ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

New York Climate Superfund Rulings Put Vermont Law in Focus

October 20, 2026 — Amanda G. Halter, Ashleigh K. Myers, Jillian Marullo & Marcus Manca - Pillsbury
A second federal judge has struck down New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act and barred its enforcement. On September 23, 2026, Judge P. Kevin Castel of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a decision granting summary judgment to the United States and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), declaring the Act unconstitutional, and permanently enjoining New York officials from enforcing it in United States v. New York, No. 1:25-cv-03656 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2026). Judge Castel’s decision closely tracks the Northern District of New York’s August 31 decision in West Virginia v. James, Case No. 1:25-cv-00168 (N.D.N.Y. Aug. 31, 2026). Both courts held that the Clean Air Act (CAA) preempts New York’s effort to impose strict liability through a climate attribution and cost recovery framework based on interstate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Both also held that the foreign affairs doctrine preempts the Act as applied to fossil fuel activity outside the United States. On September 24, the Northern District entered Rule 54(b) judgment implementing its August 31 decision, enjoining Attorney General Letitia James and DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton from implementing or enforcing the Act and permitting an immediate appeal of the preemption claims. Reprinted courtesy of Amanda G. Halter, Pillsbury, Ashleigh K. Myers, Pillsbury, Jillian Marullo, Pillsbury and Marcus Manca, 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 Mr. Manca may be contacted at marcus.manca@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

---

Nicole Whyte is the Newly Elected Secretary of the Orange County Bar Association

September 28, 2026 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP
“I am deeply honored to serve as Secretary of the Orange County Bar Association. To everyone who supported me, endorsed me, encouraged me, shared my message, and cast a ballot, thank you. I am profoundly grateful for your trust and confidence. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I am ready to get to work.” – Nicole Whyte Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O'Meara LLP

---

Lost in Translation: AEC Tech’s Missing Role

May 12, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
I once visited a construction site where the contractor’s headquarters had commissioned a tech company to build an on-site quality-inspection application. The developer had admitted to the site engineer that they had never set foot on a construction site before. The engineer showed me what he was actually using: his own phone camera and an Excel sheet. The new app did not map to how work actually happened on site. This is not an isolated story. The vendor builds something technically coherent but operationally disconnected. The client, somewhere up the chain, had fallen in love with the idea of the solution before anyone had built an honest business case for it. The result is a tool that gets demonstrated at a board meeting but isn’t used in the field. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

---

Southwest Super Lawyers Recognizes 50 Snell & Wilmer Attorneys in 2026 Rankings

June 15, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
PHOENIX (April 22, 2026) – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that 50 attorneys in the Phoenix and Tucson offices have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers publication. Of those 50, four were recognized for the first time and 24 were recognized as Southwest 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. Super Lawyers was first published in 1991 by Law & Politics and was acquired by Thomson Reuters, Legal in February 2010. Thomson Reuters is a leading source of information for businesses and professionals. The below Snell & Wilmer attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2026 Southwest Super Lawyers rankings. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

---

Best Lawyers Recognizes 33 White and Williams LLP Lawyers

August 24, 2026 — White and Williams LLP
White and Williams LLP is pleased to congratulate our attorneys recognized among the 2027 Best Lawyers in America® rankings. Best Lawyers® has recognized Michael W. Horner, Chair of the Healthcare Group and Managing Partner of the Cherry Hill, NJ Office, as a 2027 "Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Litigation - Insurance for Cherry Hill. Michael Horner’s has extensive experience litigating, mediating and arbitrating complex catastrophic cases throughout multiple jurisdictions in the Northeast, with litigation and counseling experience that spans several decades in the areas of healthcare, catastrophic loss and employment matters in multiple state and federal jurisdictions. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

---

Snell & Wilmer’s Orange County Office Recognized as One of the “Best Places to Work” by the Orange County Business Journal

August 16, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
ORANGE COUNTY – Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that its Orange County office has been selected as one of the 2026 “Best Places to Work in Orange County” by the Orange County Business Journal. This recognition honors outstanding employers that foster exceptional workplace cultures and demonstrate a strong commitment to employee engagement, professional development, and organizational excellence. The annual awards recognize Orange County employers that create positive workplace environments and set the standard for employee satisfaction and organizational success. Honorees are selected through a comprehensive evaluation process that includes confidential employee surveys and an independent assessment of company policies, practices, philosophy, systems, and demographics. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

---

Insured General Contractor Prevails on Motion for Summary Judgment to Establish Builder’s Risk Coverage

July 06, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The general contractor’s motion for partial summary judgment successfully established that damage to footings in place before the policy period was covered after the collapse of a building. Big D Builders, Inc. v. Am Zurich Ins. Co., 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72012 (D. Idaho March 31, 2026). Big D was the general contractor for building a new airplane hangar by erecting a 38,000 square foot structure. Before Big D began construction, the site of the hangar did not contain any pre-existing structures or buildings. Before completion of the hangar, it collapsed and caused extensive property damage. The builder’s risk policy issued by Zurich covered certain aspects of the construction project for the policy period December 28, 2023, to December 28, 2024. Zurich accepted coverage for most of the damage but not for damage to footings and columns installed prior to the start date of 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

---

Kahana Feld Announces Key Partner Additions Coast to Coast

June 22, 2026 — Kahana Feld
IRVINE, CA – June 10, 2026 – Kahana Feld is pleased to announce Yvette Davis, Evan Kalooky, Beth Obra-White, Sean Paden, Michael Parme, Jeffrey Schmid, and Julieanne Yanez have joined the firm as partners. Four of these partners are joining the San Diego office, which further strengthens the firm’s General Liability and Construction Litigation practices and enhances Kahana Feld’s ability to serve clients across a broad range of complex matters in the region. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Kahana Feld

---