Harold E. Hamersmith

Harold E. Hamersmith is a partner in the firm's Los Angeles office specializing in design and construction contracts, claims, and defects litigation, and public contract law.

Areas of Practice

Construction Contracts, Claims, and Construction Defect Litigation:

Mr. Hamersmith represents public and private owners, contractors, architects, and engineers, in a wide range of contexts: He regularly negotiates, drafts, and advises on contracts (design-build, EPC, construction, architectural and engineering services, construction management services, project control services, procurement of materials and systems, etc.) for commercial, industrial, residential, hospital, school, highway/bridge, railway, transit, hotel, power plant and other projects. He provides advice on public contract bidding laws and disputes, including issues of bidder responsiveness, and on stop notice and lien laws, contract obligations and remedies, performance and payment bonds, issues concerning termination of contracts, etc. as well as advice on Contractors’ State License Law issues. His areas of expertise include litigation, arbitration, and mediation of disputes on public and private works involving construction defects, professional liability of architects and engineers, latent and patent defects in real property, strict products liability, extra work claims, changed conditions claims, delay claims, defective work claims, mechanic’s liens and stop notice claims, surety bond claims, bid protests, and issues regarding state and federal false claim laws.

Public Contract Law:

Mr. Hamersmith has substantial experience advising contractors, designers, and public agencies on a variety of public law matters, in addition to those summarized above. Advice regarding California Public Records Act and issues related to same. Advice regarding application of state and local building codes and ordinances. Advice regarding R.F.P.’s for engineering and related services, and state laws pertaining to competitive procurement for same. Advice on conflict of interest laws and policies applicable to officials and employees. Advice on various dispute resolution alternatives including arbitration, mediation, required meetings of principals, dispute review boards, etc. Advice on California local-agency dispute resolution statutes. Advice regarding insurance programs and coverages including professional errors and omissions, builder’s risk, owner-controlled insurance programs, etc. Advice regarding DBE/MBE/WBE and equal employment opportunity laws, regulations, issues, and contract provisions. Advice regarding federal laws and regulations applicable to grantees of federal funding, including FTA third-party contracting guidelines, Buy America laws and regulations, Davis-Bacon, F.A.R. requirements on cost and pricing data, etc.

Education

• J.D., University of Michigan, 1979, cum laude
• B.A., University of Illinois, 1976, Phi Beta Kappa

Admissions

• California
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of California

Honors

• Best Lawyers in America, 2008
• 2008 Southern California's Best Lawyers, Los Angeles Times' West magazine

Memberships

• Member, Litigation Section, Committee on Construction Litigation
• Member, Construction Industry Forum Committee, American Bar Association
• Member, Litigation Section and Real Property Law Section, State Bar of California
• Member, Steering Committee of the Construction Law Subsection of the Real Property Section, Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Articles

• 2007 Construction Law Update, Los Angeles County Bar Association, February 27, 2007

• Mr. Hamersmith is co-author of chapters of Aspen Publishers, Inc.'s, 2002 Construction Law Update (Waiver of Consequential Damages in AIA Standard Form Agreements); URS, Spring 2006 (Design-Build Projects: Who Bears the Risk for Defective Specification?) and 2007 Construction Law Update (Discovery of Electronically Stored Information in Construction Litigation)

Speeches

• Mr. Hamersmith is a regular speaker and panelist at continuing legal education and other seminars on construction, architect-engineering, and public contract law.
• He has organized and co-presented numerous Los Angeles County Bar Association, Construction Law Subsection seminars, including Annual Construction Law Update, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007
• LACBA presentations on Electronic Discovery in Construction Litigation, 2006; Effective Discovery in Construction Disputes, 1993
• Update on Mechanics’ Lien Issues, 1995
• What's Happening in the Arena of Architect/Engineer Liability?, 1996
• Complex Litigation in the Construction Field, 2002
• Recent Developments in WBE/MBE/DBE Issues, 1993
• He has been a panelist for California Continuing Education of the Bar, Public Works: Contracts and Litigation, 1995
• Cambridge Institute seminar on Architect-Engineer Liability Under California Law, 1988-91
• Construction Litigation Superconference
• CLE International Conference on California Construction Law, 1997
• American Arbitration Association/Pepperdine University Conference on Avoiding and Resolving Construction Claims, 2002, 2003

Events

• Construction Claims in Public Works Projects, February 29, 2008
• Construction Claims in Public Works Disputes, August 17, 2007