This week’s LinkedIn discussion that sparked our interest was in the Construction Defect Advisor Group. The group was started by Jim Mitchell of http://constructiondefectsonline.com/. This week’s discussion was started by Bob Mooring of amherstinc.com.
The Best Way To Insure a Great Construction Defect Settlement is the Ability To Fix The Defects While Building Your Case
A few comments included:
Kenneth G. Reid: Two things to consider when offering settlement dollars.
1 Has the defect caused any actual damage
2 Will the plaintiff actually fix the defect when the dollars are paid out.
Craig Schlumbohm: It is not always necessary that the plaintiff do the repairs. However often times in construction defect litigation there is a diminution of value to consider, as well as long term maintenance. Just because a property owner doesn’t immediately repair a defect doesn’t mean that there aren’t financial impacts to be considered. Also consider that plaintiffs aren’t always awarded enough money to execute a full and proper repair.
Brenda Sauro: Having settled hundreds of CD cases, there is no one size fits all answer. Every case must be evaluated on its own merits. Oftentimes a better settlement results from negotiating based on forensic evidence especially when most owners cannot afford to repair without an appropriate settlement or verdict. Insurance policies do not cover “construction defects” they cover actual damage so if you are dealing with insurers the analysis may change dramatically.
Join the discussion over on LinkedIn and share with us your comments and favorite discussion for the week!
