Recently, a California federal district court, in Taylor v. Shippers Transport Express, Inc., found that a class of current and former truck drivers had been misclassified as independent contractors and not employees by Shippers Transport Express, Inc. (STE). In granting the drivers’ motion for partial summary judgment, the court found…
The Indianapolis Department of Code Enforcement (DCE), which is responsible for licensing persons and business organizations engaged in construction activity in the Consolidated City of Indianapolis, Marion County, is offering a new electronic submittal option for contractors’ license renewal applications. Indianapolis DCE’s contractor license renewal process is as follows: Email…
On October 6, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued its ruling in the case of Adinolfe, et. at. v. United Technologies Corporation. The Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the lower court to dismiss, with prejudice, two toxic tort cases, involving hundreds of homeowners,…
Illinois Governor Pat Quinn recently signed into law Senate Bill 3023 (Public Act 98-764, amending the Illinois Mechanics Lien Act, 770 ILCS 60/ et seq., to provide protection against subordination of mechanics liens on Illinois construction projects. S.B. 3023 makes an express or implied agreement to subordinate a mechanic’s lien,…
Clients call from time to time with questions about liens that have been filed on their property, or about liens that they want to file. The questions follow a pattern. What is the deadline to file a lien? What about foreclosing? Can a lower tier subcontractor file a lien? Does…
Effective August 19, 2014, New Jersey Senate Bill 2363 went into effect, requiring contractors required to register under the Contractors’ Registration Act, N.J.S.A. §§ 56:8-136, et seq. — home improvement contractors — to wear a state-issued identification badge “on the upper left corner of his torso when the contractor is…
On September 30, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejected a challenge to the decision of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to withdraw a proposed listing of the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, a species found in many oil and gas producing areas, as an endangered…
On September 26, 2014, a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reversed the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, holding that Columbia Gas Transmission Company, an interstate natural gas company regulated by FERC, has the right of eminent domain granted by…
UPDATE: Applications for the Position of the Registrar of Contractors must be received by 5:00 p.m. PST on November 17, 2014 and must include all required information. The California Contractors State License Board invites applications for the position of Registrar of Contractors. The Registrar of Contractors is responsible for, among…
United States Supreme Court decisions provide guideposts for the exercise of environmental permitting and enforcement power by state and federal authorities. Whether a particular facility can be permitted often determines whether it can be built or modified after it has been constructed. In addition, a decision such as the Court’s…