View Recent Blog Posts in Construction

  • Statutory Employer: A Louisiana Law Primer By Matthew C. Meiners Under Louisiana law, workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy that an employee may assert against his employer or fellow employees for work-related injury, unless he was the victim of an intentional act. That exclusive remedy also extends to statutory employers. Workers’ compensation legislation was enacted to provide social insurance to compensate... Continue Reading... ....
  • Enforcing Arbitration Awards in Louisiana By Mallory McKnight Fuller When two parties agree to arbitrate, the obvious hope of the prevailing party is that the losing party will voluntarily comply with the arbitrator’s decision. This article is directed towards the situation in which the losing party refuses to so comply, and the prevailing party must petition the appropriate court system... Continue Reading... ....
  • Problems in Enforcing Arbitration Clauses By Beau Bourgeois Arbitration clauses are extremely common in construction contracts and subcontracts. In the event of a dispute, these clauses typically reflect the parties’ mutual agreement that any disputes arising from the project shall be arbitrated. Arbitration is similar to traditional litigation in many respects, but takes place out of court and is designed... Continue Reading... ....
  • The Pros, Cons and Quirks of Arbitration By Josh Coleman Conventional wisdom holds that arbitration is a more preferable mechanism for dispute resolution than full-blown litigation in the court system. Knowing nothing else about the particulars of a particular dispute, if arbitration is available as an alternative to state or federal litigation, we generally advise our clients to arbitrate. However, that does... Continue Reading... ....
  • If You Build It, They May Hack: Data Privacy & Cybersecurity FAQs for the Construction Industry By Jessica Engler Continuing the trend from 2015, 2016 has seen a significant number of large, public data breaches. Many of these breaches involved high-profile companies such as the Democratic National Convention, Internal Revenue Service, MySpace, Yahoo!, and Anthem. Since large corporate and government breaches typically get the most attention, many smaller, local businesses can... Continue Reading... ....
  • Enforcing Arbitration Awards in Louisiana By G. Trippe Hawthorne and Mallory McKnight Fuller Click here to review a Practice Note explaining how to enforce arbitral awards in the state and federal courts in Louisiana.  This Note explains the procedure for confirming an arbitration award in Louisiana, and the grounds on which a party may challenge enforcement under Louisiana and federal law,... Continue Reading... ....
  • Louisiana Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act Training Required for Mold Remediation Licensing By Trippe Hawthorne One of the activities regulated and licensed by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors is Mold Remediation.  Any person engaging in or holding herself/himself out as engaging in mold remediation must have a mold remediation license issued by the Louisiana State Licensing Board for Contractors.  Persons violating that prohibition are subject... Continue Reading... ....
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana Suspends Legal Delays Due to Flooding By Brittany Buckley Salup Chief Judge Brian Jackson issued an “Omnibus Order Suspending All Deadlines” for cases pending or to be filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana.  The Order explains that the court has been inaccessible—a key term in the Federal Rules of Civil and Appellate Procedure—since August 12,... Continue Reading... ....
  • The Flood of 2016: Governor Edwards Amends Executive Order Suspending Running of Prescription, Peremption, and Legal Delays By Claire Juneau On August 17, 2016, Governor Edwards amended Executive Order JBE 2016-57 which had suspended the running of prescription, peremption, and all legal delays from August 12, 2016 until September 9, 2016. The amendment to Executive Order JBE 2016-57 modifies the suspension of deadlines as follows: Liberative prescription and peremptive periods continue to... Continue Reading... ....
  • Partial Certificates of Substantial Completion – a “Trap for the Unwary” By David K. Nelson Louisiana law is clear – all claims against a contractor or design professional arising out of the planning, construction, design or building immovable or movable property must be brought within 5 years of the date of registry in the mortgage office of acceptance of the work by the owner.  If no such... Continue Reading... ....