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The $8 million arbitration award secured by firm shareholders and board certified construction law experts Stuart Sobel and George T. Breur on behalf of ADF International for its work on the new Port Miami MSC Cruises Terminal was featured in an article today by the Daily Business Review. The article under the headline “$8M Arbitration Award Granted with Costs Near $1M” focuses on the complex nature of the dispute and the firm’s work in securing the award for ADF, which was the structural steel subcontractor for the new cruise terminal and is one of the largest structural steel fabrication/erection companies in North America.
It reads:
. . . At the center of the dispute were the delays encountered during the erection of the newly completed MSC Cruise Terminal at Port Miami, now the world’s largest cruise ship terminal, capable of serving 36,000 passengers a day.
The claimant’s long-time attorney, Stuart Sobel, believes that many of the factors leading to the arbitration award for the Miami subcontractor stemmed from the lack of experience of builder Fincantieri Infrastructure Florida and its Italy-based parent company with U.S. construction.
Sobel, a shareholder with Siegfried Rivera, described the case as “essentially a doctoral thesis in construction law,” highlighting the complex challenges of international steel fabrication and construction logistics.
The dispute focused on Fincantieri’s allegedly problematic steel delivery and fabrication for the MSC Cruise Terminal project.
“They were shipping steel pieces completely out of order,” Sobel claimed. “Pieces meant for grid line ‘A’ would arrive when we needed pieces for grid line ‘L’, completely disrupting our construction schedule.”
As the delays mounted, so did ADF’s costs, according to claims.
ADF International, the structural steel subcontractor for the project and one of North America’s largest structural steel fabrication/erection companies, is previously connected to the construction of the Freedom Towers in New York City and Miami’s Adrienne Arsht Center, among many other landmark buildings in South Florida and across the nation.
FIF designed and manufactured the steel through its related entity in Italy, and the timing and sequencing of its steel delivery, as well as FIF’s alleged errors in the fabrication of the individual pieces, allegedly delayed ADF and rendered its work inefficient.
ADF sued to recover the expended costs, which were then subject to mediation.
The case involved structural steel design and engineering, construction contract interpretation, site management, cost accounting, and scheduling delays, the attorney said.
‘I Knew I Had the Facts on My Side’
Sobel credited the arbitration panel, comprised of top construction law experts, for understanding the complexities of the case as they examined 102 “discrete” events that allegedly caused ADF additional expenses.
“I knew I had the truth, Sobel claimed. “I knew I had the facts on my side. I knew I had good witnesses and the paperwork to support everything we were saying. I thought we would be fine. But you never know. You can never guarantee the outcome. … These guys are the best in the country.”
The panel included chair Albert Bates Jr. of Troutman Pepper Locke; Roger Peters formerly with the Dick Corp.; and retired Judge Christi L. Underwood of Underwood Arbitration & ADR Services. All are members of the American Panel of Construction Lawyers.
Ultimately, they awarded the subcontractor $8 million, rejecting most of Fincantieri’s $4 million counterclaims.
“They understood that Fincantieri’s active interference with our performance meant their no-damage-for-delay contract clause was unenforceable,” Sobel claimed. . .
Miami’s White & Case attorneys were led by Jaime Bianchi, and assisted by Wyatt Smith, Shravya Govindgari and Ryan Ulloa. They did not return an email for comment by press time.
Sobel was joined by firm partner George Breur. “I’ve been doing this a long time, and I’m now at a point where I’m trying to bring in other lawyers to try these kinds of cases,” Sobel said. “George is a superstar.”
The South Florida attorney called it an “unbelievable” legal battle.
“Once we filed our claim, which was just under $10 million, they filed a counterclaim in arbitration for about $2 million. … By the time we finished arbitrating, they were asking for $4 million,” Sobel said.
With conceded credits, Sobel said the respondents eventually were awarded $635,000 by the panel. With accounting adjustments, the $8 million was agreeable to the claimant. . .
Our firm salutes Stuart and George for their work in securing this award for ADF International in this highly complex construction dispute. Click here to read the complete article in the Daily Business Review website (registration required).