Baltimore, MD commercial litigation attorney James Howard talks about a memorable construction dispute he handled. He shares that one notable construction dispute handled by his firm involved the collapse of a historic building in Washington, D.C. Their client, the general contractor, was alleged to have contributed to the incident during a major construction project. Multiple lawsuits arose from the collapse, but the most memorable was filed by the owner of an adjacent building. Although the plaintiff’s property was not part of the construction site, they claimed substantial damage and sought nearly $80 million in economic losses, alleging that the collapse had disrupted a planned sale of their property.

He and his team conducted a thorough investigation, retaining forensic accountants, real estate experts, and economists from Johns Hopkins to scrutinize the claimed damages. Through detailed legal research, they identified a precedent from the 1970s in which the D.C. Court of Appeals held that a plaintiff cannot recover both property damage and loss of property value. Presenting this precedent to the judge, they successfully reduced the claim by tens of millions of dollars, positioning the case for a more reasonable resolution through trial or settlement. Their client, one of the firm’s largest construction clients, was highly satisfied with the outcome.