Anaheim California Roofing Expert Witness Directory

Report: 2023 NYC Crane Fire and Collapse Caused by Failed Hydraulic Hose

December 30, 2025 — Justin Rice - Engineering News-Record
A disconnected hydraulic hose likely sprayed flammable oil onto a hot surface, igniting a blaze that compromised the luffing system of a tower crane on a busy New York City street, sending its boom crashing 500 ft to the ground, according to a long-awaited investigation into a 2023 crane fire and partial collapse on the west side of Manhattan. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Justin Rice, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Rice may be contacted at ricej@enr.com

Benchmark Litigation Recognizes Multiple Snell & Wilmer Offices and Attorneys in 2026 Rankings

December 02, 2025 — Snell & Wilmer
PHOENIX - Snell & Wilmer is pleased to announce that Benchmark Litigation, a publication that focuses exclusively on dispute resolution and litigation, has once again recognized multiple Snell & Wilmer offices, as well as eleven of the firm’s attorneys, in its annual U.S. edition rankings issue. Benchmark Litigation is the only publication on the market to focus exclusively on litigation work. Benchmark compiles its results from a culmination of a six-month research period where researchers conduct extensive interviews with litigators and their clients to identify the leading litigators and firms. During these interviews, researchers examine recent casework handled by law firms and ask individual litigators to offer their professional opinions on peers. Firms cannot pay to be recommended for the guide. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

Ninth Circuit Clarifies Viability of Takings Claims Under Arizona’s Unclaimed Property Act

November 09, 2025 — Ed J. Hermes, Jeremy J. Stewart, Benjamin J. Mills & Emily Statham - Snell & Wilmer
In a decision cementing a split with the Tenth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit recently held that property owners’ unclaimed property is not taken in violation of the Fifth Amendment where it is held in trust by the State. See Garza v. Woods, No. 24-1064, 2025 WL 2435221 (9th Cir. Aug. 25, 2025). The district court dismissed plaintiffs’ claims because sovereign immunity barred suit against the Arizona Department of Revenue (“Department”). See Garza v. Woods, No. CV-22-01310-PHX-JJT, 2023 WL 5608414 (D. Ariz. Aug. 30, 2023). The Ninth Circuit reversed this portion of the district court decision and allowed plaintiffs’ takings and due process claims because they plausibly alleged that the Department unconstitutionally seized their property under Arizona’s Unclaimed Property Law (“UPA”). Arizona’s Unclaimed Property Law Arizona’s UPA presumes that certain types of property have been abandoned if unclaimed within a statutory period. See Ariz. Rev. Stat. 44-302(A). Holders of presumably abandoned property must send a written notice to the apparent owner, provide a report to the Department, and ultimately deliver the unclaimed property to the Department. Id. 44-302(E), 44-308(A). Though the Department need not provide actual notice to apparent owners that it is in possession of their property, the UPA requires the Department to operate a website that lists the unclaimed property in its possession. See id. 44-309 (A), 44-309(B). The UPA further requires the Department to deposit all unclaimed money in the state’s general fund. Id. 44-313(A). Reprinted courtesy of Ed J. Hermes, Snell & Wilmer, Jeremy J. Stewart, Snell & Wilmer, Benjamin J. Mills, Snell & Wilmer and Emily Statham, Snell & Wilmer Mr. Hermes may be contacted at ehermes@swlaw.com Mr. Stewart may be contacted at jjstewart@swlaw.com Mr. Mills may be contacted at bemills@swlaw.com Ms. Statham may be contacted at estatham@swlaw.com Read the full story...

Shiloh and Vallejo: The DOI Tale of Two Properties

October 20, 2025 — Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier & Caitlin Vanderkarr - Snell & Wilmer
California courts have certainly been busy as of late. In particular, challenges abound as to the Department of the Interior (the DOI) and its decisions to take certain parcels of land into trust for the purpose of rendering such parcels eligible for gaming activities by certain California tribes. The DOI Shiloh Parcel Dispute The Shiloh parcel, a tract of land the DOI previously approved as land taken into trust for gaming purposes under the restored lands exception of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) on behalf of the Koi Nation of Northern California (The Koi), has been the subject of considerable controversy. Reprinted courtesy of Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier, Snell & Wilmer and Caitlin Vanderkarr, Snell & Wilmer Ms. Staudenmaier may be contacted at hstaudenmaier@swlaw.com Ms. Vanderkarr may be contacted at cvanderkarr@swlaw.com Read the full story...

Federal Court Upholds Uninsured Contractor Endorsement; Finds Duty to Defend Anyway

November 04, 2025 — Craig Rokuson - Traub Lieberman
In the recent case of LM Ins. Corp. v. James River Ins. Co., 2025 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 189320 (S.D.N.Y. Sep. 25, 2025), the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York had occasion to interpret an Uninsured Contractor Endorsement in the context of an additional insured tender. After a construction accident, the owner and general contractor tendered to a subcontractor, DATO, who had hired plaintiff's employer, Star. Investigations later revealed that DATO did not have a written contract with Star for the work at issue. DATO's insurer, Arch, denied any obligation to provide coverage to all parties seeking coverage, including additional insureds, based on DATO's failure to comply with the "New York Limitation Endorsement," which requires that "you," defined to be Arch's named insured, obtain certain pass through protections from subcontractors for New York projects, including a written contract. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Craig Rokuson, Traub Lieberman
Mr. Rokuson may be contacted at crokuson@tlsslaw.com

Scope of Products Requiring Proposition 65 Warnings in California Poised to Grow

February 23, 2026 — Brian M. Ledger & Chassen B. Palmer - Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
The scope of products to be drawn into the warning requirements under California’s Proposition 65 law may soon be growing. California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) requested information from the public on the reproductive toxicity of p,p’-bisphenol chemicals. OEHHA is the lead agency for the implementation of Proposition 65, formerly known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxicity Enforcement Act of 1986. OEHHA’s request for information is a step toward regulators classifying all p,p’-bisphenol chemicals as reproductive toxicants under Proposition 65. California’s Proposition 65 Under Proposition 65, businesses are required to post clear and reasonable warnings before individuals are exposed to chemicals listed by the state of California as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants. To date, California has listed approximately 900 chemicals that fall under Proposition 65 regulation. Businesses may be held liable for up to $2,500 per violation per day. Proposition 65 can be enforced by public prosecutors (e.g., the California attorney general or district attorneys) or by private enforcers (known as “bounty hunters”). Reprinted courtesy of Brian M. Ledger, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani and Chassen B. Palmer, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani Mr. Ledger may be contacted at bledger@grsm.com Mr. Palmer may be contacted at cbpalmer@grsm.com Read the full story...

Court Conditionally Grants Mandamus Relief to Compel Appraisal

February 02, 2026 — Tred R. Eyerly - Insurance Law Hawaii
The court conditionally granted the insurer’s writ of mandamus to compel an appraisal after the trial court denied the insurer’s motion to compel appraisal. In re Am. Zurich Ins. Co., 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 8932 (Tex. Ct. App. Nov. 20, 2025). The insureds, Jay Steinfeld and Barbara Winthrop (Steinfeld) ,hired Southhampton Group to build their home. Construction began in 2021. Southhampton Group obtained a builder’s risk policy from Zurich which named Steinfeld as an additional insured. Shortly before completion of the home, Sheet Metal Crafts, a subcontractor working on the home’s roof, caused a fire that substantially damaged the home. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Tred R. Eyerly, Damon Key Leong Kupchak Hastert
Mr. Eyerly may be contacted at te@hawaiilawyer.com

Spain’s Sagrada Familia: Contemporary Construction Methods Speed Iconic Basilica to Completion

March 24, 2026 — Pam McFarland - Engineering News-Record
In 2014, the entity behind construction of one of the world’s most iconic churches—the wildly imaginative Sagrada Familia basilica in Barcelona, Spain—contacted global consultant Arup with a challenge: Could the firm help the project team update designs developed more than a century earlier, to ensure that a critical project component was built to be structurally sound? Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Pam McFarland, Engineering News-Record
Ms. McFarland may be contacted at mcfarlandp@enr.com

ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA ROOFING EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES