Minnesota Permits Service of a Lien By an Officer of a Lienor’s Company

The Minnesota Supreme Court recently ruled that an officer of a party may personally serve a mechanics’ lien statement. In Eclipse Architectural Group v. Lam, 814 N.W.2d 692 (Minn. 2012), the officer of a Minnesota mechanics’ lien claimant personally served a mechanics’ lien statement on the owner of the property. The property owner claimed that […]

Massachusetts Does Not Permit Waiver of Statutory Payment Protection

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has held that a subcontractor’s rights to pursue a payment bond required by law on a public project can’t be nullified by contract. The payment bond law does not expressly prohibit waiver by contract, and the court had to decide whether public policy concerns preclude enforcement of a contractual waiver. […]

Have an Arbitration Provision in Your Ohio Contract: Don’t Expect to End Up In Court

When parties to a contract agree to resolve their disputes through arbitration, Ohio courts will generally force the parties to arbitrate. Ohio’s arbitration statute, R.C. 2711.01, offers little discretion to courts when determining the enforceability of an arbitration clause. This statute states that “a provision in any written contract…to settle by arbitration a controversy that […]

BIM: A Collaberative Approach to Construction

We came across a great article on BIM construction building, which is below.  Take a look here for the original article. At the end of a construction project, owners are accustomed to receiving a final set of drawings and specifications from the architect or contractor along with volumes of operation manuals and warranty documents. But […]

California High Speed Rail Begins Construction

It has taken two decades, but with the California Senate’s vote approving a high speed rail system, California’s bullet trains are a go. In a vote of 21-16, the California State Senate approved Senate Bill 1029 to fund the HSR, and the bill was signed earlier this month by California Governor Jerry Brown. The financing […]