Hunton Insurance Coverage Partner Lawrence J. Bracken II Awarded Emory Public Interest Committee’s 2024 Lifetime Commitment to Public Service Award
February 26, 2024 —
Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogOn February 7, the Emory Public Interest Committee (EPIC) honored insurance coverage partner Lawrence (Larry) J. Bracken II with their 2024 Lifetime Commitment to Public Service Award at the annual
EPIC Inspiration Awards. As one of the Emory University School of Law’s signature events, the Inspiration Awards celebrate members of the community who do extraordinary work in the public interest and provide funding for public interest summer jobs.
Larry has more than 37 years of experience litigating insurance coverage, class action and commercial cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He represents policyholders in insurance coverage litigation and arbitration, and is a Fellow of the American College of Coverage Lawyers. Larry also has litigated class actions and other complex commercial disputes for more than three decades. Pro bono representation of clients in habeas corpus, prisoner rights, and landlord-tenant litigation is an important part of his practice. Larry currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.
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Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP
How to Prevent Forest Fires by Building Cities With More Wood
December 16, 2023 —
Leslie Kaufman - BloombergDeep in Colville National Forest in eastern Washington state, Russ Vaagen is pointing to a delineation between woods that have been selectively thinned and those that haven’t. One side is light-filled and punctuated with meadows; the other is dense and dark and loaded with trees losing a Darwinian battle for water and life.
To Vaagen it’s proof that America’s sawmills and lumberjacks can help head off the forest conflagrations that are becoming
ever more common, and at the same time provide raw material for an
emerging industry, known as
mass timber, that makes sustainable wood building components.
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Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg
Allegations Versus “True Facts”: Which Govern the Duty to Defend? Bonus! A Georgia Court Clears Up What the Meaning of “Is” Is
December 11, 2023 —
Rachel E. Hudgins & Syed S. Ahmad - Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogCourts scrutinize a complaint’s factual allegations to decide whether the allegations trigger a duty to defend.
[1] If the facts unambiguously exclude coverage, there is no duty to defend.
[2] But what if the factual allegations fall within a policy exclusion, but the allegations are untrue or questionable? What if the true facts would mean the exclusion doesn’t apply? In that case, many courts have found that the insurer should base its decision on the policyholder’s version of the “true facts.”
[3] An insurer can’t rely on the complaint’s allegations to deny coverage when the facts that the insurer knows or can ascertain show that the claim is covered.
[4]
A recent case,
United Minerals & Properties Inc. v. Phoenix Insurance Co., No. 4:23-cv-00050 (N.D. Ga.), illustrates these policy interpretation principles.
Reprinted courtesy of
Rachel E. Hudgins, Hunton Andrews Kurth and
Syed S. Ahmad, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Ms. Hudgins may be contacted at rhudgins@HuntonAK.com
Mr. Ahmad may be contacted at sahmad@HuntonAK.com
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Surety Trends to Keep an Eye on in the Construction Industry
March 25, 2024 —
Oliver Craig - Construction ExecutiveReflecting on the dynamics of the 2023 construction and surety industries, it is evident that opportunities and challenges have emerged for contractors that will shape the landscape for the year ahead. Contractors can not only capitalize on these trends but protect the successful companies they have already built.
PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES
There has been a notable increase in public works opportunities, driven by increased government spending and the aging infrastructure in the United States. This trend is expected to continue in 2024 and beyond, with a notable portion of work coming in transportation- and public-utility-related infrastructure.
Due to increased spending, many contractors are reporting historically high backlogs—and that often includes the largest project their company has contracted in their history. While increased spending presents more opportunity, it’s critical contractors be even more diligent about new opportunities, giving additional consideration to the following:
Job Selection: New geographies, scope, project owners and/or subcontractor relationships commonly come with a learning curve. With the current state of the market, it’s not the ideal time to be learning costly lessons. Contractors should focus on having a proactive go/no-go strategy when reviewing potential projects to identify risks early and plan accordingly.
Reprinted courtesy of
Oliver Craig, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.
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Unesco Denies Claim It Cleared Construction of Zambezi Dam
November 06, 2023 —
Antony Sguazzin - BloombergUnesco denied that it cleared Zimbabwe and Zambia to proceed with the construction of a $5 billion hydropower dam downstream from the Victoria Falls, which it has designated as a World Heritage Site.
Munyaradzi Munodawafa, chief executive officer of the Zambezi River Authority, said in an
earlier interview that Unesco’s World Heritage Committee “agreed that Batoka could go ahead,” referring to the planned dam and 2,400-megawatt power plant on the Zambezi River. Munodawafa didn’t answer calls or text messages to his mobile phone.
“The decision taken by the committee raises several concerns regarding the site, including the inevitable negative impacts of the Batoka Gorge” project, Unesco said in a response to queries.
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Antony Sguazzin, Bloomberg
Hirer Not Liable Under Privette Doctrine Where Hirer Had Knowledge of Condition, but not that Condition Posed a Concealed Hazard
December 11, 2023 —
Garret Murai - California Construction Law BlogThe Privette doctrine, so-called because of a case of the same name,
Privette v. Superior Court, 5 Cal.4th 698 (1993), provides a rebuttable presumption that a hirer is not liable for workplace injuries sustained by employees of hired parties. In other words, if a property owner hires a contractor, and one of the contractor’s employees gets injured while working on the property, there is a rebuttable presumption that the property owner is not liable for the employee’s injuries, the rationale being that because the contractor is required to carry workers’ compensation insurance the contractor is in the better position to absorb losses incurred a workplace injury.
There are, however, two widely recognized exceptions to the Privette doctrine. The first, is the Hooker exception, again named after a case of the same name,
Hooker v. Department of Transportation, 27 Cal.th 198 (2002), which provides that a hirer is liable for injuries to a hired parties’ employees, if the hirer retained control over the work being performed, negligently exercised that control, and the negative exercise of that control contributed to the employee’s injury.
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Garret Murai, Nomos LLPMr. Murai may be contacted at
gmurai@nomosllp.com
A Brief Primer on Perfecting Your Mechanics Lien When the Property Owner Files Bankruptcy
January 22, 2024 —
William L. Porter - Porter Law GroupOverview of the Mechanics Lien Law
This is a brief description of steps to be taken when the Owner of property on which you have recorded a mechanics lien files bankruptcy.
The California mechanics lien is a powerful tool for contractors, subcontractors and materials suppliers to secure payment of unpaid construction debts. A contractor, subcontractor or materials supplier is allowed to record a mechanics lien on real property, based on the value added to the property by the claimant during the construction process.
The recorded mechanics lien provides the claimant with legal right to force the sale of the improved real property and thereby obtain the funds necessary to pay the delinquent debt. Under the usual procedure, the first step is the recording of the mechanics lien with County Recorder’s office in the County where the property is located. A lawsuit to foreclose on the lien must then be filed in the County Superior Court of that County, within ninety (90) days after the mechanics lien is recorded. The goal of the lawsuit is to obtain a judgment for foreclosure on the mechanics lien in order to force a sale of the property. The net proceeds of the sale will be used to pay the unpaid construction debt secured by the recorded mechanics lien, assuming sale proceeds exceed the amount of senior liens and encumbrances.
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William L. Porter, Porter Law GroupMr. Porter may be contacted at
bporter@porterlaw.com
Judgment Proof: Reducing Litigation Exposure with Litigation Risk Insurance
March 04, 2024 —
Latosha M. Ellis & Charlotte Leszinske - Hunton Insurance Recovery BlogIt is not just your imagination: verdicts are getting bigger. So-called “nuclear verdicts” have increased in size and frequency over the past decade, particularly after the COVID-19 pandemic. Litigation risk insurance is a little known, but highly effective, option meant to compliment traditional insurance products and provide additional protection for policyholders nervous about litigation exposure.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict the exposure presented by any particular case. Between 2020 and 2022, the median
verdict increased 95%—from $21.5 million to $41.1 million. In
2022, a jury handed down a verdict worth $7.3 billion for injury to a single plaintiff. Even if an injury or loss is minor, juries have shown that they are willing to penalize corporate defendants with punitive damages that significantly exceed the award of compensatory damages. With such uncertainty and millions (if not billions) at stake, companies can reduce risk with litigation risk insurance.
Three key types of litigation risk insurance include: (1) punitive wrap insurance, (2) adverse judgment insurance, and (3) judgment preservation insurance.
Reprinted courtesy of
Latosha M. Ellis, Hunton Andrews Kurth and
Charlotte Leszinske, Hunton Andrews Kurth
Ms. Ellis may be contacted at lellis@HuntonAK.com
Ms. Leszinske may be contacted at cleszinske@HuntonAK.com
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