MeyerGoergen will present Getting Paid: Contractors Rights in Collections & Bankruptcy to the Association of General Contractors Wednesday, March 7th at 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Location: AGC office at 11950 Nuckols Road Click here for event flier. Speakers: David G. Browne practices commercial litigation and bankruptcy representing developers, contractors and subs in construction and contract disputes, and…

Some years ago, the television series “Ed”, began with the titular character losing his job at a Wall Street law firm.  The firm fired Ed after it suffered a multi-million dollar malpractice liability, supposedly caused by his misplacing a comma in a large contract he had drafted. But such things only happen on television, right? …

There are several ways that construction disputes can be resolved: Refereeing by the architect as the project proceeds; Negotiations and compromise; Law suits in the court system; Mediation; and Arbitration. In this section, we will discuss the pros and cons of each option. I.    Law Suits in Court Litigation through the courts system is how…

After the Job Once substantial completion is achieved, and the punch lists are in the works, there are still opportunities to keep disputes within a narrow range where resolution without resort to lawyers is achievable. A.    Make sure you get the certificate of occupancy or other inspection, to document when your work was complete.  If…

To state the obvious, the best way to stay out of disputes is to attend diligently to your work, meet the schedule, assure quality performance, and keep all lines of communication open. But there are a handful of key areas that tend to spawn disputes, and special attention to these areas can stop disputes from…

Introduction Only two types of people enjoy litigation:  lawyers, and (other) crazy people.  Litigation is time-consuming, extraordinarily expensive, and often has other negative effects like causing delay in payment or destroying business relationships. With that being said, in the construction industry, litigation is almost impossible to avoid completely.  While reasonable compromise should always be sought,…

With the down economy, many companies have eliminated jobs and turned to independent contractors to trim costs.  However, it is not up to the business or the worker to decide who is a contractor and who is an employee.  The IRS is the ultimate arbiter, and failure to follow its rules can be financially painful…

The bane of the commercial subcontractor’s accounts receivable is the “pay when paid” clause — once an inventive addition to a few general contractors’ forms, now the norm in form subcontracts offered on major projects. The “pay when paid” clause provides that, notwithstanding any other contract provision, the general contractor need not make payment to…

Contrary to many contractors’ assumptions, a subcontractor’s bid to a general contractor is not binding in and of itself — even if the general contractor relies upon it in formulating its bid to the project owner.  Instead, the bid is merely an offer, which the general contractor must act to accept if it wishes to…