Construction

  • March 28, 2024

    The Home Depot Buying PE-Backed SRS For $18.25B

    The Home Depot said Thursday it has agreed to acquire SRS Distribution Inc., a private equity-backed distributor of roofing and building supplies, for $18.25 billion, inclusive of debt. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Foreign Subsidy Rule Muddles 'Countervailable' Meaning

    The U.S. Department of Commerce's new final rule authorizing itself to investigate subsidies that governments give to manufacturers in other nations casts uncertainty over the definition of "countervailable" in the absence of clarity on how third-party governments will be incorporated into these duty probes. 

  • March 27, 2024

    Bricklayer Seeks OT Pay For Time On 'Shuttle' To Worksites

    A bricklayer alleged that a California-based construction firm should have paid him and his fellow workers to ride a shuttle up to an hour each way to job sites, according to a proposed class action made public in Pennsylvania state court Wednesday.

  • March 27, 2024

    Navajo Sue Feds Over Withheld Forestry Program Funds

    The Navajo Nation claims the U.S. Department of the Interior unlawfully withheld more than a million dollars in funding for its contracted forestry management program, telling a D.C. federal judge the department should be forced to provide the money and accept the funding agreements proposed by the nation.

  • March 27, 2024

    4th Circ. Overturns Fraud Ruling In Suit Over $4.5M Home Buy

    The Fourth Circuit on Wednesday revived fraud claims brought by the buyers of a $4.5 million Virginia home who accuse the seller of lying about licenses and permits for improvements to lure them into the purchase, with the panel concluding a federal district court flubbed decisions on the claims.

  • March 27, 2024

    Casino Beats Suit Over Diabetic Customer's Fall

    A now-shuttered floating casino that was moored in Lake Michigan can't be held liable for the fall of a longtime patron who injured her hip after tripping in a hallway that connected two boats, an Illinois federal court has ruled, finding the patron couldn't support any element of her premises liability claim.

  • March 27, 2024

    Justices Grapple With Complex $3M Estate Tax Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court confronted a complicated dispute Wednesday over whether the estate of a deceased building supply company owner should be taxed on $3 million in life insurance proceeds the company used to buy his shares after his death, with two justices seeming to take opposing sides.

  • March 27, 2024

    City Leaders Nix Plan To Move Wizards, Caps To Virginia Site

    Plans for the NBA's Washington Wizards and NHL's Washington Capitals to move from the nation's capital to a $2 billion sports and entertainment complex in northern Virginia came to an abrupt halt Wednesday afternoon, when the city of Alexandria, Virginia announced that its negotiations with Monumental Sports & Entertainment and owner Ted Leonsis "will not move forward.''

  • March 27, 2024

    Construction Orgs Call Prevailing Wage Rule Unconstitutional

    Several construction groups said the U.S. Department of Labor is illegally trying to expand the reach of the Davis-Bacon Act with its final rule regulating prevailing wages, urging a Texas federal court to bring the rule to a screeching halt.

  • March 27, 2024

    Calif. High Court Gives Guideposts For What Counts As Work

    The California Supreme Court's decision that a construction contractor must pay workers for the time they spent waiting in their cars to go through a security check before leaving the job site provides guideposts for determining when wages are owed in other scenarios, attorneys told Law360.

  • March 27, 2024

    Jury Convicts Ex-LA Official Chan In City Hall Bribery Scandal

    A California federal jury on Wednesday convicted former Los Angeles deputy mayor Raymond Chan of racketeering conspiracy, honest services wire fraud and bribery stemming from his role linking corrupt public officials with wealthy developers in the so-called CD-14 Enterprise.

  • March 26, 2024

    Ex-LA Deputy Mayor's Fate In Bribery Trial Goes To Calif. Jury

    Former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan connected corrupt public officials to wealthy developers for years as part of the "CD-14 Enterprise" racketeering conspiracy, a federal prosecutor told California federal jurors in closing arguments Tuesday, saying their shared goal was ensuring they "get money, keep power and avoid the Feds."

  • March 26, 2024

    Judge To Let McDermott Investors Seek 2-Subclass Cert.

    A Texas federal judge has declined to certify a proposed class of investors in energy industry engineering company McDermott International Inc., siding with a magistrate judge who recommended dismissing the class certification bid so the investors could refile and seek certification for two investor subclasses.

  • March 26, 2024

    WTO Calls On Australia To Amend Steel Duties On China

    A World Trade Organization panel on Tuesday ruled that Australia flouted certain measures of the intergovernmental organization's so-called Anti-Dumping Agreement when calculating duties on wind towers, stainless steel sinks and railway wheels from China.

  • March 26, 2024

    Baltimore Bridge Collapse: What We Know So Far

    The overnight collapse of Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge, after being struck by a container carrier Tuesday, will trigger multiple inquiries into maritime and vessel safety, as well as bridge design and engineering standards, that experts say will have significant implications for future lawsuits, regulatory actions and infrastructure rebuilding efforts.

  • March 26, 2024

    Turf Co. Secures Dismissal Of Funds' Contributions Row

    Benefits funds affiliated with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades can't move ahead with their claims that a turf installer didn't pay contributions, a California federal judge ruled, saying the funds didn't include the calculation for payment in their allegations.

  • March 26, 2024

    Biden Admin Greenlights 2nd Orsted NY Offshore Wind Farm

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Tuesday approved the construction of Orsted-Eversource's Sunrise Wind project off the New York coast, the seventh offshore wind project given the go-ahead by the Biden administration.

  • March 26, 2024

    Consulting Biz Can't Show Need For 300 H-2B Workers

    A U.S. Department of Labor appeals board affirmed the denial of a consulting services company's dual bids for H-2B visa workers for a controversial oil drilling project in Alaska, saying the company failed to show a need for 50 structural fitters and 250 pipe fitters.

  • March 25, 2024

    Ex-LA Official Downplayed Role In Huizar Bribes, Jury Told

    An FBI agent told California federal jurors in former Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan's criminal trial Monday that Chan denied facilitating bribes between then-city councilor Jose Huizar and a developer when initially questioned by investigators, despite evidence showing he helped orchestrate Las Vegas trips and loans to help Huizar.

  • March 25, 2024

    McDermott Settles Colombian Refinery Fight With $900M Deal

    A Colombian refinery company that was granted a $1 billion arbitration award against global engineering giant McDermott International Ltd. has resolved its long-standing dispute with an agreement that gives the refinery company a settlement package amounting to about $900 million.

  • March 25, 2024

    NOAA Allots $60M To Help Columbia River Salmon

    The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it plans to allocate $60 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding to pay for overdue maintenance and repairs at hatchery facilities in the Columbia River Basin, which will further tribal priorities and help address climate change impacts facing salmon and steelhead populations.

  • March 25, 2024

    Berkshire Hathaway Unit's Patent Must Undergo 3 PGRs

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has instituted three post-grant reviews challenging a single Columbia Insurance Co. fire wall hanger patent, following petitions from Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc.

  • March 25, 2024

    Waiting For Car Security Checks Is Work, Calif. Justices Say

    Time spent by workers undergoing an employer's security check that includes an inspection of the worker's personal vehicle is compensable as hours worked, but time spent driving between the security gate and the parking lot is not, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday, answering a Ninth Circuit panel's queries.

  • March 25, 2024

    Atlanta Wants Ex-Eatery's 'Spurious' Demolition Suit Tossed

    The city of Atlanta has asked a Georgia federal judge to dismiss a property owner's suit accusing it, its property review board and its police department of trying to illegally demolish the property, once set to become a Starbucks coffee shop, without proper notification.

  • March 25, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Last week in Delaware's Court of Chancery, litigants battled as Truth Social went public, Carl Icahn and Tripadvisor hit a roadblock, and more shareholders wailed about "invasive" bylaws. Oil drilling and pharmaceutical mergers sparked new lawsuits, and a sewing machine trademark owner sued to end a contract.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Laws Based On Rapid Drug Tests Are Unscientific And Unfair

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    Given the widespread legalization of marijuana, states are increasingly implementing laws to penalize drivers under the influence of drugs, but the laws do more harm than good as the rapid tests they rely on do not accurately measure impairment, say Josh Bloom and Henry Miller at the American Council on Science and Health.

  • Self-Disclosure Lessons From Exemplary Corp. Resolutions

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    With scant examples of corporate resolutions in the wake of U.S. Department of Justice self-disclosure policy changes last fall, companies may glean helpful insights from three recent declination letters, as well as other governmental self-reporting regimes, say Lindsey Collins and Kate Rumsey at Sheppard Mullin.

  • The Heat Is On For Calif. Employers Under New OSHA Rules

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    California's Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently proposed rules would require significant efforts from employers in order to create heat safety protections for indoor workers — so they should take initiative now to get in compliance and ensure a safe and cool working environment, says Eric Fox at Quarles & Brady.

  • Offshore Wind Auction Results Portend Difficulties In Gulf

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    Results of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's recent auction of the Gulf of Mexico lease areas tell different stories about the future of offshore wind in the U.S., with the Gulf’s low interest suggesting uncertainty and the Mid-Atlantic’s strong interest suggesting a promising market, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

  • ABA's Money-Laundering Resolution Is A Balancing Act

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    While the American Bar Association’s recently passed resolution recognizes a lawyer's duty to discontinue representation that could facilitate money laundering and other fraudulent activity, it preserves, at least for now, the delicate balance of judicial, state-based regulation of the legal profession and the sanctity of the attorney-client relationship, say attorneys at Ballard Spahr.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unfair Advantage, Buy American Waiver

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, James Tucker at MoFo offers takeaways on one decision that considers unfair proposal development advantages in the context of an employee's access to nonpublic information in a prior federal government position, and another decision that reconsiders a contract award based on an inadequately supported waiver of Buy American Act restrictions.

  • Prevailing Wage Rules Complicate Inflation Act Tax Incentives

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    Nicole Elliott and Timothy Taylor at Holland & Knight discuss the intersection between tax and labor newly created by the Inflation Reduction Act, and focus on aspects of recent U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of the Treasury rules that may catch tax-incentive seekers off guard.

  • Regulators Must Get Creative To Keep Groundwater Flowing

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    Even as populations have boomed in Sun Belt states like Arizona, California and Texas, groundwater levels have diminished due to drought and overuse — so regulators must explore options including pumping limits, groundwater replenishment and wastewater reuse to ensure future supplies for residential and commercial needs, says Jeffrey Davis at Integral Consulting.

  • Issues To Watch As Biochar Carbon Project Demand Heats Up

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    Entities considering financing, constructing or operating biochar projects should evaluate the increasing demand for biochar as a soil amendment, the potential to generate revenue from carbon credits and produce other byproducts, and a variety of legal hurdles in this rapidly emerging market, say Mackenzie Schoonmaker and Astrika Adams at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Law Firm Professional Development Steps To Thrive In AI Era

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    As generative artificial intelligence tools rapidly evolve, professional development leaders are instrumental in preparing law firms for the paradigm shifts ahead, and should consider three strategies to help empower legal talent with the skills required to succeed in an increasingly complex technological landscape, say Steve Gluckman and Anusia Gillespie at SkillBurst Interactive.

  • Industry Takeaways From OMB's Final Buy America Guidance

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    The Office of Management and Budget's recently released guidance on "Buy America" requirements for federal infrastructure projects provides clarity in certain areas but fails to address troublesome inconsistencies with state laws and international trade agreements, so manufacturers and suppliers will need to tread carefully as agencies implement the changes, say Amy Hoang and Sarah Barney at Seyfarth Shaw.

  • Payroll Tax Evasion Notice Suggests FinCEN's New Focus

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    The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s recent notice advising U.S. financial institutions to report payroll tax evasion and workers' compensation schemes in the construction industry suggests a growing interest in tax enforcement and IRS collaboration, as well as increased scrutiny in the construction sector, say Andrew Weiner and Jay Nanavati at Kostelanetz.

  • New NLRB Union Rules Require Proactive Employer Response

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    Because recent radical changes to National Labor Relations Board unionization rules, decided in the case of Cemex Construction Materials, may speed up elections or result in more mandatory bargaining orders, employers should make several significant, practical edits to their playbooks for navigating union organizing and certification, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • New 'Waters' Rule May Speed Projects, Spawn More Litigation

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    The Biden administration's new rule defining "waters of the United States" in accordance with a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision will remove federal protection for some wetlands — which could both enable more development and lead to more legal challenges for projects, says Marcia Greenblatt at Integral Consulting.

  • The Basics Of Being A Knowledge Management Attorney

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Michael Lehet at Ogletree Deakins discusses the role of knowledge management attorneys at law firms, the common tasks they perform and practical tips for lawyers who may be considering becoming one.

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