My father used to make me wash the family cars every weekend . . . rain or shine. The nice thing about washing a car in the rain is that you don't need to dry it. Once, while sudsing up one of the family cars in the rain I spotted a couple of Jehovah Witnesses making house calls along our street. As they approached our house, they looked at me, said something to one another, and decided membership probably wasn't right for our family. If my dad saw that he probably would have

Happy New Year! Hope the holidays were enjoyable for you.  During the first session of the California Legislature’s 2025-2026 legislative session, 2,350 bills were introduced, of which 917 bills made it to the Governor’s desk, and of which 794 bills were signed into law. For the design and construction industry the most important bills are a new claims resolution procedure for private works projects, a 5% retention cap on certain private works projects, and a number of change

Contractors working on public works projects are likely familiar with the statutory claims resolution process under Public Contract Code section 9204. Section 9204, which went into effect in 2017 , and which has been amended a couple of times since, provides a claims resolution process for public works projects with the goal of resolving claims before litigation. Section 9204, which currently expires on January 1, 2027 (it has been extended once so far), provides for a three-

It’s not uncommon in construction claims for there to be Insurance and bond issues, whether it’s tendering a claim to your insurer, or claims against a license, payment, or performance bond. Insurance Code section 790.03 sets forth sixteen (16) unfair claims settlement practices by insurers and sureties including: (1) Misrepresenting to claimants pertinent facts or insurance policy provisions relating to any coverages at issue. (2) Failing to acknowledge and act reasonably pr

Nomos LLP partner Garret Murai has been recognized in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Construction Law.

“The declining significance of privity has found its way to construction law.” So begins the 4th District Court of Appeal’s decision in...

I usually wait until the end of the year to write about new construction laws. But a friend (thanks Marty!) recently reached out about a...

I've lost my share of cases over the years. Winning of course, feels great, and losing doesn't. But losing teaches lessons that winning...

Nomos LLP Partner Garret Murai has been recognized as a 2025 Northern California Super Lawyer honoree in the area of Construction...

Living in California, illegal immigration has been a topic of debate for as long as I can remember. But I can't think of a time when it...

Eating an entire bag of “family” sized potato chips in one sitting. Guilty. Binge watching the entire new season of Black Mirror over a...

Arbitration provisions are increasingly common in construction contracts. Indeed, the boilerplate AIA contract documents include a...

I think it's safe to say that we're well past any lingering economic impacts of COVID-19 although it has undoubtedly left an indelible...

The 2025 Southern California wildfires – the Palisades Fire (January 7, 2025), Eaton Fire (January 7, 2025), Hughes Fire (January 22,...

It’s that time of year again. The second half of the 2023-2024 legislative session saw the introduction of 2,124 bills, of which, 1418...

For both private works projects and state and local public works projects in California, higher-tiered contractors can find themselves...

In CBRE v. Superior Court , 102 Cal.App .5th 639 (2024), the 4th District Court of Appeal grappled with a thorny and not-so-thorny issue...

Attorneys will commonly add a Code of Civil Procedure section 664.6 provision in their settlement agreements to ensure that courts have...

For a number of years we have had the honor to serve as update authors for several publications of California’s Continuing Education of...

As most public works contractors know, Labor Code section 1777.5 requires the hiring of apprentices on public works projects and, under...