ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Maryland Enacts Climate-Cost Study Over Veto, New Jersey Advances Climate Superfund Proposal as Earlier State Laws Face Ongoing Court Challenges

January 21, 2026 — Amanda G. Halter, Ashleigh Myers & Jillian Marullo - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Maryland lawmakers have overridden the governor’s veto to enact legislation directing a statewide assessment of climate-related costs, while New Jersey lawmakers are preparing a January committee hearing for the State’s pending Climate Superfund Act. Together, these actions underscore continued state-level interest in both study-based and liability-focused climate-cost attribution frameworks, even as four separate lawsuits challenging state climate superfund statutes in New York and Vermont proceed in federal court. Maryland Legislature Overrides Veto to Advance Climate-Cost Assessment On December 16, the Maryland General Assembly voted to override Governor Wes Moore’s veto of S.B. 149 / H.B. 128, the “Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation – Total Assessed Cost of Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Study and Reports” Act. The vote followed the Governor’s announcement, just days earlier, that his administration would fully fund the study mandated by the bill, effectively reversing his prior veto. Reprinted courtesy of Amanda G. Halter, Pillsbury, Ashleigh Myers, Pillsbury and Jillian Marullo, Pillsbury Ms. Halter may be contacted at amanda.halter@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Myers may be contacted at ashleigh.myers@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Marullo may be contacted at jillian.marullo@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

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The AI Knows Too Much: When Employees Feed Trade Secrets into Generative AI Tools

April 14, 2026 — Kazim A. Naqvi & John V. Mysliwiec - Sheppard
Every 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...

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In the Eye of the Beholder: Court of Appeal Finds Duty of Care Owed by Owner and Contractors for Death of Minors Caused by Independent Truck Driver

May 05, 2026 — Garret D. Murai - California Construction Law Blog
I was a T.A. for my high school history teacher, a really smart and nice guy, Mr. Reynolds. In the room at the back of the classroom which served as his office he had the picture above. It’s called “My Wife and My Mother-in-Law” and is taken from a German postcard from 1888. Depending on how you look it, you might see fashionable young lady, or an old lady. Cases can sometimes be like that: You see what you want to see. The next case is also like that. In Lorenzo v. Calex Engineering, Inc., 110 Cal.App.5th 49 (2025), the 2nd District Court of Appeals reversed a motion for summary judgment granted in favor of an owner and its contractors in a case involving the death of two minors struck by a dump truck enroute to a non-permitted off-site staging area. 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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Balancing the Right to Repair With Evidence Preservation in Construction Defect Litigation

April 20, 2026 — Benton Wheatley & Anna Spicer - Construction Executive
Every major construction project comes with risk, whether it’s a warehouse build, a multifamily development or a major renovation. Parties tend to be aligned when things are proceeding as planned. But when something goes wrong—cracked concrete, water intrusion, systems that don’t perform as expected—those interests can quickly diverge. Property owners are often caught in the middle when construction defects surface. They’re expected to act quickly to limit damage and costs. But they also have legal obligations to preserve evidence and allow potentially responsible parties, such as contractors or designers, to observe testing, demolition and repairs. Additionally, owners often have duties to lenders and investors to fix problems promptly and pursue claims against those responsible. Meanwhile, contractors and other parties have obligations of their own—not to interfere with repairs and not to delay mitigation efforts while investigations are underway. What follows will examine how those competing responsibilities play out in construction defect disputes. Reprinted courtesy of Benton Wheatley & Anna Spicer, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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Construction and Design Contracts—They Are More Important Than You Might Think! (Law Note)

January 26, 2026 — Melissa Dewey Brumback - Construction Law in North Carolina
As regular readers of this Blog know, contracts are extremely important for all parties involved in a construction project. While verbal contracts can be enforced, a written contract, which is finely-tuned to your specific project, can save you a lot of time and money later on if the proverbial poo hits the fan. I recently read AIA’s take on contracts, in their Construction Risk Brief (which you should subscribe to [free] if you have not already). Their featured article is on “Best Practices for Construction Contracts”. In the piece, they discuss 7 key points to address in each contract. I concur for the most part, although want to point out that some of them (such as the regular monitoring and documentation bullet point) are deserving of their own post, as there is a *lot* that can and does go wrong during the construction administration phase. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Melissa Dewey Brumback, Ragsdale Liggett PLLC
Ms. Brumback may be contacted at mbrumback@rl-law.com

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Court Rules Cook County Misspent $243M in Transportation Funds

March 10, 2026 — Annemarie Mannion - Engineering News-Record
A Cook County Illinois Circuit Court judge has ruled that the county violated the state constitution by using $243 million in transportation tax revenue during fiscal 2023 for non-transportation purposes, handing a legal win to a statewide coalition of construction trade groups. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Annemarie Mannion, Engineering News-Record
Ms. Mannion may be contacted at manniona@enr.com

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NYC Billionaires’ Row Tower Could Need $160M Fix Amid Cracking

December 02, 2025 — Emell D. Adolphus - Engineering News-Record
A cracking and crumbling New York City tower could leave the building “uninhabitable,” according to engineers who estimate that a $160 million renovation might be needed to fix 432 Park Avenue's striking white concrete facade. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Emell D. Adolphus, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Adolphus may be contacted at adolphuse@enr.com

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Construction Contract Negotiation & Drafting: A Practical Checklist (and Where State-Specific Issues Can Surprise You)

April 20, 2026 — Michelle Cooper - Sheppard Construction and Infrastructure Law Blog
Construction contract negotiation is often treated as a “forms exercise,” especially when the parties start from familiar templates (e.g., AIA forms). In practice, though, the biggest problems tend to arise not from the existence of a form, but from (i) misalignment among the project’s governing documents and participants, (ii) ambiguity in pricing and payment mechanics, and (iii) state-specific statutory requirements that override negotiated terms. This article includes
Chambers USA Names Peckar & Abramson to Band 1 Level in Construction Law; 29 P&A Lawyers Recognized as Leading Attorneys; Six Regions and Government Contracts Practice Recognized

No Cross-Complaint Needed - Court of Appeal Clarifies Co-Defendants May Oppose Each Other’s Summary Judgment Motions Without a Cross-Complaint

Federal Arbitration Act Preempts Pennsylvania Payment Act

BWB&O Partners are Re
BWB&O’s Colorado Lawyers Successfully Defend Damages of more than $150 Million in Historic Construction Lawsuit!

Newark Trial Team Secures Affirmance of ‘No Cause’ Verdict for Nationwide Housing Manager & Developer

Include Materials Price Escalation Clauses in Construction Clauses

“Unwinnable”: Newark Trial Team Obtains Unanimous “No Cause” Verdict in Challenging Matter on Behalf of NYC Mutual Housing Association

Contractor Liable for Soils Settlement in Construction Defect Suit

CDJ’s #3 Topic of the Year: Burch v. The Superior Court of Los Angeles County, 223 Cal.App.4th 1411 (2014)

Ohio Court of Appeals Affirms Judgment in Landis v. Fannin Builders

Suffolk and MassDOT Texts Played Role in State Contract Rebid Controversy

More on Duty to Defend a Subcontractor

How BIM Helps Make Buildings Safer

New Jersey Courts Sign "Death Knell" for 1979 Weedo Decision

The Harmon Hotel Construction Defect Trial to Begin

Mandatory Energy Benchmarking is On Its Way

Traub Lieberman Partner Michael Logan and Associate Christian Romaguera Obtain Voluntary Dismissal in Favor of Construction Company Under the Vertical Immunity Doctrine

French Laundry Spices Up COVID-19 Business Interruption Debate

Hail Damage Requires Replacement of Even Undamaged Siding

Earth Movement Exclusion Precludes Coverage

Mediating Contract Claims and Disputes at the ASBCA

Thanks for the Super Lawyers Nod for 2019!

Traub Lieberman Attorneys Lisa M. Rolle and Justyn Verzillo Win Motion for Summary Judgment

Value In Being Deemed “Statutory Employer” Under Workers Compensation Law

The Credibility of Your Expert (Including Your Delay Expert) Matters in Construction Disputes

Don’t Overlook Leading Edge Hazards

Golden Gate Bridge's $76 Million Suicide Nets Near Approval

White House’s New Draft Guidance Limiting NEPA Review of Greenhouse Gas Impacts Is Not So New or Limiting

Texas and Georgia Are Paying the Price for Sprawl

Manhattan Homebuyers Pay Up as Sales Top Listing Price

Foundation Differences Across the U.S.

Florida Construction Defect Decision Part of Lengthy Evolution

Are These Negotiations in Bad Faith? What to Watch For

Dispute Resolution in Your Construction Contract

Assembly Bill 1701 Contemplates Broader Duty to Subcontractor’s Employees by General Contractor

Five Actions Construction and Energy Risk Managers Can Take to Avoid the Catastrophic Consequences of a Cyber Attack

The Dog Ate My Exclusion! – Georgia Federal Court: No Reformation to Add Pollution Exclusion

FIFA Inspecting Brazil’s World Cup Stadiums

Skanska Will Work With Florida on Barge-Caused Damage to Pensacola Bay Bridge

Cyber Security Insurance and Design Professionals

The Goldilocks Rule: Panel Rejects Proposed Insurer-Specific MDL Proceedings for Four Large Insurers, but Establishes MDL Proceeding for the Smallest

Court Finds that Subcontractor Lacks Standing to Appeal Summary Judgment Order Simply Because Subcontractor “Might” Lose at Trial Due to Order

Homebuilding Continues to Recover in San Antonio Area

There's No Place Like Home

Shifting Fees and Costs in Nevada Construction Defect Cases

A New Digital Twin for an Existing Bridge

Home Building on the Upswing in Bakersfield

Park Avenue Is About to Get Something It Hasn’t Seen in 40 Years

Georgia Court of Appeals Holds That Policyholder Can “Stack” the Limits of Each Primary Policy After Asbestos Claim

Nine ACS Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers®

Perspectives from Pioneers: Kenneth C. Gibbs

Zillow Topping Realogy Shows Web Surge for Housing Market

Insurer's Denial of Coverage to Additional Insured Constitutes Bad Faith