Riess LeMieux, LLC is pleased to announce that Christopher K. LeMieux has been named to the 2020 Edition of Best Lawyers in America. Chris is being recognized in the areas of Construction Law and Litigation - Construction. Congratulations to Chris for this highly regarded honor.
Firm partner, Jonathan Forester, was interviewed by WWL Channel 4 in connection with an investigative report concerning a lawsuit filed to stop the City’s improper rebidding of a public contract which had already been awarded to a Riess LeMieux client.
Several important laws affecting the construction industry were passed by the Louisiana Legislature and signed into law by the governor in the 2019 Regular Session. The new legislation includes the most expansive overhaul of the Louisiana Private Works Act in nearly 40 years, a new law that allows local governments to use the A+B (cost plus time) bidding method, and significant amendments to the law governing the contractor licensing board.
Riess LeMieux is pleased to welcome Casey Q. O'Flynn to the firm. Prior to joining Riess LeMieux, Casey worked in the Real Estate Funds Group of a Big Four advisory firm in Atlanta, where he advised both acquirers and targets in REIT M&A transactions totaling in the billions of dollars. Casey has significant experience navigating myriad issues involved in successfully structuring, negotiating, and closing these transactions. Casey's addition bolsters the firm’s depth of knowledge and expertise in the areas of taxation, real estate transactions, financing, and corporate structuring.
In a major victory for federal contractors, a Louisiana appeals court affirmed a trial court’s determination that the Sewerage and Water Board (S&WB) is solely liable for damages to several homeowners stemming from the Uptown drainage work performed by three contractors under the auspices of the U.S. Corps of Engineers. Notably, the court found that there was “no evidence that any of the contractors breached their contracts, negligently or otherwise.”
Riess LeMieux is pleased to announce that Construction Executive Magazine, one of the most respected publications in the construction industry, has selected the firm among The Top 50 Construction Law Firms in the nation. Competing with many older and larger firms from across the country, Riess LeMieux was ranked 40th after only a year of practice, making it the newest law firm in the inaugural report.
It is black-letter law that architects owe a professional duty of care to third parties, but recovery for design errors is limited in the absence of a contract. In a recent federal decision, the court reaffirmed that an architect can be liable to a subsequent owner of property for damage caused by defective design but not for the defective design itself.
Riess LeMieux is pleased to welcome Margaret N. Davis to the firm. A graduate of Tulane University Law School, her experience includes securities, maritime, and commercial litigation. During law school, Margaret served as Managing Editor of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal and was a semifinalist on the Admiralty Moot Court team. She also served as a judicial intern at the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Margaret is also a legal writing instructor in business law at Tulane’s Freeman School of Business.
The Louisiana Supreme Court rendered a split decision that will have major ramifications for insureds in Louisiana. The court’s decision in Creekstone Juban I, L.L.C. v. XL Insurance America, Inc., (La. May 8, 2019), permits insurance policies to require any litigation be brought in another state, even if the policy was issued in Louisiana covering losses occurring in Louisiana.
A recent federal court decision has significant ramifications for the validity of oral change orders and the enforceability of no-damages-for-delay clauses in construction contracts. In Alonso v. Westcoast Corp. (5th Cir. April 8, 2019), the U.S. Fifth Circuit addressed several areas of Louisiana construction law that directly impact how contractors prepare their contracts and administer their projects.