Thoughts on construction law from Christopher G. Hill, Virginia construction lawyer, LEED AP, mediator, and member of the Virginia Legal Elite in Construction Law
It is with humility and a sense of accomplishment that I announce that I have been selected for the seventh straight year to the Virginia Super Lawyers in the Construction Litigation category for 2024. Add this to my recent election to the Virginia Legal Elite in Construction and I’ve had a pretty good year. As always, I am thrilled to be included on these peer-elected lists.
So without further ado, thank you to my peers and those on the panel at Virginia Super Lawyers for the great honor. I feel quite proud to be part of the 5% of Virginia attorneys that made this list for 2024.
The full list of Virginia Super Lawyers will appear in the May edition of Richmond Magazine. Please check it out.
If you want to see the lists before then, a digital version of the Virginia Super Lawyers Magazine is available here (click on the Virginia magazine).
Thanks again to all of you who participated in my nomination and election.
As always, I welcome your comments below. Please subscribe to keep up with this and other Construction Law Musings.
Claims for breach of contract are numerous in the construction law world. Without these claims we construction attorneys would have a hard time keeping the doors open. A 2021 case examined a different sort of claim that could arise (though, “spoiler alert” did not in this case) during the course of a construction project. That type of claim is one for tortious interference with business expectancy.
In Clark Nexsen, Inc. et. al v. Rebkee, the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia gave a great explanation of the law of this type of claim in analyzing the following basic facts:
In 2018, Clark Nexsen, Inc. (“Clark”) and MEB General Contractors, Inc. (“MEB”) responded to Henrico County’s (“Henrico”) Request for Proposals (“RFP”) for the design and construction of a sport and convocation center (the “Project”). Henrico initially shortlisted Clark and MEB as a “design-build” team for the Project, but later restarted the search, issuing a second RFP. Clark and MEB submitted a second “design-build” proposal, but Henrico selected Rebkee Co. (“Rebkee”) for certain development aspects of the Project. MEB also submitted proposals to Rebkee, and Rebkee selected MEB as the design-builder for the Project. MEB, at Rebkee’s request, solicited proposals from three design firms and ultimately selected Clark as its design partner. From December 2019 to May 2020, Clark and MEB served as the design-build team to assist Rebkee in developing the Project. In connection therewith, Clark developed proprietary designs, technical drawings, and, with MEB, several cost estimates. In February 2020, MEB submitted a $294,334.50 Pay Application to Rebkee for engineering, design, and Project development work. Rebkee never paid MEB. Henrico paid MEB $50,000.00 as partial payment for MEB’s and Clark’s work. MEB then learned that Rebkee was using Clark’s drawings to solicit design and construction proposals from other companies. On July 23, 2020, Rebkee told MEB that Henrico directed it to cancel the design-build arrangement with MEB and Clark and pursue a different planning method. MEB and Clark sued and Rebkee for, among other claims, tortious interference with a business expectancy. Rebkee moved to dismiss the tortious interference claim. Continue reading Where Breach of Contract and Tortious Interference Collide
While it is impossible to list all of you who have contributed to Guest Post Fridays here at Musings (please use the link above to review all of these posts and see who else has contributed) and to thank you individually, please know that each and every one of your contributions have made Construction Law Musings a more vibrant and interesting place to visit. The opportunity to work with such varied, intelligent, and insightful people over the last year has been wonderful. With each post I learn something new.
Without these contributions to add a layer of color that I could not provide alone, Musings would just be another blog about construction law by a Virginia lawyer. With them, Musings is a fun place to hang out and learn. To those who have posted here in the past, the door is always open for a repeat posting, just give me a buzz with a topic and when you can do it.
In short, thank you to all of you who have contributed since this experiment began and I look forward to hearing what you all have to say in the future.
Map of the United States District Courts in Virginia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
I have discussed the importance of every word in a construction contract on multiple occasions at Construction Law Musings. The United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia recently gave another reminder that one area that can act as a sword or shield in a contract is the language regarding provision of notice.
