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Construction: West Coast
PRACTICE: Farella Braun & Martel LLP’s construction practice is praised for ‘outstanding quality and far-reaching depth’. Public and private owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals throughout the US and overseas have been advised on projects ranging from power plants, hospitals and water and waste treatment facilities, to airports, jails and laboratories. Key engagements have included representing Sony in connection with high-value claims arising out of the design and construction of the Sony Metreon in San Francisco, and advising Obayashi (a Japanese contracting firm) concerning the construction of a chip-making demonstration facility. In energy matters, the practice represented Kvaerner in a dispute concerning delays, changes in scope of work, and cost overruns incurred in the construction of a mineral extraction plant in California, while in transportation, the City and County of San Francisco was advised in a multi-million dollar fraud action against a contractor in relation to the construction of the International Terminal Complex.
CLIENTS: The client list includes impressive names such as Coca-Cola, Golden Gateway Center, Sony, City and County of San Francisco, the Port of Oakland and San Francisco Giants.
INDIVIDUALS: Of-counsel Alan Harris’ litigation experience includes the trial of complex construction cases involving defects and delay damages, the review of hundreds of construction contracts, and scores of mediation and arbitrations. Deborah Ballati is recommended for her advice in relation to delay and defect claims arising out of commercial, residential and heavy civil construction projects, as well as for contract negotiations and construction-related insurance matters.
Gibbs, Giden, Locher, Turner & Senet
PRACTICE: California and Nevada law firm Gibbs, Giden, Locher, Turner & Senet acts on an ‘impressive range’ of construction engagements in relation to counseling, transactions and litigation. Projects have included airports, power plants, hospitals, major sports venues, correctional facilities and pipelines. Delay and disruption cases requiring the practice’s expertise include the construction of various Metro Rail Transit projects, the Port of Long Beach, San Francisco International Airport, the Space Shuttle launch facility at Vandenberg Air Force Base, and the Aladdin and Venetian Hotels in Las Vegas.
CLIENTS: The broad client base includes public and private owners, design professionals, general contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers.
INDIVIDUALS: Barbara Gadbois’ practice focuses on the development and management of construction projects, including the drafting and negotiation of bid and contract documents, project delivery methods, claims avoidance and project closeout. Glenn Turner is recognized as a ‘leading light’, and a ‘safe pair of hands’ for disputes.
PRACTICE: The construction lawyers at Rocky Mountain law firm Holland & Hart LLP benefit from close alignment with the practice’s ‘talented and deeply experienced’ real estate group. Broad-ranging litigation is also core to the practice, with key matters including representing a paving contractor in a complex payment and materials fraud claim in relation to the construction of runways at Denver International Airport, and advising a major school district in connection with design and construction problems that required the demolition and rebuilding of a Denver area high school.
CLIENTS: Aside from contractors and owners, the practice also acts for major oil and gas producers, construction managers, a gas gathering company and government entities.
INDIVIDUALS: Rebecca Dow has extensive experience representing owners in commercial construction contracts and architect agreements, and advised on one of the largest master-planned projects in the State of Colorado. Of-counsel Robert Benson is famed for his participation in alternative dispute resolutions, and has served as an arbitrator in more than 60 cases, while Daniel Frost has significant experience in state and federal contracting issues, and was appointed by the State of Colorado as a Special Assistant Attorney General to assist with construction litigation. Kevin Bridston is noted for his representation of both plaintiffs and defendants in construction cases.
PRACTICE: Akerman Senterfitt continues to expand in burgeoning areas such as green and sustainable development, and demonstrates varied expertise in core industry areas such as transportation infrastructure, senior living and renewable energy project developments. Recently, the practice has also been advising clients on the impact of the financial crisis and credit restrictions on construction projects. One highlight included securing a seven-figure recovery for a general contractor in litigation against a mobile scaffolding system manufacturer in relation to the seismic retrofit of the landmark San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The practice also advised on high-profile construction contracts for the City of Santa Barbara relating to the largest municipal desalination facility on the West Coast.
CLIENTS: The impressive client list includes the City of Los Angeles, Biola University, Duke Energy and California Engineering Contractors.
INDIVIDUALS: Office managing shareholder David Dapper has acted on a plethora of multi-million dollar suits for clients like the City of Los Angeles, in relation to claims by contractors for delay.
PRACTICE: Faegre & Benson LLP’s Denver and Boulder attorneys work closely with the practice’s real estate group, focusing strongly on development activity. Key experience includes representing the public-entity owner of two major hospital projects in connection with design disputes between the owner and the architect, and acting for the developer-owner and general contractor of a major mixed-use project in litigation with a subcontractor.
CLIENTS: Clients include private and public owners, general contractors, lenders, construction managers, sureties, architects and engineers.
INDIVIDUALS: David Arkell is recommended for dispute avoidance work, as well as litigation, and the negotiation of construction contracts in both private and public construction. Litigator Janet Lawler McDaniel’s direct experience within the commercial construction industry for 15 years is ‘greatly appreciated’ by clients.
PRACTICE: California law firm Monteleone & McCrory has a recognised reputation in the field of construction defect litigation, with its handling of virtually every type of public and private construction dispute, including the construction of dams, bridges, freeways and pipelines. The practice has represented major concrete suppliers against claims of defective concrete brought by multiple homeowners, and participated in the first so-called sulphate-attack trial held in California. On the transactional side, the team represented many of the prime contractors involved in building the subway tunnels, stations and above-ground rail system for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and advised two of the prime contractors that constructed the Hyperion Treatment Plan upgrade for the City of Los Angeles.
CLIENTS: Contractors tend to be a primary source of work for the practice. Developers, subcontractors, public agencies and engineers are also represented.
INDIVIDUALS: Senior partner Michael Minchella commands respect as ‘a forceful advocate’, having acted on cases involving the construction of major highways, schools, hospitals, and pipelines. Patrick Duffy, recommended for heavy engineering matters, is ‘quite frankly an outstanding construction lawyer’.
Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP
PRACTICE: Overwhelmingly known for litigation and for US government contracts, the ‘extremely knowledgeable’ Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, LLP has expanded to encompass international disputes as far afield as Taiwan. The team is especially adept at settling potential litigation through mediation, has strong links to the arbitration community, and is especially adept at surety-side work. One highlight includes representing Camden Development in pursuing claims for delays and defective work. ‘The firm’s expertise in all legal construction matters was superior to those of the opposing council’, state clients, and ‘the internal coordination seamless, making our lives easy as we do not have to worry about what falls through the cracks.’
CLIENTS: Camden Development, Dillingham-Ray Wilson and Travelers Casualty are clients.
INDIVIDUALS: The ‘seriously bright and accessible’ Irvine-based litigator Michael Long and ‘extremely responsive’ surety expert Robert Niesley are recommended attorneys. Bennett Lee, in San Francisco, is also praised by clients.
PRACTICE: Hanson Bridgett’s national practice focuses on complex infrastructure projects, taking in project formation, contracting, financing, execution and claims. Public construction projects requiring the practice’s talents include the San Francisco Cable Car Renovation Project, San Jose Transit Mall, Santa Rita Jail and San Francisco International Airport. In contentious matters, the group advised the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in two prison construction delay claims, and represented a structural steel design builder in a nine figure casino claim.
CLIENTS: Clients include major public owners, ENR Top 50 designers, developers and contractors, along with medium-sized architectural, engineering and construction firms.
INDIVIDUALS: Chair Jeffrey Chu has extensive experience with major public works in the Bay Area, including projects relating to seismic retrofit, transit facilities, wastewater treatment plants, schools, universities and hospitals. ‘Simply dazzling when it comes to thinking out of the box’, Howard Ashcraft has been lead counsel in numerous delay cases, including representing the State of California in a claim concerning a critical transportation management facility, and serves as general counsel to a risk retention group of 85 environmental and geotechnical engineering firms.
PRACTICE: The Los Angeles office of construction law firm Peckar & Abramson handles contract disputes, delay and interruption issues, and payment remedies for defective work claims. The practice has achieved favorable settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients relating to mold contamination, earthquake, interruption damages and water intrusion on projects such as the Haas Pavilion at the University of California at Berkeley, the University of California at Riverside’s Fine Arts Center, and the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
CLIENTS: The client list is predominantly made up of general contractors and construction managers, but subcontractors, developers, design professionals, owners, financial institutions and sureties also feature.
INDIVIDUALS: Los Angeles-based John Hanover is recommended for his litigation experience, having handled multi-million dollar disputes in court, arbitrations, and mediations, and advised on more than one hundred arbitrations and mediations.
PRACTICE: The construction and design attorneys at Colorado law firm Sherman & Howard LLC benefit from a first-class real estate group that is especially strong in the resorts industry, and from excellent relations with the Rocky Mountain construction sector, with typical claims including bidding disputes, delays, defective design, interference and mistakes. Examples of work include achieving a $20m jury verdict for a general contractor on an airport runway construction project at Denver International Airport, and acting as lead counsel for the City in litigation against a general contractor and pipe manufacturer. On the transactional side, the practice prepared CMGC contract documents for a $90m water treatment plant expansion.
CLIENTS: Clients include domestic and foreign owners and developers, lenders and surety companies, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers.
INDIVIDUALS: Michael Cook has successfully negotiated and mediated claims for contractors in relation to airport runways, railroad tunnels, high-rise retirement homes and hotel projects, and prepared a raft of design-build agreements for owners.