Another jury verdict adverse to a builder.

I came across an interesting tidbit in the Jury Verdict Reporter of Colorado today involving a case in which Lennar sued a framing subcontractor in subrogation for money paid out to a homeowner on a personal injury claim.  After a two-day jury trial in Jefferson County, the jury found Lennar to be 100% responsible for the homeowner’s injuries.  While seemingly based on Lennar’s involvement in self-performing repairs to known defects in the framing, presumably without reporting them to D&R Framing or asking the framer to fix its own work, it is another example of juries’ hostilities towards builders.

This is yet another example demonstrating why we work so hard to get every matter into arbitration instead of in front of a jury.  To ensure that a builder has every opportunity to demand arbitration, it is important that all pertinent documents (i.e., the purchase and sale agreement, limited warranties, subcontracts, and subcontractor warranties) have fully-integrated arbitration provisions.

If you would like to discuss what your company can do to best protect itself from construction defect claims, or to minimize their impact if they are made, please contact me at (303) 987-9813 or mclain@hhmrlaw.com.  To learn more about construction defect claims in Colorado, please request a copy of our Overview of Construction Defect Litigation in Colorado, by sending me an e-mail.