Construction Law

Clark Hill’s Construction Law team provides comprehensive Transactional and Dispute Resolution Services to owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, manufacturers, suppliers, lenders, and public entities throughout the lifecycle of a construction project.

While our full-service team can help clients plan, structure, and execute successful projects, our construction attorneys can also help them proactively manage risk and protect their business objectives when responding to claims, disputes, mediation, arbitration, bonds, liens, and administrative hearings.

Transactional Services

Dispute Resolution Services

Transactional Services: Building Successful Projects Before Problems Arise

Clark Hill helps owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, manufacturers, suppliers, and public entities understand the contractual complexities that come with any construction project. As part of our full-service practice for the Construction Industry, and in addition to our Construction Dispute Resolution Services, our national Construction team provides Transactional services in documentation, contracts, change orders, lien waivers, and agreements.

As attorneys with decades of experience in construction matters, we recognize that successful projects begin with clear strategy, coordinated documentation, and practical risk allocation. Taking a business-focused approach to legal matters, our Construction Transactional team works with clients at the earliest stages through contracting, procurement, project administration, and closeout.

We help clients identify project-specific risks before they become disputes, develop contract language that reflects practical job-site realities, and create communication, notice, documentation, and change management processes that support efficient project delivery. But should conflicts develop, we rely on our full-service bench of attorneys, including those in our Dispute Resolution Services group, to preserve rights, support negotiations, and keep our clients’ broader objectives front and center.

Representative Transactional Services

Project Planning

• • Requests for proposals/qualifications (RFPs/RFQs)
  • Procurement strategy
  • Risk allocation
  • Delivery methods
  • Regulatory and tax credit compliance
  • Insurance and bonding

  Contracting

  • • Design-bid-build
    • Traditional and progressive design-build agreements
    • Engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC)
    • Construction management agreements, Cost Plus Fee with or without a GMP
    • Public-private partnerships (P3);
    • Integrated project delivery
    • Master Services Agreements
    • Design Professional Agreements
    • Joint ventures
    • Subcontracts
    • Consultant agreements

  Project Execution

  • • • Change orders and construction change directives
      • Claims avoidance
      • Payment administration
      • Project documentation

  Navigating Claims

  • • • Delays, disruptions, changes, extras, and differing site conditions
      • Liens and bonds
      • Construction defects
      • Design errors and omissions
      • Payment disputes
      • Termination and default
      • Dispute resolution

  Closeout

  • • • Warranty matters
      • Defect resolution
      • Final payment issues
      • Project completion disputes

  Dispute Resolution Services Across Forums

  While our Transactional team helps with the initial contract and development process, Clark Hill’s Dispute Resolution Services team helps clients identify, evaluate, preserve, and resolve claims before disputes disrupt project performance.

  As part of our full-service practice for the Construction Industry, and in addition to our Construction Transactional services, our national Construction team helps clients resolve disputes efficiently, protect project value, and position matters for successful outcomes. With licensed construction attorneys and offices strategically located throughout the country, we provide Dispute Resolution Services, including evaluating claims, preserving rights, drafting dispute notices, developing negotiation strategies, and preparing matters for arbitration or litigation when early resolution is not possible.

  With our business-minded legal approach, we understand that some disputes are best resolved through early negotiation or mediation, while others require a disciplined record, persuasive expert analysis, and a willingness to try the case.

  In every matter, we work with clients to assess risk, budget, schedule impact, business relationships, and strategic leverage so that dispute resolution supports the client’s broader project and business objectives.

  Representative Disputes

  • • Construction-claim preparation, evaluation, and prosecution
    • Federal claims, from Requests for Equitable Adjustments (REAs), certified claims, Boards of Contract Appeals, and Court of Claims
    • Payment disputes, including liens and bonds
    • Disruptions, delays, acceleration, and suspension
    • Construction defects & design errors and omissions
    • Professional-liability claims
    • Changes and extras
    • Differing site conditions
    • Indemnity
    • Insurance coverage and surety claims
    • Bid protests
    • Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) citations
    • Termination, default, and project closeout