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Todd's litigation experience includes the representation of contractors, sureties, real estate developers, public agencies and private owners in the mediation, arbitration and trial of complex matters. These matters have involved a wide variety of construction-related disputes, including: payment and performance bond claims, changed conditions claims, delay and disruption claims, prompt payment issues, stop notice and mechanic's lien claims, latent and patent defects in construction and design and professional liability.

Todd has handled matters involving all types of construction projects, including: water treatment plants, detention facilities, freeways, roads, distribution centers, schools, hotels, military facilities, sewer systems, waste processing facilities, luxury homes, mid and high-rise buildings, power plants, medical facilities and rail transportation systems.

Representative Matters

• Flight Simulator - McChord AFB (Washington). Represented surety after its SBA 8(a) General Contractor principal was terminated from a $10 million project to construct a flight simulator building for the Army Corps of Engineers. Work included negotiation and drafting of numerous key documents, such as a surety Takeover Agreement and a Completion Contract.
  
• Fifth Avenue Partners v. Highland Partnership, Inc., et al (AAA Arbitration). Represented surety in construction dispute arising from a $75 million high-rise hotel/condominium project located in San Diego, California. Plaintiff sought recovery of $20 million against the general contractor and its surety. Following a two-month hearing, the arbitration panel determined that both the project owner and the general contractor breached their contract. Notwithstanding the principal's breach, the panel held that the Performance Bond was exonerated. The owner was awarded $0 on its claim against the surety. The surety was also deemed the "prevailing party," entitling it to recover its attorneys' fees.
  
• Mesa Consolidated Water District v. Travelers Casualty and Surety Company (AAA Arbitration). Represented surety in complex construction dispute stemming from a design-build water treatment plant project. The public agency owner sought damages in excess of $10 million. The matter was resolved following four separate mediations. The surety paid $0 to the owner, and recovered approximately $750,000 from members of the design-build team.
  
• B.E. McMurray Construction, Inc. Matters (Los Angeles and San Bernardino Superior Courts; U.S. Bankruptcy Court). Represented general contractor at the recommendation of its surety to prevent termination from an on-going school construction project and to collect amounts owed from various public agencies on other projects. Collected over $1 million on behalf of the contractor, including significant interest and attorney fees pursuant to California's Prompt Payment statutes. In the course of doing so, helped the surety avoid any losses.
  
• Liquefied Natural Gas Project, Costa Azul, Mexico (Litigation Avoided). Counseled major international contractor in connection with a $750 million Liquefied Natural Gas project. This complex project involved an international cast of major design and construction firms with multiple inter-relating contracts and critical completion deadlines with liquidated damages of $500,000 per day.
  
• County of Orange v. Lumbermens Mutual Casualty Company, et al. (Los Angeles Superior Court). Represented electrical subcontractor and its surety in connection with a jail project. The claims stemmed from a technologically advanced security electronics system that controlled all access points for the high security facility.
  
• PALP, Inc. dba Excel Paving Company v. City of Anaheim (Orange County Superior Court). Represented contractor against a public agency for damages arising from defective plans and specifications for a freeway overpass project.
  

Memberships and Affiliations

• Washington State Bar Association
  
• California State Bar Association
  
• American Bar Association - TIPS
  
• Surety Association of Washington
  
• Associated General Contractors of Washington
  
• Cascadia Region Green Building Council
  
• American Water Works Association
  

Publications and Presentations

• Speaker: "Federal Small Business Contracting Programs," a WTHF seminar for the Surety Association of Oregon and the Surety Association of Washington, Winter 2011.
  
• Speaker: "The Washington Insurance Fair Conduct Act in Surety Practice," a WTHF seminar, multiple locations through Pacific Northwest, Winter 2011.
  
• Author: " Colorado Structures Turns Two: Are Sureties Out of the Woods?" WTHF Newsletter, Summer 2009.
  
• Speaker: "Green Building Law," a WTHF seminar, multiple locations throughout the Pacific Northwest, Summer 2009.
  
• Author: "Compliance With State Won't Shield Local Agency from Flood Liability," Los Angeles Daily Journal, Sept. 16, 2002.
  
• Co-Author: Water Supply and Development: A User's Guide to California Statutes Including SB 221 (Kuehl) and SB 610 (Costa), published by the Association of California Water Agencies.