Sutherland's lawyers have successfully resolved hundreds of construction cases throughout the United States and Canada as well as overseas.  The scope of our services to the construction industry is broad – from over-the-phone advice and direction to lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of dollars and millions of documents.  Between those extremes, we perform a full range of services for our construction clients, including bid protests; negotiation and preparation of contracts; advice and counsel during contract performance; dispute avoidance; claims preparation and analysis; and various forms of dispute resolution.  We have extensive jury trial, arbitration and mediation experience.

The projects we have worked on are as varied as our client base.  Our experience includes disputes involving stadiums, schools, condominiums, resort hotels, casinos, hospitals, residential projects, mixed-use facilities, office buildings, university buildings, infrastructures, industrial manufacturing facilities, public works facilities, airports, jails, security and public safety facilities, racetracks, power plants, bridges and highways, fiber optic installations, hazardous waste landfills, and tunnels.  The diversity of our client base and the types of construction matters we have handled enable us to approach problem-solving with broad knowledge and experience.  We understand construction and the problems that arise when building a project.

In addition to our capabilities in litigation, trials and arbitration, we have developed skills that help our clients avoid or minimize disputes.  Our attorneys seek to be advisors and counselors, helping clients to structure their contracts and project relationships in ways that prevent problems and to anticipate and solve potential problems before they become adversarial.  We frequently provide on-site assistance to safeguard our clients’ interests by establishing proper procedures for scheduling, record keeping and claim notification.

Our approach emphasizes the avoidance and early resolution of construction problems.  Our attorneys are industry leaders in developing and utilizing a wide array of Alternative Dispute Resolution procedures to resolve problems.  We, along with our industry clients, were pioneers in using mediation and other creative solutions to reduce cost and add value to projects.

We have interacted with hundreds of construction consultants and expert witnesses over the years, and are thus able to offer valuable insights in the process of selecting outside assistance.  The result for our clients has been either early resolution of disputes or successful and cost-effective dispute resolution.

We have been engaged in construction industry problem-solving and litigation for more than 40 years, representing some of the nation’s largest commercial and industrial owners, construction managers, engineers, contractors, subcontractors, architects, material and equipment suppliers, real estate developers, public entities, and private owners across the country.