Nathan Cole on the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, the Canestraro Case Before the SJC cover art

Nathan Cole on the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, the Canestraro Case Before the SJC

Nathan Cole on the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act, the Canestraro Case Before the SJC

Listen for free

View show details

About this listen

 What happens when a first-generation college student who got his Coast Guard captain's license the day he turned 19, watched a tornado touch down from a Plymouth Harbor tour boat, worked as a deckhand from age 13, and then decided he was better suited for a courtroom than a federal ethics desk builds a trial practice that ends up arguing before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on a case that could change how every subcontractor in the state gets paid? In this episode of the Trustcast Show, Zane Myers speaks with Nathan Cole, founding partner of Cole Law Partners, about the Massachusetts Prompt Pay Act — what it requires, what happens when a general contractor ignores a payment requisition or fails to certify a rejection in good faith, and why that failure is far from a trivial technicality. Nathan walks through the Canestraro v. Columbia case in detail — a nearly million-dollar lost productivity claim by New England's largest mechanical subcontractor, litigated through years of arbitration, won at summary judgment, escalated to the trial court, and now before the SJC with a ruling that could set precedent on both the Prompt Pay Act and the standard for vacating arbitration awards in Massachusetts. He also explains the order of operations argument at the heart of the case: that a general contractor cannot hold onto disputed money, force a sub through years of litigation, lose at summary judgment, then pay under court order and immediately claw the money back — because if that is allowed, the Prompt Pay Act means nothing. They also discuss what subcontractors should do before a fight ever starts — including the one contract clause Nathan says is a no-brainer that most subcontracts are missing right now, why ambiguity is the single biggest enemy of any contractor who wants to avoid litigation, how to build a lost productivity claim before ever filing suit using MCAA factors and expert witnesses, when a business divorce becomes a legal claim and how forensic accountants help determine whether the fight is worth having, and how Cole Law Partners went from four lawyers and no staff in October 2025 to fourteen people in seven months. Nathan Cole is the founding partner of Cole Law Partners, a boutique litigation firm based in Massachusetts specializing in construction law, business disputes, and employment matters. Connect with Nathan Cole: LinkedIn: Nathan Cole Cole Law Partners Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Nathan Cole 00:38 From whale watching boats and a federal ethics desk to deciding he needed a courtroom 02:20 Clerking for a Massachusetts Superior Court judge as a career reboot 03:26 Subcontractor finishes a job and the GC goes quiet — what do they do in the first 30 days 04:47 What makes something a Prompt Pay Act job versus any other classification 06:07 What the GC is required to do within 22 days and what happens when they ignore it 08:31 The three things a rejection must include — written, contractual basis, factual basis, and good faith certification 10:27 What a savvy subcontractor can do strategically when the GC blows the deadline 11:15 Can a sub legally stop working if they're not getting paid — and should they 12:53 Negotiating construction contracts — getting to yes without wasting money on redlines 15:45 The top things Nathan always pushes for in a subcontract negotiation 18:12 Coaching the subcontractor to have the conversation versus formally redlining a contract 19:34 Ambiguity is the client's biggest enemy — why elimination of ambiguity saves more than any clause 21:00 Risk allocation — why a sub should not be responsible for what it cannot control 22:13 When trade stacking and GC mismanagement create schedule damage the subcontractor absorbs 24:01 Rapid fire — tornado on the harbor tour, Ragged Mountain versus hiking, where did the Boston accent go 29:27 Construction crisis call at 5 p.m. on a Friday — what Nathan does first 30:07 One clause every contractor should add to their subcontract right now — attorney's fees 30:40 The Canestraro case — plumbing sub, nearly a million dollars, years of fighting — what happened on that job 32:16 What a lost productivity or cumulative impact change order actually is and why it is hard to execute 33:25 How Canestraro documented the claim before litigation using MCAA factors and an expert witness 34:51 Columbia's rejection that was missing the good faith certification — and why that was fatal 36:43 Why the arbitrator correctly ordered payment at summary judgment — the Tachi decision context 37:42 The order of operations argument — you cannot hold the money, force the litigation, lose, pay, and then claw it back 39:34 The case goes from arbitration to the trial court to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court #NathanCole #ColeLawPartners #PromptPayAct #TrustcastShow #ConstructionLaw #MassachusettsLaw #CanestraroCase #SubcontractorRights #BusinessDivorce #...
No reviews yet
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.