I have preached the mantra of “read your contracts carefully” on numerous occasions here at Construction Law Musings. I have also discussed my thoughts on ADR and mandatory mediation. A recent case out of the Eastern District of Virginia mixes these two ideas quite nicely.
Dominion Transmission Inc. v. Precision Pipeline Inc. involved the construction of portions of the “Appalachian Gateway” pipelines. As often happens on large projects like this, the contractor, in this case Precision Pipeline, presented the utility, Dominion Transmission, Inc. a large change order for payment (approximately $56 million). When these changes were not paid and the project closeout negotiations went nowhere, Precision did what any good contractor would do: it filed mechanic’s liens in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Unsurprisingly, litigation ensued in Richmond, VA pursuant to a forum selection clause in the contract.
