STRATA CONSTRUCTION LITIGATION / ENVIRONMENTAL CLAIMS

We have extensive experience assisting clients with construction litigation including the following types of cases:

• assisting strata corporations and other building owners in pursuing compensation for design and construction defects including ‘leaky condo claims’;
• assisting strata corporations and building owners to litigate disputes over construction and service contracts; and
• assisting individuals with claims arising from design and construction defects in their homes including houses damaged by geotechnical problems (for example “sinking” or “sliding” houses and houses with cracked foundations).

We also act for land-owning clients who have environmental remediation claims due to historical activities on their land that resulted in contaminated soils or groundwater or “migrating” contamination from adjacent properties.  Leaking underground petroleum product storage tanks or pipes are frequently the source of this type of contamination.  Since the enactment of the Environmental Management Act in 1997 it has been possible to bring an environmental remediation “cost recovery action” to obtain compensation from the persons “responsible” for the contamination.

Cases We Handle

• Breach of contract claims involving strata corporations
• Building envelope/’leaky condo’ claims
• Cost recovery actions under the Environmental Management Act
• Contaminated site claims

All of these types of cases can be factually complex, involve multiple parties and are typically document intensive.  Our experience including our expertise in insurance allows us to identify the salient factual and legal issues, identify and obtain expert evidence required to prove our client’s case, take the legal steps necessary to ensure all parties who might be liable for the damages are parties to the litigation, and carry on the litigation as efficiently as possible, with the goal of resolving the claim by mediation – or by trial if required – as soon as possible.

Our litigation efficiency is based in part on the legal software technologies we employ (including Summation, CaseMap and Worldox) to organize and analyze the large volumes of documents that are important to these cases.

Due to their complexity, the legal costs of construction cases and environmental remediation claims can be significant and difficult for individuals or small stratas or corporations to fund on a traditional “pay for the lawyers at their hourly rates” basis.  Depending on your case and your capacity to pay for the litigation, we are prepared to consider more flexible billing arrangements including contingency fees and blended hourly rate/contingency fee retainers.

For more information, we invite you to contact either Ross McLarty or Murray Wolf to discuss how we can assist you.