The Biden Administration’s Department of Transportation (DOT) recently paused a highway widening project in Houston, Texas. The project, known as the North Houston Highway Improvement Project, would widen Interstate 45. The DOT decided to halt the project so that it could evaluate whether it violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This move comes after an outpouring of complaints from local activists that African American and Hispanic communities would be disproportionately harmed by this project.

Download our full Legal Alert by Aaron Evenchik and Caroline Hamilton here.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) federal moratorium for residential evictions, which was set to expire on March 31st, was just extended through the end of June. A recent trend in federal cases may put an end to this moratorium on the basis that the CDC exceeded its authority by extending the eviction moratorium.

The federal eviction moratorium was first implemented legislatively through the CARES Act in March 2020. Since then, it has been extended both by Congress and the CDC. Congress clearly has the authority to issue a national eviction moratorium, but the last two extensions were implemented by the CDC. This begs the question, does the CDC have the authority to implement a national eviction moratorium? At least two district courts say no.

Read our full Legal Alert here.

In this recent Legal Alert, Greg Thompson and Alayna Bridgett summarize a bill recently signed into law by Ohio Governor DeWine that shortens the statute of limitations for breach of written contract actions from eight years to six and, for oral contracts, from six years to four. The bill goes into effect on June 14, 2021 (90 days from Governor DeWine’s signing).

Construction contracts often include arbitration provisions that require any dispute arising out of a project be resolved through binding arbitration. But who decides whether such a dispute is subject to the arbitration provision? The answer to that question is not always clear, and a recent decision (or refusal to make a decision) by the U.S. Supreme Court failed to bring the answer further into focus.  Read our recent Legal Alert prepared by Greg Thompson and Caroline Hamilton for more details.

Hahn Loeser is proud to sponsor the Ohio Contractor Association’s Conaway Conference, which will take place virtually on March 2 through March 4, 2021.  If you are attending this conference, please be sure to stop by our virtual exhibit booth and say hello.

For more details about the Conference, please visit the OCA’s website.

 

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Join Hahn Loeser and our friends from Foundation Software for a complimentary four-part legal series for the construction industry on a range of important topics.  To register for each session, please click on the title of the topics below.

Session 1:  The Road Ahead for Contractors:  Predictions of What to Expect in 2021

Thursday, March 4, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Presented by:  Rob Remington, Aaron Evenchik, Steve Seasly and Ann Knuth

Session 2: Best Practices Regarding Prevailing Wage Laws on Public Projects

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Presented by:  Rob Remington, Steve Seasly and Ann Knuth

Session 3: Management of Project Schedule Impact and Delay Claims; Critical Documentation and Proactive Practices to Protect Project Profitability

Wednesday, March 31, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Presented by:  Rob Remington, Jeff Roush and Chad Van Arnam

Session 4: Joint Venture/Partnerships for Large Construction Projects

Tuesday, April 13, 2021 from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. ET

Presented by:  Rob Remington, Sonja Rice, John Paul Lucci, Rob Port and Sarah Lewis

We hope you can join us for this series!

Join the Hahn Loeser team for a full-day session presented by NBI for an advanced-level guide to complex construction law issues.

Program Overview

On any construction project, seemingly simple issues can quickly become complex if not handled correctly. That’s why it’s essential to have an in-depth understanding of critical construction project legal matters that have the potential to cause severe headaches for your clients. In this advanced-level course, our experienced faculty will share their decades of construction law experience and will provide you with valuable tools you can use to help your clients through change order disasters, project delay disagreements, construction defect disputes and more. Provide your clients with the best representation possible by expanding your knowledge of complicated construction project issues – register today!

  • Anticipate which construction contract provisions will cause difficulties down the road in order to negotiate them in your client’s favor.
  • Disentangle complex change order payment matters that arise from oral change orders, additional work and more.
  • Confidently determine which construction project delays are compensable and which are non-compensable.
  • Factor in current court interpretations and state anti-indemnity statutes when wading into a construction indemnity dispute.
  • Analyze CGL policy insurance documents to accurately determine who is actually covered under the policy.
  • Get to the bottom of construction defect CGL policy coverage issues such as business risk exclusions and proving defective coverage is an occurrence.
  • Fairly counter discovery delays, excessive notices and other dirty construction litigation tactics.
  • Ensure interactions with unrepresented parties during construction disputes are ethically responsible.

Who Should Attend

This advanced level seminar on complex construction law issues is for:

  • Attorneys
  • Architects
  • Construction Professionals
  • Engineers
  • Insurance Professionals
  • Real Estate Developers
  • Paralegals

Course Content

  1. Construction Contracts: Advanced Negotiation Techniques for the Top Sticking Points
  2. Change Orders and Extra Work – Payment Issues Disentangled
  3. Determining Responsibility and Remedy for Delays
  4. Indemnification Disputes – What is the Scope and Meaning of the Contractual Clause?
  5. Determining Who is Insured Under Commercial General Liability Policies
  6. Coverage for Construction Defects Under CGL Policies
  7. Negotiating Damages in Construction Disputes
  8. Ethics for Construction Attorneys

For more details and to register, please visit NBI’s site.

To help clients prepare for a productive 2021, Hahn Loeser’s Construction Team is presenting complimentary, virtual training sessions for management and project personnel.

Topics offered by our Team to our clients include:
1.        Project Construction Contract Forms and Plain English Options for Negotiation;
2.        Managing Cost Plus GMP Contract Risks and Management of Changes;
3.        Managing Design / Build Contract Risks and Management of Cost and Risk;
4.        Subcontract and Vendor Forms;
5.        Scheduling and Project Management Tools;
6.        Construction Insurance Review;
7.        Project Documentation and Risk Management;
8.        Worksite Safety and Accident Investigation;
9.        Managing Upstream and Downstream Payment Processes and Risk; and
10.      Nurturing Surety and Banking Relationships.

If you are interested in discussing training options for your team, please reach out to Rob Remington, Chair of Hahn Loeser’s Construction Law Team.

In order to encourage and support the growth of minority and socially and economically disadvantaged businesses, the State of Ohio implemented several business assistance programs to foster the development of these businesses and increase the number of qualified competitors in the marketplace. Generally, these programs require Ohio state agencies to award a certain percentage of their contracts to businesses owned and controlled by different specified groups. To that end, Ohio has four primary programs: Minority Business Enterprise (“MBE”); Women-Owned Business Enterprise (“WBE”); Encouraging Diversity, Growth and Equity (“EDGE”); and Veteran-Friendly Business Enterprise (“VBE”). These programs are administered by the Ohio Department of Administrative Services, Equal Opportunity Division (“DAS”).

Recent Updates to the EDGE Program

The EDGE Program is designed to assist socially and economically disadvantaged persons and businesses in obtaining Ohio state government contracts in construction; architecture and engineering; professional services; goods and services; and information technology services. Each year, the Director of DAS sets the EDGE procurement goals for each state agency. Generally, the procurement goal is approximately five percent (5%) of all eligible agency procurements. A business is not eligible to be awarded contracts under one of these programs until the business is certified by DAS.

In October 2020, DAS updated the rules for the EDGE program, including revising the certification criteria. While there are many nuances to the certification requirements for the EDGE Program, this recent Legal Alert provides a basic overview of the criteria and focuses on the most significant changes that DAS instituted effective October 2020.

DOWNLOAD LEGAL ALERT