On 6/16/16, Tina Paries will present “Drafting and Negotiating Construction Contracts” to the National Business Institute. Topics will include:  an overview of construction contract law, key provisions to prevent disputes and provide remedies, inherent risks and more. Click Here for more info and to register.

By: Jim Zahn, Of Counsel Any Agreement between an architect and owner should specifically define their basic services, duties and obligations to each other. If additional services are required, they may be performed if the owner agreed in advance and charged extra fees. The following issues should be included in all […]

By: Maital Savin, Associate Last month, Uber settled two class action lawsuits with its drivers in California and Massachusetts for $100 million, allowing Uber to continue treating those drivers as independent contractors. Of course, the settlement left the million-dollar-question (or more accurately, the billion-dollar-question) of whether its drivers are employees or […]

By: Maital Savin, Associate On 5/26/16, in Lewis v. Epic Systems Corp., 15-cv-02997, the Seventh Circuit held that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are unenforceable, creating a circuit split. In Lewis v. Epic, the arbitration agreement at issue provided that employees waived “the right to participate in or receive […]

The Illinois Mechanics’ Lien Act and supporting case law require that every lien claim be verified under oath and also contain statements with respect to the owner of the property, a description of the property, a brief statement of the parties’ contract, the amount due, and the date on which […]

On 6/14/16, Geoff Bryce will present “Understanding Title Insurance” at the National Business Institute. Topics will include:  title components, public land records, ALTA policy structuring and more. Click Here for more info and to register.  

By: Storrs Downey, Capital Member Keeping employment issues out of courts and administrative agencies is certainly something employers should strive for. The following are effective ways to reduce litigation and minimize exposure once a suit or claim has been filed. 1/Early Intervention Once you learn of an employee complaint of […]

By: Robert Bramlette, Income Member WHY? WHEN? In March, 2014, President Obama sent a memo to the Secretary of Labor requesting that the overtime regulations for white collar employees be updated “… because they have not kept up with our modern economy.” In June, 2015, the Department of Labor issued […]

By: Geoff Bryce, Capital Member and Frank Rowland, Associate A new OSHA amendment becomes effective in August, 2016. Accident data previously held by the employer will now have to be transmitted to OSHA. More importantly, accident data and the submitting employers’ information will be made publicly available on the OSHA website. OSHA’s own […]

By: Werner Sabo, Of Counsel Many standard construction industry contracts contain a “waiver of subrogation” provision. This means if an insurance carrier pays out on a construction related loss, they take over the insured’s right to sue (“subrogation”) and sue the party believed to be responsible for the loss. Associations […]