A federal jury in the Northern District of Illinois recently awarded nearly $23 million to the developer of a luxury hotel in Chicago’s trendy West Loop arising from multiple breaches of contract and fraud by its design-builder. What is particularly
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Virginia Invalidates "Pay-If-Paid" Clauses Starting January 1, 2023
During the 2022 legislative session, the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 550 (“SB 550”), which Virginia Governor Youngkin signed into law. SB 550 amends a portion of the Virginia Prompt Payment Act and a component of the Virginia wage…
Florida Court of Appeals Holds That County's "Active Interference" Overrides "No Damages for Delay" Clause
Earlier this year, the Second District Court of Appeal of Florida held that a “no damages for delay” clause “will not be enforced in the face of governmental fraud, bad faith, or active interference with performance under the contract.” Sarasota…
Construction Lender Found Liable for Payments to General Contractor Despite Lack of Contractual Relationship
A Delaware trial court, applying New Jersey and Delaware law, recently ruled that a general contractor, despite not being a party to either a loan agreement or loan commitment, could successfully recover damages from a construction lender. See BCD Assocs.,…
Illinois Appellate Court Invalidates Arbitration Provision in Owner-Contractor Construction Contract
Case: Bain v. Airoom, LLC , 2022 IL App (1st) 211001 A recent Illinois appellate decision warns that overbroad form arbitration agreements in construction contracts may be unenforceable.
Illinois Joins Trend Making General Contractors Liable for Paying Subcontractors' Workers
On June 10, 2022, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law two related bills, HB 5412 and HB 4600, sent to him the previous month by the Illinois legislature that will hold a primary contractor (one who has a contract with…
Delaware Court Shows Importance of Order of Priority Clauses
A recent bench trial in Delaware State Court ruled that a subcontractor was entitled to payment from a general contractor because an order of priority clause gave priority to a bid proposal contract term that barred a pay-when-paid clause from…
Federal Court of Appeals Holds Contractor Liable for Employee's OSHA Violation
A recent decision from the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held a Texas highway contractor liable for its supervisor’s involvement in a subordinate employee’s violation of workplace safety rules. See Angel Brothers Enterprises, Ltd. v. Walsh…
U.S. Supreme Court Strikes OSHA's Vaccine Mandate
In a per curiam opinion issued by Chief Justice Roberts, Justices Barrett and Kavanaugh, with Justices Gorsuch, Thomas and Alito concurring, the Supreme Court stayed OSHA’s “emergency temporary standard” mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employers of 100 or more employees. The…
Sixth Circuit Dissolves Stay of OSHA Vaccine ETS
On December 17, 2021, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit dissolved the Fifth Circuit’s stay of OSHA’s Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) on COVID-1 vaccination and testing for employers with at least 100 employees in a consolidated multidistrict…