New York construction and commercial counsel
New York Construction Law Practice Areas
Legal strategy for the contracts, payments, property conditions, access rights, insurance issues, and disputes that shape New York construction projects.
Kushnick Pallaci PLLC represents owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, condominium and cooperative boards, property managers, insurers, sureties, and businesses throughout New York City and Long Island.
Choose the right starting point
A construction problem rarely fits into only one legal category
A payment dispute may involve contract notice requirements, a mechanic's lien, a payment bond, Article 3-A trust rights, and a pending change order. Damage from adjacent construction may require engineering evidence, insurance notice, an access agreement review, and immediate litigation strategy. The strongest starting point is the practice that addresses the client's immediate business problem while preserving related remedies.
The project dispute is escalating
Defaults, termination, defective work, payment claims, project closeout, or litigation threats.
The contract needs to control risk
Scope, payment, notice, change orders, indemnity, insurance, delay, and dispute terms.
Project money has not been paid
Liens, foreclosure, retainage, invoices, trust funds, bonds, and collection strategy.
Construction damaged neighboring property
Excavation, underpinning, vibration, water intrusion, movement, and repair disputes.
A project needs access to adjoining property
RPAPL 881 proceedings, license terms, scaffolding, monitoring, protection, and fees.
Insurance or risk transfer is disputed
Coverage, defense, additional insured rights, indemnity, tenders, and reservations.
Practice group 01
Construction contracts and project disputes
Construction disputes are won or lost in the contract, project record, notice history, schedule, payment documentation, and technical proof. Counsel should connect those materials to a practical objective: keep work moving, preserve leverage, obtain payment, defend a claim, or position the matter for a credible resolution.
Primary practice
New York construction litigation
Representation in breach-of-contract, payment, default, termination, defective-work, delay, change-order, indemnity, and project-closeout disputes. This is the principal hub for matters that have moved beyond routine project administration.
Explore construction litigation counselContract drafting and review
Project-specific drafting and negotiation of construction contracts, subcontracts, change-order procedures, payment terms, insurance, indemnity, default, and dispute provisions.
Delay and change-order disputes
Analysis of notice, schedule impact, critical-path proof, extra work, directives, pricing, backcharges, liquidated damages, and no-damages-for-delay issues.
Construction arbitration
Claim preparation and defense in AAA and private construction arbitration, including document-intensive contract, payment, defect, and delay disputes.
Construction defect litigation
Claims involving nonconforming work, water intrusion, building-envelope failures, structural conditions, incomplete work, repair costs, and expert proof.
Practice group 02
Construction payment, lien, bond, and public-work remedies
Unpaid construction claims are deadline driven. The appropriate route may involve a private or public improvement lien, lien foreclosure, a payment bond, Article 3-A trust assets, prompt-payment rights, a contract claim, or a coordinated collection strategy. Early review keeps those remedies from expiring while the parties continue to negotiate.
Primary practice
New York mechanic's liens
Advice for filing, reviewing, extending, discharging, bonding, enforcing, and defending mechanic's liens. The lien hub connects clients with focused guidance on foreclosure, itemization demands, Section 59 demands, payment disputes, and related Lien Law remedies.
Explore the mechanic's lien practiceMechanic's lien foreclosure
Enforcement and defense of private improvement liens, including extensions, bonds, priorities, contract balances, counterclaims, and foreclosure deadlines.
Article 3-A trust fund claims
Trust fund diversion claims, defenses, project accounting, Section 76 demands, representative actions, and alleged personal participation in disputed transfers.
Construction debt collection
Recovery of unpaid invoices, payment applications, retainage, disputed extras, contract balances, judgments, and related lien, bond, and trust remedies.
Surety and bond claims
Payment-bond, performance-bond, lien-discharge-bond, principal, obligee, claimant, and surety disputes arising from private and public construction.
Public construction and procurement
Public contracting, bidding, procurement, notice and claim requirements, payment disputes, Wicks Law issues, and New York public-project litigation.
Payment for changes and delay
Recovery and defense of extra-work, change-order, acceleration, disruption, delay, backcharge, and schedule-related payment claims.
Construction rights can expire while a business discussion continues
Lien, bond, trust, contract, access, insurance, and public-work matters can carry different notice, filing, extension, and litigation deadlines. A focused review can identify what must be preserved before negotiation narrows the available options.
Practice group 03
Construction defects, adjacent-property damage, and access
Dense New York construction can place property condition, project access, public protection, insurance, engineering, and litigation issues on the same timeline. Owners, developers, and adjoining owners need a strategy that protects the building and the project while creating a defensible record of conditions, access obligations, monitoring, causation, and repair.
Primary practice
Excavation, underpinning, and adjacent-property damage
Representation involving excavation, support of excavation, underpinning, vibration, movement, cracking, water intrusion, facade work, monitoring, emergency conditions, repair scope, insurance, and damage claims between neighboring properties.
Explore adjacent-property damage counselConstruction defect claims
Owner, contractor, and project-party claims concerning defective or incomplete work, repair costs, code issues, warranties, experts, and contract allocation.
RPAPL 881 proceedings
Petitions, opposition, negotiated terms, court-ordered access, license fees, professional fees, insurance, monitoring, underpinning, and project protections.
Construction access agreements
Drafting, negotiating, and enforcing license agreements for scaffolding, protection work, surveys, monitoring, underpinning, repairs, and temporary entry.
Property damage insurance strategy
Notice, tender, defense, additional-insured, indemnity, reservation-of-rights, builders-risk, and liability-coverage issues connected to construction damage.
Practice group 04
Commercial, insurance, real estate, and regulatory disputes
Construction businesses and property stakeholders also face disputes that extend beyond the jobsite. Insurance, ownership, leases, transactions, licensing, safety citations, wage claims, and commercial contracts can materially affect project leverage and business operations. These practices are coordinated with construction counsel when the issues overlap.
Primary practice
New York commercial litigation
Representation in business contract, ownership, payment, fiduciary, fraud, restrictive-covenant, and other commercial disputes, including claims that arise from construction companies, real estate projects, joint ventures, and project relationships.
Explore commercial litigation counselInsurance coverage
Construction and commercial coverage disputes involving defense, indemnity, tenders, additional insured status, exclusions, late notice, and risk transfer.
Real estate litigation
Property ownership, access, contract, boundary, development, landlord-tenant, easement, and commercial real estate disputes.
Real estate transactions
Project-aware advice concerning purchases, sales, leases, due diligence, title, development risk, and construction-related transaction issues.
OSHA citations and investigations
Construction-industry response to OSHA inspections, citations, document demands, informal conferences, settlement, and contested matters.
Wage, hour, and prevailing-wage defense
Defense of contractors and construction businesses in wage, overtime, payroll, classification, prevailing-wage, audit, and related employment disputes.
Contractor licensing and Consumer Affairs defense
Defense of home-improvement contractors in licensing, contract, notice-of-violation, restitution, penalty, and administrative enforcement matters.
How the firm approaches a matter
Start with the project record and the client's business objective
The legal route should be selected after the contract, documents, deadlines, available security, insurance, technical evidence, and commercial consequences are understood. That discipline helps avoid a procedural move that creates cost without improving the client's position.
Define the problem
Identify the immediate issue, the parties, the governing documents, the project status, and the result the client needs.
Protect deadlines and proof
Preserve notices, lien and bond rights, insurance tenders, access positions, records, photographs, accounting, and expert evidence.
Build leverage
Connect the legal claim or defense to the contract balance, project schedule, property condition, available security, and business risk.
Select the forum
Use negotiation, a demand, mediation, arbitration, administrative process, emergency relief, or litigation when it advances the objective.
Experienced New York counsel
Construction knowledge informs the legal strategy
Kushnick Pallaci PLLC combines litigation experience with practical familiarity with construction contracts, project records, lien rights, access disputes, property damage, insurance, and commercial risk.
Attorney
Vincent T. Pallaci
Construction, business, insurance, labor and employment, and real estate litigation counsel.
View Vincent T. Pallaci's profile
Attorney
Jeffrey A. Lhuillier
Construction, commercial, and real estate dispute counsel for owners, contractors, and businesses.
View Jeffrey A. Lhuillier's profileDiscuss a New York construction, property, or business dispute
Contact Kushnick Pallaci PLLC to identify the practice area, deadlines, documents, and commercial considerations that should shape the next step.
This page is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.
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