Most states and, in some cases, cities that require a person to obtain a license, or register, to perform work as a contractor or specialty contractor (e.g., electrical, HVAC, plumbing, other specialized trade work) regulate what disclosures are required when the contractor advertises its services. Most commonly these laws or rules require the contractor to…
Planning and constructing new power plants that will employ new technologies, especially those substantially funded by the federal government, can be a challenging business. Whenever a new law, regulation or agency process goes into effect, industry and legal observers await the often inevitable legal challenges that will arise. For obvious…
Good news for those who respond to and engage in oil spill clean up efforts. In a ruling released on February 16, 2016, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, in In re: Oil Spill by the Oil Rig “Deepwater Horizon” in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20,…
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, in In re: United States Department of Defense and United States Environmental Protection Agency Final Rule: Clean Water Rule: Definition of “Waters of the United States,” 80 Fed. Reg. 37,050 (June 29, 2015), in a split opinion, confirmed that it has jurisdiction…
Subcontractor default insurance (SDI) was created more than twenty years ago. Despite its relatively recent vintage, SDI is now offered by multiple insurers and is quickly replacing traditional subcontractor payment and performance bonds as a go-to option on large-scale construction projects. SDI has many benefits that surety bonds don’t. We’ll be…
On January 29, 2016, the Texas Supreme Court, in Railroad Commission of Texas v. Gulf Energy Exploration Corporation, unanimously reversed a decision of the Court of Appeals for the Thirteenth District (Corpus Christi) which had sustained the liability of the Texas Railroad Commission for the erroneous plugging of an abandoned…
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), first enacted more than 40 years ago, governs the release of information to the public of data generated by and submitted to the federal government. A recent decision by a U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, Competitive Enterprise Institute v. Office of Science and…
On February 8, 2016, two significant decisions regarding the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) were issued by the federal courts in the wake of the Supreme Court’s guidance in U.S. v. Kwai Fun Wong,135 S. Ct. 1625, 1638 (2015), that “the FTCA’s time bars are nonjurisdictional and subject to equitable tolling.” These…
Pillsbury would like to congratulate the winners of the “Built by Women” contest in DC, which highlights women’s contributions to the city of Washington D.C in the areas of architecture, engineering, construction, and real estate. Categories include Civic, Commercial, Cultural, Institutional, Landscape, Mixed-Use, Residential, Transportation, Urban Design. The Built By Women…
On February 5, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, in the case of Palmer Ranch Holdings, LTD, et al., v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, issued a long and complex ruling that largely affirms the Tax Court’s decision regarding a contested evaluation of a conservation easement that resulted…