Is it the End of the Story for Redevelopment in California?

Long, long ago (in 2012 to be exact) in a land not so far away (also known as California), legislation which allowed local governments to establish…

Attorneys Fees Under California’s Prompt Payment Statutes. Contractor’s “Win” Fails the Sniff Test

This past month, the California Court of Appeals for the Third District, in James L. Harris Painting & Decorating, Inc. v. West Bay Builders, Inc., Case…

Flag on the Play! Expired Contractor’s License!

It’s football season again. Which means, of course, that in addition to touch downs and field goals, you’ll also see hooting and hollering when the ref…

Playing Hot Potato: Indemnity Strikes Again

Indemnity can be like playing hot potato (for those of you closer to the Minecraft generation, in the game of hot potato, a metaphoric “hot potato”…

The Buck Stops Over There: Have Indemnitors Become the Insurers of First and Last Resort?

Insurance and indemnity are the primary risk management strategies on construction projects. Insurance, such as commercial general liability insurance, insures against third party claims for bodily injury…

Apprentices on Public Works Projects: Sometimes it’s Not What You Do But Who You Do the Work For That Counts

If you’re a public works contractor in California you’re familiar with prevailing wages. The Prevailing Wage Law, a Depression era law designed to encourage the hiring…

Commercial Construction in the Golden State is Looking Pretty Golden

If the estimated $2.1 trillion erased from the U.S. stock market over the past week has you white knuckled, you might consider commercial construction in the Golden…

Four Common Construction Contracts

Like Baskin Robins, construction contracts come in a variety of different flavors although, thankfully, significantly fewer than 31. Here are four of the more common types…

Why Federal and State Agencies are Considering Converting from a “Gallons Consumed” to a “Road Usage” Tax – And What are the Risks to the Consumer?

“‘We’re going to have to find another way to finance the upkeep of the roads,’ Gov. Jerry Brown said earlier this year in rolling out his…

Between Scylla and Charybids: The Mediation Privilege and Legal Malpractice Claims

I attended a mediation earlier this month in a real estate case. I won’t say more through because . . . well . . . it’s confidential.…

Eight Things You Need to Know About the AAA’s New Construction Arbitration Rules

I just finished a construction arbitration this past week, which also explains my sporadic posts as of late, sorry. Coincidentally, on July 1, 2015, the American…