On December 14, 2012, Haight advised its construction clients of the ruling in the case of Beacon v. Catellus in which the appellate court reversed a trial court order sustaining a demurrer in favor of architectural firms HKS and Skidmore and against a Plaintiff HOA [click here to view original alert]. The trial court found that neither HKS nor Skidmore had a duty of care to the HOA.
HKS and Skidmore filed a Petition for Reveiw with the California Supreme Court several weeks ago. On February 27, 2013, the Supreme Court granted review of the case. It is not known how long it will take for the Supreme Court to hear and rule on the matter. The grant for review will effectively eliminate the ability to cite the First District appellate ruling. There is no telling why the Supreme Court granted review, but two likely factors are the conflicting appellate decisions on duty of care owed by professions to third parties and the fact that no court has ruled on whether SB800 creates such a duty.
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