Anatomy of an Indemnity Clause

Indemnity clauses are one of the most negotiated (and litigated) provisions in a construction contract. They’re also one of the least understood. But we’re here to dissect it…

New Notary Language For California Mechanics Lien Releases and Stop Payment Notice Releases

Thanks to Scott Wolfe, Jr. over at ZLien for bringing this to my attention: Effective January 1, 2015, the notary language required for Certificates of Acknowledgment –…

Sometimes it Depends on “Whose” Hand is in the Cookie Jar

In a lengthy and somewhat detailed decision, the California Court of Appeal for First District, in Pittsburg Unified School District v. S.J. Amoroso Construction Company, Inc.,…

Your “Independent Contractor” Clause Just Got a Little Less Relevant

[Editor’s Note: We hate being wrong, but hey, it happens. Based on Dave Ross’ comment below we’ve revised this post to reflect that AB 1897 appears…

The One New Year’s Resolution You’ll Want to Keep if You’re Involved in Public Works Projects

New Year’s resolutions are hard to keep. In fact, studies (which I have a sneaking suspicion may have been paid for by the tobacco, donut and…

Broad-Based Expansion for Construction Industry Expected in 2015

It’s a short week for most of us this week. Christmas is over and New Year’s is approaching. So, what will 2015 bring us? According Dodge…

The Stuff of Novels

We’ve all heard of Google. But have you heard of Google X? Google X is Google’s super somewhat secret research facility, a la Q Branch of…

There’s Putting Up the Lights, and Then There’s Putting Up the Lights

My wife has me put up the lights on our house during the holidays, but music teacher/director Tom BetGeorge of Newark, California not far from where…

My Construction Law Wish List

I’ve been good this year. Not great mind you, but good, and good is the standard, right? So, here’s my construction law wish list this holiday…

Heaven or Las Vegas

I was at the Construction SuperConference in Las Vegas this past week. It was good. Heard former Los Angeles Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, the self proclaimed “Transportation…

Foreign Investment + Construction = Green Card

When you think about construction and immigration it’s usually about undocumented workers and the underground economy, at least here in California and other border states. But a recent…

2015 California Construction Law Update

Over 2,200 bills were introduced during the second and final year of the 2013-2014 legislative session, of which 931 were signed into law. For the design and construction industry…