Our Practices

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The impact of supply chain issues, rising material prices, labor shortages, and stricter environmental guidance have required construction players to be savvier than ever in order to remain competitive.

With a deep understanding of construction and an appreciation for your work’s nuances, we deliver customized, client- and project-centric approaches with practical strategies and cost-effective advice.

 

Like you, we live and breathe construction

The Construction Department at Cole Schotz is comprised of industry-focused attorneys who share your passion for construction and engineering. From planning and design to financing and building through the completion of your project, we provide legal insights to help you remain efficient and compliant as you continue developing our country’s residential, commercial and industrial spaces, infrastructure and resources.

 

Legal minds, hardhats on

We are uniquely positioned to offer guidance on a wide range of processes and issues that may materialize throughout your project. Clients call upon our team for everything from drafting construction agreements and negotiating contracts to complex litigation and the most serious disputes or government interventions.

Our services for construction clients include:
  • Litigation and dispute resolution
  • Corporate and transactional
  • Drafting and negotiating contracts
  • Environmental law
  • Financing
  • Government investigations and prosecutions
  • Guarantees, sureties and bonds
  • Internal investigations
  • Liens
  • Labor and employment
  • Tax

We represent companies, large and small, on public and private jobs, as well as matters relating to build and repair municipal infrastructure, including utilities, waterways, sewers, tunnels and bridges.

Our clients include:
  • Developers
  • Construction managers
  • Subcontractors
  • Prime contractors
  • General contractors
  • Engineers
  • Owners
  • Material suppliers
  • Trade contractors
  • Utility contractors
  • Vendors
  • Design professionals
We handle a range of Projects, including:
  • Skyscrapers
  • Warehouses
  • Manufacturing Facilities
  • Utilities
  • Sewers
  • Watermains
  • Roads and Highways
  • Bridges and Tunnels
  • Ports, Piers and Waterways
  • Rail and Transit
  • Airports
  • Water Treatment
  • Waste Water Control
  • Concrete Producers
  • Material Suppliers
  • Schools and Educational Facilities
  • Multifamily Housing
  • Co-op and Condominium renovation/construction
  • Hotels and Hospitality
  • Low Income Residential
  • Office Buildings
  • Big Box Stores
  • Retail and Financial
  • Hospitals
  • Assisted Living
  • Medical and Biological Research Facilities
  • Cannabis Facilities

 

When disputes arise, we handle with care

Litigation is time consuming and expensive, and ultimately slows down project pipelines. We are dedicated to negotiating and mediating matters, if we can position our client for a settlement that aligns with their business goals.

Sometimes disputes cannot be resolved, and we draw upon our solid track record for aggressively litigating matters through trial. We have litigated (and won) some of the largest and most complex civil cases in the tri-state area and have defended our clients in high profile criminal cases brought against their construction companies and principals. With our intimate knowledge of the industry, a thorough understanding of Lien Law issues, and an appreciation for the convoluted issues that arise in construction dispute matters, we are regularly brought in by other law firms to serve as construction litigation counsel.

We have litigated (and won) some of the largest and most complex civil cases in the tri-state area, as well as successfully defended our clients in some of the highest profile criminal cases brought against construction companies and their principals.

Our portfolio of litigation work includes:
  • Claims of defective design
  • Claims of defective or incomplete work
  • Change orders
  • Project impacts
  • Delays
  • Actual and constructive acceleration
  • Failure to pay
  • Liens (both public and private)
  • Performance bonds
  • Membership and Shareholder Claims
  • Wage, Overtime and Prevailing Wage
  • Surety and Bonds
  • Integrity
  • Procurement
  • Termination of Contracts

 

Drawing on our network

Our deep ties and active participation in the industry serve as a benefit to our clients. Our finger remains on the pulse of the industry and we maintain a large network of connections that can be advantageous for our clients.

Our attorneys are regularly brought in by outside law firms to serve as construction litigation counsel on complex construction matters for our deep understanding of the industry, the Lien Law and issues peculiar to construction.  We are also dedicated to resolving disputes prior to our clients incurring the time and expense of litigation and are experts at positioning construction disputes for settlement. However, our reputation is well known for our trial work, so adversaries are fully aware that if a dispute cannot be resolved, we will expertly and zealously litigate the matter through trial.

We regularly comment on construction law topics, providing insights to legal and trade publications and lecturing on such topics to industry groups.

We belong to legal and construction industry trade organizations, including:
  • Construction Lawyers Society of America
  • New York Building Congress
  • ABA Forum on the Construction Industry
  • General Contractors Association of New York
  • Associated General Contractors of America
  • American Institute of Architects

Representative Matters

Select Experience Includes:
  • Represented a construction manager at trial to verdict against a developer seeking unpaid contract amounts. On behalf of our client, the Cole Schotz team defeated counterclaims for delay, insurance issues and claimed repair costs, obtaining a verdict awarding our client all claims sought and dismissing each and every counterclaim against our client.
  • Representing one of the largest open shop trade contractors in New York against its insurance provider in an over $20 million premium dispute involving complicated issues as to inclusion of sub-contractors for policy premium questions and the definition of an employee.
  • Representing a substantial heavy contractor in connection with the termination of a minority shareholder. Our team has been handling the litigation regarding the termination, which includes claims of improper termination, money owed and claims as to the value of the business seeking value of the business seeking tens-of-millions of dollars.
  • Represented a heavy highway and utility prime contractor in a contract dispute with New York City, successfully defending and having dismissed a claim of unpaid prevailing wages, which could have resulted in the loss of our client’s entire business had the city found against the contractor.
  • Represented a large waste management company whose insurance company denied coverage for claims estimated in the tens-of-millions of dollars, exposing our client to potentially devastating liability. Cole Schotz prevailed on appeal which prompted an extremely favorable settlement with the insurance company and avoided the tremendous exposure faced by our client.
  • Representing one of the largest New York metropolitan area open shop trade contractors with many hundreds of employees in wage and overtime suits brought pursuant to the FLSA and state law.
  • Representing a major New York City developer in the termination of its general contractor, take-over of the project, and subsequent litigation. Our team defeated two emergency applications to the court for a TRO by the former general contractor, which would have impaired our client’s ability to continue and complete the construction work.
  • Represented to completion the sale of a construction safety company.
  • Represented a large concrete trade contractor in a highly publicized criminal matter brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office resulting in the charges being almost entirely dismissed with the imposition of basically no penalties.
  • Represented a steel superstructure contractor against claims by the developer for breach of contract, diversion of trust funds under Article 3-A of the Lien Law, and related claims, resulting in a net recovery to our client of millions of dollars.

YOUR WORK, YOUR MASTERPIECE IS DESERVING OF BESPOKE, INSPIRED LAWYERING.

About Us