In the News

by Kathlynn Smith For over 20 years, California courts have clearly and consistently rejected so-called pay-if-paid provisions in construction contracts that condition a subcontractor’s right to payment on the owner’s payment to the contractor. The seminal case of Wm. R. Clarke Corp. v. Safeco Ins. Co., 15 Cal. 4th 882 (1997) squarely rejected pay-if-paid clauses […]

Today, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released guidelines permitting employers to test for COVID- 19 at workplaces before employees enter without violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). These guidelines note that any medical test that businesses require workers to take must be “job related and consistent with business necessity” under the ADA, a […]

The impact of the novel coronavirus (COVID – 19) on the daily lives of Americans has been brought into even sharper focus just in the last 72 hours.  In an effort to avoid a dramatic spike in the growth of the virus, as was experienced in Italy and Iran, public health officials are advising workers […]

by Paul Rogoff. When California enacted the Right to Repair Act in 2002 (Civil Code sections 895 – 945.5), it sought to implement a 10-year statute of limitations which would bar any actions brought more than 10 years after “substantial completion.” To do this, the Legislature borrowed language from section 337.15 of the Code of […]

The last time you negotiated a construction contract, how much time did you spend on the “Force Majeure” clause?  Do your contracts even have such a clause? The global impacts of the coronavirus/COVID-19 (“the coronavirus”) outbreak might now put these contract provisions at the center of attention. Generally, a Force Majeure event is an extraordinary […]