Contract surety bonds are an indispensable element of the development process.
Gurley & Associates attorneys regularly defend sureties in Florida and Puerto Rico in negotiations, mediations, arbitrations and litigation from claims arising from the execution of performance, payment and lien transfer bonds. As a benefit of our construction law practice, we have achieved a level of experience and insight into the technical aspects of the construction process, which uniquely qualifies us to counsel and protect the interests of our surety clients. We are readily able to identify and implement creative but practical solutions to resolve complex performance and payment bond disputes.
Litigation is not the preferred means of bond claim resolution. Gurley & Associates attorneys always explore negotiated or mediated resolutions to demands upon the surety to complete or pay. Through a focused effort to solve claims early, our surety attorneys spare clients the high costs of pre-trial litigation and allow them to avoid the even greater expense and uncertainties of trial.
Gurley & Associates surety clients span the industry; they range from large national leaders to small regional companies. Whether by periodic client newsletters summarizing and dissecting legal trends or through speaking engagements, articles in industry publications or private seminars, Gurley & Associates serves the industry by keeping surety company and agency personnel current on evolving industry trends and precedent.
Although our surety practice has exposed our attorneys to a broad range of claims, we have acquired particular expertise in:
- Directing the forensic investigation of alleged defaults
- Cure negotiations with obligees
- Arranging for the completion of defaulted contractor scopes of work through tenders or takeovers
- Structuring and overseeing principal financing arrangements
- Negotiations with lenders, bankruptcy trustees and secured creditors to establish surety priorities
- Prosecution of affirmative construction and design claims
- Defense of extra contractual “bad faith” claims
- Pursuit of indemnity recovery actions
We regularly offer counsel to our surety clients regarding:
- Bid bonds and bond form questions
- Investigations of non-performing principals
- Decisions to finance or complete projects, assert defenses or tender the penal sum
- Preparation of takeover agreements
- Negotiations with subcontractors of defaulted principals
- Interpretations of whether bond rights have been waived by principals, obligees, subcontractors, laborers or materialmen
- Miller Act claims
- Evaluation of principals’ affirmative construction claims
- Settlement through alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) proceedings, such as mediations and “mini-trials”