From conceptualization through project closeout, Dorsey helps clients establish and maintain the working relationships necessary to successfully complete projects. When disputes arise, our accomplished trial lawyers prove why they’ve earned a track record of successful results in trial and arbitration.

Throughout the United States and internationally, construction industry and design professions count on Dorsey. With a solid understanding of the issues and in-the-trenches construction and design project experience, Dorsey provides proactive solutions to owners, developers, contractors, architects, engineers, construction managers, lenders, investors, manufacturers, government agencies, and bonding and insurance companies.

Project Planning, Design and Formation

Clients depend on us to protect their interests by anticipating and solving a wide array of issues and problems that arise during the planning, design, and formation stages of construction projects: complicated project financing arrangements, joint ventures and other teaming arrangements, public-private partnerships, privatization, complex project delivery systems, bid questions, environmental and other regulatory compliance issues, labor agreements, work visas, and more.

Our lawyers understand the benefits and risks of the project delivery systems that are used in today’s global marketplace, and we help our clients identify and fairly allocate the risks inherent in each system.

Standard Form Agreements

In addition to drafting original, project-specific contract documents, we routinely work with all of the standard form construction and design agreements.

Our team also assists clients with the many special challenges that impact construction projects:

• Insurance coverage
• Competitive bidding processes
• Compliance with special requirements set forth in contract documents
• Compliance with federal and state procurement statutes, and government regulations
• Bid protests
• Permits

Project Finance

Significant projects necessitate innovative and cutting-edge financing arrangements that present unique challenges and requirements for lenders, developers, owners, contractors, equipment suppliers, and others. The role parties have during construction administration and close-out phases of a project needs to be clearly delineated in the contract documents. Having project finance lawyers who understand the competing and overlapping needs and obligations of all project participants is critical to project success.

Publications such as Euromoney’s Project Finance and The American Lawyer consistently rank Dorsey as one of the top 25 firms for global project finance deals. Dorsey’s Project Development and Finance Group has in-depth experience with all types of project financing—whether financing is provided on a non-recourse or limited recourse basis, through equity participants, by governmental agencies, through private placements, as a leveraged lease, or through another financing vehicle.

Construction Phase Project Administration

Dorsey regularly handles construction and design claims that can arise during construction:

• Denial of site access
• Design deficiencies
• Environmental hazards
• Structural failures
• Differing site conditions and changed conditions
• Slope and shoring failures
• Concrete failures and defects
• Claims for additional compensation for performing extra work
• Delay
• Disruption and lost productivity claims
• Acceleration
• Excessive work scope changes (cardinal change and cumulative impact)
• Interference
• Inadequate project management/lack of proper coordination
• Inadequate inspection
• Failure to meet performance standards and guarantees
• Construction defects
• Late project completion
• Terminations for convenience and default
• Work-site accidents and safety violations post-completion warranty claims

Project Closeout

Our construction lawyers help clients work through the various issues that must be completed in order to successfully close out construction projects, including:

• Systems acceptance, performance standards and guarantees, punch list, warranty, and other issues
• Outstanding change orders and pending claims—including Miller Act and little Miller Act, mechanic’s lien, performance and payment bond, and retainage claims
• Time extension and liquidated damages issues
• Governmental requirements, including those for payment, occupancy, and operation
• Project finance requirements and conversion of construction loans to permanent financing

Dispute Resolution

How disputes are dealt with often determines whether a project is financially successful. Dorsey’s construction lawyers have a proven track record of successful results. When disputes arise, clients turn to us for:

• Claims analysis and negotiated settlements
• Mediations and other forms of alternative dispute resolution
• Litigation at all levels in state and federal court systems
• Proceedings before federal and state administrative agencies and boards of contract appeal

Arbitration in private proceedings and before major domestic and international arbitration forums