Fama may be contacted at tfama@wshblaw.com
Mr. Mallon may be contacted at amallon@wshblaw.com
Read the full story...
The AI Knows Too Much: When Employees Feed Trade Secrets into Generative AI Tools
April 14, 2026 — Kazim A. Naqvi & John V. Mysliwiec - Sheppard
Every time an employee pastes proprietary source code, a customer list, or a confidential business strategy into ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Gemini, they may be quietly dismantling the legal protections that make those secrets worth protecting. Courts and regulators are only beginning to grapple with this problem, and right now, the burden of preventing it falls squarely on employers.
The Legal Stakes
Under the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act (“DTSA”) and the Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“UTSA”) as adopted across most states, a trade secret plaintiff must show that the information at issue was subject to reasonable measures to maintain its secrecy. Courts have historically credited measures like confidentiality agreements, physical access controls, and employee training—but those safeguards were designed for a world of thumb drives and disgruntled employees. They were not built for a world where a well-meaning engineer can, in seconds, transmit an entire corpus of proprietary data to a third-party AI platform operating under terms of service that may permit the provider to use inputs for model training.
Reprinted courtesy of Kazim A. Naqvi, Sheppard and John V. Mysliwiec, Sheppard
Mr. Naqvi may be contacted at knaqvi@sheppard.com
Mr. Mysliwiec may be contacted at jmysliwiec@sheppard.com Read the full story...
