Tutor Perini Damages Trial Is Set Over Costly Philadelphia Hotel Floor Slab Problems
December 08, 2025 —
Richard Korman - Engineering News-RecordTutor Perini Building Corp. faces a potentially expensive damages trial next year after a Pennsylvania state court judge ruled in late October that the company breached its contract with the developer of a 51-story downtown Philadelphia hotel on which floor slab deflections delayed curtain-wall installation and added to completion delays and cost overruns.
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Richard Korman, Engineering News-RecordMr. Korman may be contacted at
kormanr@enr.com
US Energy Dept. Withdraws Federal ‘Zero-Emissions Building’ Definition
December 22, 2025 —
Bryan Gottlieb - Engineering News-RecordThe U.S. Dept. of Energy has
withdrawn the Biden-era federal definition of a “zero-emissions building,” marking another step in the Trump administration’s rollback of climate-focused initiatives and creating uncertainty for states, cities and owners that had informally used the guidance in project planning.
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Bryan Gottlieb, Engineering News-RecordMr. Gottlieb may be contacted at
gottliebb@enr.com
Four Payne & Fears Attorneys Named 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars
March 17, 2026 —
Payne & FearsWe congratulate our four Payne & Fears attorneys who have been named 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Rising Stars. This recognition highlights the next generation of legal talent, honoring attorneys who have made a strong impact in their practice areas early in their careers.
Employment & Labor
Taylor Brown
Bree Oswald
Employment Litigation: Defense
Tyler Runge
Business Litigation
Brian Shaw Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Payne & Fears
2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Recognizes 14 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys
March 03, 2026 —
Snell & WilmerLOS ANGELES AND ORANGE COUNTY – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 14 attorneys in its Los Angeles and Orange County offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southern California Super Lawyers publication. Of those 15, six were recognized as Rising Stars.
Super Lawyers is a listing of lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process is multi-phased and includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations. The final published list represents no more than 5 percent of the lawyers in the state.
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Snell & Wilmer
New York Moves to Tighten Third-Party Practice: Key Changes to CPLR 1007
March 31, 2026 —
Sophia L. Cahill - SheppardEffective April 18, 2026, the New York Legislature enacted the Avoiding Vexatious Overuse of Impleading to Delay (“AVOID”) Act, amending CPLR 1007—the statute that governs third-party practice. The amendment sharply limits when and how defendants can commence third-party actions, curbing the expansive discretion they previously enjoyed and targeting the late-stage impleaders that often upend case schedules.
What Changes
Before the AVOID Act was signed into law on December 19, 2025 (and subsequently modified by Chapter Amendments A9502 and S8809, signed by Governor Hochul on February 13, 2026[1]), CPLR 1007 gave defendants broad latitude to implead “any person who is or may be liable” for all or part of the plaintiff’s claim. CPLR 1007 specified no outside time limit for the initiation of a third-party claim; courts assessed only whether a defendant’s delay was undue—such as impleading months after the note of issue—and whether the plaintiff would suffer prejudice if the third-party action were not severed.
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Sophia L. Cahill, SheppardMs. Cahill may be contacted at
scahill@sheppard.com
New California Law Requires Real Estate Agents and Brokers to Disclose AI Alterations in Listings
January 21, 2026 —
Brian Slome - Lewis BrisboisSan Diego, Calif. (December 19, 2025) - Artificial intelligence and digital marketing have become ubiquitous in real estate advertising. The widespread use of AI creates risk for consumers who don’t know whether images shown online or on the multiple listing services are real. A new California law that goes into effect in January 2026 tries to draw a clear line: innovation is welcome but deception is not.
The state’s new law requires licensed real estate brokers and salespersons to disclose when images used in advertisement and promotional materials have been digitally altered and to provide access to the original, unaltered images. The law is intended to enhance transparency in real estate advertising and to reduce the risk of consumer deception arising from image editing, virtual staging, or other digital modifications.
Who Is Covered
The law applies to real estate agents, brokers, developers, and marketing staff involved in property advertising. It encompasses advertisements including those in print and online.
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Brian Slome, Lewis BrisboisMr. Slome may be contacted at
Brian.Slome@lewisbrisbois.com
Recovering Attorney’s Fees and Arguing the Fees Are Inextricably Intertwined
December 02, 2025 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesAttorney’s fees are a big part of any dispute. And the attorney’s fees should be because fees are a factor and can ultimately drive the outcome of a dispute. No one wants to spend $100,000 in fees to recover $100,000, so the conversation regarding attorney’s fees needs to be had early.
Generally, a party can recover reasonable attorney’s fees if authorized by contract or by statute. So, there would need to be a prevailing party attorney’s fees provision in a contract, if suing on a contract, or there would need to be a statute authorizing the recovery of attorney’s fees, if suing on a statute. Then, there is authority that the party still needs to prevail on the significant issues in the dispute, as determined by the trial court (or binding arbitrator), in order to be the prevailing party for purposes of attorney’s fees. (Absent that, you are dealing with a proposal for settlement to create a procedural basis to recover fees, which is explained here.) Reasonable attorney’s fees, however, does not mean you will recover 100% of your attorney’s fees. Some percentage will presumably be discounted meaning becoming 100% whole when factoring in attorney’s fees is not always a practical outlook.
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David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
CARB Issues Proposed Climate Disclosure Regulations
January 13, 2026 —
Michael S. McDonough, Ashleigh Myers & Karen Eskander - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law BlogOn December 9, 2025, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued
proposed regulations and a
staff report for California’s comprehensive climate disclosure laws, the
Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act (SB 253) and the
Climate-Related Financial Risk Act (SB 261). These proposed regulations come less than a month after the
Ninth Circuit issued an injunction temporarily halting enforcement of SB 261, at least until a January 9, 2026, hearing on the plaintiffs’ requested longer-term injunction through the remainder of the First Amendment challenge to the laws. The draft regulations would adopt some, but not all, of the provisions proposed by CARB in its public workshops on the laws to date, and notably would scale back applicability to those companies above a threshold level of sales in the state. The proposed regulations also define key terms, establish the program fee structures, explain fee enforcement a
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