Find Lawyers in Georgia, United States for Construction Law
Practice Area Overview
For a typical project, a construction lawyer may be called upon to assist the owner in obtaining land for the project. Buying the land and building a project on the land often requires financing from another source, and construction lawyers often help prepare and negotiate the various loan documents that define the rights of the bank, bondholders, or other source of funding.
Construction lawyers may assist owners and developers in deciding which project delivery approach best suits their project, such as design-bid-build, design build, or multi-prime construction. Then, construction lawyers may help draft requests for bids to allow the owner or developer to identify a contractor. A lawyer may help determine whether a bid can be withdrawn due to a mistake. For certain public projects where the owner is a city, county, state, or arm of the federal government, a construction lawyer may be called upon to file a bid protest to challenge the fairness of the bidding process.
After the project is awarded, lawyers are often involved in drafting and negotiating contracts between the owner and general contractor or the general contractor and its subcontractors. Lawyers also may be involved in documenting insurance and bonding arrangements to secure performance of the work and protect the parties against property damage or personal injuries.
During the project, construction lawyers are often called upon to help the participants understand their contracts and comply with them. Many construction lawyers see this kind of work as extremely rewarding, because their guidance can help keep construction on track toward a successful conclusion. Where contractors or subcontractors are not being paid for their work, construction lawyers may file liens or bond claims to secure payment for their clients’ work.
Construction projects are complex, expensive, stressful, and sometimes dangerous, and thus give rise to many different kinds of disputes, including disputes about the cost and duration of the project, the quality of the work, and responsibility for injuries or damages suffered during the work or, sometimes, after the work is completed. Construction disputes are often complex, involving many parties and substantial amounts of money, so construction lawyers often engage in complex commercial litigation. Many construction contracts call for dispute resolution through dispute review boards, mediation, and arbitration, so a successful construction lawyer will understand the advantages, disadvantages, and nuances of alternative dispute resolution techniques.
While often seen as a specialist, a construction lawyer is, in many ways, a generalist who must be prepared to deal with almost any kind of legal problem that may affect the construction industry, whether that problem involves contract law, banking law, tax law, environmental law, criminal law, international law, bankruptcy law, real property law, insurance law, tort law, bond and lien law, administrative law, or litigation.
Deborah Cazan is an experienced construction attorney and dedicated business counselor. One hundred percent of her practice over the past 16 years has focused on representing clients in litigation, arbitration and mediation of construction, development and real estate related disputes, including claims for delay, acceleration, interference, defective construction, defective design, scope changes and other issues. She has prosecuted and defended high-profile and high-dollar claims all over the...
Robert Crewdson, Chair of the Atlanta Construction Law Practice, focuses on the litigation and transactional needs of national and international clients in the development and construction industry. Robert’s practice includes disputes for owners and real estate investors around the country and worldwide, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation in both state and federal courts. His cases often involve contractor terminations, extra work claims, delay claims, and substantial cons...
Dave Dial leads the firm's nationally recognized Construction Litigation Practice and is the counsel of choice among major players in the construction industry including owners, sureties, architects/engineers, general contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. In addition to significant depth in the construction industry, Dave has amassed extensive experience from his 30 years as lead trial counsel in complex cases. Advocating for clients in the most challenging of state and federal courts an...
Dan Douglass is an attorney in the Atlanta office of Stites where he practices in the areas of construction law, business litigation and alternative dispute resolution. He has been a member of the Georgia Bar for more than 35 years and is admitted to practice in all Georgia courts and numerous federal courts. He is a member of construction and ADR sections of the American, Georgia and Atlanta Bar Associations, and a past president of the Atlanta Bar Construction Law Section. He has been an ac...
John S. Ducat has a global construction law practice concentrated on the representation of owners/employers, developers, and contractors in complex transactional and litigation matters concerning the development and construction of major projects. He regularly counsels clients in numerous sectors and his broad range of experience includes work on manufacturing facilities, warehouse and distribution centers, data centers, infrastructure, renewable energy projects, nuclear power plants, airport...
Michael Egan is a Senior Member of the firm in the Atlanta office where he is a member of the Construction Service Group. His practice involves counseling owners, architects, sureties, construction product manufacturers, and builders on matters including design, finance, building, and fidelity and surety disputes. Michael is a member of the American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Committee on the Construction Industry. Recent News, Articles & Speaking Engagements Louisville law fir...
Ross Ginsberg focuses his practice on representation of project participants in a wide variety of construction projects. He has provided advice, contracting, and litigation support to owners, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professional in projects as varied as energy producing plants, manufacturing facilities, stadium projects, transportation projects, other infrastructure projects, hotels and casinos. Ross has a national practice with cases and projects sited within and ou...
Joe Henner is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group. An experienced construction attorney, he works with clients to achieve successful projects on time and on budget by preventing and resolving disputes efficiently. For more than 30 years, Joe has represented international and national general contractors, construction managers, design-builders, and public and private owners. Through in-house education seminars and a concentration on front-end issues, Joe partners with his clients to max...
Mike Lord is a partner with the firm and is Chair of the Construction and Design Law practice group. He has over 30 years' experience in construction, professional liability, commercial and real estate litigation. Mr. Lord’s construction law practice includes representation of architects, engineers, surveyors and other design professionals, general and sub-contractors, owners and developers in all manner of construction disputes. He has significant experience both in the contracting and...
Eric Nelson is a partner with Smith, Currie & Hancock and practices in the area of construction law and government contracts, representing owners, engineers, general contractors, EPC and design-build contractors, construction managers and subcontractors. Mr. Nelson’s practice primarily involves dispute resolution of construction-related claims. He has tried cases in federal and state courts throughout the county and before the various federal government boards of contract appeals. He has ...
Chris Phillips is a partner in the Savannah office of the Firm. His practice areas include medical malpractice defense , construction law , products liability , insurance law, and general litigation . Chris focuses his practice on defense of hospitals, physicians, nurses, and other health care related professionals in medical malpractice matters. He has successfully defended numerous wrongful death and permanent injury cases for various health care providers. Chris also concentrates in the ar...
Tyler has significant experience in large and complex construction projects located across the United States and overseas. He understands construction issues from the ground up and at every stage of project design, development, and construction. Among his many engagements, Tyler served as on-site project counsel on a rail project in Saudi Arabia, was seconded to an international rail design-builder in Germany, and handled disputes on major, high-profile, transportation, government, and indust...
With more than a decade of experience focused on the construction of energy, manufacturing and commercial projects, Mike has the experience to guide owners and contractors through complex disputes. He is known for his work on troubled power projects involving high-dollar claims in courts and arbitration inside and outside the U.S. Mike Shanlever devotes his practice to stakeholders in complex capital projects, particularly in the energy, industrial and infrastructure sectors. Across the globe...
Bill Sheppard's practice has traditionally involved a combination of litigation and transactional work. His primary focus is on construction, environmental, real estate and banking matters, but he has broad experience in other areas of the law. Bill has represented owners, contractors, and subcontractors in litigated matters arising from construction projects in state and federal courts and before arbitration panels. He has negotiated hundreds of contracts relating to real estate development,...
Bruce Smith is a senior partner and head of the firm’s Construction Law Practice. Mr. Smith is also a senior member of the Environmental Practice Group. Mr. Smith’s practice encompasses the complete spectrum of construction and environmental matters and issues. His practice focuses on the following aspects of construction and environmental law: environmental due diligence and assessment; construction and environmental permits and entitlements; reviewing, drafting and negotiating a...
Chad V. Theriot is a partner in the Litigation Practice Group and a member of the firm’s board of directors. He focuses on major public and commercial construction and infrastructure projects. Chad advises domestic and international clients across a broad spectrum of construction, contracting, and procurement activities. He represents owners, commercial and government contractors, major subcontractors, and original equipment manufacturers in construction litigation and construction clai...
Tim Toler brings more than 35 years of litigation and arbitration experience to his representation of construction project owners, general contractors, specialty contractors and heavy industrial equipment suppliers. He was named the 2021 “Lawyer of the Year” for Construction Law in Atlanta by The Best Lawyers in America. Tim has significant experience representing commercial owners on troubled projects in contract disputes with general contractors and their sureties, as well as th...
Scott Witzigreuter's civil litigation practice focuses on construction litigation and commercial contract litigation. He has litigated cases on behalf of owners, contractors, subcontractors, sureties, suppliers, materialmen, engineers, design professionals and insurers in Alabama, Nevada, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Kentucky, North Carolina, Nebraska and Ohio.
James’ practice focuses on litigation and alternative dispute resolution for cases involving all aspects of the construction industry. James represents both domestic and international clients in the construction industry, including owners, general contractors, and suppliers, on projects ranging from multibillion-dollar stadium and infrastructure projects to alternative energy production projects, and greenfield industrial installations. James has represented several clients in multimill...
Jake represents and advises clients in the construction, manufacturing, and real estate industries in business disputes, commercial transactions, and related corporate matters. Jake’s construction practice encompasses representation of contractors, subcontractors, public and private owners, architectural and engineering firms, and sureties in a variety of disputes involving contracts, business torts, multi-party construction defects, and in negotiating construction contracts and related...
Jake is native Georgian from Forsyth County who represents plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of civil litigation, including breach of contract, fraud, construction litigation, and other business disputes. He has also briefed or argued appeals in state and federal courts of appeal, including the United States Supreme Court. Before joining the firm, Jake clerked for Judge Adalberto Jordan of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Miami, Florida and practiced civil litigation...
JD Howard is an Associate in the firm’s Environmental and Construction Practice Groups. JD focuses his practice on the national representation of project owners, lenders, investors, developers, general contractors, and specialty subcontractors in the drafting, negotiation, and review of design, engineering, and construction agreements. He has assisted clients with the design, construction, and renovation of major commercial buildings, multi-family housing projects (including condominium...
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