Andrew Richards, Kaufman Dolowich Voluck

Woodbury, NY The New York Real Estate Journal recently sat down with Andrew Richards, Esq. co-managing partner – Long Island office of Kaufman Dolowich & Voluck, LLP (KDV) for a question and answer session.

Q: You have a history with KDV and you recently became co-managing partner of the Long Island office. Please tell us about it.

A: I joined KDV in September 2004 as an equity partner after having practiced construction law and commercial litigation with the firm of Ross & Cohen, LLP for 15 years as a partner. KDV was already well known as a labor and employment firm representing management. Combining my construction law practice with the labor practice created a good synergy. Since September 2004, with only two offices in Long Island and Blue Bell, PA, KDV has grown from 12 attorneys to 105. During this time we have added offices in New York City, Hackensack, N.J., San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and Boca Raton. Due to this growth, the firm decided that its Long Island office, being its largest office and home office, needed a managing partner to steer the growth of the office and manage issues limited to the office. As a result, Keith Gutstein and I were named co-managing partners of the Long Island office. While this new position has increased our demands, we believe that we can bring greater efficiency to the office and grow the firm for the future.

Q: What about your practice is special to your clients in the construction industry?

A: Many people in the construction industry, as well as the real estate industry, do not know that there are attorneys who concentrate their practice in construction law. As opposed to real estate transactional work, my construction law practice involves contract drafting and negotiating contracts between owners and contractors, owners and design professionals and contractors and subcontractors. As part of and constituting the majority of the commercial litigation practice, we litigate and arbitrate claims whether the claims are for breach of contract, extra work, delay, defective work, mechanic’s liens, payment and performance bonds. We represent parties involved in private projects as well as public improvement projects (e.g., those owned by the City of New York, the N.Y. City School Construction Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority). 

Shown in top row (from left) are: Matthew Minero, partner, construction; Richards; and Jason Lange, partner, construction. Shown in bottom row (from left) are: Megan Yllanes, associate, construction; Erik Ortmann, partner, construction; and Elizabeth Marchionni, associate, construction.

What is astonishing to me is that all too often I am approached by a prospective client to discuss a dispute regarding a project that is either under construction or has been completed where I have to inform the prospective client that the contract terms do not support his position. Whether the prospective client wants to terminate the contract, suspend work or make a claim for extra work, in many cases the contract does not contain terms which allow the owner or contractor to take the action it deems appropriate. The prospective client proceeds to tell me that their attorney, who has handled all of the company’s legal work, either prepared the contract or is handling the litigation. What becomes clear from reading the contract or assessing the litigation is that the attorney is not familiar with the process of construction, what issues generally end up in disputes, the clauses that should be inserted in the contract to protect the client for these common issues of dispute or the laws and statutes regarding construction disputes.

For instance, a well written construction contract for an owner should include provisions for a quick termination if the contractor is not performing to the satisfaction of the owner, termination for convenience, liquidated damages, and notice provisions as conditions precedent for extra work claims and time extensions, which are not included or, if included in a pre-printed form of contract, are insufficient to protect the owner. If we are representing the contractor, provisions reserving rights to make claims, a quick suspension of work or termination of the contract for non-payment and payment for extra or disputed work are included in the contract.

In addition to contract drafting and construction dispute resolution, we also make sure that day in and day out, the client is provided with the advice, as needed, regarding disputes that arise during the construction of a project. By having the knowledge of construction law, the terms of the contract and the construction process itself, we can help the client avoid litigation or make sure the client has complied with all terms of the contract and any pertinent statute so that the client is in a strong position if litigation is unavoidable.

KDV’s Woodbury Corporate Office

Q: What do you see for KDV’s Long Island office in the future?

A: Our Long Island office will continue to grow in a well-managed fashion. Keith and I have been able to attract talented attorneys with books of business who want to make KDV their final career move. Attorneys have decided to join us as opposed to other firms based on our philosophy to have all partners share in our success by making the “pie” bigger. Many attorneys who have joined us did not want to be at a firm where the equity partners keep taking all of the profits for themselves. As we outgrow our space in Woodbury, one of the challenges will be to house future attorneys and support staff. However, if we continue to retain talented attorneys, this will be a good problem to have.

Q: How has and will the uptick in private construction work in NYC impacted your practice?

A: We have been seeing a significant increase in contract review requested by clients. Since there is a great deal of work, subcontractors have been choosy as to which projects they want to undertake. With the back log of work, the subcontractors do not want to take on projects where the terms of the subcontract are onerous. They have been asking us to identify all of the provisions of the subcontract that may limit their ability to bring claims, identify out of the ordinary requirements regarding scope items that may increase costs, and payment terms. In addition, we have been seeing companies falter by overextending themselves without having sufficient or qualified labor. As a result, I believe that we will see an increase in disputes in the next one to two years due to defaults and defective work claims.