A New York appeals court has affirmed a $1.6 billion award for the developer of a Bahamas mega project against various subsidiaries of China State Construction Engineering Corporation, the world’s largest construction company...more
4/21/2025
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Bahamas ,
Breach of Contract ,
China ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Disputes ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Corporate Governance ,
Corporate Veil ,
Damages ,
Fraud ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Piercing the Corporate Veil
A federal judge in Louisiana has dished out some harsh criticism of contractors who don’t reduce their contracts to writing. The case involves the decommissioning of 26 orphaned oil and gas wells near Baton Rouge. The...more
3/21/2025
/ Arbitration ,
Breach of Contract ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Dispute Resolution ,
Evidence ,
Litigation Strategies ,
Oil & Gas
A federal judge in New York served up a good reminder last week about the importance of dotting your i’s and crossing your t’s when it comes to perfecting a mechanic’s lien. The case involves a payment dispute between a...more
Not according to a decision from a federal court in Ohio. The case involves a landscaping project at a hillside home in Cincinnati. The property overlooks the Ohio River, but like many projects that become cases, it ended up...more
The Washington Court of Appeals recently affirmed a jury verdict and $30 million judgment for general contractor Skanska. The case involves the construction of the 41-story Nexus condominium tower in downtown Seattle. As is...more
2/5/2025
/ Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Breach of Contract ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Evidence ,
General Contractors ,
Jury Trial ,
Litigation Strategies
As construction claim lawyers, we are always on the lookout for insurance policies or “bonds” that might satisfy our client’s claim. On federal projects, this includes performance and payment bonds known as Miller Act bonds....more
1/27/2025
/ Appeals ,
Bonds ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Contract Disputes ,
Federal Contractors ,
Insurance Claims ,
Insurance Industry ,
Risk Management ,
Subcontractors ,
Surety Bonds
Here at Bradley we frequently represent clients pursuing or opposing claims for lost productivity on construction jobs. The gist of those claims is that something happened which decreased productivity and thereby increased...more
12/27/2024
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Damages ,
Delays ,
Federal Rules of Evidence ,
Lost Productivity ,
Rule of Evidence 702
All breaches are not created equal. A minor, technical breach may be deemed “immaterial.” Other breaches – so-called “material” breaches — deprive the non-breaching party of something important or essential to the purpose of...more
Last week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals confirmed an international arbitration award in a case involving a failed hydroelectric project in Guatemala. The project involved an Engineering, Procurement, and Construction...more
The court in AECOM v. Flatiron was back at it last week with rulings on the parties’ post-trial motions. As you may recall, the case was tried to a jury earlier this year. The jury returned a verdict for AECOM in the amount...more
In an unpublished opinion, a California appeals court has upheld a subcontractor’s mechanics lien claim despite the subcontractor’s failure to strictly follow the procedural requirements set forth in the mechanics lien...more
5/9/2024
/ Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Litigation ,
Construction Project ,
Contract Disputes ,
Contract Terms ,
Foreclosure ,
Lenders ,
Liens ,
Mechanics Lien ,
Subcontractors
We previously blogged about the hotly contested dispute between AECOM and FlatIron involving the I-70 construction project outside of Denver. After an 18-day trial, the jury returned a verdict last month for plaintiff AECOM...more
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals recently applied a no-damages-for-delay provision to affirm the dismissal of a demolition contractor’s breach of contract claims. The project involved reconstructing and raising the Bayonne...more
A California federal court ruled last week that a surety can enforce an arbitration clause in a contract to which it is not a party. The dispute involves performance and payment bond claims brought by solar contractor...more
Construction contracts often include clauses that purport to limit the liability of one or both parties. This includes clauses that completely prohibit any claims for certain types of damages such as lost profits and other...more
The court in AECOM v. Flatiron is back at it issuing additional evidentiary rulings as the parties head to trial later this month. These latest rulings highlight the risk of seeking the same damages from multiple parties,...more
Back in April we examined the court’s decision in Boldt v. Black & Veatch, which dismissed a subcontractor’s counterclaim for wrongful termination on a 60-turbine wind farm project. As you may recall, the subcontractor hired...more
A Texas court has rejected a pipeline contractor’s $25 million claim for additional costs based on broad release language include in an executed change order (see Wood Group, USA v. Targa NGL Pipeline Company, LLC, No....more
Construction contacts often include provisions that provide for pre-determined or “liquidated” damages in the event of a breach. Such provisions can provide certainty to the parties as to the consequences of a breach and can...more
Every first year law student in the U.S. takes a course on the Law of Contracts. It’s a rite of passage where lawyers-to-be learn all about things like consideration and legally-enforceable promises. And as lawyers, we also...more
A federal court in Louisiana last week refused to enforce a limitation of liability provision included in an extra work order holding that it was trumped by the parties’ subcontract (see Planet Construction v. Gemini...more
Many subcontracts contain a catch-all provision requiring the subcontractor to do everything the prime contractor is obligated to do under the prime contract. This is known as an “incorporation” clause because it adopts or...more
Last week we saw the Menard court reject the use of an indemnity clause to shift fees in a dispute between contracting parties. This week, a very recent decision from Nevada highlights another creative way to shift fees where...more