Hinch Law

A few years ago I wrote this post about liability issues for neighbors where a tree limb hangs over the property line.  A focus of the article was the Illinois appellate court ruling in Ortiz v. Jesus People U.S.A ., a case in which a large tree branch extended over a public sidewalk, and fell, injuring a pedestrian.  The appellate court affirmed a trial verdict finding the defendant liable - they negligently failed to meet their legal duty of reasonable care, and that the resulting injury was a foreseeable result. The Ortiz case arose in Chicago, an urban setting obviously. Two more recent cases further clarified the law of tree liability - for trees next to a road, and for trees located on a park-like property, such as a private golf club. In Belton v. Cook County Forest Preserve District , the plaintiff sued the District after a tree fell on on his car as he was driving on a road adjacent to the forest preserve. The trial court had granted summary judgment for the D...

I'm honored today to have the opportunity to write a guest piece at an award-winning, very highly regarded blog, Virginia construction law attorney Christopher G. Hill's Construction Law Musings .  Chris does an excellent job at consistently providing thoughtful, useful posts that reach an audience not just within the construction industry, but among other lawyers as well.  Among its honors, "Musings" was just recently named to LexisNexis' " Top 50 Environmental Law & Climate Change Community Blogs for 2011 ".  In that vein, my guest post is on " How (Not) to Work with the EPA and Your State Environmental Agency ." If you are not familiar with Musings, I encourage you to check it out. Nate Hinch is an attorney and partner at the law firm of  Mueller, Reece & Hinch, LLC .  He has offices at 404 N. Hershey Road, Suite C, Bloomington, IL 61704, and 809 Detweiller Drive, Peoria, IL 61615, and can be reached by phone at (309) 827-4055 a...

In Mostardi-Platt Associates, Inc. v. Czerniejewski , the Fifth District Illinois Appellate Court affirmed the trial court's dismissal of the plaintiff's mechanics lien claim, where the plaintiff completed "air quality construction permitting and disperson modeling services" for Power Holdings of Illinois, LLC, who had an option to purchase the property at issue.  Case No. 5-09-0339 (May 11, 2010).  The Appellate Court held that plaintiff had not contracted with the "owner" of the land under the Mechanics Lien Act; that the contract between Power Holdings and the owners (Power Holdings was actually assigned this contract from another entity) only authorized feasibility studies, not improvements to the land; and that the services provided by the plaintiff did not result in any improvement to the land or benefit to the owner. The court analogized the case to L.J. Keefe Co v. Chicago & Northwester Transportation Co , in which a plaintiff subcontractor so...

April 22, 2010.  Why is this date important?  If you are a home repair or remodeling contractor, as of April 22 you must be certified as having completed an EPA-accredited training program prior to performing any renovation, repair, or painting (RRP) in a home built before 1978, or in any child-occupied facility (typically child care facilities and schools).  This requirement is part of EPA's RRP regulations, which actually first became law in March 2008.  The RRP rules already require remodeling contractors working on pre-1978 homes to give homeowners a pamphlet entitled "Renovate Right" prior to starting work, and to keep a copy of a receipt signed by the homeowner confirming that you gave it to them. Penalties for non-compliance with the RRP rule include civil and criminal penalties, up to $25,000 per violation per day and one year's imprisonment, or both.  Lead-based paint is assumed to be present at renovations covered by the regulation (pre-1978 houses ...