CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS / LITIGATION SUPPORT / EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY
Few firms in the country can match WHI’s successful track record in the construction claims industry. WHI will bring to your team the highest caliber consultant with the background needed to most effectively support your construction claim.
CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS AND LITIGATION SUPPORT
Whether you are an attorney, owner, designer, contractor, or surety with a construction claim, you want the most experienced and knowledgeable consultant on your team. Few firms in the country can match WHI’s successful track record in the construction claims industry. The right consultant has a breadth of construction knowledge, extensive prior involvement with construction litigation, trial experience, good judgment regarding the relative importance of documents as evidence, and persuasion skills. A consultant with these characteristics gives you the competitive edge. WHI will bring to your team the highest caliber consultant with the background needed to most effectively support your construction claim.
DISCOVERY AND DOCUMENT CONTROL
Analysis without bias can determine strong points and weak ones. By emphasizing assets and neutralizing liabilities, possibilities for satisfactory resolutions are increased.
WHI can help in the “discovery” of information and documents from opponents in a dispute. It’s a fact-of-life in today’s complex construction industry that any one project requires the interaction of an incredible number of separate businesses. This interaction produces mountains of documents. Not all documents are in every participant’s possession. Owners especially may have very few design or construction documents. It is often necessary to seek missing information from other participants. Our experience allows us to identify which documents, among the thousands reviewed, are crucial in the analysis and which can be ignored.
Once the crucial documents are produced and identified, they can be provided as needed at depositions and at trial … in preparation of cross and redirect examination … and in displays and exhibits.
ANALYSIS OF TECHNICAL EVIDENCE
WHI’s independent position in a situation allows our consultants to review facts and form opinions without bias. Often in disputes which develop over a period of years, the ability to reason is impaired. Rationalization, reinforced by pre-drawn conclusions, precludes the involved parties from accurately determining responsibility.
WHI will help determine what went wrong on a project. Our consultants apply their experience and extensive construction knowledge to analyze the particular facts regarding a project and assess the causes of project delays, excessive change-order costs, or construction defects. This process allows us to access responsibility, and determine if, and to what extent, a claim is worth pursuing.
Damage Calculations
Whether plaintiff or defendant, one must be familiar with the different systems of cost accounting used in the construction industry to successfully refute opposing party’s damages or assert claims for damages experienced. WHI is. Our past work in cost control, project management, and claims permit us to study the diverse cost control systems used by different public and private construction entities. To present your side of the damages requires this familiarity. These are some of the areas we examine in calculating damages:
- Lost profits
- Weather inefficiency
- Extended main office overhead
- Extended direct job expense
- Out of sequence work
- Unresolved change orders
- Labor escalation
- Material increases
- Material storage / handling
- Engineering and supervision
- Lost Investment Capital
- Liquidate Damages
- Delay
- Abandonment
- Defective performance
- Acceleration
- Defective plans and specifications
- Termination
- Differing site conditions
- Inefficiencies
Our participation in the calculation and presentation of damages lends a degree of objectivity that an in-house examination often does not. We move rapidly through various divisions in the owner’s organization and are not bogged down (as in-house personnel can sometimes be) by internal conflicts of authority, corporate structure or pre-drawn conclusions.
Proof of Delay
This is particularly important in any construction dispute dealing with extended performance. WHI is a recognized leading authority in the innovative use of detailed schedule analysis to prove construction delays. Once delays have been identified, our consultants can pinpoint the time span and cause of each delay, and graphic analyses are developed to visually show how the delay changed the sequence of construction. WHI examines concurrent and non-concurrent delays, as well as compensable and non-compensable delays, and applies CPM principals to the delay analysis. Thus, the basis of the data in the schedule is established, as well as the basis for any estimates contained in the data.
Owners, architects/engineers, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers all need to know who caused the delay so a just and equitable decision will result from any construction dispute.
Delay / Disruption & Inefficiencies
WHI was one of the first consulting firms to use CPM scheduling techniques to prove delay/disruption or inefficiencies. WHI personnel excel at analyzing loss of productivity (LOP) claims. WHI examines the bid estimates and original as-planned conditions and compares them to job conditions. WHI recognizes that overtime, adverse weather, out of sequence work, trade stacking, contract changes, and increased labor crews are among the many factors that result in LOP. WHI personnel provide a realistic approach to quantifying damages and assessing liability.
Design / Workmanship Issues
WHI’s experienced consultants will identify the difference between improper workmanship and inferior design. Our consultants will perform a detailed investigation to study all of the factors involved surrounding the design/workmanship issue, and then arrive at an opinion consistent with the standards of the industry.
EXPERT WITNESS TESTIMONY
The expert witness in any dispute is critical. The role of the expert is to honestly and objectively transfer technical knowledge into the minds of the trier-of-fact. Many disputes are resolved because one side’s expert makes this transfer more effectively than the other side’s expert. In the courtroom, it is understood that the attorney is the advocate for his client; in turn, the expert’s opinion must be representative of the documents and facts surrounding the case.
Knowledgeable & Competent
To be a truly effective expert in court, one should know more about the subject he or she is testifying about than any other person in the courtroom. A true expert must possess extensive knowledge and years of experience in the practical application of a given subject; he or she must be able to honestly and accurately answer questions with confidence and consistency. The expert’s answers should be substantive and impressive in delivery since they come from a depth of background and experience.
Organized and Prepared
The best expert witnesses understand the importance of a well-prepared testimony. WHI is particularly skilled at document management, and as a result, our consultant relies on superior organization and attention to detail, which is invaluable when preparing for expert witness testimony. The WHI expert uses time wisely, and thoroughly reviews all facts and important documents prior to testifying, thereby solidifying all of the details of the case to memory. In the courtroom, this preparation allows for highly focused and synchronous delivery of facts for your argument.
The WHI Expert
Whether expressing opinions on professional liability, workmanship, delay analyses, or damage calculations, WHI’s experts have the demeanor to establish your position in any dispute resolution setting. He or she is organized, prepared, knowledgeable, and competent, and possesses extensive construction knowledge. WHI’s experts realize that their backgrounds and written materials are public domain. They expect opposing counsel to be well informed on any prior testimony which appears to be inconsistent.
WHI’s experts are difficult to impeach during cross-examination due to their impeccable preparedness. Selecting a WHI expert will most certainly strengthen the persuasiveness of your argument.
Do you have a problem on your project that you need help with? If so, click on the link below or feel free to send us an email or call at one of our offices listed below.