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Sonja C. Rice is a partner in the firm’s Business Law Area, member of the firm’s Construction Law Practice Group, chair of the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative Steering Committee, and member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Sonja’s practice focuses on commercial transactions and the development and negotiation of a wide variety of commercial contracts, including master services agreements, supply chain and manufacturing agreements, professional services contracts, intellectual property development and licensing agreements, energy savings performance contracts, and facilities management outsourcing agreements.

Full Article in Properties Magazine

Allocating the Risks and Benefits of Green Construction

Sustainable (or “green”) construction practices and the trend toward green buildings are here to stay, driven not only by federal, state, and local legislation, tax credits, and incentives, but also by consumer, corporate, and shareholder demand.  If they haven’t already, owners, architects

Are you a contractor that would like to employ 16 or 17-year-olds (“minors”)? House Bill 33 (establishing the state budget for 2023-25) permits minors to work on construction sites in certain limited situations.

Note! There is nothing in the new law that requires contractors to hire minors – or to engage subcontractors who hire minors

When reviewing a contract, how often have you had the following thoughts: “That provision is so one-sided, there’s no way it will be enforced the way it’s written!” Or “I won’t worry about negotiating that provision; a court would never enforce it as written.”

A recent decision from Ohio’s Tenth District Court of Appeals illustrates

The COVID-19 coronavirus is impacting every aspect of the economy, and construction will not be exempt.  Materials and deliveries may be slowed, crews quarantined and unavailable, and projects delayed.  We view COVID-19 as an event beyond the control of a party (an “act of G-d”), falling within the force majeure provision of most contracts.  Some

On October 23, 2019, the Ohio House of Representatives introduced a bill (H.B. No. 380) that would amend Ohio’s Prompt Pay Act (ORC Section 4113.61) to provide general contractors with payment protection similar to that currently enjoyed by subcontractors under the Act.

Yesterday, the legislature approved an amendment to the Bill that clarifies that the

On October 23, 2019, the Ohio House of Representatives introduced a bill (H.B. No. 380) that would amend Ohio’s Prompt Pay Act (ORC Section 4113.61) to provide general contractors with payment protection similar to that currently enjoyed by subcontractors under the Act. Specifically, the proposal would require project owners to pay contractors within 35 days