By Edward "Ward" Pankowski July 12, 2022 Articles, News/Events/Seminars
Can a person be the “victim” of a shooting when they were never shot? That was the question the Georgia Court of Appeals confronted in a major decision handed down in June of this year.
By Gregory R. Veal June 8, 2022 Articles
The 2010 version of the AIA Form A-312 performance bond is an effort to balance, and interconnect, the rights and duties of the obligee and the surety. It replaces the 1984 version with a few tweaks and one major shift of risk: requiring the surety to prove prejudice to enforce the notice requirement in Section 3. This article discusses the conditions contained in the 2010 AIA Form A-312 bond.
By John V. Burch August 5, 2021 Articles
A claim made against a surety is often accompanied by a bad faith demand. There are many defenses to bad faith claims, but here is one more to add to your arsenal in Georgia: a surety can use expert opinion to support the dismissal of a bad faith claim on summary judgment. A recent case granting summary judgment on bad faith to an insurer on a property damage claim is instructive. Bad faith claims under insurance policies are governed by O.C.G.A. § 33-4-6, and Georgia’s courts have said the rules under that statute are applicable to claims made against sureties under O.C.G.A. § 10-7-30, the exclusive basis for extra-contractual damages against sureties in the state. The Georgia Court of Appeals in Montgomery v. Traveler’s Home & Marine Ins. Co., 859 S.E.2d 130 (Ga. App. 2021), reconsideration denied (July 13, 2021), recently set out the framework for when an expert’s opinion to an insurer will support a grant of summary judgment denying bad faith.
Read MoreBy J. Jackson Harris March 3, 2021 Articles
Dramatic changes to the lien waiver statute, O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366, took effect on January 1, 2021. Lien waivers are ubiquitous in the construction industry, and a failure to comply with the lien statute’s requirements can have severe consequences. Thus, contractors, subcontractors, and their sureties should take note of these statutory changes.
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