RQ Law Blog

Blogs serving the legal industry, design professionals, and insurers have been a-buzz since July 3, 2014 with news from the California Supreme Court.  A number of headlines sensationalize the holding in Beacon Residential Community Assn. v. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill - but what impact does it truly have on the construction industry and architect liability in particular? In Beacon , a homeowners association on behalf of its members sued a...

A proposed change to Rule 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure makes clear that electronically stored information must be preserved “in the anticipation or conduct of litigation” or a party will face sanctions.  What circumstances indicate that litigation should be anticipated, triggering the duty to preserve electronically stored information?  Courts have often discussed the obligation to preserve evidence that may be relevant to pending or imminent litigation in...

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a significant decision in a case interpreting a design professional errors and omission policy. In Dormitory Authority v Continental Casualty, a building owner sued for damages for two design defects in the structure of the building. The owner sought a declaration that the design flaws were two separate defects because, if so, two separate policies would have to respond to the claims.  The...

Monday the Colorado Supreme Court rejected a proposed initiative intended for the November 2014 ballot that would amend the state constitution to allow voter recall of judges. In a split decision, they held that it violated the single subject rule. The two other proposed ballot initiatives aimed at courts and judges are still alive. Sponsored by ‘Clean Up the Courts,’ one initiative (the Two-Thirds Majority Initiative) would require judges standing...

On April 30, Senate Bill 220 was introduced into the Senate. The bill seeks modest reforms to Colorado statutes, particularly as they apply to claims by homeowner associations bringing claims for construction defects. There are three basic provisions to the bill. First, it makes it more difficult for an HOA to remove a clause in its declarations which requires arbitration. Arbitration is generally perceived by developers as a better forum...