Schwabe represents the companies that build our future, from the towers that rise in our cities, to the roads, rails and bridges that get us there, to the systems that treat and transport our water, to the dams that power our communities and irrigate our crops. 

Building relationships and opportunities

Turning an empty piece of land into a fully functional building or piece of infrastructure is a big undertaking, but our clients are comfortable doing big things. Schwabe supports their ambitious visions with legal services that move projects forward efficiently and successfully.

By representing general contractors, specialty contractors, developers, design professionals and other members of the construction industry, we have gained a 360- degree understanding of the stages and players involved in building projects. Our balanced knowledge of the pressures on all participants helps us develop creative, workable strategies for our clients.

Strong foundations for projects that will last

As any contractor or developer knows, the success of a project is fundamentally tied to the people involved. Our attorneys are leaders in their field, with decades of experience working on a wide range of issues for our construction-industry clients. We prepare documents for development and construction, represent construction industry clients in disputes, defend architects and engineers in personal injury and property damage cases, and represent contractors in labor-management relations. 

We are more than just advocates; we are deeply involved in this industry, including our participation in trade organizations and our work helping to craft sound policy at the state and local legislative levels. 

• Litigated and successfully resolved a multi-party, multi-jurisdictional, multi-million- dollar Washington public works construction dispute ‎to ‎recover a prime contractor’s ‎damages for breach of contract and ‎breach ‎of warranty.  ‎
• Prevailed on three multi-million-dollar bid protests before the Government Accountability Office on federal ‎procurements in Washington, ‎Texas and Nevada for the same prime ‎contractor in a two-month period.‎‎
• ‎Successfully tried a complex, multi-million-dollar wastewater treatment dispute on behalf of a prime contractor, where the city was the owner of the project and most of the jurors were ratepayers.‎
• Litigated and resolved an eight-figure claim for a county against a ‎contractor on a cross-country natural ‎gas pipeline project.
• Successfully resolved a False Claims Act lawsuit in a highway contractor’s favor after defeating the claimant in U.S. district court and again at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Defended and resolved claims ‎involving one of the largest ‎construction defect projects in ‎Oregon and more than ‎‎20 represented parties.‎
• ‎Obtained summary judgment dismissing all claims against a ‎nationwide ‎manufacturer of EIFS ‎systems on a statute of limitations ‎defense. The plaintiff ‎dismissed the case on appeal. ‎
• ‎‎Negotiated recovery of repair and replacement costs for our ‎client, a ‎national social service charity, ‎from the general contractor, ‎flooring ‎manufacturer and flooring installation contractor after the failure ‎of an ‎engineered ‎sports court floor in a regional recreational facility in Idaho.  ‎
• ‎Successfully defended a mid-sized residential contractor in a breach ‎of ‎contract dispute brought ‎by the owner of a multi-family construction project, ‎who ‎was claiming more than $5.2 million in ‎delay and construction ‎defect ‎damages (private arbitration 2012)‎.
• ‎Represented a national major construction contractor in ‎successfully ‎appealing the issuance of state ‎occupational safety and health ‎citations ‎based on serious injury incidents.‎
• Litigated and successfully resolved a differing site conditions claim relating to a U.S. Department of Veterans affairs project in Southern California.
• ‎Obtained a six-figure recovery for a specialty marine construction client ‎after dangerous ‎flood ‎conditions disrupted a major Portland bridge ‎construction project ‎necessitating emergency ‎disaster mitigation and ‎marine salvage procedures.‎
• Successfully defended a general contractor against a subcontractor’s claims through ‎successful assertion of ‎the claims bar established by Oregon’s contractor ‎licensing statute, including prevailing on appeal at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.   ‎

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