Corwin & Corwin LLP

What the firm handles

Construction law is the whole of what this firm does, and the site says that has held for more than 60 years. Corwin & Corwin LLP describes itself as one of the oldest practices in New England devoted solely to this field. That single focus shapes the rest of the site, including the client roster and the kinds of contracts the attorneys draft.

The client base reaches across both sides of a building project. It includes property owners and developers, construction managers, general contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers. Design professionals, insurers and sureties fill out the list, on both public and private work.

Each of those clients arrives with a different stake. An owner cares about a finished building that meets its plans. A subcontractor or supplier cares about getting paid on time. A firm that represents all of these parties learns how the same dispute looks from each side.

The construction matters the attorneys take on

The work covers the paperwork that begins a project and the disputes that can follow it. Public bidding and procurement applies to publicly funded jobs, where set rules govern how a contract gets awarded and who qualifies to bid. The attorneys also prepare, review and negotiate the contracts that fix a project's terms before the first shovel goes in.

Project support and dispute avoidance run alongside that contract work. The idea is to catch problems early, while a job is still moving, so that a disagreement over scope or schedule does not harden into a lawsuit. When it does harden, the firm is ready for the claim.

Public work carries its own layer of rules. Bidding on a state or municipal project follows procurement statutes that private jobs do not, and a challenge to an award moves fast and on tight deadlines. The firm's place in public bidding and procurement means it works inside that framework as well as the private contracts that make up much of construction.

Contracts and documents

Contract work spans prime contracts, design contracts and subcontracts. It reaches supplier agreements, joint venture agreements, bonds, releases and lien waivers. These are the documents that decide who carries which risk when a job runs late or over budget, so the wording matters long before anyone thinks about court.

Claims, defects and payment security

When a project goes wrong, the firm handles change orders, extra work and other construction claims. It represents clients on construction and design defects, where the question is often whether the finished work matched its plans and specifications. Mechanic's liens, payment and performance bonds, and insurance coverage give contractors and suppliers routes to secure payment, and the firm advises on each of them.

These tools have their own rules and deadlines. A mechanic's lien, for one, has to be recorded and enforced within set time limits, and a missed date can end the claim. Payment and performance bonds bring a surety into the picture, which changes who a contractor can look to when money runs short. Insurance coverage disputes turn on policy language and what a policy was meant to cover.

Insurance coverage sits at the crossroads of these matters. A construction loss can raise questions about which policy responds, whether an additional insured is covered, and how a surety's obligation lines up with an insurer's. The firm's client list, which already includes insurers and sureties, puts it on both sides of those questions over time.

How the team is built

The site lists eight people: five partners, two associates and a legal administrator. That is a compact group for a technical field, and in my opinion it points to a firm where partners stay close to the day-to-day work. The named partners are James M. Anderson, Emanuel N. Bardanis, Norman Brown IV, John M. Curran and David E. Wilson.

Several partners list their schooling. Emanuel N. Bardanis earned a B.A. summa cum laude from Tufts University in 1993 and a J.D. magna cum laude from Boston University School of Law in 1996, and he belongs to the Boston Bar Association. John M. Curran holds a B.A. from Bowdoin College and a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School. Norman Brown IV graduated from Boston College Law School.

Their day-to-day work divides along construction lines. James M. Anderson handles construction and development matters. David E. Wilson concentrates on construction litigation, and Emanuel N. Bardanis pairs litigation with construction law. Paul C. Curran and Alex S. J. Bomba are the two associates, and Anna Gilboard is the legal administrator who keeps the office running.

What the single focus means in practice

A firm that takes only construction matters meets the same statutes and contract forms again and again. Across more than 60 years, that pattern builds familiarity with how courts and arbitrators treat lien deadlines, bond claims and defect disputes. In my opinion that depth in one field is the clearest thing a client can draw from the firm's own description.

Where matters get resolved

Construction disputes rarely follow a single path, and the firm is set up for several of them. It appears in state and federal courts, and it also handles arbitrations, mediations and administrative proceedings. Many construction contracts require mediation or arbitration before a lawsuit can proceed, so a firm in this field needs to be at home in each forum.

A trial ruling is not always the end of a construction dispute. The firm's stated range takes in litigation and appeals, so a case can stay with the same team after a trial court rules. Appeals in this area often turn on how a judge read a contract term or applied a construction statute.

The firm's reach extends past its home base in Woburn. It serves Boston, Woburn and the surrounding areas, and the attorneys say they represent clients on a regional and national level. As a reviewer, I read that pairing as a local office handling work that follows its clients' projects across state lines.

What the record shows

The site keeps its claims plain. It states a long run in one field, names its attorneys, and lists the matters it takes on. That kind of restraint fits a firm whose results turn on contract language and technical facts.

For someone weighing a construction issue in the Boston area, the picture here is clear. The firm handles construction law exclusively. That work reaches public bidding, contracts, claims, defects, mechanic's liens, bonds and insurance coverage. The site lists five partners and two associates on that work, and those are the facts it puts forward.