ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

2026 Southern California Super Lawyers Recognizes 14 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys

March 03, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
LOS 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. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

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2026 Construction Law Update

January 26, 2026 — Garret Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Happy New Year! Hope the holidays were enjoyable for you. During the first session of the California Legislature’s 2025-2026 legislative session, 2,350 bills were introduced, of which 917 bills made it to the Governor’s desk, and of which 794 bills were signed into law. For the design and construction industry the most important bills are a new claims resolution procedure for private works projects, a 5% retention cap on certain private works projects, and a number of changes to home improvement contract requirements. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret D. Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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The Deadline to File Suit on a Public Works Payment Payment Bond is Triggered by a Claimant’s Work on a Project Not by a Claimant’s Work Under a Contract

June 02, 2026 — Garret D. Murai - California Construction Law Blog
California law requires that prime contractors furnish a payment bond – providing for payment to lower-tiered subcontractors and suppliers – on state and local public works projects with a value in excess of $25,000. There are three conditions that must be satisfied when a claimant makes a claim against a payment bond on a public works project in California:

1. First, generally, the claimant must have served a preliminary notice, unless the claimant is a first-tier subcontractor or supplier;
2. The claimant must have “ceased to provide work” on the project; and
3. The claimant must file suit against the payment bond no later than six (6) months after the period in which a stop payment notice must be given or, in other words, the earlier of 270 days after completion of the public works project or 210 days after a notice of completion or cessation was recorded on a public works project.

In Tarlton & Sons, Inc. v. Great American Insurance Company, 111 Cal.App.5th 376 (2025), the 2nd District Court of Appeal examined whether a subcontractor timely filed a claim against a payment bond when a prime contractor was terminated and replaced by another prime contractor who the subcontractor continued to perform work for. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret D. Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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Oracle's $16B Michigan Data Center Secures Financing as Power Contracts Face Appeals

June 08, 2026 — Bryan Gottlieb - Engineering News-Record
A $16 billion hyperscale data center under construction outside Ann Arbor, Mich., has secured financing backed by Blackstone and other institutional investors, even as the project's power supply agreements now face a legal challenge before the Michigan Court of Appeals. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bryan Gottlieb, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Gottlieb may be contacted at gottliebb@enr.com

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Scope of Products Requiring Proposition 65 Warnings in California Poised to Grow

February 23, 2026 — Brian M. Ledger & Chassen B. Palmer - Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
The scope of products to be drawn into the warning requirements under California’s Proposition 65 law may soon be growing. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) requested information from the public on the reproductive toxicity of p,p’-bisphenol chemicals. OEHHA is the lead agency for the implementation of Proposition 65, formerly known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxicity Enforcement Act of 1986. OEHHA’s request for information is a step toward regulators classifying all p,p’-bisphenol chemicals as reproductive toxicants under Proposition 65. California’s Proposition 65 Under Proposition 65, businesses are required to post clear and reasonable warnings before individuals are exposed to chemicals listed by the state of California as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. To date, California has listed approximately 900 chemicals that fall under Proposition 65 regulation. Businesses may be held liable for up to $2,500 per violation per day. Proposition 65 can be enforced by public prosecutors (e.g., the California attorney general or district attorneys) or by private enforcers (known as “bounty hunters”). Reprinted courtesy of Brian M. Ledger, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani and Chassen B. Palmer, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Mr. Ledger may be contacted at bledger@grsm.com Mr. Palmer may be contacted at cbpalmer@grsm.com Read the full story...

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My Current Love-Hate Relationship with AI

June 08, 2026 — Garret D. Murai - California Construction Law Blog
It’s early in the relationship, I know. But still, there are some things that bug me. Yet, I also know that it’s a relationship in which leaving is not an option, and even if I could, it’s not to the point where it’s so bad that I would do so. So, if you would, let me gripe a bit. While there’s been much discussion about AI and, at least in my neck of the woods, a fair amount of discussion about how lawyers can, should, and must use AI or risk becoming discarded into the dustbin of history, much less has been written about clients’ use of AI. Increasingly, I’ve gotten the sense that my clients are using AI. For example, I had a client ask for confirmation that if he disagreed with an administrative decision that he could file a writ of mandate, and if so, whether that deadline was 30, 60 or 90 days after the administrative decision. The answer to the first question was yes, and as to the second question, the answer was 90 days. This was from a client who, smart as he is, probably didn’t know this off the top of his head. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret D. Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

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Navigating the New Frontier of Federal-State Energy Regulation: What Energy Companies Need to Know

June 08, 2026 — Ryan J. Regula - Snell & Wilmer
Introduction The jurisdictional boundary between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the states is being actively contested, from challenges to landmark transmission planning rules to disputes over emergency cost-allocation orders, in ways that carry significant legal, financial, and operational implications for energy companies. For utilities, independent power producers, and transmission developers, understanding these dynamics is now a strategic imperative. The Jurisdictional Divide: A Bright Line That Isn’t The Federal Power Act divides authority between FERC and the states: FERC exercises jurisdiction over interstate transmission and wholesale electricity sales, while states retain authority over generation facilities, retail rates, and decisions about resource mix. The D.C. Circuit has regularly been called upon to “referee the Federal Power Act’s jurisdictional line separating [FERC’s] jurisdiction over the federal wholesale market and States’ jurisdiction over facilities used in local distribution.”1 Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Ryan J. Regula, Snell & Wilmer
Mr. Regula may be contacted at rregula@swlaw.com

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Your AEC Firm Has a Memory Problem. Here Is How to Fix It

June 01, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
AEC companies trying to operationalize AI often find they lack the data foundation on which to build. There may be an abundance of data hidden in documents, but you can’t reliably use it for AI. The lack of data quality was a key topic discussed at the AI in AEC 2026 conference. During the event, I met many experts working to solve this problem, including Pavlina Nikolova, Egnyte‘s EMEA AEC Practice Lead. The chat and her presentation highlighted the challenges and ways to overcome them. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

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