The American Arbitration Association (AAA-ICDR®) is launching a first-of-its-kind AI arbitrator this November 2025, designed to handle smaller “documents-only” construction disputes. This change will take small disputes, typically handled on a fixed fee by a single arbitrator, and offer instead AI serving as a finder of fact and law. For an industry where time is
Effective October 27, 2025, Cleveland employers must comply with Ordinance No. 104-2025, which imposes strict requirements on salary transparency and bars inquiries into applicants’ compensation history. For easy reference, collected below are the key provisions of the ordinance and actionable steps for compliance.
The ordinance applies to any employer with 15 or
Would it surprise you to learn that one of the most important sections in your construction contract is the one your lawyer will probably spend the least amount of time on? In your lawyer’s defense, lawyers aren’t always privy to the nitty gritty details of a project’s scope of work – details which are often
In the July 2025 issue of the Illinois Local Government Lawyers Association Journal, Hahn Loeser attorneys Matthew K. Grashoff, Matthew F. Wagner and J. Patrick White were heavily referenced in the Director’s Column by ILGL President Patricia Johnson Lord, who also serves as Senior Assistant Attorney for the City of Naperville.
At the April
On June 9, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California issued a preliminary injunction in San Francisco A.I.D.S. Foundation, et. al. v. Trump, 25-cv-01824-JST (N.D. Cal.), enjoining three of the nine provisions of Executive Orders 14151, 14173, and 14168. Specifically, the Court enjoined the named defendants from enforcing (1) the
In a recent Ohio Ninth District Court of Appeals decision, homeowners who experienced significant property damage from both a fallen tree and inadequate contractor work were left without the protection of Ohio’s Consumer Sales Practices Act (CSPA). In Orion Management, Inc. v. Kaeka
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) launched the Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (the “Initiative”), which was announced on May 19, 2025 via Memorandum from Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanche, and a related press release (the “Memorandum”). The Initiative is a coordinated enforcement effort by various DOJ components and other federal agencies to investigate and prosecute
On April 23, 2025, the United States Department of Justice announced that it is rescinding the January 31, 2022 Notice of Report on Lawful Uses of Race or Sex in Federal Contracting Programs (the “2022 Report”). The April 23 announcement (the “Announcement”) does not clarify what practices or activities constitute inappropriate DEI programs. Rather, the
On April 2, we reported that Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois had issued a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Labor from enforcing certain provisions of Executive Orders 14173 and 14151, both of which limit or prohibit federal grants or programs relating to “illegal,” “unlawful,”
he year 2025 is shaping up to be quite the challenging year for the construction industry. From the President’s executive order nos. 14151 and 14174 (signed January 20 and 21, 2025, respectively) seeking to end DEI-related programs in federal contracts (including construction), to the tariffs that have been instituted on construction materials such as steel