Anthony Barron

What do you focus on?

I focus my practice on all facets of the construction and real estate development industry, both domestically and internationally, in addition to other complex commercial litigation matters. I value long-term client relationships. I look for opportunities to help clients succeed, not just in the specific matter I may be handling at the moment, but more broadly. I particularly enjoy the role of outside advisor.

Construction and Real Estate Development

• I represent owners and contractors from the inception of a project. I help them identify and reduce risk factors and maximize the opportunities for success through contract drafting and negotiation as well as proactive counseling.
• I apply my industry knowledge and thirty years of experience in resolving disputes, including claims based on delay, extra work, and construction defects. I handle these cases in state and federal court as well as domestic and international arbitrations. I frequently team with my colleagues at the firm in our real estate, labor and employment, and corporate areas to ensure that construction industry clients are being cross-served to their advantage.
• I handle significant matters on behalf of mid-sized to major industry players for both public and private projects in the United States and around the world. These range in size from smaller residential projects to large commercial projects in excess of $1 billion. My construction work covers a range of industries including hospitality, residential, higher education, energy, food and beverage, transportation, and health care.
• Recent project experience includes a $1.5-billion mixed use project in downtown San Francisco, a $100-million-plus utility grade solar project in Minnesota, a $300-million-plus research facility at a leading university medical center, a five-star hotel in the Rocky Mountains, a major remediation project at a national laboratory, and various museum-quality personal residences valued at from ten to fifty million dollars.

Commercial Litigation

I litigate complex commercial litigation and other high-stakes matters in a variety of industries—in addition to construction and real estate—including technology, financial services, and insurance. Sometimes I handle these cases from inception and frequently I am brought in closer to trial. As examples of the breadth of my practice, in recent years I have successfully resolved a high-stakes whistleblower action, a fraud/theft of intellectual property claim brought by a disappointed acquisition target, suits for malfeasance against officers and directors of a failed bank, and a commercial lease dispute involving one of the world’s preeminent asset managers.

Trials and Arbitrations

I have led numerous successful trial and arbitration teams, including winning the last ten straight that have gone to final verdict and award. These include:

• On behalf of an EPC contractor, defensed an owner claim for $60 million plus after a six-week arbitration hearing, and awarded $3.5 million in attorneys’ fees.
• Obtained a state court jury verdict for fraud against a public official, resulting in a multi-million-dollar settlement post-verdict.
• On behalf of a public works general contractor, defensed a subcontractor’s claim after bench trial, based on a licensing defense, and being awarded all attorneys’ fees sought.
• Obtained a significant net award, including attorneys’ fees, at the conclusion of a two-week bench trial in a case arising out of cross-claims between the two financial backers for a failed major condominium project.
• On behalf of a major property and casualty insurer, defensed a terminated broker’s breach of contract and fraud claims, and recovered all damages sought on the cross-complaint, plus attorneys’ fees, after a multi-week federal court jury trial.
• Defensed a subcontractor’s breach of contract claim after multi-week bench trial, awarded all attorneys’ fees sought, and sustained on appeal.

What do you see on the horizon?

Uncertainty reigns over the construction and real estate development industries and will for some time to come. Some sectors including health care, housing, and many forms of public works will thrive while others will need to dig in through a drought. In this environment, it will be paramount to proactively avoid legal disputes, but also to be positioned to prevail when disputes are unavoidable.