Dallas Austin

Developers, owners, designers, contractors, and every other member of the construction industry spend enormous amounts of time negotiating risk transfer mechanisms.  Endless hours and pixels are dedicated to lengthy indemnity, additional insured, and waiver of subrogation provisions.  And while those clauses are an important part of most every contract in the industry, they only go so far.  An equally important and often overlooked risk transfer mechanism is a properly drafted scope of work.  This includes not just what’s in, but also what’s out. A.    You’re either in… Scopes of

Payment – often one of the most negotiated provisions in prime contracts and subcontracts and therefore a common claim in litigation. Getting paid and paid timely is of critical significance to contractors. If a project owner does not pay its general contractor timely, it will have massive consequences to project morale and may end up creating payment claims that might substantially delay the project. If the parties cannot reach resolution and depending on the payment provisions of the prime contract or subcontract – including any withholding or offset provisions, contractors can seek reco

The Texas Legislature convened on January 12, 2021 and will run through May 31, 2021. Below are three of the proposed legislative bills which will be of interest to contractors: Senate Bill 219 – relating to civil liability and responsibility for the consequences of defects in the plans, specification or related documents for the construction or repair of an improvement to real property. Texas is one of only two states where a contractor may bear the liability for defects in construction that are based on construction documents prepared or procured by the owner or the owner’s agent or desi

The recent case of Angela Harvey v. Olshan Foundation can be summed up as follows: 1) document everything, 2) keep that documentation, and 3) always provide those documents to your attorney. This was made abundantly clear when the Harvey Court reversed a dismissal of Plaintiff’s claims against Olshan. Angela Harvey bought a pre-owned home in 2013 with a disclosure from the prior owners that the foundation had been previously repaired. The disclosure, however, did not provide any information about who did the repairs (presumably Olshan), when the repairs were done, or the scope of the repairs

The new year is a time to reflect on the year that was and look to what is ahead. What did we do well? What are some areas for improvement? Part of this reflection should include assessing your company’s risk management approach. As part of this risk management assessment, it is a great opportunity to specifically review your legal claim processes and whether there is room for improvement. When you have an impending legal claim, having those processes and procedures in place can increase efficient processing of that claim, reduce stress to you so you can focus on your business, and reduce le