ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Congratulations 2025 DE, MA, MD, NJ, NY, and PA Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

July 15, 2025 — White and Williams LLP

White and Williams congratulates the thirteen attorneys nominated as Super Lawyers and ten attorneys named Rising Stars across our Delaware, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania offices. Lawyers are selected through a process that takes into consideration peer recognition and professional achievement. The lawyers named to this year’s list represent a multitude of practices throughout the firm.

Super Lawyers 2025

Attorney	Super Lawyers Denoted Practice Area (s)
Kevin C. Cottone	Medical Malpractice
Robert G. Devine	Personal Injury, Employment Litigation, Products Liability
R. Victoria Fuller	Employment & Labor, Insurance Coverage, Schools & Education
David D. Gilliss	Surety, Construction Litigation, Administrative Law
Dirk C. Haarhoff	Insurance Coverage
Eric B. Hermanson	Insurance Coverage, Civil Litigation
Eric G. Korphage	Surety, Construction Litigation, Business Litigation
Bridget La Rosa	Estate Planning & Probate
John G. Loughnane	Bankruptcy: Business, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Business/Corporate, Creditor Debtor Rights: Business, Technology Transactions
Randy J. Maniloff	Insurance Coverage
Wesley R. Payne	Insurance Coverage, Personal Injury, Civil Litigation
Heidi J. Sorvino	Bankruptcy
Andrew F. Susko	Civil Litigation, Medical Malpractice, Business Litigation

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

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Insured’s Motion to Compel Production of Underwriting Materials Granted

November 04, 2025 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The Supreme Court of New York granted the insured’s motion to compel the production of underwriting materials related to identifying additional insureds. Church of St. Andrew v. Western World Ins. Co., 2025 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 7018 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. Aug. 5, 2025). The Church of St. Andrew (“church”) retained GC Solutions to perform roofing work at its premises. The church required GC Solutions to name it as an additional insured under its general liability policy. GC Solutions provided a Certificate of Insurance naming the church as an additional insured under the policy issued by Western World. While working on the roof, an employee of GC Solutions fell to his death. A wrongful death action was commenced by the decedent’s estate against the church. The church tendered its defense and indemnification to Western World. Western World disclaimed coverage, asserting that the church did not qualify as an additional insured under the policy. 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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Jurisdictional Conflict Over “Related Claims”: Montana Federal Court Latest to Weigh in on When Claims Are Related

October 06, 2025 — Geoffrey B. Fehling & Joseph T. Niczky - Hunton Insurance Recovery Blog
A recent decision in federal court in Montana provides another example of different standards applied to assessing “related claims” under directors and officers (D&O) liability insurance policies. In this instance, the district court found that two class action lawsuits were related because they involved the same “general course of conduct.” Because the two claims were related, they were treated as a single claim first made in an earlier policy period. As a result, the Montana policyholder lost out on $5 million in potential coverage under a second policy in place when the second claim was asserted. A typical claims-made liability policy covers claims first made against the policyholder during the policy period. However, if two claims are “related,” they are considered a single claim that was first made at the time of the earlier claim, even if the second claim was made during a subsequent policy period. Most policies use very broad and amorphous “related” claim definitions and provisions, leaving courts to fill in gaps when asked to assess relatedness. Given the material differences in state common law, states have taken very different, and at times seemingly conflicting, approaches, so whether two seemingly similar claims are in fact related often depends on what state's law governs. Reprinted courtesy of Geoffrey B. Fehling, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP and Joseph T. Niczky, Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP Mr. Fehling may be contacted at gfehling@hunton.com Mr. Nickzky may be contacted at jniczky@hunton.com Read the full story...

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Timely Filed, Wrongly Rejected: Court of Appeal Reinforces Summary Judgment Rights

August 12, 2025 — Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP
In CFP BDA, LLC v. Superior Court (2025), the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two (Riverside), issued a published opinion that clarifies a recurring procedural dilemma in civil litigation: whether trial courts may deny a timely motion for summary judgment based solely on local calendaring rules. The Court held they may not. The case arose from a property dispute involving a local airport and neighboring landowners seeking to impose an easement. Petitioners (the airport owners) timely reserved a hearing date for their summary judgment motion and served the motion more than 30 days before trial, in compliance with Code of Civil Procedure section 437c. However, because they filed their moving papers more than 10 court days after reserving the hearing - contrary to Riverside County Local Rule 3310 - the court clerk removed the hearing from calendar. When petitioners moved to have the summary judgment motion specially set or the trial date adjusted, the trial court denied relief without a hearing. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Haight Brown & Bonesteel LLP

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What Everyone Needs to Know About Schedule Float

August 18, 2025 — Andrew G. Vicknair - The Dispute Resolver
Scheduling for a contractor is essential and helps contractors organize work, manage subcontractors, and avoid costly delays. An accurate schedule helps a contractor to keep a project on track, meet deadlines and assist in preventing conflicts between different subcontractors working on a project. In short, construction scheduling is a key tool for completing projects efficiently and successfully. There are different types of schedules including bar charts (Gantt charts), critical path method (CPM) schedules, look-ahead schedules, and linear scheduling for repetitive tasks. Each type serves a different purpose, from providing high-level overviews to detailed task sequencing and daily or weekly planning. CPM schedules are very common and often considered the best type of schedule because they not only illustrate the sequence of activities but also identify the critical path, helping contractors prioritize tasks, manage delays, and keep the project on time. A CPM schedule also highlights where there is flexibility or potential risk. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Andrew G. Vicknair, D'Arcy Vicknair, LLC
Mr. Vicknair may be contacted at agv@darcyvicknair.com

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Stephen Henning Receives “Legend of an Era” Award

June 23, 2025 — Wood Smith Henning & Berman
Wood Smith Henning & Berman proudly announces that founding partner Stephen Henning was awarded the prestigious Legend of an Era Award at the West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar, held May 15-16, 2025, at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. The Legend of an Era Award honors an individual who has achieved enduring, legendary status through remarkable contributions, leadership, and advocacy within the construction defect community. The award recognizes those who inspire, contribute, advocate, and influence for the betterment of the community. This latest recognition adds to an already distinguished history of awards from West Coast Casualty. Henning was previously the first defense attorney ever to receive the Jerrold S. Oliver Award, a high honor given for outstanding services and contributions to the construction community. Firmwide managing partner Stewart Reid commented, "This award is a testament to Steve's lifelong dedication to advocacy, mentorship, and leadership. He has not only exceled in the defending construction professionals throughout his career, but he has also inspired countless professionals along the way." In addition to this distinguished honor, a donation will be made in Henning's name to the seminar's designated charity, which for 2025 is the Los Angeles Firemen's Relief Association, supporting firefighters and their families. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Wood Smith Henning & Berman

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Who, Me?

August 12, 2025 — Daniel Lund III - JD Supra
A surety asserting an indemnity claim in federal court in Georgia sought recovery against indemnitors involved with a joint venture put together to bid on construction projects requiring surety bonds. The surety had issued bonds under a general indemnity agreement signed by the joint venture partners and individual indemnitors. When one of the joint venture partners defaulted on the projects, the surety faced claims on the bonds and sought indemnification from all the indemnitors. In defense against the indemnity claims, certain individual indemnitors and one of the JV partners stated that they did not intend to indemnify the surety for bonds issued to only one of the joint venture partners and not to the joint venture. Rather, those indemnitors urged that their intention when signing the indemnity agreement was to only be liable for bonds issued directly to them or to the joint venture, not for bonds issued solely to the other JV partner. Purporting to rely upon an email communication from the agent which sold the bonds, the recalcitrant indemnitors declared that they believed that each party would bear responsibility only for the bonds tied to their respective operations. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Daniel Lund III, Phelps
Mr. Lund may be contacted at daniel.lund@phelps.com

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Four Steps to Effectively Manage Rising Risk of Construction Liability Claims

October 06, 2025 — David Chmiel - Construction Executive
A priority for every construction firm, regardless of size, is the effective management of risk. The industry is rife with dangers, more than any other. Too often, risks - of various types - are underestimated or overlooked, making it critical to closely follow and manage policies and practices to guard against them. What has complicated construction’s risk-management challenge has been the environment for liability claims - which have grown in frequency and complexity. Part of the problem is a booming market as costs rise and workers are hard to find, pressuring project timelines and budgets and resulting in more claims. Construction work itself leads to higher claims than in other industries, with total lost time severity for claims 50% higher than average. Natural disasters are worsening, and engineering claims also have a role. And construction-related workers compensation mega claims (over $2 million) are prevalent, in 2024 accounting for over 2% of total loss dollars - over $1 billion. Reprinted courtesy of David Chmiel, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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