BENTONIA MISSISSIPPI CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

GRSM Trial Team Holds Alameda County Asbestos Verdict to $900,000 Against $50 Million Demand

July 27, 2026 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Partners John Katerndahl and Vincent Gunter recently obtained an outstanding trial result for a manufacturer of asbestos-containing electrical cable, holding a jury verdict to $900,000 against a $50 million demand following an eight-week trial in Alameda County Superior Court, which is among the most challenging asbestos venues in the country. The GRSM team also included Associate Brandon Sanchez, on-site trial Paralegal Laura Vitanova, and Paralegal Kerrie Lease. The plaintiffs, the surviving spouse and four children of a former painter who died of mesothelioma, alleged that the decedent was exposed to asbestos from the company’s electrical cable during construction of a California nuclear power facility. GRSM’s client was the sole remaining defendant at trial. The plaintiffs asked the jury for $50 million and called 15 witnesses across their case-in-chief and rebuttal. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

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Insured’s Failure to Determine Depreciation When Presenting Claim for Replacement Cost Value

August 16, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The Third Circuit affirmed the district court’s granting of summary judgment to the insurer when the insured submitted replacement cost value of the loss but did not include a determination of depreciation. Kimmel v. Massachusetts Bay Ins. Co., 2026 U.S. App. LEXIS 16569 (3d Cir. June 9, 2026). A lightning strike downed a tree on the insured’s property, causing extensive damage to the home. The insured had a homeowner’s policy with Massachusetts Bay Insurance Company (MBIC). MBIC denied the claim, determining that much of the claimed damage already existed and that several policy exclusions otherwise barred coverage. The insured filed suit for breach of contract and bad faith. 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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Consider The Limited Warranty from Your Homebuilder

July 06, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
When purchasing a home from a homebuilder, there is an important consideration when it comes to the limited warranty you receive around the time you close on the home. That limited warranty likely includes an arbitration provision requiring you to arbitrate your disputes, such as construction defect claims, against the homebuilder. That arbitration provision will most likely include all claims, including statutory claims (such as a statutory violation of a building code claim), requiring you to arbitrate, as opposed to litigate, your disputes against the homebuilder. This is an important consideration. If the arbitration provision does not allow you to arbitrate all of your claims, and eliminates your rights to legitimate statutory claims, the arbitration provision could be unenforceable. By way of example, in a residential construction defect dispute, Anderson v. Taylor Morrison of Florida, Inc., 223 So.3d 1088 (Fla. 2d DCA 2017), the appeal turned on whether the arbitration provision in the homebuilder’s limited warranty was valid. The homeowners took possession of their home in 2009. In 2015, the homeowners served a Florida Statutes Chapter 558 notice of construction defects that included a statutory violation of a building code claim under Florida Statute §553.84. The limited warranty included an arbitration provision that specified it was the “exclusive remedy” for all disputes arising out of or related to the warranty or issues with the home and property. When read together with the warranty’s disclaimer that precluded claims not covered by the warranty “whether in contract, tort, or otherwise,” the statutory building code violation claim could not be remedied through arbitration because it fell outside the warranty’s coverage. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Insurer Cannot Dispose of Water Leak or Bad Faith Claims on Motion for Summary Judgment

July 20, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The insurer’s motion for summary judgment seeking to eliminate the insured’s claims for damage from a water leak, bad faith and punitive damages failed. Nargizyan v, State Farm General Ins. Co., 2026 Cal App. LEXIS 302 (Cal. Ct. App. April 15, 2026). The insured noticed tiles on his kitchen floor were warmer than usual. He found water dripping from the top of the crawl space under the house. He noticed water was “dripping in different places” but not pouring like a faucet. “There were too many places to count where water was dripping and there was water all over the place.” 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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Delay Matters: Florida’s Fourth DCA Reverses Hurricane Irma Dismissal

June 08, 2026 — Andrea DeField, Machaella Reisman & Cary D. Steklof - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
The mantra “delay, deny, defend” is frequently referenced in discussions of insurance claims handling, though insurers will invariably disavow these tactics. While it would be facially improper for an insurer to delay a coverage decision to gain a tactical advantage, empirical examples nonetheless exist. This very dynamic was addressed by Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeals when it handed policyholders a win in Hypoluxo Mariner’s Cay Condo. Assoc’n, Inc. v. Underwriters at Lloyd’s London, No. 4D2024‑2250 (Fla. 4th DCA Apr. 1, 2026), reversing a trial court order dismissing a condominium association’s Hurricane Irma coverage lawsuit against its property insurer. Delay to Run the Statute of Limitations Following Hurricane Irma, a condominium association suffered roof and exterior envelope damage, reported an insurance claim, and submitted a sworn proof of loss to its property insurer in compliance with Florida Statute § 627.70132 (2020). The statute establishes a timeframe within which a policyholder must submit a claim for hurricane damage. Reprinted courtesy of Andrea DeField, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP, Machaella Reisman, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Cary D. Steklof, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Ms. DeField may be contacted at adefield@hunton.com Ms. Reisman may be contacted at reismanm@hunton.com Mr. Steklof may be contacted at csteklof@hunton.com Read the full story...

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Water Reuse Emerges as a Critical Strategy for Data Center Development

June 22, 2026 — Ashleigh Myers, Jillian Marullo & Jason Drogin Atwood - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
As demand for data centers continues to accelerate, water availability is emerging as a critical factor in project development and long-term operations. Although power supply and transmission access have historically dominated siting discussions, increasing water constraints in many regions are placing greater focus on the substantial volumes of water required to support data center cooling systems. As we covered previously, data centers are frequently located in areas already experiencing water stress and require substantial volumes of water to operate—roughly 228 billion gallons in 2023 in the United States alone—with water use projected to increase by up to 170% by 2030. Alternative cooling options, such as free-air cooling or mechanical chillers, can reduce direct water consumption but introduce their own tradeoffs. Free-air cooling is climate-dependent and often ineffective in hotter regions, while mechanical chillers increase energy demand, potentially shifting water consumption upstream through increased electricity generation. Reprinted courtesy of Ashleigh Myers, Pillsbury, Jillian Marullo, Pillsbury and Jason Drogin Atwood, Pillsbury Ms. Myers may be contacted at ashleigh.myers@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Marullo may be contacted at jillian.marullo@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Atwood may be contacted at jason.atwood@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

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Amended Again?! Critical Changes to RPAPL § 881: What New York Contractors and Construction Managers Need to Know

March 10, 2026 — Mark A. Snyder & David Polazzi - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Recent amendments to New York’s RPAPL § 881 will significantly change how project teams obtain and maintain access to adjoining properties for construction-related work. The 2025 amendment signed into law by Governor Hochul, and the newly enacted 2026 revisions, will directly impact general contractors (GCs) and construction managers (CMs), as well as their trade contractors who regularly confront neighbor‑access, support‑of‑excavation, and protection‑of‑adjoining‑property challenges. Although we do not advise that GCs and CMs get involved in the “weeds” of license agreements or the prosecution of an action to obtain access pursuant to an RPAPL § 881 action, which are typically owner responsibilities, GCs and CMs should understand the change in law, as there may be circumstances where they are responsible for securing access. This alert outlines the key statutory changes and explains the operational, scheduling, insurance, and risk‑management implications for the New York construction industry. Reprinted courtesy of Mark A. Snyder, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and David Polazzi, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Snyder may be contacted at msnyder@pecklaw.com Mr. Polazzi may be contacted at dpolazzi@pecklaw.com Read the full story...

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EPA Expands PFAS Reporting Requirements with Addition of New Chemical to Toxics Release Inventory, Published
Not All Work is Covered Under the Federal Miller Act

Cliff White Expands Insurance Litigation Team at Payne & Fears

Why You May Not Want a Mandatory Mediation Clause in Your Construction Contract

Meet Your Future Team Members: AI Agents

Examining Best Practices for Fire Protection of Critical Systems in Buildings

Bid Bonds: The First Preventative Measure for Your Project

Haight has been named a Metropolitan Los Angeles Tier 1 “Best Law Firm” in four practice areas and Tier 2 in one practice area by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” in 2020

Celebrating 29 Years – Thank You for Your Continued T
Trends: “Nearshoring” Opportunities for the Construction Industry

Motion for Reconsideration Challenging Appraisal Determining Cause of Loss Denied

Scott Saylin Expands Employment Litigation and Insurance Litigation Team at Payne & Fears

Arbitration Provision Must Be Incorporated into a Bond for Surety to Elect Arbitration

Pulled from the Swamp: EPA Wetland Determination Now Judicially Reviewable

Electrical Subcontractor Sues over Termination

US Supreme Court Orders All Mountain Valley Gas Line Work to Proceed

Fraud, the VCPA and Construction Contracts

Unfortunate Event Test Leads to Three Occurrences

Real Estate & Construction News Round-Up (11/16/22) – Backlog Shifts, Green Battery Storage, and Russia-Ukraine Updates

Federal Court Asks South Dakota Supreme Court to Decide Whether Injunction Costs Are “Damages,” Adopts Restatement’s Position on Providing “Inadequate” Defense

Toddler Crashes through Window, Falls to his Death

What Made the Savannah Harbor Upgrade So Complicated?

What Rich Millennials Want in a Luxury Home: 20,000 Square Feet

South Carolina Court of Appeals Diverges from Damico Opinion, Sending Recent Construction Defects Cases to Arbitration

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (11/8/23) – New Handling of Homelessness, Decline in Investments into ESG Funds, and Shrinking of a Homebuyer’s Dollar

Delay Matters: Florida’s Fourth DCA Reverses Hurricane Irma Dismissal

Vinny Testaverde Alleges $5 Million Mansion Riddled with Defects

Breach of an Oral Contract and Unjust Enrichment and Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing

Oregon Construction Firm Sued for Construction Defects

Architects Group Lowers U.S. Construction Forecast

Arizona Court of Appeals Decision in $8.475 Million Construction Defect Class Action Suit

Important Insurance Alert for Out-of-State Contractors Assisting in Florida Recovery Efforts!

Know and Meet Your Notice Requirements or Lose Your Payment Bond Claims

Cherokee Nation Wins Summary Judgment in COVID-19 Business Interruption Claim

How Well Do You Know the 2012 IECC Code?

Supreme Court Grants Petition for Review Regarding Necessary Parties in Lien Foreclosure Actions

Record-Setting Construction in Fargo

2022 Project of the Year: Linking Los Angeles

Homebuilding Down in North Dakota

In Construction Your Contract May Not Always Preclude a Negligence Claim

Summary Judgment Granted to Insurer for Hurricane Damage

Surfside Condo Collapse Investigators Have Nearly Finished Technical Work

Who Decides Who Can Arbitrate? The Court . . . Sometimes

Chinese Billionaire Developer Convicted in UN Bribery Case

COVID-19 Pandemic Preference Amendments to Bankruptcy Code Benefiting Vendors, Customers, Commercial Landlords and Tenants

Over 50 Lewis Brisbois Attorneys Recognized in 7th Edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America

Suppliers of Inherently Dangerous Raw Materials Remain Excluded from the Protections of the Component Parts Doctrine

New York Office Secures Appellate Win in Labor Law 240(1) Fall in Basement Accident Case

Jurisdictional Conflict Over “Related Claims”: Montana Federal Court Latest to Weigh in on When Claims Are Related

Subcontractors Have a Duty to Clarify Ambiguities in Bid Documents

California Restricts Principles of “General” Personal Jurisdiction

“Positive Limiting Barriers” Are An Open and Obvious Condition, Relieving Owner of Duty to Warn

Not Pandemic-Proof: The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19 on the Commercial Construction Industry

Wyoming Supreme Court Picks a Side After Reviewing the Sutton Rule

The Prefatory Wherefore Clauses in Agreements Matter

Terminating Contracts for Convenience — “Just Because”

August Home Prices in 20 U.S. Cities Appreciate at Faster Pace

Additional Insured Status Survives Summary Judgment Stage

On Rehearing, Fifth Circuit Finds Contractual-Liability Exclusion Does Not Apply