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DIRECTORY AND CAPABILITIES

Louisiana Enacts Important Tort Reform Legislation

May 12, 2026 — Lee M. Peacocke & Benjamin Perkins - Lewis Brisbois
The Louisiana legislature enacted tort reform legislation in 2025 to address the increasing cost of insurance in Louisiana and to provide some predictability to the Louisiana legal system. While our colleagues, Jenny Michel and Jennifer Kretschmann, have provided an excellent and comprehensive analysis of the legislation in their article entitled “Louisiana State Legislature 2025 Regular Session: Tort Reform - Acts & Vetoed Insurance Bill,” which can be found here, this article examines the anticipated impact of the tort reform legislation on personal injury trials in federal and state courts in Louisiana. The most significant reform involves the institution of a modified defense of contributory negligence, which went into effect on January 1, 2026. Since 1996, Louisiana had operated as a pure comparative fault state; the liability of each party whose fault caused damages was to be allocated among the respective parties based upon their appropriate percentage of fault, regardless of the legal theory of liability asserted against each party. Thus, a plaintiff 55 percent at fault could recover 45 percent of their damages from the liable defendants. The 2025 Tort Reform Amendments now prohibit a plaintiff in a personal injury action from recovering any damages if they are found to be 51 percent or more at fault for their damages. The 55 percent at-fault party in the example above is now prohibited from recovering any damages from any party. Importantly, this new legislation now requires the trial court to instruct the jury that if they find a plaintiff to be more than 50 percent at fault, then the plaintiff will not recover any damages. Reprinted courtesy of Lee M. Peacocke, Lewis Brisbois and Benjamin Perkins, Lewis Brisbois Mr. Peacocke may be contacted at Lee.Peacocke@lewisbrisbois.com Mr. Perkins may be contacted at Benjamin.Perkins@lewisbrisbois.com Read the full story...

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Doctrine of Substantial Performance When It Comes to Payment

July 27, 2026 — David Adelstein - Florida Construction Legal Updates
A recent non-construction case touches upon the doctrine of substantial performance when it comes to payment. In this case, a club was to make two payments to secure a rapper’s attendance. The first payment was made. The second payment was made but was a few hundred dollars short of the agreed amount. The rapper did not show up. The club claimed it substantially performed its obligations. At first glance, the argument makes sense because the second payment fell only a few hundred dollars short. But that wasn’t the case when it comes to pre-commencement payment obligations:

Substantial performance applies only when the variance from the contract terms “is inadvertent or unintentional and unimportant so that the work actually performed is substantially what was called for in the contract.” However, when one party agrees to pay the other on or before a specific date, time is of the essence, and the payor is required to pay the payee on or before that date. “There is almost always no such thing as ‘substantial performance’ of payment between commercial parties when the duty is simply the general one to pay. Payment is either made in the amount and on the date due, or it is not.”

Big Gate Records, LLC v. Washington, 51 Fla.L.Weekly D1281a (Fla. 2nd DCA 2026) (internal citations omitted).

Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of David Adelstein, Kirwin Norris
Mr. Adelstein may be contacted at dma@kirwinnorris.com

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AI & Digital Tools on Construction Projects: Contract Risks to Address Before Peak Season

April 08, 2026 — Meghan Douris - The Construction Seyt
Artificial intelligence and advanced digital tools are no longer experimental on construction projects. In Q1 of 2026, we can already see how they are already influencing schedules, estimates, submittals, safety reporting, and day‑to‑day project documentation. As peak construction season approaches, many teams are accelerating adoption of AI to gain efficiency. What often lags behind, however, is the contract framework governing how those tools are used—and how their outputs are treated when something goes wrong. On sophisticated construction projects, that gap can quickly become a dispute driver. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Meghan Douris, Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Ms. Douris may be contacted at mdouris@seyfarth.com

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We’re Burning Tokens to Clean Up Bad PDFs

August 24, 2026 — Aarni Heiskanen - AEC Business
Last Thursday, researchers from Tampere and Aalto universities reported on preliminary results of two AI- and digitalization-related projects. One project demonstrated how AI can automate the Bill of Materials process; the other tried to quantify the impact of data-driven construction and AI. The conclusion was that AI-powered automation can dramatically increase productivity, but unevenly. However, the substantial benefits may come from better outcomes rather than project efficiency. Various standards, company-specific practices, project-specific schemas, and traditions are designed for humans to comprehend. 2D drawings and text documents as PDF files, Excel sheets, and design and planning software have the information, but not the data in ideal form for automation. 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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GRSM Marks Seventh Anniversary as First and Only Full-Service Law Firm in All 50 States, Climbs to #70 on Am Law 100

April 20, 2026 — Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani proudly celebrates the seventh anniversary of its becoming the first and only full-service law firm with offices and attorneys in all 50 states. Since launching its innovative 50-state platform in April 2019, GRSM has experienced extraordinary growth across markets, practices, and client relationships. In the past seven years, GRSM has expanded its footprint with 20 new offices in both major and secondary markets and doubled its attorney headcount, growing from 940 to more than 2000 lawyers. This growth has propelled GRSM from the 40th to the 11th largest law firm in the United States, according to Law360, while also driving a significant rise on the Am Law 100 rankings, from #103 in 2019 to #70 in 2026. GRSM has served nearly half of the Fortune 500, a testament to its deep bench of lawyers and national capabilities. Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani

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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

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Kamran Salour Named to Los Angeles Times' 2026 Legal Visionaries List

June 02, 2026 — Lewis Brisbois
Orange County Partner and Data Privacy & Cybersecurity Practice Co-Chair Kamran Salour was named to the Los Angeles Times' 2026 Legal Visionaries list, which honors the most innovative attorneys in Southern California. In announcing this year's Legal Visionaries, the Times said that Mr. Salour and his co-honorees "distinguish themselves not only through skilleand results but through an unwavering commitment to their clients, their craft and the communities they serve." "Their paths – shaped by rigorous education, defining cases and purposeful leadership – offer a deeper perspective on what sets true standouts apart," the Times' announcement stated. "Together, these visionaries exemplify a forward-thinking approach to the law, elevating both their profession and the people who depend on it." Read the full story...
Reprinted courtesy of Lewis Brisbois

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Michael C. Zisa and Phillip Boldt Co-Author D.C. Chapter of “50-State Guide to Electronic Execution of the General Agreement of Indemnity”

October 06, 2026 — Michael C. Zisa & Phillip Boldt - Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
Michael C. Zisa, Co-Managing Partner of P&A’s Washington, D.C. office, Chair of the Surety and Construction Related Insurance Defense practice, and Co-Chair of the Crisis Management team, and Phillip Boldt, an Associate in P&A’s Washington, D.C. office, have co-authored the District of Columbia chapter of the American Bar Association (ABA) Fidelity and Surety Law Committee and The Surety & Fidelity Association of America’s (SFAA), “50-State Guide to Electronic Execution of the General Agreement of Indemnity.” Reprinted courtesy of Michael C. Zisa, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. and Phillip Boldt, Peckar & Abramson, P.C. Mr. Zisa may be contacted at mzisa@pecklaw.com Mr. Boldt may be contacted at pboldt@pecklaw.com Read the full story...

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