SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 8, 2010:  Farella Braun + Martel LLP has named partner Richard Van Duzer Chair of the Construction Practice Group, effective February 1, 2010.  He succeeds Adam Dawson, who served as Chair since 2004.

"Rick has been with the firm for more than 20 years and has taken on a number of critical management roles, including serving on the firm's Executive Committee and Advisory Board, and leading the St. Helena office's litigation practice," said Steve Lowenthal, Farella Braun + Martel's managing partner.  "His deep experience with complex construction-related disputes across a wide range of industries coupled with his proven leadership abilities, make him an ideal choice to chair this practice."

Van Duzer focuses his complex civil litigation practice on the construction, real estate, hospitality and wine industries.  Over the years, Van Duzer has represented general contractors, owners, subcontractors, and design professionals in connection with large construction claims and complex construction defects disputes on both private and public projects.  Most recently, he was part of a team of lawyers defending the developer of a $2.2 billion super-critical coal fired power plant against an EPC contractor claim in excess of $500 million.

Van Duzer serves on the Board of Directors of Hearthstone, the largest institutional investor in residential development projects in the United States.  He earned his J.D., Order of the Coif, from Vanderbilt University Law School (1987), where he served as the Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review, and his B.A. in economics, with honors, from the College of Wooster (1984).

Farella Braun + Martel represents clients throughout the United States and abroad in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation.  Founded in 1962, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry. Farella Braun + Martel lawyers are known for their imaginative legal solutions, dynamism and intellectual creativity. With an unwavering service ethic and interdisciplinary team approach, the firm is committed to advancing clients' objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner. Farella Braun + Martel is a green business. www.fbm.com

Melinda Hepp / Traci Stuart
Blattel Communications
415.397.4811
[email protected] / [email protected] 

Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433
[email protected]