Construction

As a natural complement to our litigation and real estate development practices, our construction and design attorneys represent the owners and developers of some of California’s most high-profile real estate projects.

When working on matters such as the award-winning California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park and the expansion of the iconic San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, our attorneys bring a unique understanding of design and construction in the context of the entire real estate development process, from conceptual project planning to entitlement to construction financing, and ultimately through project completion.

Our attorneys offer real estate and construction clients unique insight into the opportunities and challenges arising from implementing new technologies and guide clients on risk assessment and risk allocation during the design and planning stages of construction projects.

When projects don’t proceed as planned, our seasoned litigators have extensive experience in resolving construction-related disputes; in fact, prior to coming to the practice of law, Coblentz name partner, Richard Patch, worked as a journeyman carpenter and oversaw construction sites, an experience which informs his work at our firm to this day.

Transactional

We have represented clients in the procurement of hundreds of millions of dollars of construction and design services over the last several years.

In addition to our large-scale public projects, our construction attorneys routinely counsel clients in connection with design and construction contracts for office tenant improvement projects, mixed-use and multi-family housing, and unique residential projects in the Bay Area and throughout California.

Construction Technology

Technologies ranging from mobile applications, software platforms, Building Information Modeling, and 3-D printing to drone technology, embedded sensors, and artificial intelligence and machine learning all offer opportunities for the construction industry to improve safety and efficiencies and also increase return on investment. However, these technologies also bring up privacy, reliability, and usability issues. Our construction technology attorneys take a multi-disciplinary approach when guiding clients on how these new technologies might affect their businesses and offer practical, actionable advice to mitigate undesirable or unanticipated allocation of project risk.

Litigation

We represent public and private owners and developers in construction litigation, but because we’ve also handled litigation for construction companies we understand both sides of the matters our clients present. We use this depth of knowledge to resolve disputes efficiently and effectively, guiding our clients to successful outcomes in matters involving construction defects, liens, contract remedies, structural failures, project management, billing disputes, and disruption to adjacent properties. We have particular insight into the problems our clients face with the rise in disputes involving delay and scheduling conflicts, disputes that can threaten to derail multimillion-dollar projects.

Because construction disputes are factually intensive and involve multiple parties, such disputes often lend themselves to resolution through mediation, arbitration, and other alternative dispute mechanisms. Our litigators are experienced and skilled in all of these forums. In some cases, all that is required to resolve a dispute is to convene the parties’ expert consultants, inspect the site, and develop a plan of repair. In other cases, intervention by a third-party neutral mediator can lead to a compromise solution.

Compromise, however, is not always possible or preferable, and our attorneys have developed substantial experience in the trial of construction disputes, working closely with recognized experts in the fields of geotechnical, mechanical, structural and civil engineering, architecture, and project management.