Duane Morris – Duane Morris Construction Law

January 27, 2026 by Duane Morris

Force Majeure & Impossibility: What Construction Leaders Need

Benton Wheatley and Anna Spicer authored the Commercial Construction & Renovation article, “Force Majeure & Impossibility: What Construction Leaders Need.”

Discourse surrounding force majeure clauses skyrocketed in the wake of COVID-19. Parties to contracts were confronted with the uncertainty of promising future performance when the future was far from certain. In particular, construction contracts felt the impact of this uncertainty through price escalations, tariffs, material scarcity, price gouging, supply chain issues, labor shortages, and myriad other problems. Construction executives must recognize how future uncertainties can affect their business in order to move into the future equipped with knowledge to address critical problems from a position of understanding. Uncertainty is mitigated by recognizing the contractual mechanisms specifically designed to address it, such as force majeure clauses and the law of impossibility. Read the full article on the Commercial Construction & Renovation website.

December 2, 2025December 2, 2025 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Attorneys Speaking at Construction Super Conference 2025

Duane Morris attorneys will be speaking on the following panels at the Construction Super Conference in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Blueprints for Evolving Compliance: Navigating DEI, FCA, OFCCP & Immigration Under the New Trump Administration
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | 9:45 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Thomas Curran
Duane Morris LLP

Lorraine D’Angelo
LDA Compliance Consulting Inc.

Managing Legal Risk Created by Strong Corporate Values
Wednesday, December 10, 2025 | 4:15 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Owen Newman
Duane Morris LLP

Jenn Shafer
DLR Group

Benjamin Strawn
Kiewit Corporation

Benton Wheatley
Duane Morris LLP

For more information or to register, please visit the Construction Super Conference website.

About the Duane Morris Construction Group

Duane Morris’ Construction Group is nationally ranked by Chambers USA among the leaders in the industry, with construction attorneys across the United States and around the world. The group’s lawyers provide a full range of legal services to clients in all aspects of construction and government contracting.

September 30, 2025September 30, 2025 by Duane Morris

AI Bidding Errors: Who Bears the Risk?

In a recent Commercial Construction Renovation article, Duane Morris attorneys Robert H. Bell and Michael Ferri write:

Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is rapidly making its way into the construction bidding process. Contractors now use AI-powered estimating software to perform quantity takeoffs and analyze costs with unprecedented speed. According to the drafting and engineering software giant Autodesk, estimating teams are increasingly using AI and automation, particularly for quantity takeoffs, cost forecasting, and speeding up bid creation. Yet as digital tools become routine, legal rules governing bids still rely on traditional principles. This raises a pressing question: if an AI tool makes a costly error in a bid, will the legal system treat that mistake any differently than a human error? Courts are only beginning to grapple with AI-related mishaps, but early indications suggest AI errors will be handled much like any other bidding mistake. In other words, contractors will likely be held responsible for errors made by their AI tools, just as they are responsible for the mistakes of human estimators or means and methods under their control.

August 19, 2025August 19, 2025 by Duane Morris

Managing Tariff Volatility in Construction Contracts

The U.S. construction market is facing a new level of uncertainty driven by international trade decisions as tariffs become more frequent and unpredictable. Few factors unsettle a construction budget faster than uncertainty. When that uncertainty stems from tariff policies—where prices for essential materials can rise sharply with little warning—the impact is felt across the industry. Tariff volatility disrupts finances, supply chains, and project timelines, placing profitability and stability at risk. Read the full Building Design + Construction article by Jose Aquino.

June 5, 2025June 17, 2025 by Duane Morris

Chambers USA Recognizes Duane Morris Construction Group and 10 Individual Construction Team Members

Duane Morris is pleased to announce that Chambers USA has once again nationally recognized our Construction Group as well as construction attorneys across the country. We share this honor with our clients and colleagues whose support makes this possible.

Austin

Benton T. Wheatley, Construction

Chicago

Jeffrey L. Hamera, Construction

Charles B. Lewis, Construction

Miami

Scott D. Kravetz, P.A., Construction

New York

Mark Canizio, Construction

Frederick Cohen, Construction

Kenneth H. Lazaruk, Construction and Construction: Mediators

Allen J. Ross, Construction: Mediators

Brian A. Shue, Construction

Philadelphia

Patrick J. Kearney, Construction

June 4, 2025 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Recognized as a Top 50 Construction Law Firm by Construction Executive

Duane Morris was ranked in the top 10 among the 2025 Top 50 Construction Law Firms by Construction Executive. Selected for excellence and prominence in the field of construction law, this marks the firm’s fifth consecutive appearance in the top 50 list.

Construction Executive is the leading source for news, market developments and business issues impacting the construction industry. To determine the ranking, published in the June 2025 issue, Construction Executive asked hundreds of U.S. law firms with a construction practice to complete a survey. Data collected included: 1) 2024 revenues from the firm’s construction practice; 2) number of attorneys in the firm’s construction practice; 3) percentage of firm’s total revenues derived from its construction practice; 4) number of states in which the firm is licensed to practice; 5) year in which the construction practice was established; and 6) the number of AEC clients served during fiscal year 2024. The ranking was determined by an algorithm that weighted these factors in descending order of importance.

Duane Morris’ Construction Group is nationally ranked by Chambers USA among the leaders in the industry and recognized as a Leading Law Firm in Construction by The Legal 500.

August 30, 2024September 6, 2024 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Attorneys Named “Lawyers of the Year” for Construction Law and Litigation

Duane Morris partners Frederick Cohen and Allen J. Ross have been recognized by Best Lawyers® as 2025 “Lawyers of the Year.” The recognition is given to only one attorney for each practice area and city. Lawyers are selected based on high marks received during peer-review assessments conducted by Best Lawyers each year.

Cohen has been selected as the “Lawyer of the Year” in New York City for Construction Law. He also received this distinction in 2018 and was named for Litigation – Construction in 2014.

Ross has been selected as the “Lawyer of the Year” in New York City for Litigation – Construction. He also received this distinction in 2015 and 2016.

Continue reading “Duane Morris Attorneys Named “Lawyers of the Year” for Construction Law and Litigation”

June 5, 2024 by Duane Morris

Duane Morris Named to Construction Executive’s Top 50 Construction Law Firms List

Duane Morris has been named named to Construction Executive’s Top 50 Construction Law Firms list for the fourth consecutive year.

Construction Executive is the leading source for news, market developments and business issues impacting the construction industry. In its June 2024 issue, CE published a comprehensive ranking of the Top 50 Construction Law Firms featuring breakouts and analysis accompanied by an article in which leading legal experts discuss their construction clients’ most pressing business concerns. Read the article for more information.

October 13, 2023October 26, 2023 by Duane Morris

Flaws In Project Scope Lead To Court Most Often, Report Says

Jeffrey L. Hamera, vice chair of Duane Morris’ Construction Group , was quoted in the Law360 article, “Flaws In Project Scope Lead To Court Most Often, Report Says.”

From Law360:

[Mr. Hamera said] that project owners have looked toward reducing design or project delivery costs by starting construction before design work wraps up entirely, in a trend that’s been building for years.

Hamera said those objectives can be valid, although they can distress a project if parties haven’t planned for it.

“If the parties are sophisticated and understand there’s going to be some completion of the design after the initial bids are in place, it’s something that can be managed,” he said. “There’s always a friction between what’s anticipated from the design on which the contractor’s bids are based, and what’s really a change that wasn’t anticipated and couldn’t be anticipated.”

To read the full article, please visit the Law360 website (subscription may be required).

September 22, 2023 by Duane Morris

Private Equity in Construction

Duane Morris partner Benton Wheatley is featured in the ABA Construction Law podcast episode” Private Equity in Construction.” Ben explores the issues raised and opportunities presented by the infusion of private equity money in the construction industry and resulting issues in the field of construction law.

Listen to the podcast.