Construction Defect Litigation (CDL) continues to be one of the most expensive and troublesome risks faced by the New Home Building Industry. Most of the claims received by Builders and their Trade Contractors are initiated by predatory plaintiffs’ attorneys who simply search for large new home projects that are nearing the end of their 10 year statutory limitations. They then launch aggressive marketing campaigns to the home owners in those projects using both fear (of unnamed or exaggerated construction defects that would degrade the value of the homes if untended) and greed (“we will secure a large settlement in your behalf with no financial outlay on your part”). In short, they are not “fighting on behalf of abused home owners”, but rather are “solutions looking for financially attractive problems” for themselves. We used to call them “ambulance chasers”, but at least these attorneys were actually dealing with a visible injury……

The building industry continues to work to pass new legislation that will help protect the industry from these schemes, such as SB800, but the legal process for doing so successfully is very, very complex, and any missteps can be financially fatal. To successfully defend against these claims, and even better to develop a reputation for being “hard shell cases” that do not lead to beneficial settlements for the plaintiffs’ attorneys, it is critical that the builders and their attorneys and insurance companies work in flawless concert with the trade contractors and their attorneys and insurance companies.

This is the sole purpose and goal for the development of these Litigation Processes and Protocols. Some of the key sub points of this goal include:

	Providing a library of laws, terms, and processes that can be used by all of the above named parties that must band together if claims are to be successfully defended.
	Encouraging a climate of cooperation between these entities, focusing their efforts on the real enemy (Plaintiffs’ attorneys!), rather than each other.
	Collecting and documenting successful strategies and tactics that can be consistently used against these attacks, such as the “Protecting Your Home’s Equity” pamphlet that can clearly communicate the down-side for home owners that only hear about “free lunches” from the Plaintiffs’ attorneys, not recognizing that the “free lunch” is not for them, but rather the attorneys themselves, partially at the home owners’ expense.