What We Know
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Florida Senate Ponders Change to Construction Defect Statute
Posted in Legal Alerts by on Wed Apr 8, 2015
The Florida Senate is considering a change to section 558.004, Florida Statutes, which is titled Notice and Opportunity to Repair. That statute currently requires a party asserting that a construction defect exists to serve a notice of claim on the party with whom the claimant contracted to perform work.
read more Share This PostNow, a Subcontractor’s Indemnification Payment can be Used to Satisfy a General Contractor’s SIR
Posted in Articles by on Fri Jan 16, 2015
The recent Florida Supreme Court opinion Intervest Construction of Jax, Inc. v. General Fidelity Ins. Co., 133 So. 3d 494 (Fla. 2014) illustrates the effect contract interpretation principles can have on the evaluation and scope of insurance policies and coverages. Intervest concerned the application of a Self-Insured Retention Endorsement ("SIR"), and whether a general contractor or its insurer was obligated to fund a settlement for a bodily injury claim.
read more Share This PostNo Success in Successive Suits
Posted in Articles by on Fri Jan 16, 2015
More than 200 years after the original Tea Party, the English common law principle of res judicata and the related rule against splitting causes of action can produce unanticipated results in Florida lawsuits.
read more Share This PostA Complicated Relationship – Is It Necessary To Plead A Special Relationship To State A Cause of Action for Common Law Indemnity?
Posted in Articles by on Fri Jan 16, 2015
In construction defect lawsuits, parties routinely assert common law indemnity claims against downstream subcontractors, material suppliers, and other entities whose work or materials caused the respective defects. Common law indemnity is a claim that shifts responsibility for damages from a party without any active negligence or fault, but who is liable for damages pursuant to vicarious, constructive, derivative, or technical liability principles, to the party who is actively negligent or at fault.
read more Share This PostTakeover Agreements and Bonds
Posted in Articles by on Sat Nov 22, 2014
Is it time to revise your form takeover agreement? In Allegheny Casualty Co. v. Archer-Western/DeMaria Joint Venture III, 2014 WL 4162787 (M.D. Fla. August 21, 2014), the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida rejected non-binding authority that “when a surety elects to directly undertake performance of a principal’s obligations, the surety’s liability is no longer limited by the amount of the bond.”
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