Ehrhardt South Carolina Construction Expert Witness Directory

Properly Taking Judicial Notice of Florida’s Building Code

October 12, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Many construction defects cases involve Florida’s Building Code. A recent non-construction case, BSREP II PBG Resort, LLC v Ginsburg, 2026 WL 265226 (Fla. 4th DCA 2026), discussed a court taking judicial notice of a provision in the Florida Building Code. This case was a premise liability case where the plaintiff tripped in an asphalt parking lot. The plaintiff, without complying with proper procedural notice protocol, asked the court to take judicial notice of a section of Florida’s Building Code, i.e., admitting this section as relevant evidence in the case. The trial court granted the request for judicial notice and the plaintiff used this as the basis of her cross-examination, the jury instructions, and closing argument that the violation of this section of Florida’s Building Code was evidence of negligence. This was in error. First, Florida’s Building Code is NOT a statute but an administrative rule. Ginsburg, supra. As an administrative rule, a court “may” but is not obligated to take judicial notice of the rule – it is a permissive judicial notice request per Florida Statute s. 90.203 and 90.202(9). This is important because the trial court viewed Florida’s Building Code as a statute it mandatorily had to take judicial notice of per Florida Statute s. 90.201, which was in error. Because it was permissive, the plaintiff needed to comply with statutory procedural notice protocols, which the plaintiff failed to do. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Four HHMR Attorneys Recognized in the 2027 Editions of Best Lawyers®

September 21, 2026 — Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC - Colorado Construction Litigation Blog
Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC is proud to announce that Best Lawyers® has recognized four HHMR attorneys in the 2027 editions of The Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America for their work in construction law and construction litigation. David M. McLain, Lisa Bondy Dunn, and Steven L. Heisdorffer earned recognition in the 2027 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®. Ricky L. Nolen, Jr. earned recognition in the 2027 edition of Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch® in America. For a firm that has deliberately focused its practice on construction law and construction litigation for nearly 25 years, we take particular pride in seeing that focus reflected in the recognition of lawyers across different generations of HHMR. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Higgins, Hopkins, McLain & Roswell, LLC

Limitations of Liability Provisions in Construction Contracts: A Means to Manage Risk and Limit Financial Exposure

June 23, 2026 — Ellen Chapelle, Richard Reizen, Hannah Batsche - Construction Executive
Taking a cue from architects and engineers, construction contractors have started inserting limitation of liability clauses in their construction contracts to manage risk and limit financial exposure. This article will address the specific risks that can be limited through an LOL, tips for negotiating the LOL terms with reluctant owners to cover those specific risks, how to limit unintended consequences of an LOL (such as relieving an insurer of its obligations to cover certain losses), and approaches to setting the amount of the liability cap in the LOL. Addressing Particular Risks An LOL can address a wide range of risks, including:

Damages for delay
Liability for non-conforming or defective work
Liability for third-party bodily injury or property damage
Liability excluded by a general liability policy (e.g., pollution and cyber liability)
Liability related to intellectual property

World's Longest Immersed Tunnel Passes Milestone, But Faces Delays

August 03, 2026 — James Leggate - Engineering News-Record
Work on the $8-billion Fehmarnbelt Tunnel, which is planned to link Germany and Denmark as the world’s longest immersed tunnel, is progressing as crews achieved a milestone last month with the successful immersion of its first precast concrete element. But Danish state-owned project owner Femern A/S says the plan is now running at least two years behind schedule and the tunnel’s road and rail portions will open in two separate stages. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of James Leggate, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Leggate may be contacted at leggatej@enr.com

Credibility Matters…Even in Delay Claims

September 29, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Credibility matters. Here’s another example involving a delay claim on public private partnership delivery method. The project agreement required claims to be tried by a hearing examiner. The public private partnership developer (for lack of a better term) submitted delay claims that it contended were caused by Miami-Dade County. The hearing examiner awarded the developer delay time and compensation. On appeal, the County argued that the delays awarded by the hearing examiner were concurrent critical path delays with other delays caused by the developer’s team (the developer’s contractor). This was demonstrated by the fact that in an attempt to mitigate the County delay, the contractor’s incorporated a schedule fragnet into its schedule to mitigate delay that showed the critical path was driven by events deemed caused by the contractor. This was also reported in the contractor’s monthly updates. The developer argued that its mitigation plan did not work and, thus, the schedules showed a hypothetical delay caused by the contractor when, in actuality, it was the County-caused delay that drove the critical path. The hearing officer agreed with the contractor. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Structural Concerns Force Emergency Closure of Maryland Office Building

August 16, 2026 — Jim Parsons - Engineering News-Record
A 10-story Baltimore-area office building was evacuated after an underground parking structure was compromised during construction work. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Jim Parsons, Engineering News-Record
ENR may be contacted at enr@enr.com

Snell & Wilmer’s San Diego Office Ranked #1 “Best Place to Work” by the San Diego Business Journal

September 01, 2026 — Snell & Wilmer
SAN DIEGO – Snell & Wilmer is proud to announce that its San Diego office has been named the #1 Best Place to Work in the Large Business category by the San Diego Business Journal as part of its 2026 Best Places to Work awards. The annual recognition honors outstanding employers across the San Diego region that are setting the standard for workplace culture and employee engagement. Rankings are based on confidential employee surveys conducted by Workforce Research Group, which evaluate organizations on leadership, corporate culture, communication, employee engagement, and other key workplace factors. “Being recognized as the #1 Best Place to Work in the Large Business category is an incredible honor because it reflects the experiences and feedback of our own team,” said Bardia Moayedi, managing partner of Snell & Wilmer’s San Diego office. “Our people are the foundation of everything we do, and this recognition speaks to the collaborative, inclusive, and supportive culture they have helped create. I am grateful to every member of our San Diego office for making this an exceptional place to build a career, serve our clients, and give back to our community.” Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Snell & Wilmer

Congratulations to Gianna Liddy on Her Promotion to Partner

September 21, 2026 — Dolores Montoya - Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP is proud to announce that Gianna Liddy has been promoted to partner. Gianna’s dedication, leadership, and exceptional contributions to the firm have earned her this well-deserved recognition. Please join us in congratulating her on this exciting achievement! Meet Gianna Liddy! Gianna has been with BWB&O since 2019 and has been practicing law since 2017. Her practice focuses on complex civil defense litigation, including high-exposure personal injury, premises liability, transportation, construction defect, habitability, and general liability matters. As a Supervising Attorney in the firm’s Encinitas office, she oversees a team of attorneys, collaborates closely with clients and insurance professionals, and develops litigation strategy in complex matters. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara, LLP

EHRHARDT SOUTH CAROLINA CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES