Construction law is an amalgamation of contract law, commercial law, planning law, employment law and tort.  Construction law involves virtually all aspects of the legal process, including purchasing land, bidding on projects, negotiating and forming contracts and agreements, disputes between builders and homeowners over, and disputes among HOAs and their members.  These disputes often involve numerous parties, and, as a result, can present complex and difficult disputes that are not easily resolved.

In a typical construction scenario, owners and developers may need assistance in determining how to best approach their construction project.  In pursuing the interests of owners and developers, construction attorneys can help draft requests for bids to allow the owner or developer to identify a contractor, determine whether a bid can be withdrawn due to a mistake, and for certain public projects where the owner is a city, county, state or arm of the federal government, a construction attorney may be asked to file a bid protest to challenge the fairness of the bidding process.

Once a construction project is awarded to an owner or developer, construction attorneys are often called upon to draft and negotiate contracts between the owner/developer and general contractor or the general contractor and its sub-contractors.  Construction attorneys can also become involved in documenting insurance, bonding, or other surety agreements to make certain that the negotiated work is performed and to protect owners/developers, general contractors, and sub-contractors against claims for property damage or personal injury claims.

After construction begins, construction attorneys are requested to help their clients understand their contracts and how to comply with them.  The ability to successfully help a client understand what their obligations are under a given contract and how to best achieve those obligations is vital to the practice of construction attorneys.  Where contractors or subcontractors are not being paid for their work, construction attorneys may file liens or bond claims to secure payment for their clients’ work.

The end of a construction project does not mean the end for potential construction disputes.  Because construction projects are complex, expensive, stressful and sometimes dangerous, they can easily 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.  A construction attorney may be called upon to resolve these after-the-fact disputes through litigation, mediation, or arbitration.

Christensen & Jensen’s construction law and litigation attorneys have extensive experience in claims involving the construction industry and design professionals. Our attorneys have represented and defended owners, developers, contractors, sub-contractors, architects, engineers, construction managers and suppliers from across the construction and design industry as it relates to all phases of the construction process.  Christensen & Jensen’s construction law and litigation attorneys are prepared to deal with 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.

Construction law and litigation services provided by Christensen & Jensen include:

• Initial project implementation and guidance
• Evaluation of appropriate project delivery systems
• Project management analysis
• Risk allocation analysis
• Negotiating and drafting agreements relating to the varied relationships among all construction professionals
• Employment, independent contractor and labor matters
• Change order disputes
• Mechanics lien claims and enforcement
• Insurance and bond claims
• Claim and damage analysis
• Dispute resolution
• Mediation, arbitration and litigation of construction disputes

 Representative matters include:

• Defended rock wall construction company in $9 million construction defect claim
• Represented aluminum siding subcontractor in $2.5 million construction defect claim
• Defended excavating companies that installed utility lines, sewers, culinary, stormwater in a development, and cut roads in a development
• Obtained dismissal of multi-million dollar claims against national design firm arising out of design of power plant
• Defended appraisers against growing number of negligent-appraisal claims
• Represented contractors and property owners in lien disputes
• Represented architectural firm in major design and construction defect case brought by condominium owners association.
• Prevented the addition of an architect to a major construction litigation between an owner and general contractor
• Represented defendants and injured persons in claims involving construction site injuries