Boston partner Jay Gregory, assisted by associate Saraa Basaria, recently wrapped up a two-week construction trial involving a disgruntled homeowner and Jay’s two clients, a general contractor and architect.
The subject of the trial was the adequacy of the design and construction of a $1.2 million interior pool and three-car garage (“man cave”) addition to a high-end home in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Prior to trial Jay’s clients offered to resolve the case with a ‘wash’ but the homeowner refused because he wanted his day in court. In the end, the jury awarded Jay’s clients a complete victory; not only did they reject the homeowner’s claim of more than $1 million, but they awarded the contractor every penny of his fee claim ($126,000), and awarded the architect $20,000 – a sum more than three times greater than the amount of the architect’s final invoice. If the homeowner had prevailed, the uninsured contractor likely would have had to go out of business. The contractor and architect were gratified by the result, and in fact, the contractor was moved to tears upon hearing the jury’s verdict.