Hayley Ambler focuses her practice on litigating construction disputes and on international arbitration. She has represented owners, EPC contractors and original equipment manufacturers in connection with a variety of domestic and international disputes arising from the construction of power plants. Ms. Ambler is experienced in handling the difficult issues that can arise in international arbitration and litigation. She has been instrumental in achieving many successful results for clients, including defeating efforts to compel a nonsignatory client into an international arbitration, and compelling the production of key evidence from resistant adversaries in other countries for use in U.S. courts.
A significant portion of Ms. Ambler's practice involves front-end claims avoidance, including effective contract drafting and negotiation, contract management and administration, project execution and dispute resolution.
Ms. Ambler's previous experience includes serving as a judicial clerk to the Honorable W. Eugene Davis of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was named a 2007, 2008 and 2009 Georgia "Rising Star" in the areas of Construction Litigation, Business Litigation and International by SuperLawyers magazine.
Industries
Construction & Infrastructure; Water & Wastewater
Experience
Counsel for a city on waste water treatment plants, Represented a city to defend against $34 million dollars in contractor claims on several waste water treatment plants. The case against the city had been pending in Federal Court for over 19 months. Also represented the city in a $24 million dollar counterclaim related to this matter. The city's motion for summary judgment was granted in connection with the $34 million in contractor claims, and the firm has been retained to represent the city in connection with any appeals to the summary judgment decision.
Post-construction warranty claims for Rocksavage Power Co. Ltd. *, Represented Rocksavage Power Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of InterGen, against Bechtel for the construction of a 700 MW combined cycle power plant. We worked directly with the owner concerning numerous disputed post-construction warranty claims against Bechtel and in a contract dispute regarding responsibility for the cost of commissioning gas. The commissioning gas dispute was settled just prior to the commencement of arbitration.
Construction litigation for international EPC contractor and original equipment manufacturer, The firm served as lead counsel to an international EPC contractor/OEM in multiparty disputes arising out of the construction of an $800 million coal-fired power generation facility. All disputes were ultimately settled through two separate structured settlement processes - one for disputes among the employer, the client and the client's consortium partner; and the other for disputes between the client and its subcontractors.
Construction dispute for a specialty contractor, Represented a pipeline contractor in a Texas state court in the defense of $40 million in claims asserted by a pipeline owner and the assertion of a $14.8 million counterclaim against the pipeline owner arising from the construction of a 31-mile pipeline project in Indiana and Illinois. During the course of this representation, we obtained rulings that: the pipeline owner was guilty of spoliation of its project emails; the pipeline owner was guilty of spoliating the surplus pipe from the project; the pricing terms in the contract were unambiguous and applied regardless of the actual costs incurred by our client, which eliminated the owner's primary defense to $2.8 million of the claims asserted by our client; excluding evidence of settlement offers made by our client, which the owner intended to use as admissions of liability; denying the owner's motion for summary judgment on our client's claim for interest under the Texas Prompt Pay Act; and prohibiting the owner's damages expert from opining that our client was responsible for the vast majority of the owner's claims. The pipeline owner and our client subsequently settled the claims between them. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
Dispute mitigation counsel to a major oil and gas company, Represent a major oil and gas exploration and production services company in an early dispute mitigation regarding an offshore Brazil oil and gas production platform construction risk management. Case is pending.
Construction litigation for a general contractor, Represent a general contractor in complex litigation involving the construction of an approximately $13 million long-term, acute care hospital in Florida. The litigation involves multimillion dollar claims against the owner and the architect for delays, change orders, constructive acceleration, extra work, and bad faith. Case is pending.
Construction of a combined cycle power plant for Coryton Energy Co. Ltd *, Represented Coryton Energy Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of InterGen, in resolving claims and negotiating a project closeout agreement with Bechtel and Alstom related to the construction of a 700 MW combined cycle power plant. In addition to typical project counsel advice, this engagement required renegotiating the EPC contract to allow the plant to achieve commercial operation while construction work continued to remedy significant performance shortfalls. Further, we advised the owner regarding numerous disputed post-construction warranty claims against Bechtel.
Breach of warranty and breach of contract for a California utility services company, Represented a California-based utility company against an equipment manufacturer in litigation over claims for breach of warranty and breach of contract. Resolved all disputes through settlement on terms favorable to the utility company.
*Experience gained by attorney prior to joining Kilpatrick Townsend
Publications
01 January 2009, International Arbitration: A Practical Guide for the Construction Industry
Source: 2009 Construction Law Update, Other Publications
News
03 June 2009, Construction Industry's Leading Legal Guide Updated for 2009, News Releases
02 March 2009, Kilpatrick Stockton Attorneys Named 2009 Georgia "Rising Stars" by Georgia Super Lawyers, News Releases