Mar 30, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
Typically, Virginia courts will simply review and apply the terms of contracts. This is great if you have a good contract, horrible if the contract tilts towards your opponent. In contrast to the general rule, Virginia courts are quite hostile to non-compete...
Mar 25, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
As reported yesterday by Virginia Lawyer’s Weekly, a Virginia federal judge has ruled that a builder who remediated 70 homes constructed with Chinese drywall was not entitled to insurance recovery of the remediation costs. This case is a painful reminder of how...
Mar 24, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
Back in November 2009, I highlighted five cases in which the Virginia Supreme Court granted appeals in Case Watch: Upcoming Virginia Supreme Court Opinions. The Virginia Supreme Court has recently published the opinion in the first of those cases, W&W Partnership...
Mar 22, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
In 2008, the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) announced it was planning to shift its internally run certification of buildings to independent certifiers administered by a sister non-profit, the Greeen Building Certification Institute (GBCI). A speaker at...
Mar 18, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
The Virginia General Assembly passed a statute, HB 797, that expressly permits architects and engineers to enter into contractual limitation of liability clauses. The ACEC, VSPE, and VSAIA actively pushed to change the statute in the wake of several cases which ruled...
Mar 15, 2010 | Real Estate, Land Use & Construction Law
In the last several months, both Haiti and Chile have been rocked by significant earthquakes. The difference between the tremendous devastation and loss of life in Haiti and the far lower impact in Chile, despite a much more serious earthquake, is at least in part the...