Jon A. Turigliatto – Speaker - Orange County Bar Association Construction Law Section, September 6, 2017.  Mr. Turigliatto will be speaking on  “Recent Important Appellate and Supreme Court Decisions”.

Richard H. Glucksman – Webinar ALI CLE - Building Green & LEED Certified: Negotiation, Drafting and Execution Strategies

Tuesday, July 28, 2015 | 12:00 — 1:30 p.m. Eastern
Telephone Seminar | Audio Webcast

Learn More

2020 Super Lawyers - Arthur J. Chapman and Richard H. Glucksman have once again been selected Super Lawyers for 2020.

Ravi R. Mehta, David A. Napper and Ashley H. Verdon have once again been selected as 2020 Super Lawyers Southern California Rising Stars.

“Benefits and Challenges of Using Controlled Insurance Programs in Construction Projects.” (The Edge- AmWINS Group, January, 2020) by Richard H. Glucksman and Ravi R. Mehta- Link to Article

Speakers, West Coast Casualty Seminar – Mr. Kahn and Mr. Mehta will be speaking on Controlled Insurance Programs: Reflections of the Practitioner, Neutral, and Claims Professional.” May 14-15, 2020, Disneyland Resort, Anaheim.

Jon A. Turigliatto – Speaker, West Coast Casualty Seminar – May 14-15, 2020, Disneyland Resort, Anaheim.  Mr. Turigliatto will be speaking on Recent Important Appellate Decisions in California, Nevada and Arizona.

Randall Dean and Mark DiMaria recently obtained the dismissal of a multi-million dollar tax accounting malpractice case following a jury trial.  The action originally sought over $14 million in compensatory damages, as well as punitive damages, against the defendant tax accountant clients.  During trial, it was discovered that the Plaintiff and his counsel had willfully failed to disclose the existence of an another action pending in Federal Court seeking identical relief.  Significantly, the plaintiff’s attorneys had never disclosed the existence of the Federal case to counsel, to the Court, to the jury, or even to its own expert witnesses – even though the pleadings in that case would have been responsive to multiple rounds of our discovery requests.  The court declared a mistrial and later dismissed the action based on the misconduct.  This was significant, as the prior reported decisions, while authorizing a court to dismiss an action based upon persistent misconduct of the parties and their counsel, had involved either the violation of an express court order, or some extrinsic criminal conduct, while our case only involved misconduct that undermined the integrity of the judicial process.  This was a significant decision, and the court issued a well-crafted, ten-page opinion in granting the dismissal.

Greg Sabo received a great result in a Class Action matter. Read Article

Richard H. Glucksman - Speaker, 6^th Annual California Construction Law Conference -  March 12-13, 2020.  Mr. Glucksman will be speaking on Upcoming Trends – Advances with Modular Construction. Link to Brochure

Brian D. Kahn is Chairing and Ravi M. Mehta is speaking at the Construction Defect Seminar & Holiday Reception on December 5, 2019. Register: http://www.cvent.com/events/ascdc-2019-construction-defect-seminar-holiday-reception/event-summary-4a24973d33934cfeb668f35e8909d3ef.aspx

CGDR was recently highlighted CBIA Report Newsletter - https://members.cbia.org/list/member/chapman-glucksman-dean-820

Brian D. Kahn – Speaker - 2019 CLM Construction Conference – Mr. Kahn will be speaking on Unintended Consequences of Going Green at the 2019 CLM Construction Conference

Chapman, Glucksman, Dean & Roeb is proud to be a sponsor of the 2019 CLM Construction Conference. https://www.theclm.org/Event/ShowEventDescription/10113

THE CALIFORNIA COURT OF APPEAL HELD THAT A REQUIREMENT IN THE CC&RS FOR A MAJORITY VOTE OF THE HOMEOWNERS BEFORE INITIATING AN ACTION CANNOT BE CURED BY A VOTE AFTER THE ACTION IS COMMENCED - By Richard H. Glucksman, Esq. Brian Kahn, Esq.
Read Bulletin

“Around the State” (California): A Roundup of Construction Legislation That Will Impact the Industry Going Forward. (Construction Claims Magazine, CLM Spring 2019) by Richard H. Glucksman and Chelsea L. Zwart - Link to article: Construction Claims - Spring 2019

CGDR is proud to have its article “New California ‘Construction’ Legislation” published in this week’s Construction Defect Journal. For access to the publication, please go to: https://lnkd.in/gp6jykT

CGDR is very pleased and excited to announce that the Firm has been ranked in the practice areas in California for Litigation and Construction on the U.S. News Best Lawyers 2019 “Best Firms” List

IMPORTANT ALERT: NEW CALIFORNIA “CONSTRUCTION” LEGISLATION

Richard H. Glucksman, Esq.
Chelsea L. Zwart, Esq.

Governor Jerry Brown signed two potentially impactful Senate Bills relating to the construction of apartment buildings late last month.  These Bills, discussed further below, were introduced, in part, in response to the Berkeley balcony collapse in June 2015, which was determined by the California Contractors State License Board to be caused by the failure of severely rotted structural support joists the repair of which were deferred by the property manager, despite indications of water damage. 

SENATE BILL 721 ESTABLISHES HEIGHTENED “LOAD-BEARING” INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS                                                                              

On August 21, 2018, the California State Senate passed SB 721, one of two bills by Senator Jerry Hill introduced this year seeking to address the safety of multifamily rental residences. Now that the Governor has signed the Bill, a new section will be added to the California Health and Safety Code, requiring that every 6 years, destructive testing be performed on at least 15% of each type of load-bearing, wood framed exterior elevated element (such as balconies, walkways, and stair landings) in apartment buildings with 3 or more units.  Interestingly, prior to being passed by the State Senate, SB 721 was revised in June 2018, such that the inspection requirements do not apply to common interest developments (i.e., condominiums). 

As set forth in the new Health and Safety Code Section 17973:

“The purpose of the inspection is to determine that exterior elevated elements and their associated waterproofing elements are in a generally safe condition, adequate working order, and free from any hazardous condition caused by fungus, deterioration, decay, or improper alteration to the extent that the life, limb, health, property, safety, or welfare of the public or the occupants is not endangered.” 

The inspection must be paid for by the building owner and performed by a licensed contractor, architect, or civil or structural engineer, or a certified building inspector or building official from a recognized state, national, or international association.  Emergency repairs identified by the inspector must be made immediately.  For non-emergency repairs, a permit must be applied for within 120 days and the repair completed within 120 days of the permit’s issuance.  If repairs are not completed within 180 days, civil penalties of $100-$500 per day may be imposed.

The required inspection must be completed by January 1, 2025 and every 6 years thereafter, unless an equivalent inspection was performed during the 3 years prior to January 1, 2019, the effective date of the new law.  For a building converted to condominiums that will be sold after January 1, 2019, the inspection required by Health and Safety Code Section 17973, must be performed prior to the first close of escrow.  

SENATE BILL 1465 SETS CONTRACTOR REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

The Governor also signed SB 1465, adding Sections 7071.20, 7071.21, and 7071.22 to the California Business and Professions Code. The new law requires that a contractor licensed with the Contractors’ State License Board “report to the registrar in writing within 90 days after the licensee has knowledge of any civil action resulting in a final judgment, executed settlement agreement, or final arbitration award in which the licensee is named as a defendant or cross-defendant, filed on or after January 1, 2019,” that meets certain and specific criteria, including that it is over $1 million and arises out of an action for damages to a property or person allegedly caused by specified construction activities of the contractor on a multifamily rental residential structure.  

Where more than one contractor was named as a defendant or cross-defendant, each of the contractors apportioned more than $15,000 in liability must report the action.  Importantly, the new statute also imposes similar reporting requirements on insurers of contractors.  SB 1465 also addresses an impacted party’s failure to comply with the reporting requirements. 

COMMENT

Both SB 721 and SB 1465 are potentially significant and seek “legislative reform” to address construction issues by placing a greater burden on apartment owners as well as builders and subcontractors.  How pragmatic and what impact they will have on the industry is obviously developing. If you are interested in receiving further detail concerning the Bills, please contact us.  We are analyzing the new legislation and its intent and will be providing our ongoing comments. 

Randall Dean presented to the California CPA Education Foundation on August 20, 2018 on the subject of “Avoiding Tax Malpractice.”

Richard H. Glucksman has been named Best Lawyers in the 25^th Edition of the Best Lawyers in America.

Richard Glucksman will be moderating the panel on Green Buildings/LEED – Overview and Claims, Perrin Construction Claims & Trial Conference, June 21, 2018, Four Seasons, Las Vegas, NV.  | Click here for more info |

Richard H. Glucksman / Ravi Mehta - published in THE EDGE by AmWINS.  The New EPA Underground Storage Tank Regulations: A Compliance Primer - Read More

October 11-14, 2017 - Richard H. Glucksman and Brian D. Kahn - Speakers - Association of General Contractors of California's 2017 Annual Conference - Renaissance Indian Wells Resort & Spa in Indian Wells

http://conference.agc-ca.org/

Brian D. Kahn will be presenting at the 2016 CLM National Construction Claims Conference – September 28-30 at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego.

Dean Waterstone will be speaking on American legal education, both challenges and opportunities facing law schools.