Court Bars Licensed Contractor From Seeking Compensation for Work Performed by Unlicensed Sub
It all started with a tree. A eucalyptus tree to be exact. What followed is one of the more important cases to be decided under Business…
Weed Property Owner Gets Smoked Under Insurance Policy
When’s the last time you read your homeowner’s insurance policy? Didn’t think so. But you might consider doing so, particularly in light of all of the…
A Riveting (or at Least Insightful) Explanation of the Privette Doctrine
“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine” – Plutarch And grind they do . . . slowly. For long time readers of the…
Contractor Gets Benched After Failing to Pay Jury Fees
Trial by jury is a fundamental right under the U.S. and California Constitutions. However, to avail yourself of this right, you not only have to declare…
Insurers Can Sue One Another for Defense Costs on Equitable Indemnity and Equitable Contribution Basis
Since I don’t do insurance defense work, fights between insurers isn’t something I have to deal with. It’s good sport nonetheless. In the next case, Travelers…
Business and Professions Code Section 7031, Demurrers, and Just How Much You Can Dance
Fights between owners and contractors under Business and Professions Code section 7031 can get nasty and detailed. An owner’s remedy under Section 7031, as courts have…
California Supreme Court Declines Request to Expand Exceptions to Privette Doctrine for Known Hazards
First things first. Happy New Year! Hope you had a good one. To start things off in the new year we’ve got an employment-related case for…
Planes, Trains and Prevailing Wages. Ok, No Planes, But Trains and Prevailing Wages Yes
The California Supreme Court doesn’t often delve into construction-related issues, but this year we’ve got two cases, both related to the payment of prevailing wages on…
California Supreme Court Holds that Prevailing Wages are Not Required for Mobilization Work, for Now
In the midst of the Great Depression the federal government enacted the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. section 32141 et seq.) to help workers on federal construction projects. Under…
Contractor’s Assignment of Construction Contract to Newly Formed Company Before Company Was Licensed, Not Subject to B&P 7031
Add one more to the Business and Profession Code section 7031 archives. In Manela v. Stone, Case No. B302660 (July 1, 2021), the 2nd District Court…
Homeowner’s Claims Defeated Because “Gravamen” of Complaint was Fraud, not Breach of Contract
Be careful what you wish for or, as in the next case, what you plead. In Vera v. REL-BC, LLC, Case Nos. A155807, A156823, and A159141 (June…
Court of Appeals Finds Arbitration Provision Incorporated by Reference Unenforceable
Subcontractors have gotten accustomed to incorporation clauses in their contracts. While an incorporation clause can incorporate any document, most typically, it’s the prime contract between the…
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