Services Engineering, Procurement & Construction

Kean Miller is a trusted legal advisor to clients developing industrial and commercial projects in the Gulf South. As counsel to industry, we have developed unique experience in the negotiation and development of contracts for engineering services, construction, and procurement of materials, modules, and equipment (EPC) with aggregate transaction values in the billions of dollars. We assist project owners in complying with state and federal laws, in contract negotiations, in dispute resolution proceedings, and in trial. We frequently handle legal issues in connection with contract administration, interpretation and enforcement, including change orders and back charge issues, schedule and delay issues, warranty claims and enforcement, lien rights and remedies, and associated litigation.

Kean Miller has extensive experience representing owners, contractors, architects, engineers, construction managers, subcontractors, and material and equipment sellers and lessors in all aspects of industrial and public work. We have substantial experience in the Private Works Act, the Public Works Act and the Miller Act as well as issues involving performance and payment, bid and retainage bond rights, schedule and delays, changed and unforeseen conditions, and other issues of liability and responsibility. On behalf of our clients, we have negotiated on behalf of and with owners, general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, material suppliers and lessors, sureties, bankruptcy trustees, lenders, and public officials.

Areas of Expertise

• Administrative Hearings
• Building Code Violations
• Change Orders and Back Charges
• Construction Defects
• Construction Disputes
• Design-Build Contracts
• Delays and Schedule
• Design Defects
• Dispute Resolution
• Engineering Service Agreements
• Equipment Procurement
• Insurance
• Licensing Agreements
• Liens
• Litigation
• Poor Workmanship Claims
• Professional Service Contracts
• Professional Licensing
• Public Bidding
• Risk Assessment
• Warranty Disputes and Enforcement

Representative Experience

• Representation of a global fertilizer company in the negotiation of the Engineering Services Agreement for Front End Engineering, the Licensing Agreement for necessary technology, and the EPC Agreement for a new Ammonia Plant. The Kean Miller EPC team included members of our transactional, construction, and intellectual properties sections.
• Representation of a global chemical company with major contracts and agreements in connection with its multibillion dollar, worldwide capital spending and facility enhancements campaign.
• Representation of oilfield equipment fabricator and construction firm in multi-jurisdictional litigation in both Texas and New Mexico, involving multiple liens and claims of more than $30 million for equipment installed and services rendered for oilfield infrastructure in New Mexico.
• Representation of a global refiner in a $20 million case before the Mississippi Supreme Court involving construction claims including overruns, cardinal changes, and quantum meruit issues. The case involved the dismantling of an ammonia plant in Pascagoula, Mississippi and its reassembly in Pakistan. The case was affirmed on appeal by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
• Representation of a worldwide energy company in construction litigation brought by a global construction firm involving a Baton Rouge industrial facility and related construction of a cogeneration plant.
• Representation of a developer and installer of turbine control systems at a methanol plant in Equatorial Guinea in AAA arbitration, securing a take-nothing award against the plant owner on its multi-million-dollar lost profits claim, and a favorable award on the client’s counterclaim.
• Representation of a chemical facility in actions adverse to a surety and construction company regarding issues related to construction of a multi-million-dollar industrial facility in St. Bernard and Ascension Parishes.
• Representation of a forest products company in a workmanship and defective design and construction of over $4 million worth of plant remodeling and updating of processes.
• Defense of a chemical plant owner in industrial construction litigation involving construction of MDI-2 production unit.
• Representation of international pipeline owner in design defect litigation relating to the original construction of a $500 million natural gas pipeline.
• Representation of A8 qualified general contractor in delay claim arising out of corps of engineering project and breach of an SBA mentor-protégée agreement.
• Representation of a LNG facility owner in many aspects of developing and constructing multiple LNG facilities, including crafting EPC Agreements in compliance with Louisiana law.
• Representation of a global fertilizer company for negotiation of an EPC contract for ammonia storage tanks.