Practice Areas & Industries: Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P.

Practice/Industry Group Overview

Beirne, Maynard & Parsons has represented multi-national corporations as well as contractors and subcontractors, involved in projects ranging from drilling rigs and ships to fiber-optic cable and chemical processing facilities, from single-family homes to large development projects. Controversies have included:

• Scope and cost disputes
• Delay and disruption claims
• Materials failure and design error
• Defective installation and workmanship
• Warranty claims
• Contract disputes
• Mechanics' liens
• Ancillary claims, including insurance coverage disputes regarding all of the above

The forums in which we have tried construction matters are varied and include state and federal court, international arbitral bodies, and courts in other countries. By having such broad experience with clients and matters, our lawyers are frequently able to resolve controversies quickly and efficiently, whether the dispute involves thousands or hundreds of millions of dollars in claims.

Representation of Property and Project Owners

Because our clients include some of the world's leading petrochemical companies, we have substantial experience with construction disputes involving complex and highly capital-intensive projects. For example:

• Represented a Qatar chemical company in a joint venture with two of the world's largest chemical producers, in a $50 million letter of credit case against the engineering and construction arm of a global energy service giant in a dispute arising from a delay damages claim related to the construction of a multi-billion dollar chemical plant for our client
• Obtained a forum non conveniens dismissal in a $150 million case involving construction of an LPG facility in Northwest India. Fewer than a dozen reported Texas cases have been dismissed on these grounds
• Defended a joint venture consortium of oil companies in a multi-million dollar suit for delay and disruption damages asserted by the shipyard and the construction project manager (of the world's largest international construction and engineering company) relating to the conversion of a drilling rig into a floating offshore production storage facility
• Defended the owner of a Texas argon facility in a dispute over a newly constructed processing tower that soon began to lean
• Represented an energy industry client in arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, France, and in parallel litigation in Texas state court, in a case involving claims and counterclaims based on two construction and pre-assembly contracts governed by the ICC
• Negotiated settlement of numerous mechanics' and materialman's liens filed by subcontrac-tors when the general contractor defaulted during a major project involving the installation of hundreds of miles of fiber-optic cable
• Represented a co-generation plant owner against a contractor retained to design and implement boiler upgrades at multiple existing boiler locations for defective design and faulty workmanship

Representation of Contractors and Subcontractors

We have defended the interests of contractors as plaintiffs in matters ranging from mechanics' liens to million-dollar contract actions.

• Defended a residential home builder in a Montgomery County, Texas, trial against allegations of breach of contract and Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA) violations, along with a counterclaim for breach of contract, conversion, and fraud.
• Represented one of the oldest and largest electrical contractors in Houston in a dispute with a global technology company hired for a telecommunications cabling and upgrade project at the NASA Johnson Space Center facility in Clear Lake, Texas. Our client claimed it had not been paid for work performed and sued for fraud and breach of contract. The technology company filed a counterclaim alleging it had terminated our client for defective and incomplete work.

A substantial part of our work for contractors and subcontractors has been to defend them against claims alleging construction defects. Among other matters, our attorneys have:

• Defended a major homebuilder in a six-week trial concerning a residential subdivision built next to a Superfund toxic waste dump site
• Represented a general contractor in a property damage case arising out of a third-party act of arson and the subsequent destruction of a hotel during construction
• In an eight-day trial, defended a glass company against a claim of wholesale laminated glass failure Represented a major Chinese trading company in an international arbitration and subsequent litigation relating to the construction of a chemical plant in Pakistan
• Represented a developer in multiple lawsuits involving alleged structural defects and mold infestations

The firm has also defended numerous architectural and engineering firms against allegations of defects and professional negligence in commercial and residential construction projects.