GRSM Marks Seventh Anniversary as First and Only Full-Service Law Firm in All 50 States, Climbs to #70 on Am Law 100
April 20, 2026 —
Gordon Rees Scully MansukhaniGordon Rees Scully Mansukhani proudly celebrates the seventh anniversary of its becoming the first and only full-service law firm with offices and attorneys in all 50 states. Since launching its innovative 50-state platform in April 2019, GRSM has experienced extraordinary growth across markets, practices, and client relationships.
In the past seven years, GRSM has expanded its footprint with 20 new offices in both major and secondary markets and doubled its attorney headcount, growing from 940 to more than 2000 lawyers. This growth has propelled GRSM from the 40th to the 11th largest law firm in the United States, according to Law360, while also driving a significant rise on the Am Law 100 rankings, from #103 in 2019 to #70 in 2026. GRSM has served nearly half of the Fortune 500, a testament to its deep bench of lawyers and national capabilities.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
On Checks and Balances
March 03, 2026 —
Garret Murai - California Construction Law BlogIt’s called “checks and balances” for a reason. And, generally, it works well so long as there are clear boundaries between the “co-equal” branches of government.
In
Associated General Contractors of California, Inc. v. Department of Industrial Relations, 108 Cal.App.5th 243 (2025), the 3rd District Court of Appeals upheld a set of regulations issued by the California Apprenticeship Council that contradicted an earlier 2015 ruling of the Court of Appeals.
The Associated General Contractors of California Case
At issue in the case was California’s Prevailing Wage Law which requires public works contractors to hire a certain ratio of apprentices. The purpose of the apprenticeship requirements is to maintain the pipeline of skilled tradespeople on taxpayer-funded projects.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Garret Murai, Nomos LLPMr. Murai may be contacted at
gmurai@nomosllp.com
The AI Knows Too Much: When Employees Feed Trade Secrets into Generative AI Tools
April 14, 2026 —
Kazim A. Naqvi & John V. Mysliwiec - SheppardEvery 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...
U.S. Supreme Court Decision May Negate State Law Requirement to File a Certificate of Merit with the Complaint in a Federal Action Against a Design Professional
April 27, 2026 —
Christopher Olsen & Phillip Boldt - ConsensusDocsTo deter frivolous and unfounded claims against design professionals, states throughout the country have enacted statutes which generally require litigants to furnish a formal certification of merit (“COM”) from a qualified expert or face potential dismissal of their lawsuit. These COM statutes can impose a significant front-end burden on claimants who must pay an expert to review project records, interview the project team, and prepare a formal report before the lawsuit can be filed—often regardless of the amount in controversy. However, in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in a medical malpractice case, most, if not all of these statutes, may no longer be enforceable in federal court. This article examines the recent decision in Berk v. Choy, 146 S. Ct. 546 (2026), the decisions thus far which have applied Berk to invalidate COM statutes, and other categories of statutes applicable to the construction industry which may face a similar fate.
The U.S. Supreme Court Decision (Berk v. Choy)
In Berk, the plaintiff, Harold Berk, sued a doctor for medical malpractice under Delaware law in Delaware federal court. 146 S. Ct. at 551. Under Del. Code, Tit. 18, § 6853(a)(1), an affidavit of merit (like a COM) must accompany a complaint alleging medical malpractice. Id. Berk failed to include an affidavit of merit with his complaint. Id. at 552. Applying Delaware state law, the federal court dismissed Berk’s medical malpractice claim. Berk appealed to the Third Circuit, arguing that the affidavit of merit required by § 6853(a)(1) is unenforceable in federal court because it is more onerous than the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Third Circuit affirmed the District Court’s ruling, finding § 6853(a)(1) enforceable in federal court.
Reprinted courtesy of
Christopher Olsen, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and
Phillip Boldt, Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Mr. Olsen may be contacted at colsen@pecklaw.com
Mr. Boldt may be contacted at pboldt@pecklaw.com
Read the full story...
California’s Retention Reform on Private Construction Projects
February 17, 2026 —
Michael McKeeman - The Construction SeytRetention has long been a contentious issue in California construction. Traditionally, owners withheld retention of 10% from each progress payment until completion, arguing it was necessary to ensure performance, quality and timely delivery. Contractors and subcontractors, however, often struggled with cash flow, payroll, and material costs while waiting months—sometimes even years—for withheld retention.
Recognizing the financial challenges contractors and subcontractors face, the California legislature passed Senate Bill 61 (“SB 61”), now codified under California Civil Code Section 8811 and effective January 1, 2026, limiting retention to 5% on private works of improvement, aligning with the public works standard in place since 2012. The law’s intent is clear—ease financial strain on contractors and subcontractors while still providing owners with security (albeit reduced) with respect to project completion.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Michael McKeeman, SeyfarthMr. McKeeman may be contacted at
Managing Tariff Volatility in Cross‑Border U.S. Construction Projects: Practical Contract‑Drafting and Procurement Strategies
March 10, 2026 —
Sara Beiro Farabow & Michael Wagner - The Construction SeytVolatile U.S. tariff announcements continue to affect international supply chains for U.S. construction projects. Although recent litigation has centered on the scope of presidential tariff authority rather than construction‑specific disputes, these decisions carry important implications for how parties structure risk in their contracts. In May 2025, the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) struck down certain “Liberation Day” tariffs as exceeding presidential authority under IEEPA. A federal district court in Washington, D.C. likewise issued a preliminary injunction suspending related tariffs—though it later stayed its own order pending appeal. And the Supreme Court has agreed to review cases addressing the legal limits of IEEPA‑based tariffs.
While none of these developments arises from construction disputes, the themes they highlight—timing, statutory authority, and documentation—mirror the issues encountered when tariff conditions disrupt international procurement. The following strategies reflect practical steps U.S. project owners, contractors, and foreign suppliers can take to mitigate risk, drawing on drafting approaches now widely used across major construction forms, including—but not limited to—modified AIA agreements.
Reprinted courtesy of
Sara Beiro Farabow, Seyfarth Shaw LLP and
Michael Wagner, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Ms. Farabow may be contacted at sfarabow@seyfarth.com
Mr. Wagner may be contacted at mewagner@seyfarth.com
Read the full story...
Modular Construction’s Big Boom: New Risks Outpacing Standard Contracts in Industrial Projects
March 24, 2026 —
Chad Theriot & Jack Mayo - Construction ExecutiveModular construction is revolutionizing the construction industry, tackling labor shortages, sustainability goals and supply-chain challenges, with the global market for modular and prefabricated construction projected to reach over $200 billion by 2030. While residential builders have embraced modular’s speed and affordability, the greatest risks—and opportunities—are emerging in the industrial sector,
The Overlooked Nevada Rule In an Arena Project LawsuiteRent: Construction Efficiency Using Principles of the Sharing EconomyLien Release Bonds – Remove Liens, But Not All LiabilityTexas Jury Finds Presence of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Causes “Physical Loss or Damage” to Property, Awards Over $48 Million to Baylor College of MedicineInsurance Client Alert: Mere Mailing of Policy and Renewals Into California is Not Sufficient Basis for Jurisdiction Over Bad Faith LawsuitAlaska Civil Engineers Give the State's Infrastructure a "C-" GradeHomeowner Alleges Pool Construction Is DefectiveFollow the Dispute Resolution Provision(s) in Your ContractLatosha Ellis Selected for 2019 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinder ProgramAhlers Distinguished As Top Super Lawyer In Washington And Nine Firm Members Recognized As Super Lawyers Or Rising StarsInsurance Firm Defends against $22 Million Claim2023 Construction Outlook: Construction Starts Expected to FlattenSales of New Homes in U.S. Increased 5.4% in July to 507,000KF-103 v. American Family Mutual Insurance: An Exception to the Four Corners RuleAllegations of Actual Property Damage Necessary to Invoke Duty to DefendWhat You Need to Know to Protect the Project Against Defect ClaimsConsider Arbitration Provision in Homebuilder’s Warranty and Purchase-and-Sale AgreementThe Importance of the Subcontractor Exception to the “Your Work” ExclusionCal/OSHA-Approved Changes to ETS Will Take Effect May 6, 2022Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (9/4/24) – DOJ Sues RealPage, Housing Sales Increase and U.S. Can’t Build Homes Fast Enough$17B Agreement Streamlines Disney World Development PlansRepair of Part May Necessitate Replacement of WholeReal Property Alert: Recording Notice of Default as Trustee Before Being Formally Made the Trustee Does Not Make Foreclosure Sale VoidTreble Damages Awarded After Insurer Denies Coverage for CollapseSausage-Making Often Relies on the Good Sense of the Chef Rather than the RecipePennsylvania: When Should Pennsylvania’s New Strict Products Liability Law Apply?Eleventh Circuit Affirms Jury Verdict on Covered Property LossEighth Circuit Affirms Judgment for Bad Faith after Insured's Home Destroyed by FireDon’t Waive Your Right to Arbitrate (Unless You Want To!)"On Second Thought"California Attempts to Tackle Housing Affordability CrisisChambers USA 2025 Recognizes Four Partners and Three Practices at Lewis Brisbois#6 CDJ Topic: Construction Defect Legislative DevelopmentsTouchdown! – The Construction Industry’s Winning Audible to the COVID BlitzNavigating Casualty Challenges and OpportunitiesConstruction Termination Issues Part 6: This is the End (Tips for The Design Professional)Rebuilding After the 2025 Southern California FiresTraub Lieberman Attorneys Recognized as 2022 Illinois Super Lawyers® and Rising StarsNomos LLP Partner Garret Murai Recognized by Super LawyersThe 2021 Top 50 Construction Law Firms™Administration Launches 'Buy Clean' Construction Materials PushSierra Pacific v. Bradbury Goes Unchallenged: Colorado’s Six-Year Statute of Repose Begins When a Subcontractor’s Scope of Work EndsA Lack of Sophistication With the Construction Contract Can Play Out In an Ugly Dispute7 Sustainability Ideas for Modular Classrooms in the Education Industry (guest post)HP Unveils Cheaper, 3-D Printing System to Spur SalesIt’s Getting Harder and Harder to be a Concrete Supplier in California The Single Source of Truth in Construction Projects: Reality or Myth?Scotiabank Is Cautious on Canada Housing as RBC, BMO Seek ActionBenefits to Insureds Under Property Insurance Policy – Concurrent Cause DoctrineLay Testimony Sufficient to Prove Diminution in ValueASHRAE Approves Groundbreaking Standard to Reduce the Risk of Disease Transmission in Indoor SpacesFannie-Freddie Propose Liquidity Rules for Mortgage InsurersDelaware State Court Holds that Defective Workmanship Claims do not Trigger Coverage by a Builder’s Commercial General Liability PolicyFrom Both Sides Now: Looking at Contracts Through a Post-Pandemic LensWhose Employee is it Anyway?: Federal Court Finds No Coverage for Injured Subcontractor's Claim Based on Modified Employer's Liability ExclusionTennessee Looks to Define Improvements to Real PropertyThe EPA’s Renovation, Repair, and Painting Rule: Are Contractors Aware of It?California Court of Appeal Finds Alleged Inadequate Defense by Insurer-Appointed Defense Counsel Does Not Trigger a Right to Independent CounselScary Movie: Theatre Developer Axed By Court of Appeal In Prevailing Wage Determination ChallengeLos Angeles Is Building a Future Where Water Won’t Run OutContractor Suffolk's Hospital Project Is on Critical List After Steward Health Care BankruptcyIn Texas, a Certificate of Merit Must Address the Conduct of Each Defendant Specifically Property Owners Sue San Francisco Over Sinking SidewalksContractor’s Poor Workmanship: How You Can Deal With It – Bad Contractor Series Part 3South Carolina Legislature Defines "Occurrence" To Include Property Damage Arising From Faulty WorkmanshipMeet the Forum's ADR Neutrals: LESLIE KING O'NEAL
