OAKLAND NEBRASKA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Additional Insureds Obligated to Meet Self-Insured Retention

October 20, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The federal district court found that the additional insureds had to meet the policy’s self-insured retention before a duty to defend was triggered. Amerisure Ins. Co. v. Premier Design & Build Group, LLC, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXXIS 170741 (N.D. Ill. July 31, 2026). Amerisure issued CGL and umbrella policies to Premier Design & Build Group, LLC. Amerisure had the right and duty to defend in certain suits for property damage under both policies. Premier contracted with MG East, LLC (MGE) to build three buildings. After the buildings were constructed, MG filed suit against Premier in state court, seeking recovery for allegedly defective installation of the roof, flashing, and gutters on each of the buildings. Premier had subcontracted with Tecta American Sough Florida, Inc. to install the flashing. 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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Key Ways Construction Companies Can Stay in Compliance with E-Verify

October 26, 2026 — Stephen E. Irving - ConsensusDocs
The federal E-Verify program has become an increasingly central feature of employment verification in the construction industry. Once a voluntary tool used primarily by federal contractors, E-Verify is now mandated, either broadly or for specific project types, by a growing number of states, and its role continues to expand under federal enforcement policy. For construction companies, which depend heavily on large, mobile workforces, and layered subcontracting relationships, E-Verify compliance presents unique operational and legal challenges. This article identifies the key practices construction companies should adopt to maintain compliance, highlights common good-faith mistakes that nonetheless expose contractors to enforcement risk, and examines the broader implications of continued E-Verify expansion for the construction labor market. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Stephen E. Irving, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Irving may be contacted at sirving@pecklaw.com

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New York Construction Employers Face New Reporting and Cancellation Pay Requirements Beginning December 8, 2026

October 26, 2026 — Bradley J. Bartolomeo & Clare M. Cunningham - Lewis Brisbois
Effective December 8, 2026, pursuant to the New York Construction Reporting Pay Act, employers in the New York State construction industry will be subjected to new reporting requirements and will be required to pay both union and non-union workers for certain last-minute schedule changes, even when the disruption is caused by weather, failed inspections, material shortages, site-access restrictions, or delays attributable to owners, general contractors, or other trades. For many contractors, routine decisions that have historically been considered part of construction scheduling risk may now create mandatory wage obligations, prevailing wage compliance concerns, and potential wage-and-hour litigation exposure. Reprinted courtesy of Bradley J. Bartolomeo, Lewis Brisbois and Clare M. Cunningham, Lewis Brisbois Mr. Bartolomeo may be contacted at Bradley.Bartolomeo@lewisbrisbois.com Ms. Cunningham may be contacted at Clare.Cunningham@lewisbrisbois.com Read the full story...

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Colorado’s New Mechanics’ Lien Protections: What S.B. 26-074 Means for Your Next Project

October 27, 2026 — Maria Conversa - Snell & Wilmer
Starting August 12, 2026, Colorado’s mechanics’ lien statute underwent its most significant update in years. Colorado’s General Assembly enacted Senate Bill 26-074 on April 6, 2026, and the new law directly addressed a problem that has plagued contractors and subcontractors for decades. For years, a contractor and subcontractor who filed a lien for the full amount it believed was due — particularly when that amount included disputed costs, delay damages, or lost productivity — risked triggering the “excessive lien” penalty. That penalty could force the claimant to forfeit its lien rights entirely and pay the other side’s attorney fees. The new law expands the categories of costs to be claimed by good-faith lien claimants, while still protecting against truly abusive filings. General contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, owners, and lenders all need to understand these changes. What the Bill Changed 1. Lien Value May Include Disputed Amounts The bill amends the core lien statute to insert the phrase “whether disputed or undisputed” into the description of lienable value. Prior law referenced only “the value” of labor, services, or materials furnished. The new text confirms that a lien can attach for amounts the parties still dispute. A claimant no longer needs the owner or general contractor to agree on the amount before filing. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Maria Conversa, Snell & Wilmer
Ms. Conversa may be contacted at mconversa@swlaw.com

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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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Insurer Dispenses with Bad Faith Claim on Summary Judgment

June 22, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court granted the insurer’s motion for partial summary judgment because the insured failed to present evidence that the insurer failed to conduct a reasonable investigation. PSY Burger, LLC v. State Farm General Insurance Company, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 66991(C.D. Cal. March 20, 2026). The insured’s commercial property suffered heavy damage from tropical storm Hilary. State Farm denied coverage to repair the damage. The insured sued State Farm alleging breach of contract and bad faith due to an inadequate investigation. Apparently, the insured did not retain an expert to opine on claims handling. 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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Federal Bid Protest Standard of Review and Disparate Treatment with Ratings

August 16, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A recent decision out of the Federal Claims Court explains the post-award bid protest standard of review. In Massman Construction Co. v. U.S., 2026 WL 1971985 (Fed.Cl. 2026), a protestor brought a post-award bid protest after the Army Corps of Engineers awarded the contract to another contractor. The protestor argued that the Army Corps (government) acted irrational in its evaluation through disparate treatment. The Court of Federal Claims agreed and remanded for the Army Corps to “either justify this disparity or explain why [awardee’s] lower-priced, but technically inferior proposal provides the best value to the government.” Massman Construction, supra at *1. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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Sixth Circuit Revives Builder’s Risk Coverage, Refusing to Let Insurer Escape on a Technicality

July 27, 2026 — Kevin V. Small & Adriana A. Perez - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
In 3371 Reading, LLC v. Liberty Mutual Group, the Sixth Circuit did something courts do not always do in coverage disputes: it refused to let an insurer avoid liability based on a technical policy condition that could never actually be satisfied. The decision is a straightforward reminder of two core principles. First, policies must be interpreted from the standpoint of a reasonably prudent insured. Second, hyper-technical conditions cannot be used to deny coverage where compliance is never possible. Reprinted courtesy of Kevin V. Small, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Adriana A. Perez, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Mr. Small may be contacted at ksmall@hunton.com Ms. Perez may be contacted at pereza@hunton.com Read the full story...

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