Course of Construction Exclusions and the CGL Policy
July 20, 2026 —
Anna M. Perry, Rachel S. Kindseth & Nina Catanzaro - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.I. Course of Construction Exclusions
Course of Construction (“COC”) exclusions are found on General Liability and excess liability policies, typically a wrap-up or project specific policy, and generally exclude “all property damage occurring during the course of construction.” Insurers claim COC exclusions are not problematic because they are intended to prevent an overlap in coverage between the general liability policy and first-party property Builder’s Risk policy. However, because General Liability policies and Builder’s Risk policies provide coverage for different risks, COC exclusions can create a gap in coverage for owners and contractors. Therefore, any exclusion on a wrap-up or project specific policy that limits coverage for property damage liability should be scrutinized, and amendments sought when warranted and commercially achievable, for owners, developers and contractors because General Liability policies do not cover the same risk as that of a Builder’s Risk policy.
General liability policies provide defense and indemnity to the insured(s) for claims made by a third-party against the insured. Broad COC exclusions serve to preclude coverage for all property damage, not just property damage to the insured project. This includes property damage to property other than the insured project, e.g. an adjacent property. On the other hand, Builder’s Risk policies provide first-party property coverage for direct physical loss to the project during the course of construction. The Builder’s Risk policy will not provide coverage for property other than the project itself (e.g., adjacent property) and it will not provide a defense or indemnity in the event the owner of the damaged property brings a claim against a potentially at-fault party.
Reprinted courtesy of
Anna M. Perry, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.,
Rachel S. Kindseth, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and
Nina Catanzaro, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Ms. Perry may be contacted at APerry@sdvlaw.com
Ms. Kindseth may be contacted at rkindseth@sdvlaw.com
Ms. Catanzaro may be contacted at NCatanzaro@sdvlaw.com
Read the full story...
Shane Singh Named One of Los Angeles Business Journal's 'Top 100 Lawyers of Los Angeles' for 2026
April 27, 2026 —
Lewis BrisboisSacramento Partner Shane Singh has been named one of the Los Angeles Business Journal's "Top 100 Lawyers of Los Angeles" for 2026.
The LABJ’s annual list honors Los Angeles' top lawyers for their achievements within the city's business community.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Lewis Brisbois
Leaders in Dispute Resolution Need to Make Unbiased Decisions for Mediation to Succeed
March 31, 2026 —
Rick G. Erickson - Snell & WilmerAs a mediator helping to settle construction disputes and as an arbitrator deciding outcomes of these disputes, I found certain lessons to be especially helpful after graduating last summer from the Executive Education program at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). The exceptional HKS curriculum included courses focused on negotiation strategies for multiparty disputes, decisive leadership during crisis, and human behavior affecting dispute resolution.
In particular, our HKS class debated the impact of cognitive bias in dispute resolution, and we studied a central theme that decision-making is universally scientific. That is, parties making decisions in dispute resolution exhibit and rely upon empirical factors that good mediators and decision makers should appreciate and understand. Bias, for example, can cause key players to discount persuasive witnesses, admissible evidence, and reliable expert opinions that influence the outcome of a construction dispute. Biased decision makers may also choose to withhold key information from the mediator, as though doing so will help rather than hurt what is supposed to be an objective and diplomatic process.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Rick G. Erickson, Snell & WilmerMr. Erickson may be contacted at
rerickson@swlaw.com
How AI Turns Construction Documents Into Procurement Intelligence
May 05, 2026 —
Aarni Heiskanen - AEC BusinessMEP equipment accounts for up to 40% of costs on data center or hospital projects, has lead times ranging from 20 weeks to over a year, and has historically been the most underserved area in construction software. In
this episode, I speak with Victor Muchiri from BuildVision about what it actually takes to make AI useful in construction procurement, not as a pilot, but in production.
We dig into why you cannot simply upload a set of construction drawings to ChatGPT and trust the output. Construction documents are complex, cross-referenced, and consequential. Without deep domain context, such as manufacturer ontologies, equipment taxonomies, and engineering expertise, AI produces plausible results, not reliable ones. BuildVision’s approach is to act as a harness around AI models, wrapping them in construction-specific knowledge so the output can be trusted for real procurement decisions.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Aarni Heiskanen, AEC BusinessMr. Heiskanen may be contacted at
aec-business@aepartners.fi
Quick Note: Don’t Spoil Evidence!!!!
March 10, 2026 —
David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal UpdatesThe phrase “spoliation of evidence” is a phrase that gets used, sometimes properly and sometimes improperly. The reason is that if evidence is legitimately spoiled, the opposing party wants an adverse inference jury instruction. There are two potential adverse inference jury instructions dealing with spoliation of evidence, neither of which are good, and one of which you definitely don’t want. A recent case discusses these jury instructions (check
here) in a slip and fall personal injury case. The bottom line is that you need to preserve evidence relevant to a claim. Don’t lose it. Don’t intentionally destroy it. Don’t pretend it does not exist. Don’t do all the things that hinder the preservation and ultimate production of the relevant evidence. An adverse inference jury instruction (or an adverse inference implication in a non-jury trial) could be much, much worse. The facts are what the facts are. The best thing you can do is confront the facts. Confront the bad facts just like the good facts. The nature of any dispute is that there will be both good and bad facts. Bad facts can hopefully be explained recognizing there will be bad facts on the other side too. Sometimes, the bad facts warrant major strategic considerations and shifting the focus of how a dispute will be handled and presented. Whatever you do, don’t put yourself in a position where you are spoiling evidence. Once you get an adverse inference instruction, that’s it, as it’s very tough to overcome.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
David Adelstein, Kirwin NorrisMr. Adelstein may be contacted at
dma@kirwinnorris.com
IRMI Expert Commentary: NY Highest Court Confronts Downstream Risk Transfer for Subcontractor Bodily Injury Claims
March 17, 2026 —
Gregory D. Podolak & Alexander G. Hopkins - Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.Originally published on IRMI.com, copyright 2026 International Risk Management Institute, Inc.
Subcontractor employee bodily injury claims (so-called action over claims) are a staple of construction risk management in the Empire State—so much so that the phrase “labor law” instinctively invites a shudder among the most experienced general contractors. The savvy among them intensely monitor case law developments and the evolution of the insurance market to ensure a cutting-edge, meticulously developed downstream risk transfer plan. And when guidance arrives from an appellate-level court, it’s a moment to take note.
This is one of those moments.
In late 2025, New York’s highest court—the NY Court of Appeals—had the rare opportunity to examine an all-too-routine bodily injury fact pattern and took the opportunity to closely examine the scope of contractual indemnity and its interplay with additional insured coverage in Dibrino v. Rockefeller Center N., Inc., 2025 N.Y. Slip Op. 07077, 2025 WL 3670593 (Ct. App. Dec. 18, 2025).
Reprinted courtesy of
Gregory D. Podolak, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. and
Alexander G. Hopkins, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Mr. Podolak may be contacted at GPodolak@sdvlaw.com
Mr. Hopkins may be contacted at AHopkins@sdvlaw.com
Read the full story...
Midwest Team Secures Resolution of Matter for Homeowners’ Association Client, Recovery of Attorneys’ Fees
February 10, 2026 —
Lewis Brisbois NewsroomKansas City/Wichita Partner Alan L. Rupe and Kansas City Associate Delaney McCoy recently achieved a victory on behalf of their client, a homeowners’ association that was sued after denying a solar panel application. The plaintiff homeowners challenged the association’s decision in court, and after extensive—and costly—litigation, the court ultimately determined that the dispute was not yet ripe for judicial review.
With that threshold issue resolved, the parties were able to work collaboratively to address the solar panel matter itself. But one significant question remained: whether the association was entitled to recover its legal fees under the declaration, despite the American Rule, which generally requires each party to bear its own costs. The client felt understandably taken advantage of because this issue could—and should—have been resolved without litigation. Considerable time and resources were diverted from the community for the advantage of a single household, so the Lewis Brisbois team continued to advocate for the association’s contractual right to recover fees. After oral argument, the Court agreed, enforcing the fee‑shifting provisions in the governing documents and ruling in favor of the homeowners’ association.
Read the full story...Reprinted courtesy of
Lewis Brisbois
Bad Faith Claim Survives Summary Judgment
June 08, 2026 —
Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law HawaiiThe court denied the insurer’s motion for partial s
Homeowner Sues Brick Manufacturer for Spalling BricksFundamental Fairness Trumps Contract LanguageISO’s Flood Exclusion Amendments and Hurricane Ian ClaimsPriority of Liability Insurance Coverage and Horizontal and Vertical ExhaustionOSHA Fines Alabama Contractor After Site Manager ElectrocutedCongratulations to BWB&O’s Orange County Team for Securing a Strong MSJ Result in a Residential Gas Explosion Matter!#5 CDJ Topic: David Belasco v. Gary Loren Wells et al. (2015) B254525School Dis
Hurricane Ian: Discussing Wind-Water Disputes
Harmon Tower Demolition on Hold Due to Insurer
Avoid Five Common Fraudulent Schemes Used in Construction
Court Rules on a Long List of Motions in Illinois National Insurance Co v Nordic PCL
Georgia Court Clarifies Landlord Liability for Construction Defects
Pinterest Nixes Big San Francisco Lease Deal in Covid Scaleback
Misread of Other Insurance Clause Becomes Costly for Insurer
Viewpoint: A New Approach to Job Site Safety Reaps Benefits
Ten Years After Colorado’s Adverse Possession Amendment: a brief look backwards and forwards
Promptly Notifying Your Insurer of a Claim Matters
Court Finds That SIR Requirements are Not Incorporated into High Level Excess Policies and That Excess Insurers’ Payment of Defense Costs is Not Conditioned on Actual Liability
Haight’s 2020 San Diego Super Lawyers and Rising Stars
Know and Meet Your Notice Requirements or Lose Your Payment Bond Claims
Despite Health Concerns, Judge Reaffirms Sentence for Disbarred Las Vegas Attorney
Partner Jonathan R. Harwood Obtained Summary Judgment in a Coverage Action Arising out of a Claim for Personal Injury
Resurgent Housing Seen Cushioning U.S. From World Woes: Economy
Trump Administration Directs Agencies to Use PLAs for Large Projects, With Exceptions
Congress Passes, President Signs Sweeping Energy Measure In Spend Bill
Suit Limitation Provisions in New York
Amazon Urged to Review Emergency Plans in Wake of Deadly Tornado
Making the World’s Longest Undersea Railway Tunnel Possible with BIM
Texas EIFS Case May Have Future Implications for Construction Defects
Blog: Congress Strikes a Blow to President Obama’s “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces” Executive Order 13673
Landlords, Brace Yourselves: New Law Now Limits Your Rental Increases & Terminations
Important Environmental Insurance Ruling Issued In Protracted Insurance-Coverage Dispute
Supreme Court Holds Arbitrator can Fully Decide Threshold Arbitrability Issue
Wilke Fleury Attorneys Awarded Sacramento Business Journal’s Best of the Bar
Partners Nicole Whyte and Karen Baytosh are Selected for Inclusion in Best Lawyers 2021 and Nicole Nuzzo is Selected for Inclusion in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
New York’s Lawsky Proposes Changes to Reduce Home Foreclosures
Terminator’s Trench Rehab Drives L.A. Land Prices Crazy
Bid Bonds: The First Preventative Measure for Your Project
Federal Court Requires Auto Liability Carrier to Cover Suit Involving Independent Contractor Despite “Employee Exclusion”
A Survey of Trends and Perspectives in Construction Defect Decisions
NYC’s Developers Plow Ahead With Ambitious Plans to Reshape City
California Court Forces Insurer to Play Ball in COVID-19 Insurance Coverage Suit
Owner Bankruptcy: What’s a Contractor to Do?
Common Law Indemnification - A Primer
Hawaii Supreme Court Finds Subcontractor Has No Duty to Defend Under Indemnity Provision
Texas LGI Homes Goes After First-Time Homeowners
Barratt Said to Suspend Staff as Contract Probe Continues
COVID-19 Response: Executive Order 13999: Enhancement of COVID-19-Related Workplace Safety Requirements
Hunton Andrews Kurth Promotes Insurance Recovery Lawyer Andrea (Andi) DeField to Partner
Insurer Must Defend General Contractor
Construction Defects in Roof May Close School
Toolbox Talk Series Recap – Arbitration Motion Practice
California Team Secures Appellate Victory on Behalf of Celebrity Comedian Kathy Griffin in Dispute with Bel Air Neighbor
Water Damage: Construction’s Often Unnoticed Threat
Settling with Some, But Not All, of the Defendants in a Construction Defect Case
Hunton Partner Michael Levine Appointed to Law360’s 2024 Insurance Authority Property Editorial Advisory Board
Las Vegas Partner Jeffrey Saab and Team Leader D. Ryan Efros Secure a $0.00 Settlement on a Multimillion-Dollar Construction Defect Case!
