Judge Orders Flatiron to Pay AECOM $15.8 Million in Lawsuit Costs

A federal choose in Denver has awarded AECOM $14.2 million in authorized and professional witness bills in its profitable breach-of-contract lawsuit towards contractor Flatiron. The 2 corporations had been design-build teammates including lanes opened in 2020 to the E-470 toll freeway in that metropolis.

The awards, in two separate orders, got here to $8.3 million in lawyer prices and $5.9 million for professional witness and different prices. The orders characterize one of many ultimate chapters in a pricey five-year wrestle between the 2 corporations that concerned whole groups of attorneys and professional witnesses testifying about advanced contract phrases, engineering requirements of care and technical points of the work.

Following an 18-day trial accomplished in Feb. 2024, a jury awarded AECOM $5.26 million for its declare towards contractor Flatiron involving unpaid design work. The jurors rejected Flatiron’s $263.5-million counterclaim for price overruns and delays it blamed on AECOM’’s “botched” bid design on the added lanes.

In each his lawsuit price orders, Decide William J. Martínez cites a clause within the subcontract executed by contractor Flatiron and AECOM. The clause mentioned the occasion submitting claims should pay its opponent’s prices if the plaintiff prevails “on lower than half of the claims it makes, together with cheap attorneys’ charges.” 

Flatiron misplaced on two of its three particular person lawsuit claims towards AECOM.

In making the 2 orders, Martínez relied on briefs and affidavits in addition to his familiarity with the case. Flatiron’s authorized staff had requested an evidentiary listening to however Martinez mentioned no.

AECOM, the Los Angeles-based design large, bought most however not all that it had requested. It had initially sought $16 million in mixed lawyer and professional opinion prices.

About $10 million was for lawyer prices, together with greater than $700,000 in post-trial authorized bills.

Martinez used what is named the “lodestar” methodology of calculated truthful authorized price—multiplying cheap hours by charges—to shave AECOM’s preliminary $10.28 million request.  

AECOM did lower about $300,000 from its authentic request, a part of that to exclude charges involving separate litigation in state court docket.

AECOM’s victorious lawyer, Polsinelli PC, didn’t come low-cost. The requested reimbursement included work by agency shareholders Stephen Gurr (2,693 hours at $638.38 an hour for a complete of $1.72 million and Adam Lewis (6,551 hours at $497 an hour for $3.26 million). Flatiron objected to a 2024 price enhance for Gurr from $500 to $980, calling it opportunistic.

Martinez deducted from AECOM’s prices in a number of situations. He lower the hourly price for an additional Polsinelli lawyer, Garrick Vanderfin, from $731 to $450; in addition to $31,272 for timekeepers, citing an absence of documentation, and $302,000 for what the choose dominated was top-heavy staffing and poor judgment.

Martinez additionally in the reduction of considerably on AECOM’s requested compensation for professional witness charges, $6 million, to $4.8 million. The choose made these cuts, saying they included administrative charges. He made different cuts as a result of he mentioned he noticed an absence of employees credentials for a few of the work.

The choose made a giant lower on E-discovery prices, $527,000, partly for what he mentioned was an absence of supporting documentation for the work accomplished. He allowed $985,000. Whereas approving $32,000 for a trial technician, he excluded prices for trial provides, workplace area and meals (about $25,000 whole) as pointless.