Our real estate litigation team offers pre-litigation consulting advice as well as extensive experience in alternative dispute resolution forums and the courtroom. Our goal is to prevent litigation, but we know that it is sometimes necessary. Our team offers pre-dispute advice involving crisis management arising out of real property-related events, analysis of liability and damages exposure, negotiations to avoid or minimize potential litigation, and practical considerations related to potential disputes to ensure rights are preserved.
If litigation ensues, we represent REITs, developers, investors, owners, landlords, tenants, contractors, design professionals, and large subcontractors in a wide variety of disputes including:
- Partnership and joint venture disputes
- Real property related contract disputes, including option contracts and purchase and sales agreements
- Complex commercial landlord/tenant disputes, including lease defaults, recission, unlawful detainer / eviction actions, and holdover disputes
- Real estate partition proceedings
- Easement and boundary disputes, and quiet title actions
- Compliance issues including ADA, environmental, and zoning
Maximizing the Value of Insurance
Let’s face it – risk is inherent in real estate development, management, acquisition, construction, and disposition. As one of the few firms with a policyholder-only practice, our insurance recovery attorneys represent clients in all aspects of insurance disputes to ensure they receive the benefit of the coverage purchased. We help our clients—owners, developers, public entities, design professionals, general contractors, and subcontractors—receive the maximum coverage available and litigate against insurance companies in disputes arising out of:
- Builder’s risk and commercial property insurance
- General liability, including OCIP and CCIP programs
- Professional liability, including owner and contractor protective professional indemnity
- Directors and officers/management liability
- Pollution legal liability
Inherent Environmental Risks
Environmental risk is everywhere, and our experienced environmental lawyers have assisted clients with a range of issues. Whether representing current landowners, former landowners, or developers, we have created opportunities to redevelop significant brownfields (contaminated) project sites across California and elsewhere in the Western United States. We have prosecuted and defended potentially responsible parties regarding environmental clean-up costs, negotiated with USEPA and state regulatory agencies (DTSC and Regional Water Quality Control Boards) concerning cleanup requirements, and developed environmental mitigation measures and conditions of approval for project sites big and small.
Real estate development is inherently embedded with the potential for environmental litigation. From the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and state and local planning laws through federal and state regulations addressing groundwater, stormwater, air emissions, endangered species, “green” development, and wetlands, our environmental lawyers have experience with virtually every cause of action to delay or stop a development project, including:
- Land use entitlement challenges
- Contractual claims related to environmental indemnities and releases
- Third-party personal injury and property damage claims
- Governmental investigation and cleanup orders
Farella’s real estate litigation team brings depth, experience, and practical advice to any project. We are a key resource for our clients who are buying, selling, developing, redeveloping, or investing in real estate.
