Seyfarth Shaw’s Construction group have achieved a top tier ranking in the highly regarded Legal 500 United States 2023 edition, solidifying their reputation as one of the nation’s top legal teams. This recognition reaffirms Seyfarth’s unwavering commitment to excellence in Real Estate Construction and Construction Litigation.

The Legal 500 United States guide recognizes Seyfarth’s

Seyfarth Construction associate Michael Wagner spoke on the topic of fair legal solutions to material cost escalation in the April 19th episode of The Morning Huddle podcast “Contractual Solutions to Cost Escalation.”

Specialty contractors are feeling deeply exposed as they produce estimates today with prices that may be completely irrelevant tomorrow. Owners, of

In heavy-civil, excavation, and infrastructure work, the risk of encountering differing, unknown, or concealed conditions is significant, as it is nearly impossible to document or predict everything that the contractor will encounter below the surface when performing its operations. Although standard pre-bid site surveys, including soil and geotechnical reports, are good resources to evaluate potential concerns, they will almost never be all encompassing as to what a contractor will face when its work is in progress. Given these unique, complicated, and costly risks, some project owners will seek to pass liability for such risk onto the those performing the work. Indeed, owners may seek to transfer these unknown risks, including unforeseen conditions, to contractors making the financial burden significant for those bidding the work. Accordingly, it is imperative that the contractor balance the desire to submit a competitive price to win the work with the need to ensure that it has some type of remedy or recovery should it encounter such concealed or differing conditions. Faced with this balancing act, contractors performing excavation and foundation work should be intimately familiar with the site disclaimer, exculpatory, and risk-transferring clauses present in their agreements and the effect that such provisions may have on their ability to recover additional costs and time should they encounter differing conditions.
Continue Reading Construction Site Disclaimers: Navigating Risk Allocation for Differing, Concealed and Unknown Conditions in Heavy-Civil, Excavation, and Infrastructure Work

Force Majeure, Commercial Impracticability, and Frustration of Purpose

The outbreak of COVID-19 has been one of the most disruptive events to the global economy in recent memory. Businesses across every sector of the economy are scrambling to determine the legal repercussions of government travel restrictions, labor shortages, supply chain interruptions, financing impacts, and market price

While the global economy grinds to a halt over spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and people disband amidst calls for “social distancing,” these are uncertain times to say the least. Stay safe out there, we will get through this. While the health and welfare of our loved ones and the general public becomes the primary focus, federal contractors and subcontractors face a secondary and yet critical concern—how to address the impacts from COVID-19, which include labor disruptions, supply chain shortages, facility closures, remote work environments and government-mandated restrictions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to move programs and projects forward.

A recent decision by the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals (“CBCA”) related to an epidemic makes clear that whether or not a contractor will prevail in recovering costs associated with COVID-19 is going to be dependent on the specific contract provisions the parties have negotiated in their contracts.
Continue Reading Civilian Board of Contract Appeals Decision Provides Guidance to Contractors Seeking to Recover Additional Costs Due to COVID-19

The 2019 novel coronavirus and the disease it causes (“COVID-19”) is changing the landscape of construction projects across the country. COVID-19 orders from governors and other public officials are impacting projects by requiring new health initiatives, such as social distancing and the use of personal protective equipment, requiring residents to stay at home and self-quarantine

Seyfarth Construction Associate Michael Wagner presented the “Construction Site Data Disclaimers: Who Really Carries the Risk?” webinar for Lorman on August 26, 2019, and an on-demand version of the webinar is available. This program presents the owner and the contractor’s perspectives on the risk of differing or concealed site conditions and the role disclaimers of

Seyfarth Shaw Construction partner Charles “Chuck” Wall and associate Michael Wagner recently authored a Construction Executive article on how to navigate risk allocation in public-private partnership (P3) agreements. Wall and Wagner focused on P3/concession agreements, design-build contracts, interface agreements, and more. Read “Navigating Risk Allocation in P3 Agreements” from Construction Executive here.