Zetlin & De Chiara senior partner Michael Zetlin moderated a thought-provoking panel discussion for the NY Building Congress on “Alternative Dispute Resolution as a Legal Alternative to Workers Compensation Insurance for Infrastructure and Construction” on July 14 at the Harmonie Club.

It is no secret that the licensing rules regulating engineers, architects, and other design professionals in New York are amongst the strictest in the nation. This strict regulatory framework has hampered the ownership desires of many design professional firms. On July 21, 2022, New York Governor Hochul signed into law an amendment to the DPC law that allows an ESOP to own 100% of a Design Professional Corporation (DPC) starting in July 2024.

New York State has significantly expanded the requirements covering disclosure of insurance-related information in commercial litigation commenced on or after December 31, 2021.

Governor Kathy Hochul signed the Comprehensive Insurance Disclosure Act into law on December 31, 2021, and signed a remedial law on February 24, 2022, to limit some of the more onerous and worrisome aspects of the new disclosure regime (together the “Act”).  The Act amends a subsection of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (“CPLR”) governing the scope of disclosure under CPLR 3101(f) and added certification requirements under CPLR 3122-b.

In recent weeks, there has been a long list of companies, from all industries spanning from construction/engineering to fashion and hospitality, that have announced that they are completely severing ties with Russia, while a host of others have announced a temporary halt. See Jeffrey A. Sonnenfeld, Over 400 Companies Have Withdrawn from Russia – But Some Remain, Yale School of Management (Updated Mar. 21, 2022), https://som.yale.edu/story/2022/over-400-companies-have-withdrawn-russia-some-remain?utm_campaign=mb. For those developers, EPC contractors, and design professionals (engineers and architects) who have construction projects in Russia, the question is, “How should we proceed?”

The New York City Department of Buildings (“DOB”) issued a notice of adoption of final rules for its Major Projects Development Program that will go into effect on May 1, 2022. According to the DOB’s press release, the intention of the Major Projects Development Program is “to help construction projects get off the ground safely and avoid work stoppages” by offering one-on-one consultation and support to owners of eligible projects.