Barbeau Michigan Construction Expert Witness Directory

Potential Gap in Workers Compensation Immunity Statutory Framework

June 02, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
Workers compensation insurance is important. As an owner, you want to ensure the contractors you hire have workers compensation insurance. Assuming you hire a contractor that is statutorily exempt from workers compensation, you want to make sure, no exception, that any subcontractor that is hired has workers compensation insurance. (Regardless, you always want subcontractors to have workers compensation insurance.). In construction, the prime contractor serves as the “statutory employer” for purposes of workers compensation insurance. With workers compensation comes workers compensation immunity. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

Perennial Question, Perennial Answer? EPA and Army Corps Propose Year-Round Standard for WOTUS that Could Reshape Clean Water Act Jurisdiction

October 12, 2026 — Ashleigh K. Myers & Jillian Marullo - Gravel2Gavel Construction & Real Estate Law Blog
Federal Clean Water Act jurisdiction may be about to get considerably narrower. On September 4, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) announced a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking that would limit federal authority over streams and wetlands to those containing water year-round—a “perennial” standard that would go beyond even what the Supreme Court required in Sackett v. EPA, 598 U.S. 651 (2023). The supplemental notice offers two options for revising the definition of “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) under the Clean Water Act (CWA): One would define “relatively permanent” waters as perennial, and the other would require perennial surface water to establish a wetland’s continuous surface connection to a jurisdictional water. If adopted, either option would substantially reduce the number of streams, wetlands and other water features subject to federal permitting, with the sharpest effects in arid and semi-arid regions where rainfall patterns leave many waterways dry for portions of the year. Reprinted courtesy of Ashleigh K. Myers, Pillsbury and Jillian Marullo, Pillsbury Ms. Myers may be contacted at ashleigh.myers@pillsburylaw.com Ms. Marullo may be contacted at jillian.marullo@pillsburylaw.com Read the full story...

Breaking Ground On New California Public Works Prevailing Wage Requirements

April 27, 2026 — Heather Frisch, Christopher Bouquet & Ashley Stein - The Construction Seyt
Seyfarth Synopsis: As of January 1, 2026, AB 889 bulldozed California’s Prevailing Wage law, which impacts public works employers—including public agencies, the contractors that work for them, and private owners and developers whose projects may be subject to public works requirements. The amended law reframes the calculation of fringe benefits for individuals who work on public works project and mandates annualization of such benefits, demolishes the practice of frontloading these benefits, and requires employers to maintain inspection-ready records of compliance. This year, AB 889 significantly revised California’s prevailing wage law, codified at Labor Code section 1773.1, to clarify the state’s prevailing wage regulations and streamline enforcement. Accordingly, as of January 1, 2026, California public works employers are required to annualize employees’ fringe benefits and maintain specific documentation demonstrating statutory compliance. These new obligations impact public agencies and their contractors, as well as private owners and developers whose projects may be subject to public works requirements. Continue reading for the blueprint of how to comply with the state’s amended prevailing wage law. Reprinted courtesy of Heather Frisch, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, Christopher Bouquet, Seyfarth Shaw LLP and Ashley Stein, Seyfarth Shaw LLP Ms. Frisch may be contacted at hfrisch@seyfarth.com Mr. Bouquet may be contacted at cbouquet@seyfarth.com Ms. Stein may be contacted at astein@seyfarth.com Read the full story...

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

Construction Companies Are Nearly Seven Times Safer With These Best Practices

June 15, 2026 — ABC - Construction Executive
WASHINGTON, May 4—Associated Builders and Contractors released its 2026 Health and Safety Performance Report, an annual guide to health and safety best practices on construction jobsites. The 2026 report shows the positive effects of participating in ABC’s STEP® Health and Safety Management System, which enables top-performing ABC members to achieve incident rates 686% safer than the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics construction industry average, reducing total recordable incident rates by 85%. Established in 1989, STEP is a proven system that provides contractors and suppliers with a robust, no-cost framework for measuring health and safety data and benchmarking with peers in the industry. This self-assessment tool helps participants identify real opportunities for scalable growth in their health and safety programs to lower their total recordable incident rates and become an employer of choice in a competitive labor market. Reprinted courtesy of ABC, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved. Read the full story...

Endra Rethinks MEP Design with AI

July 06, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Niklas Lindgren, co-founder and CEO of Endra, joins the AEC Business Podcast to discuss why his Stockholm-based startup is rebuilding MEP design from the ground up with AI. Endra recently raised $50 million in Series A funding and counts some of the world’s largest engineering consultancies as customers. Niklas explains why Revit’s underlying data model is too coarse to support deep automation, and why Endra built its own granular 3D data model instead of working as a plugin. He describes Endra’s “spatial AI” approach to routing conduit and ductwork without clashes, and how the platform models entire electrical systems, from receptacle to transformer, inside a single source of truth. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Aarni Heiskanen, AEC Business
Mr. Heiskanen may be contacted at aec-business@aepartners.fi

Dispute Erupts Into Public Over Castro Theater Rehab Project Costs

September 08, 2026 — Richard Korman - Engineering News-Record
As it was about to start an arbitration of final payments on a complex theater renovation, the entertainment company that leases San Francisco's landmark Castro Theatre has filed a state court trademark violation lawsuit seeking to bar the contractor from publicizing as a success its work for the owner on that and other projects. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Richard Korman, Engineering News-Record
Mr. Korman may be contacted at kormanr@enr.com

Tony Sonnett Secures Highly Favorable Verdict for Client in Admitted Liability Case in Which Plaintiff Sought $34.5M

September 29, 2026 — Lewis Brisbois
Los Angeles Partner Tony Sonnett recently obtained a highly favorable verdict for his property owner client in an admitted liability case in which the plaintiff had asked for $34.5 million, with a jury awarding just $75,000. The plaintiff, who was a tenant at one of the client’s rental properties, was injured in October 2020 as he was attempting to close the heavy metal blinds that were affixed to the 12-foot floor-to-ceiling windows of the property. The blinds and their heavy metal covering detached from the wall and fell on the plaintiff’s head, causing him to suffer a scalp laceration that required stitches. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

BARBEAU MICHIGAN CONSTRUCTION EXPERT WITNESS DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES