Publication
Under Construction – March 2018
Letter from the Editor
Welcome to the spring 2018 edition of our Under Construction newsletter. We hope 2018 is off to a good start for you and your company.
We start this issue with an article providing some practical solutions to common legal disputes in construction. Following these tips will hopefully help you with dispute avoidance, mitigation and resolution.
Next we take a look at the commercial operation of drones in construction. Drones are now used for everything, including real estate photography, evaluating and photographing construction or design problems, progress reports, roof inspections and surveying undeveloped land. Increased use of drone technology comes with an increased need for understanding the pertinent regulations and laws surrounding drone use.
In the world of construction, time is money. This is true even when the owner and the contractor are engaged in a dispute. Unfortunately, dispute resolution and litigation–whether in state or federal court, arbitration or any other private resolution system–still move at the pace established when the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were created generations ago. Our next article discusses early mediation and how this strategy might help resolve disputes more quickly and economically.
We round out this issue with a look at some new laws and court cases. As we move into the second quarter of 2018, we would like to impress upon those with California projects that it may be important to review your California private construction contracts now, if you have not already done so. Our third article reviews a new California law that took effect January 1, 2018 that affects private works construction contracts.
Additionally, the Nevada Supreme Court recently issued a new ruling impacting an HOA’s ability to bring claims on behalf of its members. The Court addressed whether an HOA has standing to represent: 1) owners who have sold their units during litigation; and 2) owners who have purchased their units after litigation has started.
Finally, the construction group at Snell & Wilmer would like to congratulate the success of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) inaugural Construction vs. Cancer Las Vegas event that was held February 10, 2018. Through the event, ACS was able to create an amazing fun-filled day for over 500 pediatric cancer survivors, their family members and 1,450 guests, as well as raise over $280,000 towards the fight against cancer. Snell & Wilmer is proud to have helped play a small role in making this event possible.
We hope you will find these articles informative and enlightening. Please let us know if you want us to address a specific construction issue in a future newsletter. Enjoy spring!
Regards,
James J. Sienicki
About Snell & Wilmer
Founded in 1938, Snell & Wilmer is a full-service business law firm with more than 500 attorneys practicing in 16 locations throughout the United States and in Mexico, including Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, California; Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Washington, D.C.; Boise, Idaho; Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Portland, Oregon; Dallas, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Seattle, Washington; and Los Cabos, Mexico. The firm represents clients ranging from large, publicly traded corporations to small businesses, individuals and entrepreneurs. For more information, visit swlaw.com.
