Ben Deninger

Prior to joining Kirkland, Ben was involved in the following matters:

• Represented an EPC contractor of a $12+ billion LNG export facility in Texas in a dispute with a specialty subcontractor whose scope of work was a mission critical safety item impacting all areas of the project. The dispute involved more than $50 million in claims asserted by both parties and was ultimately resolved prior to completing costly discovery or trial.
• Advised joint venture design-builder in negotiation of EPC contract for $1+ billion airport expansion project in New York.
• Advised owner/developer of construction agreement with the prime contractor of a $50+ million luxury condominium project in Florida.
• Represented the designer of a $330+ million Virginia highway conversion project in a dispute with the prime contractor. The representation involved both pursuing claims against, and defending claims asserted by, the prime contractor and was ultimately resolved with a payment to the designer.
• Represented the owner/developer of a $1+ billion high end mixed-use development including multiple luxury condominium towers, as well as office, hotel and shopping components spread over multiple city blocks in state court litigation in Florida against the designers, prime contractors and relevant subcontractors and suppliers concerning systemic design and construction defects. The client’s claims exceeded $300 million and were successfully resolved prior to trial.
• Represented the owner of a $250+ million wind farm in Kansas in an arbitration dispute with the prime contractor. The project involved multiple types of turbines and significant delays resulting in millions of liquidated damages being assessed. The claims were ultimately resolved before conducting the final arbitration hearing.
• Represented an EPC contractor in federal court litigation arising from the construction of two new nuclear power generation units in Georgia. These units were the first new nuclear power generation units to be constructed in the U.S. in more than 30 years. The contractor’s claims exceeded $1.6 billion and were ultimately settled.
• Represented the owner/developer of a luxury multifamily housing development in state court litigation in Florida against the prime contractor and relevant subcontractors and suppliers concerning more than $60 million in damages due to defective construction throughout the facility. The matter was resolved to the client’s satisfaction prior to trial.
• Represented a biotechnology firm in drafting and negotiation of the EPC contract for the construction of their first commercial scale ethanol production facility in the southeastern U.S. utilizing their proprietary technology.
• Represented a specialty design firm involved in the $55 million construction of several large nuclear waste disposal tanks in obtaining a termination for convenience in South Carolina.
• Represented an owner/developer in arbitration with its contractor concerning a $115 million resort project in Florida. Representation involved prosecuting claims relating to defective construction and design in excess of $11 million and extensive discovery in order to prove same.
• Represented a foreign owner in negotiations with its contractor concerning a differing site conditions claim in excess of $5 million due to the presence of unidentified rock at an industrial manufacturing facility in Kentucky. The claim was resolved prior to commencing litigation.
• Represented a foreign owner in negotiations with its contractor concerning a differing site conditions claim of approximately $5 million due to subsurface water migration at a large industrial manufacturing facility in California. The claim was resolved, which allowed construction of the facility to continue and avoided further delay.
• Represented a large manufacturer in a bid protest on procurement of specialty equipment a large municipality in Texas. Representation involved bid protest proceedings before the municipality as well as state court litigation which resulted in an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court.
• Counseled a Fortune 50 retail and general contracting entity on licensing, insurance, asbestos, and OSHA compliance issues relating to the work performed and materials supplied by the client and its various subcontractors and suppliers on a nationwide basis. Representation involved addressing myriad issues before regulators at the federal, state and local levels in all 50 states on construction contracts ranging from $5,000 to more than $1 million in value.