ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Texas Case Exposes Cracks in the Government Contractor Immunity Shield

November 09, 2025 — Elaine Silver - Engineering News-Record
It started with a horrific crash. Pedro Alfonso Castaneda, the mainstay of a Texas family of five, had finished shopping at a plumbing supply store on an August afternoon in 2019, when he pulled up in his Toyota Tacoma pickup at an intersection adjacent to a busy highway overpass construction project in Pinehurst, Texas. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Elaine Silver, Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

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New York Office Secures Victory in Trip & Fall Case After Bronx Supreme Court Grants Motion for Reargument

July 28, 2025 — Lewis Brisbois Newsroom
New York, N.Y. (June 25, 2025) - New York Partner Shawn Choudhury achieved a significant victory on behalf of his client, a subcontractor who recently completed sidewalk restoration work for a major utility provider in New York City, in a trip and fall case when a Bronx Supreme Court judge granted his motion for reargument and entered summary judgment for the client. The claim arose from a trip-and-fall accident in which the plaintiff alleged that she fell due to a raised sidewalk flag installed by our client. From the outset, Mr. Choudhury mounted a strong defense, moving for summary judgment on the grounds that the raised sidewalk did not cause the plaintiff to fall. Crucially, we submitted surveillance video which unequivocally showed that the plaintiff’s foot never made contact with the expansion joint or the alleged raised portion of the sidewalk prior to her fall. The video demonstrated that her right foot was firmly planted on the sidewalk, with clear space between her foot and the expansion joint, conclusively establishing that the identified condition had no role in causing the accident. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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No Second Chance: Colorado Court of Appeals Bars Indemnity Claim Under Doctrine of Claim Preclusion

July 08, 2025 — Gail Gudder - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
A cautionary tale for contractors and their counsel: if you dismiss an indemnity claim with prejudice, do not expect a do-over. In Layton Construction Co. v. Shaw Contract Flooring Services, Inc., 409 P.3d 602 (Colo. App. 2016), the Colorado Court of Appeals reaffirmed the reach of claim preclusion in construction disputes, holding that a contractor could not revive a previously dismissed indemnity claim, even after prevailing against other subcontractors on similar issues. Layton Construction served as the general contractor for a hotel project in Vail and subcontracted with Shaw Contract Flooring. When the owner terminated the contract, Layton sued for nonpayment. The owner countersued for alleged construction defects, including defects tied to Shaw’s scope of work. Layton responded with indemnity and contribution claims against several subcontractors, Shaw included. But at a certain point in the litigation, Layton voluntarily dismissed its indemnity claim against Shaw with prejudice, while continuing to pursue claims against the others. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gail Gudder, Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC

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Project Team Battles Elements to Complete Buffalo Football Stadium for Next Season

October 13, 2025 — Bruce Buckley - Engineering News Record
Swirling winds and driving snow have played a significant role in innumerable Buffalo Bills home games during the 65-year history of the National Football League team based in the Buffalo, N.Y, area. It’s no surprise that the region's often inhospitable weather has proven to be a considerable factor during construction of the team’s $2.1-billion stadium. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bruce Buckley, Engineering News Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

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Don’t Breach Your Contract, but If You Do, Don’t Breach First

December 22, 2025 — Christopher G. Hill - Construction Law Musings
Well, it’s been a while since my last post here at Musings due to travel, work, Thanksgiving, etc. so I thought I’d let a recent case remind us all that while breaching a construction contract is bad, doing it first is even worse. This is the so called “doctrine of first breach” that basically states that if both parties are in breach (or even just one), then the first to breach is the one that will bear the costs of breach. The doctrine also states that the one first to breach first can’t enforce any of its rights going forward. The plaintiff in SEG Props. LLC v. NTC Mazzuca Constr.,Inc., the Virginia Court of Appeals considered a first breach scenario that was pretty extreme. The basic facts are as follows: SEG hired Mazzuca to build a private shooting range and hired a property manager (Jones, Lang, LaSalle, Inc. (“JLL”)) as its project representative. Per the contract, if Mazzuca provided a payment application on or before the 25th of the month, payment was due by the 25th of the following month. In no event was payment to be made more than 30 days from receipt of the payment application by the owner’s representative. Even where there was a dispute, the undisputed amounts were to be paid. Mazzuca and JLL used a so called “pencil” method for payment applications that involved JLL reviewing the payment applications for errors and then a final payment application with the corrections being sent to the Architect. Needless to say there were change orders and disputes, but after the smoke cleared, it was obvious that from the first payment application, SEG had failed to make timely payment (for the whole saga, please read the case as it is too long for this post). Later, SEG terminated Mazzuca for cause upon one day’s notice that SEG would be supplementing Mazzuca’s workforce. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of The Law Office of Christopher G. Hill
Mr. Hill may be contacted at chrisghill@constructionlawva.com

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Older Homes for Sale in California Now Come With Wildfire Warnings

September 30, 2025 — Todd Woody - Bloomberg
Most California homes were built long before the state required that they be constructed to withstand wildfires. Now, sellers of older homes in high-risk areas must disclose to potential buyers not only a dwelling’s susceptibility to fire but what they’ve done to address those vulnerabilities. As climate change intensifies natural disasters, states across the US have been mandating that home sellers disclose risks such as flooding. But the California disclosure is the first to zero in on a property’s ability to survive a catastrophe. That could make the state a model as wildfire and other climate threats endanger homes across the US. While three dozen states require some degree of flood-risk disclosure, only California currently mandates home sellers reveal wildfire hazards. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Todd Woody, Bloomberg

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So You Want to Build a Safety Plan

November 18, 2025 — Construction Executive
As unique and nuanced as each construction project, so are the safety needs of each company handling the project. To learn how to tailor a safety program to your company’s needs, Construction Executive sat down with Tony Foster, senior EHS director at Skanska. From how-tos on getting started, creating buy-in and keeping up to date on OSHA standards, to taking advantage of the latest safety technology, here is his insider knowledge: What type of safety program is best for which kinds of businesses? (i.e. small vs. large firm; regional vs. national; architect and design vs. manufacturer; general contractor vs. subcontractor; etc.) The approach to safety shouldn’t change by project, no matter how big or small. The most important task is the project, but also making the people who are working on the project feel like they are a part of the program and can ask questions about any concerns that they have. There needs to be visibility of leaders on the project, and an open line of communication when it comes to safety on the worksite. Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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Measure Twice, Cut (the Check) Once: Liability for Cybercrime and How to Avoid It

December 15, 2025 — Curt Martin, Richard Volack & Quinn Kuriger - ConsensusDocs
The well-known maxim among carpenters – “measure twice, cut once” – serves as a prudent reminder in the context of construction progress payments, which have become increasingly vulnerable to cybercriminal activity. Consider the following scenario: a joint venture contractor had been receiving progress payments via wire transfer from the project owner. A cybercriminal infiltrated the contractor’s IT infrastructure, identified a pending invoice, and impersonated an employee to redirect the payment. The hacker initially requested that the funds be sent to a new account in rural New York under the general contractor’s name, rather than to the joint venture’s established Houston account. The owner wisely inquired why it should pay the general contractor and not the joint venture who the owner had paid on the prior twenty-nine progress payments. The hacker quickly corrected its request, submitted a new request that misspelled the joint venture’s name, and specified ACH to a third bank, this time in Florida. Despite these glaring red flags, the owner less wisely wired $460,000 to the hacker’s account. Reprinted courtesy of Curt Martin, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. , Richard Volack, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Quinn Kuriger, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Martin may be contacted at cmartin@pecklaw.com Mr. Volack may be contacted at rvolack@pecklaw.com Mr. Kuriger may be contacted at qkuriger@pecklaw.com Read the full story...

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