Summer 2010 Construction Update Newsletter: Hybrid Public/Private Construction Projects; Sovereign Immunity Held by Maryland School Boards

Whiteford, Taylor & Preston's Construction Industry Group periodically publishes the Construction Update newsletter, edited by Lisa Sparks, LEED AP O+M, which covers legal issues of note to the construction industry.  The Summer 2010 edition is out now.  It features an article by Bob Carney and Lisa on the increased use of hybrid public/private construction projects, adapted from a paper the two authored earlier this year, Is It Public or Not?, which was presented by Bob at the 2010 ABA Forum on the Construction Industry MidWinter Meeting, held January 27-29, 2010 in San Francisco.  The newsletter also includes a piece by Will Pearce, LEED AP BD+C on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals' recent decision in Board of Education of Worcester Co. v. BEKA Industries, in which the court addressed the sovereign immunity of Maryland’s county school boards to breach of contract actions and the application and enforceability of a no-damages-for-delay clause in a cosntruction contract.  Most notably, the court held that in order for the waiver of sovereign immunity applicable to the school boards to be effective, the board must have appropriated funds available to satisfy the judgment.  Since the newsletter went to print, the Maryland Court of Appeals, Maryland's highest court, granted certiorari and is expected to hear arguments in the appeal later this year.