A Contractor’s pricing and schedule are based on a variety of factors, including the scope of work, site conditions, and seasonal weather risks. Sometimes nothing changes. More often than not, though, the Owner makes changes to the scope of work—or... Continue Reading →
Over the course of the last few months, lawyers have been deluged with articles about COVID-19 and force majeure, much of them containing quite similar content and analysis. My Research Assistant at The University of Chicago Law School, Tanner Harris,... Continue Reading →
One of the principal COVID-19 issues facing the construction industry is a work shutdown due to an employee exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, testing positive for COVID-19, or being exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19. In such cases, the... Continue Reading →
“Time, no money,” are words commonly spoken by project owners when negotiating force majeure relief in construction and services contracts. It means that while a contractor can receive schedule extensions (more days to complete the work), no additional compensation will... Continue Reading →
Lawyers often gain valuable experience by accident. This was the case with me and force majeure. A couple of weeks after 9/11, I joined Occidental Petroleum’s business development office in Dubai. As the youngest person on the team, I received... Continue Reading →
An indemnity is one party’s agreement to hold another harmless for certain types of claims or losses. A typical definition of Indemnify would be as follows: “Indemnify” means release, reimburse, protect, indemnify, compensate, make whole, make good, hold harmless, and... Continue Reading →
Contractors are generally entitled to seek additional compensation (a “price adjustment”) for encountering unanticipated site conditions. The more challenging question is defining what, precisely, constitutes an unanticipated site condition. For example, in the clause below, unanticipated remains undefined: If contractor encounters unanticipated site... Continue Reading →
Over the course of their construction, pipelines encounter many obstacles that require the use of subsurface tunnels. Such tunnels enable the pipeline to pass beneath roadways, railroads, rivers, and environmentally sensitive areas without disturbing them. There are three principal methods... Continue Reading →
More than 2.5 million miles of pipeline move American oil and gas production to refineries and consumers. The U.S. Energy Information Administration is tracking an additional $100 billion of new natural gas projects, which would add more than 10,000 miles... Continue Reading →
