Edward Seglias

• Ed has helped to establish important case law in Pennsylvania in B. Pietrini & Sons, Inc. v. Agate Construction, Inc. 901 A. 2d 1050 (Pa. Super. 2006) where he served as both trial and appellate counsel for Pietrini. In that case, the Superior held that a general contractor acted in bad faith by withholding an undisputed contract balance from Pietrini as a means of gaining leverage against our client to extract release of disputed change order claims. As such, our client was entitled to penalties and interest under the PA Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act.
• In a case of first impression, Ed helped to establish law in the Appellate Court of the State of New Jersey holding that sureties issuing performance bonds on public projects cannot rely upon bond provisions that deviate from the bond form prescribed by statute as a basis to deny an otherwise legitimate bond claim. Gloucester City Board of Education v. American Arbitration Association and Amwest Surety Insurance Company, 755 A. 2d 1256 (N.J. Super. 2000)

Representative Cases

• Representing an electrical contractor on a federal courthouse project located in Southern California in claims totaling $23 million against other contractors and their surety for delay, inefficiencies, and mismanagement of the project.
• Representing the owner of a luxury apartment complex located in central New Jersey in a suit against the general contractor for deficient and defective work. The claim exceeds $3.5 million in damages and includes defective construction and delay.
• Representing a concrete supplier against a contractor who refused to remit payment for concrete that was supplied to a Project. On behalf of our client, we filed suit against the contractor and its surety seeking damages in excess of $1.7 million. which consist of our client’s outstanding contract balance and its lost profits as a result of wrongful termination.
• Represented a site contractor in a matter involving the demolition of buildings and tanks and certain site improvements at a regional port authority. The matter was settled and we recovered approximately $1.3 million for our client.
• Representing a contractor involved in the construction of a pediatric center in Southern New Jersey. Design issues and poor coordination and mismanagement caused our client to incur significant labor inefficiencies and additional costs. We filed suit against the general contractor seeking damages in excess of $900,000, which consist of unpaid contract balance, retainage, extra work claims, and labor inefficiencies.
• Successfully represented a regional concrete supplier in a federal diversity action against a trucking company to recover costs incurred due to the delivery of contaminated aggregate, which our client unknowingly used in the production of concrete it supplied to a major warehouse facility project. The contaminated aggregate caused corrosion to metal decking on which the concrete was poured. The cost to remove and replace the defective concrete, including the removal and re-installation of various warehouse systems already in place, exceeded $935,000. The jury returned a verdict for the full amount of the loss.
• Successfully obtained annulment of the contractor “non-responsibility” determination made by the New York Office of General Services. The project in question involved abatement of hazardous materials and renovation work at a publicly owned building located in Albany, NY. Success in Article 78 proceedings is extremely rare, but following extensive briefing and a hearing before the Supreme Court in Albany, the debarment was vacated.
• Successfully represented seventeen different consolidated claims involving homeowners who purchased homes from a national homebuilder between the years 2005 to 2010. The homes are high-end waterfront properties located in a vacation-beach community in the Mid-Atlantic region that were affected by substantial construction defects. These defects were related to the use of inferior or inadequate materials. The matter was resolved via settlement with the homeowners recovering the full extent of their loss.