So it’s no surprise that New Orleans City Business magazine contacted me to discuss how the law can help and hurt subcontractors who are frustrated when waiting for payments to trickle down from the owner.  The article can be found on City Business’ website (subscription required) here:  Subcontractors grow tired of waiting on delayed job payments.

The article’s author, Ben Myers, does a great job of capturing the friction between general contractors and subcontractors on the subject of payment. General contractors complain that getting payment can be complex and time consuming because that’s how money trickles through, and that subcontractors should be taking the risk for their portions of the work.  Subcontractors complain that they are bullied around and “pay when paid” provisions sometimes leave them drowning because of problems the general has completely unrelated to their work.

It’s a real complicated mess – and the article gets both sides on the subject and helps explain the complications.

My slides from the Keynote presentation are available on my SlideShare.com account, and are embedded here:

In the next seven days, I’ll be speaking at two engagements. The first is available only to students at Loyola New Orleans College of Law, but the second is available to anyone in the New Orleans area through Lorman Seminars. Here are the details.

Loyola Law Schools Skills Curriculum
I’ll be visiting Loyola to teach a course through the school’s Skills Curriculum. The course – Solo from Scratch – teaches students how to open and run a solo practice right out of law school. I first taught the course in 2009, and I’m happy to be invited back to teach this semester. The course will be on Saturday, January 22, 2011, at 9:00 AM, at the Loyola New Orleans College of Law campus.

Building Codes – Lorman Seminars
This is a seminar organized by Lorman Education Services.  It will take place on January 26, 2011, at the Crown Plaza Hotel New Orleans Airport oat 2829 Williams Blvd, in Kenner, LA. The seminar is all-day, and you can register for the seminar and receive a 20% discount on registration with this information:

Building Codes (seminar information here)
January 26, 2011
Register Online: http://www.lorman.com or by phone (866) 352-9539
Discount Code: F2716129
Priority Code: 15000

How to File a Construction Lien in Oregon

How to File a Construction Lien in Louisiana

These two legal guides offer plain english explanations on how to prepare and file a construction lien in either of these states.

The two above-listed legal guides were written and published by Scott Wolfe Jr., the founding attorney of Wolfe Law Group.  He previously published a similar legal article on Avvo.com about filing construction liens in Washington, which you can read here.

Wolfe & Reiser will co-present during the program’s middle segment, “Exploring the Current Status of Chinese Drywall Claims and Litigation.”

Be sure to attend the program on July 31st in New Orleans.   To get ready, or in case you can’t make it, below is the slide presentation we’ll use during the presentation.

[slideshare id=1746238&doc=cdrywall-key-090720210015-phpapp02]

This article was originally posted on Wolfe Law Group’s topic-specific Chinese Drywall Blog.

The best and quickest way to get the drywall out is to go after the builder, who ultimately has to live up to his warranty.   If the consumer tinkers with class-action lawsuits that can drag out for months, their warranties start to expire, and their chances of getting something from the builder are slimmer.

If we’ve said it once on this blog, we’ve said it a thousand times (here, here, here, here and here).

While class action suits have their purpose, it presents real challenges to homeowners who are interested in getting the Chinese Drywall out of their property.

The class action suits have their warts, and homeowners may find a better remedy by filing a direct action against their builders, suppliers and insurers.

With every day that passes, however, deadlines are drawing closer.    The one year deadline for insurance claims and torts.  The 3-4 year deadline with claims in redhibition.   And the 1, 2 or 5 year deadlines associated with construction warranty claims.

The worst news about the deadlines being that many, if not most of the statutory periods begin when the drywall was delivered or installed…and not when the homeowner learned of the problem.

All was quiet with regard to individual lawsuits against builders and suppliers, but recent news reports indicate that the remedy is gaining some steam.

The article from HousingZone.com is not alone.  The Times Picayune recently reported that homeowners are more frequently suing builders, and Baton Rouge’s Advocate had the same analysis.

Could an avalanche of Homeowner v. Builder suits be on the horizon?

If you’re interested in learning more about bringing a suit against your builder, or your construction company is interested in bringing suit its suppliers and insurers, contact Wolfe Law Group today.

This article was originally posted on Wolfe Law Group’s topic-specific Chinese Drywall Blog.

Our own Scott Wolfe Jr. took part in the program, along with John Mullen, Sr. from the firm Nelson, Levine de Luca & Horst.

You can listen to the Podcast at the Laywer2Lawyer website here.  Or, download the MP3.

Or, listen to it by clicking on the below this link:

Chinese Drywall Litigation on Lawyer2Lawyer

This article was originally posted on Wolfe Law Group’s topic-specific Chinese Drywall Blog.

Here are links to the articles:

• How To Dispute A Construction Lien in Louisiana
• How To Dispute a Construction Lien in Washington State

The article even points readers to a free template letter demanding the cancellation of an improperly filed lien.

What makes a lien invalid?  Read about common filing mistakes over at construction lien blog.

This morning, the New Orleans Times Picayune reported that this is beginning to happen.

The article, titled Homeowners saddled with tainted Chinese Drywall are increasingly suing local builders for damages, suggests that “Louisiana home builders have increasingly become targets of litigation.”   And the article profiles a Covington, Louisiana homeowner, Eric Carter, who sued his homebuilder Sunrise Homes.

Over the next few days here on the Chinese Drywall Blog, we will specifically analyze builder liability for Chinese Drywall claims, reviewing the relevant aspects of the New Home Warranty Act and other general builder warranties.

Remember also that Wolfe Law Group’s Scott Wolfe will be presenting at a Chinese Drywall seminar in New Orleans, LA on July 31, 2009.  The seminar is for attorneys, builders, engineers, homeowners and anyone else affected or interested in the crisis.   Read more about the seminar, and how to attend, here.

In the meantime, here are a few posts from our Chinese Drywall Blog reviewing builders’ exposure to imported drywall claims, and explaining the differences between class action litigation and ordinary litigation:

• Builders Starting To Tango with Chinese Drywall Claims
• Builders World Apart on Chinese Drywall
• 3 Reasons Why Class Actions are Bad for Homeowners
• Are Builders Getting a Free Pass on Chinese Drywall Claims?  Should They?

• The damages and health effects caused by defective drywall;
• The status of Chinese Drywall lawsuits in Louisiana and elsewhere;
• Option of pursuing damages through a class or individual action;
• Proposed Legislative solutions;
• Exploration of liability among manufacturers, builders, suppliers, and others.

Wolfe Law Group’s Scott Wolfe is presenting at the seminar’s second segment on the matter of “Exploring the Current Status of Chinese Drywall Claims and Litigation.”

Scott Wolfe is sticking around to the seminar’s third segment where he will co-present with the Berniard Law Firm’s Jeffrey Berniard on the matter of “Exploring Potential Liability for Damages Caused by Chinese Drywall Problems.”

Learning credits are available for participating professionals, including 5.0 approved CLE hours for attorneys in the states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas.

More information can be found at the Half Moon Seminars website promoting the seminar here or by downloading the brochure here.

This post originally appeared on Wolfe Law Group’s topic-specific Chinese Drywall Blog.