Construction Law
Manning Kass represents general contractors, subcontractors, developers, design professionals, and material suppliers in all aspects of construction claims, including bid protests, differing site conditions, delay/acceleration, construction accidents, and breach of contract. Our team is also ready to counsel and assist in transactional matters, such as contract drafting, real estate acquisition, joint venture agreements, entity formation, regulatory compliance, and “red team” proposal reviews. Our attorneys have handled these matters in numerous forums, including alternative dispute resolution, various appeals boards, and litigation.
Our Construction Law team has also handled construction defect claims involving both commercial and residential construction projects. In addition to defending “standard” construction defect cases, our attorneys have handled numerous multimillion-dollar cases involving soil subsidence, slope failures, and mold infestation.
Due to ambiguous insurance policy provisions, construction defect litigation can be lengthy and expensive. To combat this trend, our team has developed a three-pronged approach to controlling litigation expenses. First, our team makes early tenders to secure defense contributions by multiple carriers. In addition to decreasing overall expenses, early carrier participation allows for greater flexibility in making nominal settlement offers near the start of the litigation process. Secondly, we carefully evaluate the use of experts on a case-by-case basis. While experts can be helpful, they are certainly not necessary in every case. Finally, we actively and aggressively pursue early dismissals whenever and wherever possible. This philosophy allows us to minimize defense costs without sacrificing positive results.
In addition, our team has unique expertise in the intricacies of federal and municipal design-build projects and the SBA’s mentor-protégé program, with our attorneys regularly authoring articles on the subjects for Orange County Lawyer and the American Bar Association. Our attorneys also help businesses start design-build practices and help large businesses access the federal small business market through the SBA mentor-protégé program.
We pride ourselves in finding the best solution for our clients, recognizing that what is “best” is often a blend of business and legal decisions. Our attorneys’ backgrounds allow them to navigate our clients through the grey to achieve optimal results.