Source: http://www.jdsupra.com, February 23, 2016 By: Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP In its recent decision in Nat’l Fire Ins. Co. v. James River Ins., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 19076 (D. Ariz. Feb. 16, 2016), the United States District Court for the District of Arizona had occasion to consider the application of a manuscript pollution […]

Source: Orlando Sentinel (FL), February 15, 2016 Posted on: http://www.advisen.com KB Home reached a settlement with the Florida Attorney General’s Office involving construction defects, failure to disclosure problems to buyers and denial of home-warranty claims for 1,688 houses across the state. At the core of the state’s three-year investigation were construction defects that led to […]

Source: The New York Times, November 10, 2015 Posted on: http://www.advisen.com As Lumber Liquidators continues to struggle after a safety crisis over its Chinese-made laminate flooring, a much smaller flooring company has been drawn into the spotlight. The hedge fund manager who publicly accused Lumber Liquidators of selling wood with dangerous levels of formaldehyde is […]

Source: Ironshore Environmental, November 2015 An asbestos abatement contractor was doing remediation in tunnels below a correctional institution. Lawsuits were filed on behalf of inmates alleging bodily injury from exposure to asbestos. After spending $425k in defense expenses, it was determined that the contractor was not liable for any damages potentially incurred.

Source: Ironshore Environmental, November 2015 A contractor installed a liner at a gypsum stack. The liner subsequently leaked. The contractor was obligated to contribute $1M towards the $15M cleanup of a neighboring waterway. $4M in defense expenses were incurred to get to settlement.

Source: http://hamptonroads.com, October 26, 2015 By: Sarah Kleiner Rick Ilich was at his wit’s end. His dream home in the Saddlebrook Estates neighborhood had been silently poisoning his family for years. It had been built in 2006 with toxic drywall, which filled the air with hydrogen sulfide, a dangerous gas that corrodes metal and can […]

Source: http://timesofsandiego.com, October 19, 2015 By: Alexander Nguyen The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board on Monday proposed a penalty of up to nearly $850,000 on San Altos-Lemon Grove, LLC for water quality violations related to construction activities at the 18-acre Valencia Hills site in Lemon Grove. The complaint alleges the developer allowed polluted storm […]

Source: http://abcnews.go.com, April 17, 2015 By: Matthew Larotonda Home improvement giant Lowe’s Companies Inc. has agreed to pay $500,000 after federal investigators found its home renovation contractors in nine states had violated safety standards for lead paint. The retail chain was also unable to provide documentation proving some contractors employed by the company were certified […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 27, 2015 By: Amy B. Briggs, Donna M. Carlton, Christine Spinella Davis, David B. Killalea, Stephen T. Raptis and Robert H. Shulman, Manatt Phelps & Phillips LLP Why it matters: A California federal judge has ruled that an insurer had a duty to defend an apartment owner and its construction contractor in connection […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 17, 2015 By: T. McRoy Shelley III, Rogers Townsend & Thomas PC NEW NGC, INC. v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE CO., Dist. Court, WD North Carolina 2015 – Google Scholar. Insurance carriers have been pretty successful in denying coverage for Chinese Drywall claims, even in jurisdictions where the “middle ground” approach has been […]

Source: http://www.lexology.com, August 11, 2015 By: George B. Hall, Jr., Phelps Dunbar LLP A federal court in North Carolina held that a pollution exclusion excludes coverage for property damage and bodily injury resulting from defective drywall. New NGC, Inc. v. Ace American Ins. Co., 2015 WL 2259172 (W.D. N.C. May 13, 2015). A manufacturer of drywall […]

Source: http://www.dailylocal.com, July 29, 2015 By: Andy Hachadorian A West Chester University employee has tested positive for Legionnaires’ disease and eight cooling towers of buildings on the campus have higher than acceptable levels of the bacteria, the university revealed Wednesday. According to an e-mail sent to all WCU employees and also to the Daily Local […]