News & Information

Appeals Court Opinion: Contractor May Withhold Retention Only When Dispute Relates to Retention ItselfThe Court of Appeal for the Second District (which includes Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties) recently held that a contractor may withhold…

When evaluating a lawsuit on a surety bond, whether as the claimant or as the surety, one of the very first questions that attorneys always ask is “Is it timely?” If the answer is no, then that usually is the…

On July 30, 2014, a California Appeals Court issued an opinion which reaffirms the difficulty that general contractors face in pursuing engineers and other design professionals for negligent work.In Atlas-Allied, Inc. v. San Diego Community College District, et al. (D061295) (Cal. Ct.…

On July 3, 2014 the California Supreme Court unanimously ruled that design professionals owe a duty of care to future homeowners of residential construction, even when the design professional does not actually build, or exercise control over the construction. Beacon…