U.S. News & World Report's Best Lawyers® has recognized Mr. Heller as one of the top lawyers in America for construction law in 2021.

Arbitration, as a dispute resolution mechanism, is often included in contracts and favored by courts. Given this widespread preference for arbitration, folks are sometimes surprised to learn that a New York statute prohibits the use of mandatory arbitration clauses in certain home improvement contracts. 

Can you plead guilty to falsifying business records in a commercial bribery scheme involving construction work and still hope to salvage your claim for millions of dollars against the owner you ripped off?  You might, under the right set of facts.

A mechanic’s lien can be a powerful tool for collecting a contract balance owed for work performed on a construction project.  Yet, it is a tool which can be easily abused.  But can you be held liable for defamation if your lien alleges that someone owes you money when they don’t?

The doctrine of “adverse possession” remains one of the most interesting facets of real property law.  The possibility that your neighbor can take ownership of some of your property through your own inattentiveness continues to fascinate and confound homeowners. What makes it so interesting is the counter-intuitive way it works. Giving permission for your neighbor to occupy your land denies him any claim.  But refusing his encroachment may cause you to lose the disputed strip.  Here’s how that dichotomy played out in a recent appellate case.

In our regular review and negotiation of contracts and leases, we frequently encounter provisions providing that the “prevailing party” in any litigation or arbitration is entitled to reimbursement of its attorney’s fees and expenses from the losing party. It is sometimes forgotten, however, that the right to attorney’s fees is contrary to the “American Rule” which provides that each party must bear its own attorney’s fees and expenses. Despite the “American Rule,” however, parties may nevertheless provide in their arms-length contracts and leases that the prevailing party shall recover attorney’s fees from the other party.  That right may also be contained in a statute addressing limited areas of the law.  Such was the setting in two recent appellate decisions.

Limitation of liability clauses are all the rage, whether among participants on a construction project or in other fields.  These clauses are broadly enforced and there is precious little room to escape them.  As is made clear in a recent case, even an action which seems gratuitously malicious might not in certain circumstances serve to void the limitation of liability clause as long as it was done for one's legitimate economic self-interest.

Legal Update

An insurance broker dodged a bullet when a court held that he did not mislead his client about the scope of coverage or fail to provide appropriate advice—even though the client was left with no coverage and no defense against a construction accident on its property.  The court’s decision provides important lessons, namely, that in special situations a broker can be held liable for not recommending the proper insurance, and that businesses should read their insurance policies carefully.

Legal Update

Legal Update

It is commonly believed that forming a corporation shields individuals from personal liability for acts they commit in their official capacity as officers or directors of the corporation.  That is often true.  But a recent case by a New York appellate court reminds us of an important exception to that rule.

Legal Update

Legal Update

Legal Update

Legal Update

Legal Update

In construction contracts “no-damage-for-delay” clauses have been enforced by the courts for more than three decades. Although four exceptions to this clause have been carved out, a recent decision by the Appellate Division, 1st Department may just have doomed the most promising of the exceptions.

Legal Update