Posts
Guarantees and Insurance
Some Construction Owners Need Specific Results If a power plant owner needs to retrofit its plant to comply with specific restrictions on emissions, it needs to hire designers and contractors to achieve this result. This poses contracts problems with allocating risks because of the way insurance policies are written. Contract Agreement Forms Have Adapted Construction… Read More »Guarantees and Insurance
Some Privilege – Corporate Counsel to a Close Corporation Owned By A Bickering Family
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court had to decide attorney client privilege in a messy quarrel over a closely held business where corporate counsel refused to participate in ‘discovery’. The original founder of the private Clair companies was the father; he gave the company to his four sons in equal shares. Two sons died, setting the stage… Read More »Some Privilege – Corporate Counsel to a Close Corporation Owned By A Bickering Family
Developers Stuck with Common Area Suits
A condo association can recover against the builder or developer for negligently performed construction according to a 2012 Massachusetts Appeals Court case Wyman v Ayer Properties. The case interpreted a rule few really understand - the economic loss rule. The rule is based on the idea that lawsuits between people who have no contract with… Read More »Developers Stuck with Common Area Suits
Litigation nightmare $900,000 subcontract >$1M verdict
Litigation has been called the sport of kings. In my opinion, it is a bad way to solve problems or to answer questions. A recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case involving a dispute between a sitework sub and a GC started with the typical mutual accusations - the sub claimed the GC got in its… Read More »Litigation nightmare $900,000 subcontract >$1M verdict
OWNER HAD HOLES IN FLOOR, AND IN ITS CGL INSURANCE PROGRAM
A construction project owner is not covered by the insurance policy it purchased for a claim arising when the structural engineer (an independent contractor to the architect) fell through the floor at the project site according to a recent Massachusetts Appeals Court decision. The case is Cable Mills LLC v Coakley Pierpan Dolan and Collins… Read More »OWNER HAD HOLES IN FLOOR, AND IN ITS CGL INSURANCE PROGRAM
New England is like the EU – Energy Importing Sovereigns Seeking Consensus
FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY COMMISSION Technical Conference Coordination between Natural Gas and Electricity Markets Boston August 21, 2012 Report by Chuck Cobb Meeting to Discuss Two Industries in Six States The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) met in Boston for a roundtable discussion of New England’s increasing reliance on natural gas to fuel electric generation and… Read More »New England is like the EU – Energy Importing Sovereigns Seeking Consensus
Appeals Court to Massachusetts Trial Judges – don’t let Parties get out of construction industry lawuits
In two recent cases the Massachusetts Appeals Court cautioned trial judges against granting summary judgment in construction cases. Parties who argued they should be set free from the claims had to stay in and pay - at least to defend. One case Docos reversed the dismissal of the general contractor; another LeBlanc revived dismissed claims… Read More »Appeals Court to Massachusetts Trial Judges – don’t let Parties get out of construction industry lawuits
Clash detection is just the start
Currently clash detection is the fundamental use for Bilding Information Modeling (BIM) software but on the horizon is software with rules built in to prevent designers from creating drawings that contain clashes. A buffer zone can be imposed around the edges of materials. It won’t let you put a duct where it won’t fit. Advanced… Read More »Clash detection is just the start
Fatter Gas Pipes Needed to Power New England?
NATURAL GAS AND ELECTRICITY IN NEW ENGLAND/ REGULATION AND MARKETS Sitting on the seam between free markets and regulation are public utilities. Markets and regulation are conceptual competitors. Most agree that the best way to rationalize distribution is through markets but government, what we agree to do together, often expresses itself through regulations. Natural gas… Read More »Fatter Gas Pipes Needed to Power New England?
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Charles W. Cobb
Attorney at Law
ADDRESS
320 Nevada Street Ste 301,
Newton MA 02460
ccobb@silverlakelegal.com
PHONE NUMBER
(978) 979-1223