Anaheim California Construction Expert Witness Directory

Insurer Granted Summary Judgment, in Part, After Partial Payment of Claim

February 10, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The insurer was awarded summary judgment, in part, after paying a portion of the insured’s claim for hurricane damage. Taylor v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 231406 (S.D. Ala. Nov. 24, 2025). The Taylors’ home was damaged by Hurricane Sally. They submitted a claim under their homeowners’ policy to State Farm. They reported trees collapsing onto the house and blocking the front door, broken windows and doors, water damage and the roof collapsing in certain rooms of the house. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Nomos LLP Partner Garret Murai Recognized by Super Lawyers

July 13, 2026 — Garret D. Murai - California Construction Law Blog
Nomos LLP Partner Garret Murai has been recognized as a 2026 Northern California Super Lawyer honoree in the area of Construction Litigation. This is the thirteenth consecutive year he has been recognized by Super Lawyers. Super Lawyers, an annual listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and personal achievement, is limited to no more than five percent (5%) of lawyers in a state who are selected through a multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent research evaluation and peer reviews by practice area. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Garret D. Murai, Nomos LLP
Mr. Murai may be contacted at gmurai@nomosllp.com

PJM’s Reliability Backstop Procurement Proposal—Fast-Track Capacity to Meet Rising Large-Load Demand

May 12, 2026 — Stephen J. Humes, Alicia M. McKnight, Jason Drogin Atwood & Andrew H. Jacobs - Gravel2Gavel
In January, we discussed the Statement of Principles jointly signed by the National Energy Dominance Council and governors across the mid-Atlantic region—framing accelerating demand (especially from large-scale data centers) as an emergency reliability issue for PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. (PJM), the nation’s largest power grid operator. That policy signal is now becoming a near-term, accelerated procurement and contracting exercise. On April 8, 2026, PJM notified stakeholders of a critical issue fast path reliability backstop procurement process. PJM subsequently released a request for information (RFI) with respect to a proposed Reliability Backstop Procurement (RBP)—a one-time mechanism intended to attract significant new capacity to address projected reliability shortfalls driven by large-load growth. RBP compresses what is often a multiyear market and regulatory conversation into a fast-moving set of commercial choices. Developers, large loads, utilities and capital providers should be preparing now for (i) an accelerated bilateral contracting window and (ii) a standardized PJM-led backstop procurement if bilateral deals do not clear enough capacity. Reprinted courtesy of Stephen J. Humes, Pillsbury, Alicia M. McKnight, Pillsbury, Jason Drogin Atwood, Pillsbury and Andrew H. Jacobs, Pillsbury Mr. Humes may be contacted at stephen.humes@pillsburylaw.com Ms. McKnight may be contacted at alicia.mcknight@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Atwood may be contacted at jason.atwood@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Jacobs may be contacted at andrew.jacobs@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

Snell & Wilmer Recognized Among the Top 10 Largest Law Firms in Orange County by the Orange County Business Journal for the Ninth Consecutive Year

April 27, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
ORANGE COUNTY – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that its Orange County office has been named the eighth largest law firm in Orange County on the Orange County Business Journal’s 2026 List of Law Firms. The office has been ranked among the top 10 largest law firms in the region by the Orange County Business Journal for nine consecutive years. “We are proud to once again be recognized among the top law firms in Orange County,” said Jonathan E. Frank, managing partner of the firm’s Orange County office. “This recognition is a testament to the outstanding attorneys and professionals in our Orange County office and the clients who trust us with their most important matters. Being ranked among the top 10 largest firms in the region for nine consecutive years reflects both the strength of our team and our deep commitment to serving the Orange County business community.” Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

Endra Rethinks MEP Design with AI

July 06, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Niklas Lindgren, co-founder and CEO of Endra, joins the AEC Business Podcast to discuss why his Stockholm-based startup is rebuilding MEP design from the ground up with AI. Endra recently raised $50 million in Series A funding and counts some of the world’s largest engineering consultancies as customers. Niklas explains why Revit’s underlying data model is too coarse to support deep automation, and why Endra built its own granular 3D data model instead of working as a plugin. He describes Endra’s “spatial AI” approach to routing conduit and ductwork without clashes, and how the platform models entire electrical systems, from receptacle to transformer, inside a single source of truth. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

New Survey Reveals Overwhelmingly Optimistic Results on the Use of AI in Construction

May 14, 2026 — Construction Executive
On December 5, 2025, CMiC and Dodge released a survey asking over 6,000 companies across various sectors of the construction industry their stance on artificial intelligence—whether they use it or not; whether they like it or not; whether they have or are planning to implement it or not; and so on. Considering its reputation for skepticism and reluctance when it comes to adopting new forms of technology, the construction industry pleasantly surprised CMiC and Dodge with its answers to these questions, with 87% of contractors believing AI will have a meaningful impact on construction. “The research indicates the construction industry is nearing a tipping point for AI adoption,” says Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights at Dodge Construction Network, who sat down with Construction Executive to delve further into the survey questions and answers and what the industry’s current position on them means for AI’s future role in construction. Reprinted courtesy of Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

Louisiana Enacts Important Tort Reform Legislation

May 12, 2026 — Lee M. Peacocke & Benjamin Perkins - Lewis Brisbois
The Louisiana legislature enacted tort reform legislation in 2025 to address the increasing cost of insurance in Louisiana and to provide some predictability to the Louisiana legal system. While our colleagues, Jenny Michel and Jennifer Kretschmann, have provided an excellent and comprehensive analysis of the legislation in their article entitled “Louisiana State Legislature 2025 Regular Session: Tort Reform - Acts & Vetoed Insurance Bill,” which can be found here, this article examines the anticipated impact of the tort reform legislation on personal injury trials in federal and state courts in Louisiana. The most significant reform involves the institution of a modified defense of contributory negligence, which went into effect on January 1, 2026. Since 1996, Louisiana had operated as a pure comparative fault state; the liability of each party whose fault caused damages was to be allocated among the respective parties based upon their appropriate percentage of fault, regardless of the legal theory of liability asserted against each party. Thus, a plaintiff 55 percent at fault could recover 45 percent of their damages from the liable defendants. The 2025 Tort Reform Amendments now prohibit a plaintiff in a personal injury action from recovering any damages if they are found to be 51 percent or more at fault for their damages. The 55 percent at-fault party in the example above is now prohibited from recovering any damages from any party. Importantly, this new legislation now requires the trial court to instruct the jury that if they find a plaintiff to be more than 50 percent at fault, then the plaintiff will not recover any damages. Reprinted courtesy of Lee M. Peacocke, Lewis Brisbois and Benjamin Perkins, Lewis Brisbois Mr. Peacocke may be contacted at Lee.Peacocke@lewisbrisbois.com Mr. Perkins may be contacted at Benjamin.Perkins@lewisbrisbois.com Read the full story...

No Bad Faith Despite Insurer’s Appraisal Award Exceeding Initial Payment

August 03, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The federal district court granted the insurer’s motion for summary judgment, finding no bad faith despite the appraisal award exceeding the amount the insurer initially paid. Jazi Kat 4659 Rockridge LLC, et al. v. Travelers Cas. Ins. Co. of Am., et al., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 105634 (D. Ariz. May 13, 2026). Plaintiffs sued Travelers for breach of contract and bad faith, alleging that Travelers failed to pay money plaintiffs were owed under the policy. Plaintiffs held a commercial property policy for two properties. A fire destroyed one of the properties. Travelers adjusted the claim and issued two payments. Plaintiffs disagreed with the amount of the payments and demanded an appraisal. Travelers agreed to the appraisal. 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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