HAW RIVER NORTH CAROLINA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS
DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Integration Can Inoculate in Utah

July 20, 2026 — Mark O. Morris - Snell & Wilmer
The Utah Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed, in the construction context, Utah’s strict approach to enforcing integration clauses to preclude parol evidence and other legal theories that would vary the written terms of a contract. In Reid v. All Surface LC, 2025 UT App 134, decided last September, the court affirmed in all respects the trial court’s grant of summary judgment based on the strength of an integration clause against a homeowner who sued a contractor for breach of contract, breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, civil conspiracy, negligence, and breach of the implied warranty of habitability. More recently, however, the same court rejected those same arguments in Tidwell v. Jensen, 2026 UT App 13 as to tort claims arising from a used car sale. The facts in Reid were sympathetic to the plaintiff. After being told she had a mold issue near a defective basement shower, the plaintiff solicited bids. A remediation contractor advised that while it could address the mold, the shower replacement should be handled by someone else. The plaintiff contacted All Surface LC, a shower replacement contractor. During an interview, the sales representative stated that All Surface could “do full mold remediation, tear everything out, and reframe the shower.” The plaintiff ultimately retained All Surface, expecting it would both resolve the mold issues and replace the shower. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Mark O. Morris, Snell & Wilmer
Mr. Morris may be contacted at mmorris@swlaw.com

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Predict Risk, Not Incidents: A New Analytics Framework for Your Construction Safety Data

August 03, 2026 — Tabrez Zahoor - Construction Executive
Behind every “zero-incidents” company report, hidden hazards may already be accumulating—risks that could become serious injuries tomorrow. The question every executive should be asking is not, “Did anything go wrong last month?” It is: “Where is risk building on my projects right now?” Most construction organizations cannot answer that question. Not because the data does not exist—it does. Every active project generates daily inspection findings, labor records, near-miss reports and audit results. The problem is that standard safety systems collect this data and then report it in ways that make it operationally useless for prevention. They describe the past. They predict nothing. The predictive safety analytics framework (PSAF) is a practical, deployable system developed from years of applying data science to large-scale construction portfolio operations that takes the safety data construction organizations already collect and transforms it into a forward-looking risk signal. The result? A single weekly score that tells executives where risk is concentrating across their portfolio before anyone gets hurt. Reprinted courtesy of Tabrez Zahoor, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

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Leading Boutiques Combine to Form SDV Fenchurch, A Global Law Firm for Insurance Policyholders

September 15, 2026 — SDV Fenchurch
TRUMBULL, Conn., and LONDON, Sept. 1, 2026 — Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C. (SDV), Fenchurch Law, Wesolowski Abogados, and CLIR & Fenchurch and their partner members in Asia, Europe and North America combined today to launch SDV Fenchurch, a global law firm built exclusively to represent policyholders and the brokers who advise them. Structured as a Swiss verein, SDV Fenchurch unites dedicated insurance-recovery practices across eight jurisdictions in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Turkey, and Singapore. With over 90 lawyers devoted to insurance coverage matters, the firm is among the largest policyholder-side practices in the world and, by number of jurisdictions with full-time policyholder counsel capabilities, the most geographically extensive. The founders are brought together by a single shared mission: to act solely for policyholders, never the insurers, in insurance disputes. This is in stark contrast to most international firms with insurance practices, which mostly represent insurers only. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of SDV Fenchurch

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Emerging Issues in Construction CGL Insurance Part 2: The Separation of Insureds and Additional Insured Interests

September 29, 2026 — Eric M. Clarkson - SDV Fenchurch
Many coverage disputes hinge on first principles—the fundamentals of insurance —rather than the minutiae. Unfortunately, the basic anatomy of insurance policies can get lost sometimes when parties are laser-focused on a particular term or set of circumstances. This is true not just in disputes, but also when writing coverage. One of the fundamentals that is commonly misunderstood and overlooked—but which is absolutely critical to the intended operation of insurance coverage—is what is commonly known as the “separation of insureds.” The “separation of insureds” is the concept that each “insured” under a policy are referred to and treated differently, and most of all that the distinctions matter. The concept is usually included as a condition in the policy. It embodies the requirement that the policy applies to each insured distinctly from how it applies to other insureds. The ISO Form CGL policies specifically state that they apply “[s]eparately to each insured against whom a claim is made or ‘suit’ is brought.” The separate and distinct treatment of insureds is more critical in construction operations than anywhere else. This distinction is essential to ensure coverage works as intended, especially when contracted operations are involved, because the policy must insure the subcontractor that purchased the policy, the general contractor who hired the subcontractor, and the owner that hired the general contractor. Even small modifications can easily frustrate the intent of the parties. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Eric M. Clarkson, SDV Fenchurch
Mr. Clarkson may be contacted at eric.clarkson@sdvfenchurch.us

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D.C. Circuit Upholds EPA’s CERCLA Hazardous-Substance Designations for PFAS as State-Law Settlements Highlight Expanding Liability Landscape

September 15, 2026 — Ashleigh K. Myers, Amanda G. Halter, Jillian Marullo & Anthony B. Cavender - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
On August 18, 2026, a unanimous panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the 2024 designation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or Superfund). (See Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, et al. v. EPA, No. 24-1193 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 18, 2026).) The decision leaves EPA’s PFOA and PFOS hazardous substance designations in place and provides guidance on the scope of EPA’s authority to make future hazardous substances designations under CERCLA Section 102(a). The decision also likely resolves a challenge to the rule that has spanned two presidential administrations. After taking office, the Trump administration had obtained an abeyance of the litigation challenging the Biden-era rule while EPA reconsidered its position. In September 2025, EPA informed the court that it had decided to retain the designations, while signaling that it would work with Congress and industry to address CERCLA liability concerns for “passive receivers.” The litigation then resumed, with the current Administration defending the rule. Reprinted courtesy of Ashleigh K. Myers, Pillsbury, Amanda G. Halter, Pillsbury, Jillian Marullo, Pillsbury and Anthony B. Cavender, Pillsbury Ms. Myers may be contacted at ashleigh.myers@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Halter may be contacted at amanda.halter@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Marullo may be contacted at jillian.marullo@pillsburylaw.com Mr. Cavender may be contacted at anthony.cavender@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

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Seattle Team Obtains Summary Judgment in Real Estate Broker Professional Liability Action

July 20, 2026 — Lewis Brisbois
Seattle Partner Kathleen A. Nelson and Associate Synova M. L. Edwards prevailed on a hotly contested motion for summary judgment in Whatcom County, Washington court in a real estate broker professional liability action. The plaintiff filed an action against Lewis Brisbois' clients, a real estate agent and brokerage firm, among several others, including the title company, purchasers and others related to the sale of real property following his complicated and long running divorce action. These claims primarily arose out of the clients’ reliance on an order signed by the court in the underlying divorce action. The order allowed the clients to execute the purchase and sale agreement, as the plaintiff was non-cooperative. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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AI in AEC 2026: Doing AI Right and Rethinking Your Business Model

April 08, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
The sixth AI at the AEC 2026 conference showcased the evolution of AI discussions. There were, naturally, many talks about software and technologies. But more than before, there were conversations about realizing AI’s business value. Two themes appeared in nearly every session I attended. First, many companies struggle with AI adoption, not because they lack tools, but because their thinking isn’t right. Second, when AI works, it disrupts the business model that brought them there. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

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$27B Meta Data Center Pushes Louisiana Toward Massive Power Expansion

April 27, 2026 — Vince Kong - Engineering News-Record
Meta Platforms has reached an agreement with Entergy Louisiana to fund new energy infrastructure to support its planned $27-billion data center in Richland Parish, a project the company says could ultimately scale to 5 GW, becoming its largest facility to date. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described the site as large enough to cover a significant portion of Manhattan. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Vince Kong, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Kong may be contacted at kongv@enr.com

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