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Florida-Based Insurance Carrier Deemed Insolvent – What This Means For Your Community Association

Florida-based insurance carrier American Capital Assurance Corp. (“AmCap”) entered receivership recently and is in the process of being liquidated after being deemed insolvent by Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation. There are potential issues for the many condominium associations and others that were insured by AmCap or who have claims with AmCap. The most important thing to know is that the receivership does not mean that you are out of luck, and money, as an insured or claimant. However, you do need to understand what you should be doing and next steps....

Steven Lesser Appointed Chair of the Board of Legal Specialization & Education

Congratulations to Shareholder Steven Lesser on his appointment as Chair of the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education (BLSE). His term will run July 1, 2019 – June 30, 2020. The BLSE administers the Bar’s certification plan and is charged with identifying attorneys who have substantial experience and special knowledge, skills, and proficiency in certified areas of practice as well as professionalism and ethics in the practice of law. Steve previously served as Vice Chair of the Board. Steve is Florida Bar Board Certified in Construction Law and remains an active member of the Bar. He is Past Chair of the Construction Law Certification Committee and Grievance Committees 15(f) and 17(b). Additionally, Steve has written extensively for the Florida Bar Journal and is Past Chair of the publication’s Editorial Board. In 2016, Steve was awarded the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of his...

Becker & Poliakoff Construction Practice Group Receives Top Ranking in 2017 Chambers USA Guide

Ft. Lauderdale, May 26, 2017 — The 2017 Chambers USA Guide, one of the legal profession’s most preeminent rankings directories, has ranked Becker & Poliakoff’s Construction Law and Litigation Group and its chairman, Steven Lesser, in its top tier of Florida’s construction law practices and attorneys. In addition to the entire group and Mr. Lesser’s Band 1 ranking, shareholders Lee A. Weintraub and Sanjay Kurian received high rankings. Chambers selects attorneys and practices for inclusion based on thousands of interviews with practicing lawyers and clients worldwide. Attorneys, practice areas and firms are ranked by placement in “bands,” with Band 1 being the highest ranking. Chambers’ sources praise the Construction Group’s commitment to client service, with one interviewee noting: “I would describe them as being highly reliable and delivering terrific client service.” Another interviewee said: “My impression of the team is excellent — nothing dropped through the tracks! Monthly billing was clear and...

William Cea Wins Summary Judgment in Federal Bid Protest Case

Becker & Poliakoff attorneys, led by shareholder William Cea, have secured a significant court ruling in favor of their client, Premier Parks, ending this case and providing for open competition to bid on a future water park planned for 65 acres in Fort Lauderdale (Premier Parks v. City of Fort Lauderdale). Premier Parks, the parent company of Rapids Water Park in Riviera Beach, filed suit in October 2015 after the City tried to allow Schlitterbahn, a waterpark operator, to build on a 65-acre property owned by the City, including the existing Ft. Lauderdale and Lockhart Stadium facilities. After buying out the Federal Government’s interest in the land in 2015, the City agreed to enter into a 30-year lease with Schlitterbahn. Premier Parks argued that the City should have been required to obtain competitive bids for the project and the court agreed. Gary Rosen, managing shareholder of Becker & Poliakoff, said: "This was a challenging case and we believed in our...

New Construction Technique for USF Dormitory

There was a recent article in Tampa Bay Online by Yvette Hammett, linked here, dealing with new dorms going up at the University of South Florida. Other than my normal interest in the goings on at my alma mater was the construction methodology for the project. Tampa-based CBG Building Co., plans to use a system developed by Denver-based Prescient Co., Inc., where segments of the building are designed and pre-constructed off site and then shipped to the site for installation.  The dormitory project consists of a 6 story parking garage and a 6 story dormitory with 500 apartment style units. A quote from the article notes that this type of construction may be expandable to different types of projects and explains what makes this building system so different is this: “We don’t construct our building,” said Prescient CEO Satyen Patel. “We assemble it.” The process involves three companies — one for software...

Preparing for the 2015 Hurricane Season

The Atlantic hurricane season is defined as running from June 1 through November 30.  No one bothered to tell that to Tropical Storm Ana which hit South Carolina over the weekend.  The Ana had sustained winds of 45 mph at landfall and brought anywhere between 2"-6" of rain depending on location.  The early start of the hurricane season does not mean that we will necessarily have more hurricanes or what the severity of those hurricanes will be.  However, it is always good to be prepared and plan ahead. The next few weeks will be important to finalize, or even start, our personal and business hurricane preparedness plans.  Even if you do not have one yet there is still time to prepare. Below is a 12-point Hurricane Preparedness Checklist for condominium and homeowner associations to prepare for the 2015 hurricane season: 1. Disaster Plan – If you have a disaster plan be ready...

Proposed Legislation Will Hurt Owners by Shortening Timeframe to Bring Claims

In addition to the proposed legislation to substantially change Chapter 558, link here, the Legislature is considering other legislation that will materially impact owners and taxpayers.  HB501 proposes to reduce the time owners have to pursue construction defect claims from 10 after completion to 7 years after completion.  Specifically, the proposed legislation reduces the time frame within which a claim can be brought for latent defects (a defect you did not know about or had no reason to know about) in the design, planning or construction of improvements to real property from the current 10 years to 7 years.  This reduction of time to pursue claims apply to claims where the building code was violated.  Why should Florida provide less protection to owners when historically, and now again, the biggest building booms have been occurring in Florida.  Even the AIA Form Agreements, not always owner friendly, provide for a 10 year...