Author Archives: Rick Goldstein

Surety and Construction Industries Unite to Reduce Worker Suicide Risk

ISTOCK.COM/INVINCIBLE BULLDOG An average of three construction workers are killed due to job-related incidents each day. But there’s an even more deadly threat to this workforce, and it is self-inflicted; an estimated 10 to 12 construction workers kill themselves every 24 hours. According to a 2016 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, people employed in construction and extraction ...

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Changes to Research and Development Expense Rules Impact Contractors

ISTOCK.COM/IRYNA DROZD By Barry A. Fischman and William R. Kuhlman of Marcum LLPMarch 2023 Investing in research and development can save contractors time and money. However, a change in tax law may present a surprise tax bill for contractors when filing their taxes in 2022. Background The Research and Development (R&D) tax credit was created in 1981 to encourage businesses to ...

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Arbitration or Court for Construction Disputes: The Pros and Cons

ISTOCK.COM/ANDRII YALANSKYI BY DAVID K. TAYLOR AND KYLE M. DOIRON of Bradley LLP Many construction contracts used in the industry include clauses mandating that any disputes be decided by binding arbitration rather than a jury or bench trial. The standard AIA forms provide the parties with the option of court or arbitration. Trial courts, overwhelmed by a flood of cases and ...

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Equitable Subrogation: No Court Order, No Surety Indemnity Under Principal’s CGL

By Marina S. De Rosa of Ernstrom & Dreste, LLP ISTOCK.COM/STEPPRO It is well established that a surety has contractual and common law rights to recover losses from its principal and indemnitors, as well as the right to equitable subrogation to recover against others with a relationship to the principal, such as the principal’s liability carrier.[i] However, whether a surety ...

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A Successful Succession Plan Starts With a Strong Surety Partnership

ISTOCK.COM/DESIGNER491 By Bryan C. Porter and Todd Feuerman of Ellin & Tucker In a marketplace filled with labor shortages and supply chain uncertainty, construction firm owners and executive management teams must be focused on completing construction projects on time and on budget. But as they balance long-term strategies with daily demands, succession planning may be the one task that should ...

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The Efficiencies of Technology in the Surety Industry

ISTOCK.COM/ANVABERKUT by Jessica Mann of Tinubu Square Americas Long reliant on paper contracts and manual processing, the surety industry is evolving. The pandemic expedited digitization across the industry, and we’re now utilizing technology in new ways to facilitate underwriting, simplify the bond placement process, and automate workflows. While wet signatures and mailed contracts were once commonplace, digitized processes are becoming ...

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