Van Oppen Co.

With the financial world absorbing the twin pressures of rising interest rates and large-scale bank failures, over 200 AE industry executives and investors gathered in Miami for this year’s Southeast M&A, Strategy, and Innovation Symposium to hear how the machinations of the wider world are affecting valuations in deals across the industry. With deal pricing […]

Engineers at the University of British Columbia have developed a new water treatment that removes “forever chemicals” from drinking water safely, efficiently – and for good. “Think Brita filter, but a thousand times better,” says UBC chemical and biological engineering professor Dr. Madjid Mohseni, who developed the technology. Forever chemicals, formally known as PFAS (per-and […]

When word surfaced that soils and liquids laced with chemicals from the East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment were being sent to southeastern Michigan for storage, local residents and politicians were livid. “People were seeing pictures of what happened in Ohio – the smoke plumes, wildlife dying,” said Jordyn Sellek, director of a local government coalition. […]

In 2022, Beazley surveyed 29 lawyers who regularly defend complex architect and engineer (“A&E”) professional liability claims involving our insureds to assess whether these lawyers prefer arbitration or litigation for commercial construction disputes and whether views have changed due to COVID-19. The resounding response from 50% of responding attorneys told us they “never” or “rarely” […]

2023’s Southeast M&A, Strategy, and Innovation Symposium saw discussion of today’s volatile market conditions, and how they will affect valuations in the A&E space. With the financial world absorbing the twin pressures of rising interest rates and large-scale bank failures, over 200 AE industry executives and investors gathered in Miami for this year’s Southeast M&A, Strategy, and […]

Social inflation has been a hot topic across the insurance industry over the last few years as claims frequency and severity continue to increase across nearly every line of business. While some lines, such as commercial auto and general liability (GL), have been more regularly discussed in the context of social inflationary trends, professional liability […]

The economy is continuing to present some significant, still unresolved, challenges for private company directors and officers, including the ongoing threat of bankruptcy, experts say. At one time or another, private companies have had to cope with issues including inflation, labor shortages, higher interest rates and the supply chain, said Sandra Lagana, Hartford-based private D&O […]

Cyber incidents and business interruption rank as the biggest company concerns for the second year in a row. That’s according to Allianz’s Risk Barometer 2023, which found that at the same time macroeconomic developments such as inflation, financial market volatility and a looming recession, as well as the impact of the energy crisis, are the […]

While spending on nonresidential construction picked up momentum toward the end of 2022, construction spending will moderate in 2023 and significantly slow down in 2024, according to a new report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Despite macroeconomic headwinds such as inflation, rising interest rates, and weak consumer sentiment scores, the AIA’s Consensus Construction […]

EPA is taking final action to amend the Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries to reference a standard practice recently made available by ASTM International, a widely recognized standards developing organization. Specifically, this final rule amends the All Appropriate Inquiries Rule (AAI rule) to reference ASTM International’s E1527-21 “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: […]