Shiloh and Vallejo: The DOI Tale of Two Properties
October 20, 2025 —
Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier & Caitlin Vanderkarr - Snell & WilmerCalifornia courts have certainly been busy as of late. In particular, challenges abound as to the Department of the Interior (the DOI) and its decisions to take certain parcels of land into trust for the purpose of rendering such parcels eligible for gaming activities by certain California tribes.
The DOI Shiloh Parcel Dispute
The Shiloh parcel, a tract of land the DOI previously approved as land taken into trust for gaming purposes under the restored lands exception of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) on behalf of the Koi Nation of Northern California (The Koi), has been the subject of considerable controversy.
Reprinted courtesy of
Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier, Snell & Wilmer and
Caitlin Vanderkarr, Snell & Wilmer
Ms. Staudenmaier may be contacted at hstaudenmaier@swlaw.com
Ms. Vanderkarr may be contacted at cvanderkarr@swlaw.com
Read the full story...
Don’t Breach Your Contract, but If You Do, Don’t Breach First
December 22, 2025 —
Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law MusingsWell, it’s been a while since my last post here at
Musings due to travel, work, Thanksgiving, etc. so I thought I’d let a recent case remind us all that while breaching a construction contract is bad, doing it first is even worse. This is the so called “doctrine of first breach” that basically states that if both parties are in breach (or even just one), then the first to breach is the one that will bear the costs of breach. The doctrine also states that the one first to breach first can’t enforce any of its rights going forward.
The plaintiff in
SEG Props. LLC v. NTC Mazzuca Constr.,Inc., the Virginia Court of Appeals considered a first breach scenario that was pretty extreme. The basic facts are as follows:
SEG hired Mazzuca to build a private shooting range and hired a property manager (Jones, Lang, LaSalle, Inc. (“JLL”)) as its project representative. Per the contract, if Mazzuca provided a payment application on or before the 25th of the month, payment was due by the 25th of the following month. In no event was payment to be made more than 30 days from receipt of the payment application by the owner’s representative. Even where there was a dispute, the undisputed amounts were to be paid. Mazzuca and JLL used a so called “pencil” method for payment applications that involved JLL reviewing the payment applications for errors and then a final payment application with the corrections being sent to the Architect. Needless to say there were change orders and disputes, but after the smoke cleared, it was obvious that from the first payment application, SEG had failed to make timely payment (for the whole saga, please read the case as it is too long for this post). Later, SEG terminated Mazzuca for cause upon one day’s notice that SEG would be supplementing Mazzuca’s workforce.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
The Law Office of Christopher G. HillMr. Hill may be contacted at
chrisghill@constructionlawva.com
Ninth Circuit Issues Injunction Halting SB 261 Climate Disclosure Laws
December 22, 2025 —
Michael S. McDonough & Karen Eskander - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogOn November 18, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an
injunction temporarily halting the implementation of California’s SB 261, the Climate-Related Financial Risk Act, just weeks before the law’s first mandated disclosures on January 1, 2026. The court declined to stay California’s companion climate emissions disclosure bill, the Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253), due to that bill’s less immediately pressing compliance deadline of August 2026.
Background on California Climate Disclosure Laws
As we have discussed in
previous posts, California enacted two comprehensive climate disclosure laws in 2023. The
Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the
Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261) impose greenhouse gas emissions and climate-related financial risk reporting requirements that apply to thousands of public and private companies formed under U.S. law and “doing business in California.” The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has released a preliminary list of companies it believes may be subject to the state’s new climate disclosure regime.
Reprinted courtesy of
Michael S. McDonough, Pillsbury and
Karen Eskander, Pillsbury
Mr. McDonough may be contacted at michael.mcdonough@pillsburylaw.com
Ms. Eskander may be contacted at karen.eskander@pillsburylaw.com
Read the full story...
Brian Newberry Accepted into ABOTA
November 18, 2025 —
Lewis Brisbois NewsroomProvidence, RI (October 13, 2025) - Lewis Brisbois is pleased to announce that Providence Partner Brian C. Newberry was recently accepted as a new member of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) during the organization’s National Board Meeting in Austin, Texas on October 4, 2025.
In discussing his acceptance into the organization, Mr. Newberry noted, “It’s an honor to be accepted into ABOTA. Jury trials lie at the heart of the legal system and while our first priority as lawyers is to resolve disputes as economically and efficiently as possible for our clients, part of that pursuit depends on always being ready to present a case to a jury and it is critically important for both our clients and opposing counsel to know we stand at the top of the profession in that regard.”
Providence Managing Partner Lauren Motola-Davis stated, “ABOTA sets one of the profession’s highest bars for trial excellence and civility. Brian Newberry not only meets that standard - he exemplifies it. We’re thrilled for him and for ABOTA’s Rhode Island Chapter, and we know he’ll continue to strengthen Lewis Brisbois’ National Trial Practice.”
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Lewis Brisbois
Contract Disputes Act and Jurisdictional Requirements
March 17, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesWhen dealing with a claim on a federal construction project, there are a couple of key background jurisdictional points. These points were briefly highlighted in the recent appeal, Mega Star Logistics Service Co. v. Department of State, CBCA 8232, 2026 WL 253738 (CBCA 2026). Here are the two points.
FIRST, when it comes to jurisdiction, for a board of contract appeals “to exercise jurisdiction over a claim, the CDA [Contract Disputes Act] requires the contractor to submit a written claim to the contracting officer for a COFD [contracting officer final decision], with a subsequent appeal of the COFD or deemed denial if the CO [contracting officer] does not issue a COFD.” Thus, you need to submit a formal claim under the Contract Disputes Act to the contracting officer to get a final decision from the contracting officer (or the contracting officer waiving the final decision by not timely furnishing one). Mega Star Logistics, supra.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
How to Properly Fill Out and Use the Unconditional Waiver and Release on Progress Payment Form Used in California Construction
December 22, 2025 —
William L. Porter - Porter Law GroupThis is the Second article in a series of four articles discussing how to properly fill out the four California construction releases described in California Civil Code 8132 – 8138.
Let me start by noting that in addition to practicing construction law for more than 35 years, I chaired the committee of California construction attorneys who revised those sections of the California Civil Code dealing with this release form and many other construction forms as part of Senate Bill 189 in 2010. I also wrote the first version of this release form and made it free to the public well before the new law took effect in 2012. With this background, let me note a few things about the Unconditional Waiver and Release on Progress Payment form to help you avoid mistakes that might prevent you from achieving the intended effect of the form or releasing claim rights to a greater extent than you intend.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
William L. Porter, Porter Law GroupMr. Porter may be contacted at
bpor
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Accordingly, associations should retain independent evaluations of the property and consult qualified legal counsel before signing any “standard” agreements, especially ones involving a release of future claims.
Nicholas B. Vargo is a partner in Ball Janik LLP’s Construction Practice Group. He may be reached at nvargo@balljanik.com.
