2026 West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar
Disneyland Resort HotelThe West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar, established in 1993, has become a cornerstone event for the construction defect community and remains the largest seminar of its kind worldwide. Bringing together legal, insurance, builder, contractor, and industry professionals from across the United States and abroad, the seminar provides one of the most comprehensive forums for discussing the prosecution, defense, insurance coverage, and emerging issues surrounding construction defect claims and litigation.
Snowballing Claims: How Little Problems Become Big Ethical Headaches
Friday, May 15, 2026 – 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM PST
Cheryl L. Kozdrey, Saxe Doernberger & Vita, P.C.
Cameron Kalunian, Lewis Brisbois LLP
Cynthia Garcia, Bernards
This course will provide a comprehensive examination of the complex and evolving challenges that contribute to slow-developing construction defect claims and impede efficient resolution. Presented by a panel of coverage counsel, construction defense counsel, and a chief risk officer from a leading California ENR-ranked general contractor, the session will provide practical solutions for mitigating risk and damages while navigating contractual, statutory, and ethical obligations. Attendees will gain insight into duties to cure, obligations to preserve property and evidence, and chain of custody concerns, as well as mechanics lien considerations, implications of voluntary payment conditions in liability policies and the need to preserve subrogation rights. The discussion will address practical strategies for allowing timely inspection or impacted construction work by all interested parties and insurers, and the importance of prompt and thorough reporting to insurers, liable parties, and stakeholders. Additionally, the course will analyze how mixed claims involving multiple policies or coverage types impact resolution efforts and create delays, and how these delays intersect with ethical duties to clients, insurers, and other parties.
A central theme of the program will be the ethical requirements and considerations inherent in balancing competing obligations—such as safeguarding rights, complying with policy conditions, and managing stakeholder expectations—while striving for efficient and fair resolution. The panel will also review dispute resolution options and requirements, highlighting how ethical principles guide decision-making in complex, multi-party scenarios. Through real-world examples and interactive discussion, participants will leave with practical tools for addressing these dilemmas in a manner consistent with professional responsibility standards.