Pillsbury’s Policyholder Pulse Law blog recently posted an interesting blog, Use Contractor’s Pollution Liability Insurance to Clean Up Potential Gaps in Your CGL Coverage by Ashley E. Cowgill, on the importance of contractors having the right liability coverage in place in the event that a flash flood or other natural disaster causes damage…
Articles Posted in Construction Generally
Eminent Domain in California – What You Should Know and What You Can Do BEFORE the Government Comes to Take Your Property
Public development and infrastructure projects are on the rise in California. This is a good thing for the economy. But it also means that private property will often be needed to complete these projects. Public agencies may acquire private property upon payment of just compensation, without the owner’s consent, through an eminent domain action. Property near…
IRS Introduces Proposed Rules Tightening the “Device” and “Active Trade or Business” Tests
Recently, my colleagues Brian Blum and Jim Chudy published an interesting piece titled Five Things about the IRS’s Proposed Regulations on the Spinoff Device and Active Business Tests discussing the IRS’ recent proposal of long-anticipated regulations tightening the “device” and “active trade or business” tests that are necessary for a corporation to distribute a subsidiary in…
Energy Companies Take Note of SEC’s Adoption of New Public Disclosure Requirements
Anyone doing international construction work knows that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) has been continually increasing its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) focus on U.S. companies doing business overseas. Here’s the latest: Recently my colleagues William Sullivan and Reza Zarghamee wrote an interesting piece, New SEC Payment Disclosure Rules…
Princesses Everywhere Embrace Recent Decision, Private Land Owners Not So Much
This decision is reminiscent of a fairytale about a princess and her frog prince and the croaking chorus of the Frogs of Aristophane. On June 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant ruling involving critical habitat designations on private land. The case was decided…
Unclaimed accounts payable or payroll?
A very interesting unclaimed property memorandum opinion was recently issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware in Temple-Inland, Inc. v. Cook, et al. After the State of Delaware conducted an audit going back 22 years and assessed Temple-Inland a liability of $2,128,834.13, which was comprised of…
Construction Bond Basics
There are three types of bonds that afford financial protection in connection with a construction project: payment bonds, performance bonds, and bid bonds. Below is a primer on the differences between these bonds and who is protected by them. Construction Bonds Construction bonds may be required by contract or by statute.…
DOL Letter Was A Final Agency Action Subject to Judicial Review
On June 3, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, in Rhea Lana, Inc., et al., v. Department of Labor, reversed the district court’s holding that a warning letter sent to the plaintiff by the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) was not a…
Complexities of Administrative State Lead to Win for Regulated Community
Caring Hearts Personal Home Serv., Inc. v. Burwell, a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit Medicare reimbursement case, describes the challenges confronting federal administrative agencies and the regulated community at a time when the demands on and the growth of government are somewhat astonishing. Judge Gorsuch begins his…
Federal Courts Get a Say in CWA Jurisdictional Determinations by Army Corps of Engineers
Many construction projects are subject to the regulatory requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA), including the determination whether an earth-moving operation is covered by a “dredge and fill” permits administered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. If there is a question about the applicability of the CWA to…