Words matter. Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Tennessee released its decision in a construction dispute between Ray Bell Construction Company and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Where the contractor won the first two rounds at the trial court and intermediate appellate court levels, TDOT prevailed in the final appeal.
The Dispute. The primary issue in
Happy Halloween! Today’s post is not about ghosts, ghouls and goblins, though. It’s much scarier … it’s about contractors, subcontractors and insurance companies! (….shriek….)
In a noteworthy decision issued last week, the Tennessee Supreme Court held that all construction contracts have an implied duty on part of the contractor to perform in
Where is the best place to start when you have been away from work for a family emergency? Naturally, you go back to the basics. In my next few posts, I review some of the "basic building block" or "essential" construction cases every contractor should know. The first two are Spearin and Luria Bros.
Last week, the Supreme Court of Tennessee heard oral arguments on a contract interpretation issue in a construction dispute between Ray Bell Construction and Tennessee Department of Transportation. You can get the details here, but the real lesson is one about how to interpret contracts, whether you are talking about the scope of work, changes
Last week I wrote a post about what is considered timely acceptance of a subcontractor’s quote. My friend and former colleague, Brian Waagner, submitted a comment to that post, focusing on the importance of a written contract. Brian also blogs at The Contractor’s Perspective. Brian’s comments are on-point, so I have included
If a subcontractor’s quote does not contain a deadline by which it must be accepted, how late can the contractor accept the quote to be valid? And when there is a dispute, who has the burden of proving that the contractor accepted the quote in a timely manner?
The court addressed these issues in Piland
Owners, contractors, and subcontractors in Kentucky should carefully review their legal claims given a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision. On June 16, 2011, the Court joined the majority of other states and adopted what is commonly know as the economic loss doctrine. Now, claims against suppliers for product defects are legally limited to the parties&rsquo
Yesterday, highway and bridge contractors in Tennessee received an alert from from TDOT officials about the affect of heavy rain in the area: "I’m sure most are aware of the anticipated rise in the Mississippi River, but could you please share with all that are working in the Mississippi River area and the backwater areas
In the weeks leading up to the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry’s annual meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, a number of construction attorneys and I were feverishly reviewing submissions for this year’s Construction Law Update. The document is a compilation of cases and legislation affecting the construction industry. The updates are provided throughout the
Initially filed as a class action suit in October 2010 against the USGBC, Henry Gifford’s lawsuit took a turn this week when he filed an amended complaint. The original lawsuit alleged violations of the Sherman and Lanham Acts for “deceiving users” of the LEED rating system. The lawsuit questioned whether "LEED buildings use less energy than conventionally-built