2007 was a busy year for the Cole Schotz Construction Services Department, for both construction transactions and construction litigation.  We represented owner-developers, general contractors, construction managers, the full spectrum of trade contractors, paving and road construction contractors and sewer contractors, material suppliers, bonding companies, condominium associations and homeowners.  Our owner-developer clients included REITS, real estate and private equity funds, national retail chains, Fortune 500 companies, residential developers and health care providers.

Our transactional team prepared construction contracts, construction management agreements, pre-construction services agreements, development management agreements, owner-design professional agreements, subcontracts and contractor joint venture agreements for a variety of public and private projects in New Jersey, New York and other states around the country.  Projects included:

• shopping malls, strip centers and big box retail centers
• corporate headquarters, offices buildings, hotels
• single-family and townhouse developments, rental housing and condominiums
• warehouse/distribution, industrial centers
• health care facilities
• automobile dealerships

Our construction lawyers also counseled clients on a variety of construction law issues, including code compliance, review and updating of forms of construction agreements, and construction issues including the 2007 revisions to the AIA documents.

Our litigation team successfully represented our clients in a multiplicity of litigation in state and federal courts, and private arbitrations, in New Jersey, New York and several other states.  These matters, often involving claims of tens of millions of dollars, included claims for construction defects, payment claims, breach of contract, delay damages, claims for shoring up destabilized soil, fraud claims, design professional malpractice, mechanics’ and construction lien claims, bond claims, bankruptcies and workouts.  These claims involved public and private projects, including single-family housing developments; residential and commercial condominiums; office, warehouse, industrial projects; hotels; nursing homes; banks; schools and universities; libraries; road paving and construction projects; sewer projects; retail projects including shopping malls and supermarkets; and ice rinks.  

In many cases, Cole Schotz construction lawyers were able to resolve or settle disputes pre-litigation, a tremendous savings to our clients.  In others, our construction litigators obtained favorable judgments or awards in litigation and arbitrations.