Construction Law
From bid to build, we bring the experienced legal guidance and insight your project demands.
Sections
overview
focus areas
depth of practice
team
insights
industries served
representative matters
testimonials
contact us
overview
focus areas
depth of practice
team
insights
industries served
representative matters
testimonials
contact us
Overview
Construction projects are capital-intensive, deadline-driven, and layered with contractual risk. A single drafting oversight, procurement misstep, or payment delay can expose contractors, developers, and owners to significant financial loss. Construction margins are tight. Risk compounds fast.
Our Construction Law team represents clients across Upstate New York and beyond in complex commercial construction matters. We advise from project inception through completion, drafting and negotiating contracts, guiding procurement strategy, and resolving disputes when projects do not proceed as planned.
We regularly draft and negotiate AIA contracts, ConsensusDocs contracts, and custom-made contracts. We structure risk-transfer provisions, indemnification clauses, and payment protections with the understanding that construction disputes are often won or lost on contract language.
When projects encounter delays, scope changes, cost overruns, nonpayment, or design conflicts, we move quickly to preserve rights and protect leverage. Our attorneys represent clients in mediation, arbitration, litigation, and bid protests, bringing both courtroom experience and deep industry familiarity in construction litigation matters. We regularly advise clients on compliance with New York Lien Law and related statutory notice and filing requirements.
We approach construction matters with a project mindset. That means understanding timelines, sequencing, financing structures, and field realities – not just contract clauses. Our advice is built to function in live projects, not just in court.
Our experience includes advising institutional owners, commercial developers, construction management firms, general contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers on large-scale capital improvement and urban redevelopment projects. We understand the operational realities of significant construction undertakings because we have advised clients directly through active project execution.
Our attorneys maintain active leadership roles in construction industry organizations, including the Construction Exchange of Buffalo and Western New York, the Construction Financial Management Association, and the Subcontractors Association of Western New York, which keeps us closely aligned with the financial and operational realities of the industry.
We Answer Your Construction Law Questions
- How can we structure construction contracts to properly allocate risk and protect payment?
- When should we file a mechanic’s lien or bond claim to preserve leverage?
- What are our options if a project is delayed, disrupted, or terminated?
- How do we challenge an improperly awarded public contract?
- What is the most strategic path to resolve a construction dispute without escalating costs?
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What notice requirements apply before filing a mechanic’s lien in New York?
Focus Areas
Contract Drafting & Negotiation
We draft and negotiate construction management, architectural, and subcontract agreements, including AIA and ConsensusDocs forms. Standard forms are only a starting point. The real protection is in the negotiated details. Our focus is strategic risk allocation, enforceable dispute mechanisms, payment security, and defensible indemnification structures.
Mechanic’s Liens & Payment Enforcement
We preserve and enforce lien rights for contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects, and engineers on both private and public projects. Properly filed liens and bond claims often create the leverage necessary to resolve payment disputes efficiently. Timing and precision matter. Filing too late or filing incorrectly can eliminate leverage entirely.
Surety Bond Claims
When performance or payment obligations fail, we prosecute and defend surety bond claims to protect financial interests and minimize project disruption.
Bid Protests & Procurement Disputes
Public procurement disputes require immediate action. We represent clients in bid protests and challenges to improperly awarded contracts, preserving statutory rights and competitive positioning.
Delay, Change Order & Performance Disputes
We handle disputes involving schedule delays, change orders, defective work, cost overruns, and termination claims. Our approach prioritizes business resolution but remains fully prepared for arbitration or trial.
Depth of Practice
Our depth of practice includes experience with:
- Drafting construction management and architectural design contracts for large commercial developments
- Advising institutional clients on construction-related legal matters
- Payment and performance disputes involving contractors and subcontractors
- Private and public improvement liens under New York Lien Law
- Surety bond enforcement
- Ownership and IP considerations related to AI-generated outputs and model development
- Delay and impact claims
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Arbitration and litigation in New York state and federal courts
Team
Brasky-A
Adam
Brasky
Partner
Buffalo, NY
Sarzynski-D
Daniel E.
Sarzynski
Partner
Buffalo, NY
Zmarandoiu-A
Amedeo
Zmarandoiu
Associate
Buffalo, NY
Industries Served
Related Practice Areas
Business Law
Business Litigation
Project Development, Land Use, & Energy
Real Estate
Representative Matters
- Advised institutional and commercial clients during major capital improvement and redevelopment projects.
- Drafted construction management and architectural contracts for large-scale mixed-use developments.
- Represented developers and contractors in multimillion-dollar delay, impact, and payment disputes.
- Prosecuted and defended mechanic’s lien and surety bond claims under New York law.
- Guided clients through bid protests and procurement challenges on public projects.
Testimonials
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