Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/155946
10 • SEPTEMBER 2013 • WORLD FENCE NEWS CLFMI summer meeting continued from previous page TILT-A-WAY RESIDENTIAL & INDUSTRIAL OPERATORS Compare our quality! You will see there is a difference! Commercial Residential All operators meet UL-325 and CSA-247 (800) 523-3888 www.tiltaway.com info@tiltaway.com SPREAD THE (WORLD FENCE) NEWS! Tell your friends, employees and business associates that they can now read World Fence News and The Fencer's Almanac in a fully interactive format online. And there is no charge! Visit www.worldfencenews.com (click on image of the current issue) in the U.S. and that the recovery for steel has been sluggish. He said that there is an oversupply right now but that he doesn't feel there will be any major changes in the near term. Obermire warned that there is competition at every step in the supply chain, and feels that further consolidation in the steel industry will be necessary for it to stay healthy. Employee benefits specialist Deborah Tompkins gave members a direct and understandable overview of the changes in the Affordable Care Act provisions that have already started taking place. She pointed out that the recent pushback of certain aspects of the Act does not change employers' obligations to comply with the rest of its re- ASA supports subcontractor in case before Supreme Court On Aug. 23, 2013, the American Subcontractors Association urged the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm an appeals court's decision in a case concerning whether construction disputes should be resolved in a local forum or, instead, subcontractors can be forced to take their claims to a far off jurisdiction. ASA filed an amicus curiae brief in Atlantic Marine Construction quirements. She encouraged employers to get an advisor, someone who specializes in these areas, and develop a specific, written, formal plan for dealing with the new health care requirements. "Ask the questions and do the math," she implored. "Each company is unique and will have to comply in its own way." CLFMI's active membership is comprised of firms which manufacture chain link fence fabric, fittings, framework, accessories, and/or the materials used to produce them. For information on membership, call 410-290-6267, fax 410-290-5282, or e-mail executive vice-president Mark Levin at clfmihq@aol.com. Visit the web site www.chainlinkinfo.org. The organization's winter meeting is scheduled for Nov. 6–8 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, D.C. Co. v. J-Crew Management, Inc., supporting the subcontractor, J-Crew, in a case in which the country's highest court will determine whether federal courts are required to enforce contractual forum-selection clauses or whether judges have the right to consider other factors, such as the overall convenience of the parties and witnesses and the interests of justice when deciding if venue is proper. In the construction industry, outof-state general contractors commonly require their subcontractors to sign forum-selection and choice of law clauses, arguing that it's more convenient and less expensive for them to resolve disputes in a jurisdiction of their choice. "The general contractor's expediency comes at the detriment of its subcontractors, whose places of business, records, and personnel generally are close to the location of the construction project," said ASA chief advocacy officer E. Colette Nelson. "Forum-selection clauses can chill a subcontractor's ability to recover claims by imposing significant and unnecessary impediments and financial costs to the recovery of amounts due." If the Supreme Court were to require strict enforcement of such clauses, it would undermine subcontractors' ability to point to state law voiding or making voidable forum-selection clauses in construction contracts that mandate litigation or arbitration in a state other than the state where the project is located. "Twenty-two states have enacted laws that void, or make voidable, forum-selection clauses in construction contracts that attempt to require litigation outside the state where the work was performed," Nelson noted. continued on page 38