Construction Law & Litigation

The firm has been a leader in Construction law as evidenced by serving as counsel of record in many of the leading appellate cases involving construction law including, but not limited to, the following:

• Moransais v. Heathman, 749 So.2d 973 (Fla. Supreme Court): This Florida Supreme Court overturned it’s previously held the view of the Economic Loss Doctrine providing that any aggrieved party may recover damages from a design professional based on negligence, without the economic loss rule acting as a bar to such claims. This historic case reversed a trend in the courts that prohibited those not in privity with homeowners, including condominium associations, from suing design professionals for damages resulting from their negligent conduct.
• Edward J. Seibert, A.I.A., Architect & Planner, P.A. v. Bayport Beach & Tennis Club Association, Inc., 573 So.2d 889, 892 (Fla. 2d DCA): The Court held that design professionals that acquire approval before construction are considered to have complied with the applicable standard of care. However, this approval may be successfully challenged if it can be demonstrated that the approval was “clearly erroneous.” This case’s significance is that design professionals are held liable for damages when their building plans contain details that fail to comply with the applicable building code.
• Grossman Holdings Ltd. v. Hourihan, 414 So.2d 1037: When construction or design defects in real property cannot be corrected, or when the cost of remedying such defects would be greater than the value of the property, the measure of damages is the “diminution of the value of the property.” This case is important because it provided a measure of damages that a homeowner could recover for defective construction.
• Munder v. Circle One Condominium, Inc., 596 So.2d 144 (Fla. 4th DCA): In this critical case, the Court found no basis for piercing the corporate veil where the developer made a conscious business decision not to renew a fire insurance policy on the condominium clubhouse as opposed to neglecting to pay the premium. This case confirmed the duty of a condominium developer to ensure that appropriate insurance coverage would be acquired for condominium associations.
• Drexel Properties, Inc. v. Bay Colony Club Condominium, Inc., 406 So.2d 515 (Fla. 4th DCA), disapproved in part 620 So.2d 1245: The Court affirmed an award of damages based on a breach of implied warranty. This case firmly established the rights of condominium unit owners for breach of common law implied warranties by developer/builders in Florida and is one of the most widely cited cases in condominium construction law.
• Stone’s Throw Condominium Association, Inc. v. Sand Cove Apartments, Inc., 749 So.2d 520 (Fla. 2d DCA): Condominium association has cause of action to recover economic damages from design professional based on cause of action for negligence. This case is significant because it was the first appellate decision to be issued after the Florida Supreme Court issued its decision in Moransais v. Heathman dealing with the application of the Economic Loss Doctrine.
• Vantage View Inc. v. Bali East Development Corp., 421 So.2d 728 (Fla. 4th DCA):In this case, the Association successfully stated a cause of action against developer parent corporation for the acts of its subsidiary where subsidiary was found to be without any separate interests of its own, functioning solely to achieve the parent corporation’s purposes and to mislead creditors and avoid liability. This case affirmed that the pleadings successfully established a viable cause of action against condominium developers for breach of implied warranties.
• The firm has represented The School Board of Broward County (SBBC) since 1994. We are retained to resolve numerous delay and defect claims, redraft construction-related contracts, prevent future claims and, when necessary, file suits against the District’s vendors. The firm’s experience representing SBBC includes cases ranging from disputes for time and money to correction of warranty work by general contractors from whom retainage was being withheld. The firm successfully defended the SBBC on numerous claims for millions of dollars. In addition, the firm has been responsible for completely overhauling and redrafting its construction contracts to avoid some of the problems the District had been litigating with architects, engineers, and contractors.

Bid Protest

Becker represents contractors of all sizes at the Federal, state and local level in protest litigation challenging or defending contract award decisions. We also represent clients in pre-award protest litigation concerning the terms of solicitations. In addition, we provide advice to local government clients about conducting procurements and minimizing the risk of future protest litigation. Our experienced team of government contracts lawyers have handled bid protests for clients in practically every industry. Learn More.

Chapter 558 Specialized Claims Team

Becker has handled the prosecution and defense of hundreds of varied construction-related cases, many of which have involved extremely complex issues with a multitude of defendants and scores of construction defects and deficiencies relating to residential, public and commercial construction including roofing defects, water intrusion, structural life safety issues. Our construction attorneys handle cases from single and multi-family dwellings to large commercial buildings, planned unit developments, retail, industrial and governmental projects. The team has decades-long experience in the representation of property owners including governmental entities, developers, homeowners, contractors and subcontractors, design professionals, sureties, materials manufacturers in connection with the construction of schools and other government buildings, high-rise and other residential developments, condominium conversions of older rental property, commercial property, mixed-use projects. Learn More.

Construction Defects Litigation

Clients depend on Becker’s ability to investigate, litigate, mediate, and arbitrate construction disputes. With a focus on mitigating or avoiding potential high-cost disputes, Becker’s construction defects litigation team helps clients prevent or mitigate potential disputes from arising in the first place. When disputes do arise, Becker’s lawyers have the expertise and experience in resolving high-stakes controversies through litigation, mediation and arbitration, as well as securing insurance coverage for many of these claims. Learn More.

Construction Licensing

Becker’s Construction Law Group works closely with clients in the area of construction licensing. Becker’s attorneys have represented contractors, individual qualifiers, engineers and building inspectors and officials in license complaints, as well as having filed numerous complicated license applications for clients. Learn More.

Construction Lien Law

Construction lien perfection, prosecution and defense are a big part of Becker’s construction practice. The Construction Lien Law established the ground rules for enforcing a construction lien on real property however, it continues to create confusion among industry professionals. Becker’s attorneys work closely with clients in the construction industry to understand the operation and enforcement of the Construction Lien Law and the importance of timely attention to notices received from contractors, suppliers and others furnishing labor or materials or that provide certain professional services to real property. Learn More.

Delay Claims

Becker’s Construction Law Group has handled complex delay claims for a host of representative clients including developers such as Swire Properties, Inc. Broward Community College, Broward County School Board, Carnival Cruise Lines and others relative to the prosecution and defense of these types of claims. Learn More.

Design & Construction Contracts

Contract preparation is key to a successful construction project. The contract forms the basis and foundation for the entire project by addressing key issues including the standard of care for performance, indemnification, warranties, change orders, termination clauses and others. Becker has been involved with developing contracts for different approaches to construction of new projects including design-build, construction management and turnkey construction. Becker works closely with clients to establish efficiencies in document control and record keeping, schedule logs, cost accounting records. Becker also offers educational workshops on key contract provisions for the client’s staff to understand the impact of various contract provisions including learning about various methods of recovery, calculating potential damages and risks, and understanding alternative dispute resolution methods that can be address in the construction contract. Becker’s Construction Law Practice Group is intimately familiar with the full suite of AIA Form Documents and essential modifications required to properly protect its clients. Learn More.

Design Professional Liability

Becker aggressively pursues claims against design professionals for defect and deficiency claims due to negligence, building code violations and other violations of professional responsibility. Becker has also defended such claims on behalf of architects such as AECOM. Becker, through the Chair Steven B. Lesser, spearheaded the change in the law in a 1999 landmark decision which was successfully argued before the Florida Supreme Court to make design professionals accountable to those that have sustained damage due to design errors in the absence of contractual privity (Moransais v Heathman). Learn More.

Surety Bonds

Becker has experience in all aspects of sophisticated surety claims, as it represents large commercial sureties, bond principals, and institutional bond claimants. Surety law is particularly perilous to many bond claimants, as even seemingly small failures to provide proper notice or otherwise strictly comply with the requirements of the bond can result in the total discharge of the bond and the potential loss of millions of dollars. Learn More.