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Capabilities / Construction & Design

Construction & Design

Taking construction projects to new heights.

We understand that construction projects require detailed plans upfront and careful oversight throughout the process to ensure positive outcomes. The construction law attorneys at Husch Blackwell provide comprehensive legal services that are essential to protect the interests of owners, developers, designers, contractors, lenders, insurers, and other stakeholders.

Clients turn to us for strategic guidance in their transactional and litigation matters. We advise on contract drafting and negotiation, claims management, insurance issues, and labor relations. When issues cannot be resolved, our attorneys are skilled in alternative dispute resolution and litigation.

Our guidance to clients in the construction and design sector includes:

  • Alternative project delivery methods
  • Construction defects
  • Cost overruns
  • Defective designs
  • False Claims Act
  • Federal and state government contracts
  • Inspection and observation
  • Joint venture agreements
  • Mechanic’s liens
  • Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
  • Payment disputes
  • Post-construction claims
  • Pre-award advice and counsel
  • Project closeout
  • Property damage
  • Public-private partnerships (P3s)
  • Small business, MBE and DBE issues
  • Teaming agreements
Client Success
$2M Client Savings
Client Success
$22.5M Client Savings
Client Success
$2.9M Client Savings

Representative Experience

  • Aided client Milhaus in securing both a real property tax abatement and a sales tax exemption on construction materials for a $73.8 million project consisting of five buildings on 4.3 acres, the largest redevelopment plan in the East Crossroads area of Kansas City, Missouri.
  • Represented general contractor alleged by a state university to have failed to properly execute the construction of a university hospital. Plaintiff demanded $9.45 million. Our team persuaded seven subcontractors and their bonding companies to pay the majority of the funds needed for settlement. Our client was responsible for paying only a very small fraction of the settlement amount.
  • Assisted H&R Block in moving its corporate headquarters, a project involving $150 million in financing, the purchase of real estate from Kansas City, Missouri, and state and local incentives.
  • Assisted MasterCard in the development, construction, and financing of a 500,000 square-foot global operations and technology center. Negotiation of a complex leasing structure designed to facilitate tax abatement assistance also was involved. The project later earned a LEED Gold rating for its sustainable practices and features.
  • Represented construction contractor who filed suit against the owner of a laundromat to collect $85,000 outstanding on a fire restoration contract. The laundromat owner countersued our contractor client, but our client won every aspect of the case, with the court granting a directed verdict on the slander of title claim in favor of the contractor, and the jury awarding our client the full amount due under the restoration contract, plus $30,000 in punitive damages.
  • Represented subcontractor who was unpaid for construction services on a computer chip manufacturing plant expansion project. No contract had been signed, although multiple contracts had been proposed. Jury awarded full damages of $6.2 million to our client.
  • Represented the Nelson Gallery Foundation, one of largest art museums in the U.S., with its long-term “master plan” for the city’s museum district. This included the disposition of property and the development of other tracts, along with land use, redevelopment of historical properties, zoning, and construction issues.
  • Represented one of the country’s largest private homebuilders after a concrete subcontractor filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy after falling behind on paying its suppliers. The suppliers filed liens on more than 100 houses, which meant that each property lien had to be investigated and considered separately.
Legal Updates | June 21, 2023
EEOC Casts New Focus on Construction Industry
Legal Updates | November 15, 2021
President Biden Signs Infrastructure Package into Law
Articles | December 31, 2019
Cannabis Concerns? Employer Strategies for Maintaining a Safe Workplace

Employers should evaluate and revise their drug policies to comply with the law and protect the health and safety of their workplace.

Articles | October 04, 2019
Schemes, Scams & Occupational Fraud
Seminars | March 21, 2024
2024 Construction Academy in Milwaukee
Speaking Engagements | February 14, 2024
Speaker, "Labor and Employment," Pub K GovCon Annual Review 2024
Speaking Engagements | November 15, 2023
Speaker, "Engineering Ethics," Engineers Club of Omaha
Seminars | November 2, 2023
Construction Academy 2023
Seminars | May 18, 2023
Cream City Construction Workshop
Seminars | October 13, 2022
Construction Academy 2022 - Milwaukee
Seminars | September 22, 2022
Construction Academy 2022 - Omaha
Speaking Engagements | June 17, 2021
Panelist, "Adaptive Reuse," BizTimes
Seminars | March 11, 2020
Construction Academy 2020 - Milwaukee
Seminars | May 2, 2019
Construction Academy 2019 - Denver
Media Mentions | April 18, 2023
Ingram's 40 Under Forty Class of 2023: Mike Kelly
News Releases | July 27, 2022
Smitha Chintamaneni Joins Husch Blackwell's Milwaukee Office

Husch Blackwell is pleased to announce that Smitha Chintamaneni has joined the firm’s Financial Services & Capital Markets industry group as a partner in the firm’s Milwaukee office.

News Releases | March 31, 2020
Missouri Lawyers Weekly Chooses Two Husch Blackwell Litigators for 2020 Women's Justice Awards

Jones and Robinson are members of the firm’s Real Estate, Development & Construction industry group and Construction Litigation practice team.

News Releases | November 05, 2019
Michael Kelly Joins Husch Blackwell in Kansas City
News Releases | August 15, 2019
Husch Blackwell Places 143 Lawyers in 2020 BL Rankings' Best Lawyers in America®

The firm has eight "Lawyers of the Year" and 11 attorneys appearing on the list for the first time.

News Releases | July 22, 2019
Husch Blackwell Launches Construction Academy

The Academy aims to include diverse voices and stakeholders including business leaders from the construction, design, engineering, development and project funding fields, as well as trade associations, universities, and policymakers.

News Releases | June 17, 2019
Husch Blackwell Named Among Top 50 Construction Law Firms by Construction Executive Magazine

The firm tied for 12th by headcount of dedicated construction lawyers.

News Releases | May 21, 2019
Brent Meyer Named to Fellowship in Construction Lawyers Society of America

Meyer joins three other Husch Blackwell attorneys as CLSA Fellows.

Husch Blackwell has expertise and depth in general areas of law important to our company, and [we] are impressed with their personal attention to our needs.

General Counsel, International Engineering Firm