Rebecca Young (Partner-Birmingham, AL) and Porter Simpler (Associate-Birmingham, AL) prevailed on a motion to dismiss in the Circuit Court of Benton County, Arkansas, in a construction defect case against Wilson Elser’s construction company client. The plaintiff alleged that a pool constructed by our client in 2018 had structural issues. Rebecca and Porter filed a motion to dismiss, based on the Arkansas five-year Statute of Repose. To avoid dismissal, the plaintiff amended the complaint, alleging the client fraudulently concealed the pool’s structural defects by covering them with concrete, thereby invoking a statutory fraud exception to the five-year time limit. Rebecca and Porter then filed a motion to dismiss the amendment, arguing that the plaintiff’s pleading still failed, as our client’s act of covering the pool's structural issues with concrete did not amount to fraudulent concealment under Arkansas law, which requires the alleged fraud to be "furtively planned and secretly executed." After additional briefing and oral arguments, the court dismissed all claims against the client.