Colorado’s bustling construction market and active legislature create plenty of work for the state’s construction attorneys.
Lawyers in the practice area cited the ability to predict impacts of legislative changes and balance complicated cases as necessary to find success. And those on the 2019 Best Lawyers list credited their own success to versatility — either in working on cases on both sides of the “v” or in playing support roles — as well as building a reputation through publications, teaching and community involvement.
Construction law as a practice has a long history of competitive lawyering in Colorado. John Madden III, of counsel at Coan Payton & Payne and recognized by Best Lawyers for construction law, credited the soil itself — specifically Colorado’s expansive soils — for creating construction issues that led to many lawsuits, contention between both the plaintiff’s and defense bars and resulting legislation over the past several decades.
Ron Sandgrund, of counsel at Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine, said the state’s frequent legislation also affects certain aspects of construction law in a significant way. He joined Burg Simpson through a merger with his construction-focused firm three years ago, and the group as a whole is frequently involved in construction defects litigation. Sandgrund was recognized as the Lawyer of the Year for the area of construction litigation, but Burg Simpson attorneys Curt Sullan and Scott Sullan appeared on this year’s rankings for construction litigation, and Mari Perczak appeared on the construction law ranking.
“If you pass a law now, it may not have an effect on a current case but more likely will affect cases two, three or four years down the line,” Sandgrund said, adding that it’s important to think creatively about how laws might affect cases as courts build case law and fill in the “nooks and crannies” in a piece of legislation.
One area where Sandgrund and his team are looking down the line is at what he refers to as the “condo conversion explosion” — the possible fallout of years of developers building apartments, where there had been rental demand, and converting them to condominiums to meet the pent-up demand for new homes to buy. Sandgrund said there might be a disconnect between the expectation for newly built units and the marketing of converted units as “new condos.”
“That’s always a recipe for a problem,” he said.
Benton Barton, a member at Hall & Evans, said that while the practice area does see frequent legislation, he doesn’t believe it has as big of an impact on the practice as the legislators expect because of the nuances of cases and the ability of lawyers to figure out how to get around a law, even if it takes a few years to do so.
Barton said part of the challenge of the work in the practice area is in the complexity that goes with many of the cases. In his prior experience, he might work on a medical malpractice case involving a death or serious injury and a high-value claim brought against a doctor, but the case history might only be a short stack of medical records. In comparison, construction litigation might include 75 different entities that were involved with a project over five or six years, and a case file could include millions of pages of documents.
As for the individuals’ recognition on the Best Lawyers list, they credited long careers, a community presence and helpful peers for their success.
“The Best Lawyers recognition is nice but misleading,” Sandgrund said. “There’s nothing I do that doesn’t evolve from the support of the construction defects group. … The secret sauce is amazing teamwork and tremendous synergy among the attorneys and support staff.”
He also said the group at Burg Simpson has found success together by putting hard work into trial preparation. He describes himself as the “yellow jersey guy” who frequently plays the role of opposing counsel in mock trials, and he feels it’s good practice for everyone to run the gauntlet in their preparation.
Barton similarly said his success is a mark of those he works with, citing the roughly 25 professionals at his firm who work in construction law and maintain “healthy rivalries” within their sub-specialities.
His own practice is in design professional defense, though he said he also works on plaintiff’s side cases as well as serving as an arbitrator through the American Arbitration Association. Barton was recognized by Best Lawyers for construction litigation, construction law and arbitration.
Madden developed his reputation over 50 years of practice in Colorado and credited the success he’s had to the learning opportunities he’s had at prior firms Davis Graham & Stubbs, Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
“There’s no best of anything,” he said. “But there are a lot of people that are very good at things.” He said he believes he developed the legal, business and professionalism skills that have helped him earn that recognition and reputation in the community. “I happened to be around good people. If you listen, pay attention and don’t have a huge ego, you can grow a lot in your practice.”
— Tony Flesor