Ken Rubinstein Quoted in ENR on Controlling Personal Liability for Construction Executives

Preti Flaherty construction law attorney Ken Rubinstein has been quoted in a recent article published by ENR focusing on the growing risks of personal liability for construction executives.

The article quotes Ken in discussing potential gaps in insurance coverage and the growing risks that are emerging in the new economy.

ENR is the leading publication for contractors, project owners, engineers, architects, government regulators and industry suppliers nationwide. For a link to the article, click here.

Learn more about Ken Rubinstein's Professional Services Law Practice here, or contact him at 617.226.3868.

Bidding on public construction contracts? Massachusetts AG's Office offers searchable online archive

At the heart of a successful bid for public projects is a firm understanding of the process ahead of you.  That involves knowing the important dates and other timing issues of the bid, understanding the information required for an accepted bid, and familiarizing yourself with the applicable law and your rights under the law.  Advance planning and good organization can take a lot of the stress out of what can be a confusing and unnecessarily confounding process.

Last August, Massachusetts added a resource for those bidding on public construction contracts: a searchable online archive of bid protest decisions.  The Bid Protest Decision Lookup is a new feature on the Attorney General’s website and covers bid protest decisions dating back to 2003. In reaching its decisions, the Massachusetts AG applies decisions law from statutes, cases, and prior bid protest decisions of the former Department of Labor and Industries and the Attorney General’s Office.  Reviewing past decisions of the AG’s office should be an important tool to help the aspiring bidder avoid previously established pitfalls and roadblocks to a successful bid.

At present, the database covers protest decisions dating back to 2003 with a selection of decisions from 1989-2002.  The Attorney General’s Office is hoping to expand the coverage to include the remaining decisions from 1989-2002.  The Bid Protest Decision Lookup is available here.

For more information on construction law, contact Preti Flaherty attorneys Neal Pratt at 207.791.3000 or William Whitney at 603.410.1500.

Court Hears KPMG Auditor Liability Case: Erases $38 Million Dollar Judgment

The NJ Supreme Court recently overturned a $38 million dollar judgment against accounting giant KPMG, after the court found that an accountant cannot be liable to a third party absent actual and specific knowledge that the audit would be used by someone other than the client.  See Cast Art Industries v. KPMG (Feb. 16, 2012).

In a decision that clarified the scope of an accountant’s potential liability, the court ruled that, "An auditor is entitled to know at the outset the scope of the work it is being requested to perform and the concomitant risk it is being asked to assume." The Court’s ruling offers a long awaited limitation of liability for the accounting industry. 
Massachusetts, Maine, and New Hampshire already follow some form of the restatement (Second) of Torts approach which limits an auditor’s potential liability to the class of persons that the auditor has agreed may rely upon the auditor’s report.

For further information please contact Ken Rubinstein at (617) 226-3868 or learn more about his Professional Services law practice here.