Anaheim California Expert Witness Engineer Directory

Consumer Product Safety Commission Recalls

March 10, 2025 — The Subrogation Strategist
In subrogation cases where the insured’s damages were caused by a defective product, the fact that the product at issue is or was subject to a recall announced by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) may help to establish that the product was defective when it left the manufacturer’s possession and control. On February 27, 2025, the CPSC announced the following recall related to a product that presents a fire hazard: Goal Zero Recalls Solar Series Combiner Cables for Solar Panels Due to Fire Hazard. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of White and Williams LLP

Kahana Feld Texas Team Obtains a Summary Judgment Motion

April 08, 2025 — Linda Carter - Kahana Feld
Kahana Feld is pleased to announce partner Elliott Wright and senior attorney Farrah Ahmed received a Traditional Summary Judgment motion on a premises liability case in the 40th Judicial District Court in Ellis County, Texas. The matter involved a Claimant who slipped and fell in a restaurant and claimed over $100,000 in medical damages. During an intense line of questioning, Kahana Feld attorneys Wright and Ahmed were able to get the Claimant to admit that she saw a well-placed “Caution” sign prior to her fall. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Linda Carter, Kahana Feld
Ms. Carter may be contacted at lcarter@kahanafeld.com

LA Wildfires Push California Insurance Market to Its Limit

January 14, 2025 — Leslie Kaufman, Lauren Rosenthal, Michelle Ma & Alexandre Rajbhandari - Bloomberg
If you live in California, you’re always bracing for the Big One. This week it arrived in the form of uncontrollable flames. Liability experts equipped with climate models had been uneasily eyeing such a scenario, realizing in recent years that wildfire now had similar system-crashing potential as a major earthquake to upend lives and destabilize California’s $10 trillion residential property market. A group convened to examine worst-case scenarios determined that three specific areas in the state were particularly vulnerable and capable of causing far-reaching fallout. One was Pacific Palisades, the Los Angeles neighborhood reduced to ashes this week by one of at least five fires burning across the city. Reprinted courtesy of Leslie Kaufman, Bloomberg, Lauren Rosenthal, Bloomberg, Michelle Ma, Bloomberg and Alexandre Rajbhandari, Bloomberg Read the full story...

How Not to Frustrate an Arbitrator: Common Mistakes Attorneys Should Avoid in Arbitration

April 22, 2025 — Patricia H. Thompson & Hon. Nancy Holtz (Ret.) - The Dispute Resolver
A recent federal court ruling held that an arbitration award would be enforced under the facts of that case, regardless of whether the parties considered the award “good, bad or ugly.” See RSM Production Corp. v. Gaz du Cameroun, S.A., 117 F.4th 707, 714 (5th Cir. 2024). As explained below, we suggest that “good, bad or ugly” can describe other aspects of arbitration. In our combined 20-plus years of experience as arbitrators, we have been surprised and frustrated when “good” construction advocates engage in counterproductive conduct that may accurately be described as bad or even ugly. Optimistically, we offer the following suggestions to improve counsel’s performance in arbitration. Mind your ABCs. Always be credible. An arbitrator’s ability to rule on an issue depends, in part, on the credibility of the parties' communication of evidence and law. From initial filings to the last argument, attorneys must maintain consistent credibility. Reprinted courtesy of Patricia H. Thompson, JAMS and Hon. Nancy Holtz (Ret.), JAMS Read the full story...

Environmental Update: Regulatory Notes – April 2025

May 12, 2025 — Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
April has proven a busy month for environmental issues when it comes to the regulatory arena. Below are just a few of the notable developments:

Coal-Fired Relief: On April 8, 2025, the President issued Presidential Proclamation 10914, “Regulatory Relief for Certain Stationary Sources to Promote American Energy,” published in the Federal Register on April 21, 2025, at 90 FR 16777. A 2024 change to EPA’s National Emissions Standards will place severe burdens on coal-fired power plants. Accordingly, the President, pursuant to the authority vested in him by the Constitution and Section 112(i)(4) of the Clean Air Act, proclaims that the sources identified in Annex I of this Proclamation are exempt from compliance with the rule for two years, beginning on July 8, 2027, and concluding on July 8, 2029. At the present time, technology to implement the new standards is not available. (Forty-seven stationary sources are identified in Annex I.)

A Modified General Permit for the CWA: On April 15, 2025, EPA published its modifications to the 2022 Clean Water Act Construction General Permit. (See 90 FR 15653.)Section 402 of the Act authorizes EPA to regulate construction activities that result in discharges of pollutants to the waters of the United States. The initial notice of a revised Construction General Permit was published in the Federal Register on January 24, 2022. The latest revisions apply to “Lands of Exclusive Federal Jurisdiction,” where EPA is the only permitting authority. In addition, this latest notice responds to the recent Supreme Court ruling in City and County of San Francisco v. EPA, which concerned ambiguous receiving water quality limitations applicable to many municipal wastewater treatment facilities. EPA is likely to provide additional guidance that will be of interest to National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDE) permittees.

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury

Balancing Tradition and Technology in Bringing AI to AEC

February 19, 2025 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
In this episode of the AI AEC show, host Aarni Heiskanen discusses the integration and challenges of AI in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry with Antti Ainamo, a keynote speaker and an associate professor at the University of Tartu. Antti shares his journey from a business background to AI research and explores three institutional pillars—regulative, normative, and cultural cognitive—that impact AI adoption in AEC. He emphasizes the necessity of balancing traditional and technological approaches and highlights the roles of business strategy, technology integration, and ecosystem evolution in driving industry transformation. Antti underscores the importance of understanding user needs within the AEC industry. The adoption of AI should not be a top-down imposition of technology; rather, it should be a collaborative process that considers the perspectives of all stakeholders involved, including decision-makers and end-users such as construction workers, architects, and engineers. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Real Estate & Construction News Roundup (1/28/25) – FTC Suing Greystar, DOJ Investigating Top Residential Landlords and Trump Facing Housing Conundrum

February 03, 2025 — Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
In our latest roundup, construction technology funding stabilizes, office vacancies hit new high, builders outline recommendations to Trump, and more!

Following a 44% downturn in construction technology investment in 2023, the contech funding ecosystem seems to have stabilized last year (Matthew Thibault, Construction Dive)
The Federal Trade Commission and the state of Colorado are suing Greystar for allegedly deceiving consumers about monthly rent costs by adding mandatory fees on top of advertised prices. (Jennifer Goodman, Multifamily Dive)
To support construction growth, the Associated General Contractors of America recently outlined five key recommendations for the Trump administration. (Sebastian Obando, Smartcities Dive)

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pillsbury's Construction & Real Estate Law Team

A Contract Is a Contract: Releases and Change Orders / Bilateral Modifications Are Construed as Contracts

April 15, 2025 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A contract is a contract. It should say what it means and means what it says. A release is construed like a contract. A change order or bilateral modification is construed like a contract. The decision out of the United States Court of Federal Claims, B.L. Harbert International, LLC v. US, 2025 WL 914388 (Fed.Cl. 2025), serves as a case on point. In this case, the contractor had a claim related to a bilateral modification (i.e., change order #1) on a federal project which included a two-month extension of time to complete the contractor’s work. The modification stated the contractor and the contractor’s subcontractors waived the right to seek compensation for any other delays relating to the work. “When a contractor signs a general release, it is barred from seeking damages for the events connected to and contemplated by the release.” B.L. Harbert International, supra, at *4. Thus, the contractor’s claims related to this modification were waived. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris, P.A.
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES