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ESTABLISHING THE “DATE OF LOSS” AS A PREREQUISITE TO THE AWARD OF PREJUDGMENT INTEREST
By: Alex Beck, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC Prejudgment interest is a type of damage which is suffered due to the loss of use of money which should have been paid at a particular time. Under Florida law, the prevailing party, in contract cases and certain tort cases, is entitled to prejudgment interest on […]
COURT IMPOSES SANCTIONS AGAINST PARTY FOR “NEVER-SAY-DIE” ATTITUDE CHALLENGING ARBITRATION AWARD
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC The Federal Arbitration Act provides that an arbitration award may be vacated where: (i) the award was procured by corruption, fraud, or undue means; (ii) there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators; (iii) the arbitrators were guilty of misbehavior which prejudiced the rights […]
SURETIES’ RIGHTS UNDER GENERAL INDEMNITY AGREEMENTS
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq. and Alexander S. Beck, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC Prior to issuing payment or performance bonds, it is common for sureties to require contractors or subcontractors seeking bonding to execute a general indemnity agreement (“indemnity agreement”). In addition to the contractor entity executing the indemnity agreement, sureties generally require […]
COURT RULES THAT A SURETY’S LIABILITY UNDER A PERFORMANCE BOND IS CAPPED BY THE BOND’S PENAL SUM
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC In Allegheny Casualty Co. v. Archer-Western/Demaria Joint Venture III, 2014 WL 4162787, the court ruled that a surety’s liability under a performance bond is generally limited to the penal sum of the bond, particularly where a surety limits its liability in the contract under which […]
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC The general purpose of the Florida Civil Rights Act of 1992 (FRCA) and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) is to secure for all individuals within the state freedom from discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, […]
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC A contractor is not permitted to borrow money from a bank, give the bank a mortgage, contract for the improvement of the property, purchase the mortgage back from the bank, and then foreclose the mortgage for the purpose of extinguishing construction liens that increased the […]
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC In R.L. Haines Const., LLC v. Santamaria, 2014 WL 4648522, the estate of a construction foreman filed a lawsuit for wrongful death due to a fatal accident on a construction site. Foreman worked for a Subcontractor on a 200,000 square foot expansion project of an […]
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC As previously reported, the case of Allegheny Cas. Co. v. Archer-Western/Demaria Joint Venture III, 2014 WL 4162787 (M.D. Fla. August 21, 2014), involved a dispute between a General Contractor (“Contractor”) and a performance bond Surety (“Surety”) on a construction project. In addition to the court’s […]
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC Any contractor or subcontractor who engages in public or private construction in the state of Florida is required to secure and maintain workers’ compensation for its employees. The liability imposed on employers by Florida’s Workers’ Compensation Law is to only secure workers’ compensation insurance coverage. […]
DOES YOUR CONTRACT CONTAIN A VALID AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE?
By: Richard E. Guttentag, Esq., Stearns, Roberts & Guttentag, LLC In determining a party’s entitlement to arbitration, courts consider three elements: (1) whether a valid written agreement to arbitrate exists; (2) whether an arbitrable issue exists; and (3) whether the right to arbitration was waived. The first element of whether a valid written agreement to […]