Contract – Contractor Could Not Bypass Claim Exhaustion
Balfour Beatty Infrastructure Inc. v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-087-17, 12 pp.) (Harris, J.) No. 16-1322, April 25, 2017; USDC at Baltimore, Md. (Bennett, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: A contractor that missed a deadline in constructing a wastewater treatment system could not proceed directly to federal court when the city […]
Civil Practice – Contractor Defense May Work in Asbestos Cases
Ripley v. Foster Wheeler LLC (Lawyers Weekly No. 001-149-16 , 9 pp.) (Thacker, J.) No. 15-1918, Nov. 1, 2016; USDC at Newport News, Va. (Allen, J.) 4th Cir. Holding: The 4th Circuit reverses a district court order remanding to Virginia state court an asbestos products liability suit removed to federal court pursuant to the federal […]
Civil Practice – Evidence – Contractor – Modular Home
Fisher Housing Companies v. Hendricks Where a contractor who builds “stick-built” homes testified that he had no experience with modular homes, the trial court correctly determined that the contractor lacked the requisite level of skill to testify as an expert in the construction of a modular home.
Civil Practice – Summary Judgment – Motion to Continue – Tort/Negligence — Real Property – Contractor – Renovation
McMillan v. Ryan Jackson Properties, LLC The hearing on the defendant-contractor’s summary judgment motion was conducted on July 7, 2011, five weeks after plaintiffs were notified that the contractor’s project file was available for pick-up. Plaintiffs offered no explanation for their three-week delay in picking up the project file. Five weeks was a reasonable time for plaintiffs and [...]
Contract – Breach of Contract – Unfair & Deceptive Trade Practices – Directed Verdict – JNOV – Negligence
Ford v. All-Dry of the Carolinas, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 11-16-0429, 24 pp.) (John C. Martin, C.J.) Appealed from Superior Court. (Dennis J. Winner, J.) N.C. App. Unpub. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: The plaintiff alleged that negligent construction caused damage only to her house itself. As such, even taken […]
NCBA section takes on ‘arduous task’ of updating lien laws
With so many diverse and competing interests, it's been difficult to get a consensus on how to do something everyone agrees must be done: Change the state's lien laws. Nan E. Hannah (pictured), head of the N.C. Bar Association's Construction Law Section, said recent bankruptcy decisions, economic factors, concerns in the title industry and other issues led the section to "take a really hard look a[...]
Practical Litigator: Who’s responsible for an injury at an unsafe workplace? Could be anyone
Construction accidents frequently give rise to third-party tort claims. Given the number of entities involved on major construction projects, the chances of identifying a culpable party that is not protected by the exclusive remedy provisions of the workers' compensation act are rather good.
Tort/Negligence – Premises Liability – Contractor – Subcontractor – Duty of Owner – Contract
McCorkle v. North Point Chrysler Jeep, Inc. (Lawyers Weekly No. 10-07-1221, 10 pp.) (Linda Stephens, J.) Appealed from Guilford County Superior Court (Edwin G. Wilson, J.) N.C. App. Click here for the full text of the opinion. Holding: A property owner’s duty of reasonable care shifted by contract to the general contractor during construction of […]
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