Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Well, first of all, there is a strong tendency for injured parties to sue everyone in sight; therefore, everyone involved in the job needs insurance that will cover their cost of defense and, if found liable, the damage award. In addition, anyone with employees must have workers' comp. coverage. In theory, a jury should find the responsible party liable. Then, that party's insurer would have to step up to the plate and pay up. However, there are two flaws in this theory. First, the jury may find more than one party at fault, or may make a mistake, so not being primarily responsible may be insufficient. Secondly, even gaining complete and well-deserved acquittal can be expensive in terms of defense fees and costs. For all these reasons, a licensed contractor accepting any kind of role -- prime, sub, consultant or whatever -- needs to be fully covered with appropriate insurance and remain in frequent contact with his competent insurance agent as to the type and scope of work being contracted.