Originally posted 2017-12-25 10:00:02. Punitive damages are hard to come by in construction law cases. This is because almost all construction contract cases are exactly that: contract cases. Between the economic loss rule and the Virginia Courts’ almost (though not completely) impregnable wall between tort and contract, punitive damages may seem completely out of the
If there is one mantra that is repeated often here at Construction Law Musings, it is that your construction contract will be strictly construed and Virginia Courts will enforce the provisions as written. This rule includes forum selection clauses. For those that aren’t attorneys, this means that absent a statute to the contrary, the parties
Originally posted 2016-03-02 15:25:38. We’ve all been there. Your client either has a well drafted standard subcontract (with any luck in consultation with an experienced construction attorney) that it presents to its subcontractors and suppliers or your client is presented with a construction contract that has some provisions that it would prefer were either different
I am a huge fan of clearly written construction contracts. Virginia state and federal courts will interpret contract provisions as written and will seek to enforce all of those terms where possible. Where the contract is ambiguous, we construction attorneys make money and the courts are forced to make decisions that the parties may not
Originally posted 2014-01-20 09:00:06. Well, now that my suggestion of a new year’s resolution and quick review of a recent (and funny) book are done, we’re back to the more mundane, yet no less relevant, discussion of recent construction opinions here in Virginia. In the last quarter of 2013, the Virginia Circuit Courts in Norfolk