Construction Law Commons^™

For Richer Or Poorer: Incentivizing Meaningful Investments In Qualified Opportunity Zones, Monica L. Keo

Seattle University Law Review

The wealth disparity in the United States is nothing new. Many have proposed wealth taxes and higher tax rates for large corporations to address income inequality; however, these proposals have been criticized as tax programs that are difficult to administer. Congress passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) in 2017 and created a new investment vehicle known as the Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ). The QOZ program incentivizes private investors to invest their capital gains in exchange for a reduction in capital gains tax. The underlying idea of the QOZ program is to utilize a new tool designed to spur …

The New Decade Of Construction Contracts: Technological And Climate Considerations For Owners, Designers, And Builders, Geoffrey F. Palachuk

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

In the next decade, the construction industry faces two intertwined risks: implementation of new technologies and the impacts of climate change. Those overlapping risks will present both practical and legal issues for design professionals, developers, builders, legislators, and the public at large. Although the average participant in the construction industry may not think twice about the emergence or adoption of new technologies, or the effect of climate change on the completed project, those issues present nuanced legal implications. Construction projects and their contracts must adapt. While companies seek to implement new technologies, provide sustainable products, optimize project systems, and maximize …

The Impact Of Cultural Heritage On Japanese Towns And Villages, Yuichiro Tsuji Dr.

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental, & Innovation Law

In 1954, when historically significant clays and clay pots were found in the Iba district of Shizuoka prefecture, the city applied to the prefectural education committee for a historic site designation. The committee granted this designation to the city..

However, in 1973 the education committee lifted its permission to promote development around the location. Historians have sought revocation of this decision under the Administrative Case Litigation Act (ACLA), but the Supreme Court has denied standing. By denying standing, the Japanese Supreme Court allows the prefecture to destroy a historical site.

First, this paper seeks to discuss the doctrine of standing …

Enough Is As Good As A Feast, Noah C. Chauvin

Seattle University Law Review

Ipse Dixit, the podcast on legal scholarship, provides a valuable service to the legal community and particularly to the legal academy. The podcast’s hosts skillfully interview guests about their legal and law-related scholarship, helping those guests communicate their ideas clearly and concisely. In this review essay, I argue that Ipse Dixit has made a major contribution to legal scholarship by demonstrating in its interview episodes that law review articles are neither the only nor the best way of communicating scholarly ideas. This contribution should be considered “scholarship,” because one of the primary goals of scholarship is to communicate new ideas.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

In Memory Of Professor James E. Bond, Janet Ainsworth

Seattle University Law Review

Janet Ainsworth, Professor of Law at Seattle University School of Law: In Memory of Professor James E. Bond.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

Table of Contents

Avoidance Creep, Charlotte Garden

Faculty Articles

At first glance, constitutional avoidance—the principle that courts construe statutes so as to avoid conflict with the Constitution whenever possible—appears both unremarkable and benign. But when courts engage in constitutional avoidance, they frequently construe statutory language in a manner contrary to both its plain meaning and to the underlying congressional intent. Then, successive decisions often magnify the problems of avoidance—a phenomenon I call “avoidance creep.” When a court distorts a statute in service of constitutional avoidance, a later court may amplify the distortion, incrementally changing both statutory and constitutional doctrine in ways that are unsupported by any existing rationale for …

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents, Seattle University Law Review

Seattle University Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ahead Of The Curve: Promoting Land Tenure Security In Sub-Saharan Africa To Protect The Environment, Andrew R. Falk

Seattle Journal for Social Justice

No abstract provided.

Supra Synopses, Ryan W. Dumm, Laura Turczanski

Seattle University Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes

Seattle University Law Review

On August 1, 2005, significant amendments to the Washington Condominium Act (WCA) became effective. These amendments were intended to substantially reduce water infiltration in multiunit residential buildings and to simplify the condominium construction dispute resolution process. The heart of the amendments is the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, as well as fee-shiftingprovisions which require the non-prevailing party to pay the attorney fees and costs of the prevailing party. A decade of lawsuits brought under the WCA by condominium owners associations against builders and developers, and in turn by builders against subcontractors, alleging defects in the ability of the …

Construction Sites, Building Types, And Bridging Gaps: A Cognitive Theory Of The Learning Progression Of Law Students, Paula Lustbader

Faculty Articles

This article uses cognitive and developmental theories of learning as a basis for a theoretical framework analogous to building structures for how students learn in law school. It identifies characteristics of the different stages of learning from novice to expert, explains why and where students get stuck, and offers suggestions on how to help students move to the next stage in their development. The article also includes an appendix with a sample exam and examples of how students would answer the exam at different stages. Students also find it very helpful to see these examples.

What Shelter Remains For Builder/Vendors Under Rcw 4.16.300-320 After Pfeifer V. Bellingham?, Peter Sandomire

Seattle University Law Review

This Note criticizes Pfeifer's incomplete resolution of the apparent conflict between Wash. Rev. Code §§ 4.16.300-.320 and § 353 of the Restatement (Second) of Torts and calls for a reconsideration of the case. The Note is premised on the general validity of statutes of repose and the merit of the policies that they promote. The Note first reviews briefly the development of statutes of repose generally, how they operate, and how courts in Washington and in other jurisdictions have applied them. It then analyzes the development of the Restatement's § 353 and its policy. Next, it examines the Pfeifer court's …

A Study In Juristic Realism: The Historical Development And Interpretation Of Construction Industry Indemnification Clauses In Washington, Steven P. Soha

Seattle University Law Review

This Article develops how Washington courts historically have interpreted construction industry indemnification clauses. The Article first addresses the substantive and the primary issue of liability, vel non, under construction industry indemnification provisions. After offering a historical analysis of Washington case law on the subject, the Article analyzes the recent statutory amendments to section 4.24.115 of the Washington Revised Code, which substantially impact the current state of the law and which should resolve many unsettled or ambiguous issues in the case law. This Article then discusses some unique issues that have arisen in the context of attempts to judicially enforce these …

Enforceability Of Land Use Servitudes Benefiting Local Government In Washington, Stephen Phillabaum

Seattle University Law Review

Washington courts are free to enforce publicland use servitudes. Of the elements required for a servitude to run with the land, form, notice, and touch and concern on the burden side do not bar running. Only the touch and concern element applied on the benefit side is a potential bar. Washington conceivably could allow public land use servitudes to run with the land by following the minority position of not requiring touch and concern on the benefit side. A less stringent theory, however, is available to enforce public land use servitudes. Washington has not adopted a rule that public servitudes …