Posts By: Gregory Cokinos

Houston attorney, John Grayson, was recently named an arbitrator by The American Arbitration Association.

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court.

The AAA’s role in the dispute resolution process is to administer cases, from filing to closing. The AAA provides administrative services in the U.S., as well as abroad through the ICDR. The AAA’s and ICDR’s administrative services include assisting in the appointment of mediators and arbitrators, setting hearings, conducting cases under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules, and providing users with information on dispute resolution options, including settlement through mediation. Ultimately, the AAA aims to move cases through arbitration or mediation in a fair and impartial manner until completion.

We are all very excited about John’s achievement and look forward to the continued great work this new opportunity will bring.

Cokinos | Young is pleased to announce that Principal John Warren was recognized by Super Lawyers on the Up and Coming 100 list. The Super Lawyers Up and Coming 100 is an additional distinction to the Rising Stars ranking service that is based on a statewide survey, peer nominations and independent research of Thomson Reuters. Congratulations to John for being a member of this elite group.

Cokinos | Young is pleased to announce that five of its attorneys have been named to the 2019 Texas Rising Stars list of exceptional young attorneys. Rising Stars is a ranking service based on a statewide survey, peer nominations and independent research of Thomson Reuters. Less than 2.5 percent of Texas attorneys are chosen for this prestigious distinction. To be eligible, lawyers must be 40 years old or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less.

John Warren was selected as a Rising Star in Construction Litigation. John is a principal in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young and this is his fourth Rising Star recognition since 2015. Click here to view John’s Attorney Profile.

Christopher Wan was selected as a Rising Star in Construction Litigation. Christopher is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Click here to view Christopher’s Attorney Profile.

C. Matthew Thompson was selected as a Rising Star in Construction Litigation. Matt is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Click here to view Matt’s Attorney Profile.

Katy Covington was selected as a Rising Star in Business/Corporate. Katy is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Click here to view Katy’s Attorney Profile.

Lauren Aldredge was selected as a Rising Star in Civil Litigation. Lauren is an attorney in the Austin office of Cokinos | Young. Click here to view Lauren’s Attorney Profile.

Roger D. Townsend, one of the founders of the civil appellate practice group in Texas, has joined Cokinos Young, P.C. as a principal in its Houston office. Townsend has a long history of growing successful appellate practices, having founded the first appellate practice at a Texas based national firm and then being the visionary leader behind two successful Texas appellate boutiques. He is a past president of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, the appellate equivalent to the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Dana Livingston also joins the appellate/legal issues group of Cokinos | Young.  A noted appellate practitioner, Dana Livingston is best known for her expertise before the Fifth Circuit and the Texas Supreme Court, having worked heavily for both in her long, storied career.  Because of the depth and breadth of her appellate expertise, Livingston was selected as the editor in chief of the national Appellate Practice Compendium published by the American Bar Association.

“Joining Cokinos | Young is like a dream come true for me,” Townsend said. “We share an identical vision that the way to succeed is to focus relentlessly on improving the quality of service for the client. All else comes second. This interminable quest for excellence has motivated my entire career, really my entire life.”

Gregory Cokinos, one of the founding partners of Cokinos | Young said, “We are honored and privileged to have Roger and Dana join us to further strengthen not only our ongoing appellate practice, but to add more depth to our litigation team, as well as strategic thinking at all phases of our ligation or alternative dispute resolution practice. Indeed, Roger and Dana’s reputation, experience and profound knowledge of the law and the litigation process will further strengthen our ongoing success.”

Cokinos | Young has 66 lawyers in five offices, with a heavy emphasis on construction and other business litigation, as well as appeals.

We are thrilled to announce that Stephanie Cook has become a Principal at Cokinos | Young. Stephanie has extensive experience in both litigation and transactional matters for all types of commercial, industrial, and residential construction, as well as real estate development. She utilizes her prior experience in banking and civil litigation to proactively assist general contractors, owners, developers, and subcontractors in managing their daily business and legal needs. In addition, Stephanie also represents national and international lenders with debt resolution and workouts through pre-litigation and bankruptcy. She was accepted into the American Arbitration Association roster last year for her broad experience and expertise in complex commercial and construction litigation.

Congratulations to Stephanie for all of her hard work, we look very forward to the future.

You can view Stephanie’s bio by clicking here.

For the past 37 years, general contractors within the Fifth Circuit states of Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi have been able to rest relatively easily when it comes to OSHA citations against them for worksite hazards that endanger other employers’ (i.e., subcontractors’) employees.  That is because even if an OSHA investigation resulted in the agency citing the GC pursuant to OSHA’s “controlling employer” doctrine, 1981 precedent from the federal Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals would ultimately get the GC off the hook because the Court held that the Secretary of Labor did not have the authority to issue and enforce such a citation.  Unfortunately for Fifth Circuit GCs, that 1981 precedent – known as Melerine – no longer rules the day.

In late November, the Fifth Circuit reconsidered its Melerine decision in an appeal by the Secretary of Labor seeking to effectively overrule the Fifth Circuit’s precedent and bring the Fifth in line with every other Circuit Court that had considered whether the Secretary (through OSHA) had the authority to cite and penalize general contractors for worksite hazards that pose a threat to or injure employees of other employers.  This authority had long been recognized elsewhere in the country, but not in the Fifth Circuit, making the Fifth a safe haven for GCs in terms of reduced liability for OSHA violations.  Recognizing its status as an outlier and citing intervening Supreme Court decisions over the past 37 years that it said warranted looking at OSHA’s authority anew, the Fifth Circuit held that the Secretary of Labor’s interpretation of the governing regulations was reasonable and, under the Supreme Court’s case law, entitled to deference from the federal courts.  As a result, the Court ruled that OSHA in fact does have the authority to cite a general contractor for worksite hazards under its “control” at a multi-employer worksite even if those hazards only endanger or injure employees who are not employed by the general contractor.

The importance of the Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling – Acosta v. Hensel Phelps Construction Co. – cannot be overstated when it comes to general contractors in the construction industry in Texas.  Going forward, OSHA inspectors now have the unquestioned authority to cite GCs for basically any hazardous condition on the worksite based on the “controlling employer” doctrine – the theory that the general contractor is the entity with the most control over the entire worksite and the best ability to identify hazards and to ensure that they are remedied promptly and effectively.  All GCs who do work in Texas, Louisiana, or Mississippi will want to make sure their foremen, superintendents, and safety personnel are aware of this sea change in the way OSHA will be viewing jobsite hazards.

If you have questions about your company’s responsibilities and potential liabilities under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, Cokinos | Young’s Board Certified Labor & Employment Law Specialists J. Shannon Gatlin and M. Wilson Stoker, as well as the employment law team at Cokinos | Young, have experience dealing with OSHA and have assisted numerous clients in reducing their exposure for workplace hazards and injuries.

About the Author:  J. Shannon Gatlin is Senior Counsel in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young.  Mr. Gatlin has been Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 2014, and has practiced labor and employment law on behalf of companies nationwide since 2009.  Mr. Gatlin also spent one year as a Briefing Attorney for the Texas 14th Court of Appeals.

Cokinos | Young is pleased to announce that the firm has been ranked as a Tier 1 “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News and Best Lawyers®. Firms included in the 2019 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a Tier 1 ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have one lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America, which recognizes the top four percent of practicing attorneys in the United States. Cokinos | Young has six lawyers listed in The Best Lawyers in America – Gregory M. Cokinos, Patrick J. Wielinski, J. Parker Fauntleroy, Charles W. Getman, Stephanie L. O’Rourke, and John C. Warren. Over 13,000 attorneys provided more than 1,000,000 law firm assessments, and over 7,500 clients provided more than 65,000 evaluations.

ABOUT “BEST LAW FIRMS” The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a ranking, a law firm must have at least one lawyer listed in the 23rd Edition of The Best Lawyers in America list for that particular location and specialty.

ABOUT U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars, and News & Opinion, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings, news, and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 37 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

ABOUT BEST LAWYERS Best Lawyers is the oldest and most respected attorney ranking service in the world. For more than 30 years, Best Lawyers has assisted those in need of legal services to identify the attorneys best qualified to represent them in distant jurisdictions or unfamiliar specialties. Best Lawyers lists are published in leading local, regional, and national publications across the globe. The Best Lawyers in America list recognizes the very best lawyers in each practice area and metropolitan region in the country.

In this new edition of his book, Pat draws on 38 years of practice representing owners, contractors, subcontractors and sureties in disputes over insurance coverage for defective work. Since the publication of the first edition in 2000, it has been relied upon by construction, insurance and legal professionals, particularly as a source for the historical development of key policy provisions and concepts relevant to present day claims.  The current edition contains over 600 pages of updated or new analysis, including wrap up insurance programs, builders risk coverage, contractual liability coverage, right to repair proceedings as “suits” under the CGL policy, allocation approaches, non-cumulation, pre-existing injury endorsements, rip and tear, breach of contract endorsements and the ongoing construction defect as occurrence debate, including the final rejection of Weedo v. Sone-E-Brick.

Insurance for Defective Construction, Fifth Edition, is available through International Risk Management Institute (IRMI) in both online and print editions.  The online version is updated periodically by means of a fifty state survey of new cases addressing CGL coverage for defective work. For further information, see the following links to the IRMI.com website:

https://www.irmi.com/products/insurance-for-defective-construction-print-edition

https://www.irmi.com/products/insurance-for-defective-construction

Of course, feel free to contact Pat directly. 

Pat Wielinski
Principal – Dallas/Fort Worth
(817) 635-3620
pwielinski@cokinoslaw.com
View Bio

Austin attorney, Stephanie Cook, was recently named an arbitrator by The American Arbitration Association.

The American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a not-for-profit organization in the field of alternative dispute resolution, providing services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court.

The AAA’s role in the dispute resolution process is to administer cases, from filing to closing. The AAA provides administrative services in the U.S., as well as abroad through the ICDR. The AAA’s and ICDR’s administrative services include assisting in the appointment of mediators and arbitrators, setting hearings, conducting cases under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules, and providing users with information on dispute resolution options, including settlement through mediation. Ultimately, the AAA aims to move cases through arbitration or mediation in a fair and impartial manner until completion.

We are all very excited about Stephanie’s achievement and look forward to the continued great work this new opportunity will bring.

Our very own David Tolin was recently called on by a reporter at the Houston Business Journal to give his expert explanation on how the lien process worked. The journal was covering a recent lien case with a condo developer in the River Oaks area in Houston.

David eloquently explained all things liens to the readers. We’re always proud when a member of the team is called upon by the press to give their opinion.  Here are David’s comments from the article:

“A lien can only be filed for the value of the work performed, said David Tolin, an attorney with the Houston-based law firm Cokinos Young, who specializes in construction law.

While he didn’t comment on this specific lien or recently filed suits, Tolin said there’s no standard order regarding what is usually filed first. If the only complain is nonpayment, one can typically expect to see a lien filed ahead of litigation. But, one could also file a suite at any time, particularly if there are other claims that are the main concern, such as breach of contract.

Tolin also said liens on properties that have changed hands, such as condo units that have been sold to individuals, would usually include the names of those additional owners.

In standard cases involving a general contractor working directly with a property owner, liens are typically filed within four months after work is complete, Tolin said, but added a caveat that this doesn’t apply across the board. Subcontractor timelines can vary greatly, he said.

Usually commercial construction projects have a timeline of two years to foreclose on a lien, but the majority of the liens are settled prior to foreclosure, Tolin said.”

For more information, please contact David directly at DTolin@CokinosLaw.com or 713-535-5518. The full article is available on the HBJ website.