Adam E. Richards

Adam E. Richards is a member of the firm's Dispute Resolution Team and co-leads the firm’s Construction Law practice team. He is a Board Certified Specialist in Construction Law by The Florida Bar and focuses his practice on construction, providing transactional, project consultation, and dispute resolution/litigation services to Florida’s construction industry, including national and international general contractors, owners/developers, associations, local builders/trades, and design professionals in the public and private sectors. Adam is resident in the firm's Fort Lauderdale office. 

Adam has dealt with a wide range of construction projects throughout the state, including hotels, courthouses, treatment plants, residential/commercial buildings including one of the tallest in the country, restaurants, a major expressway in Miami as well as other road improvements, and luxury homes. 

Adam began his legal career in the construction defect group of a regional law firm, where he became intimately familiar with the role of insurance in construction, recovery, as well as defending claims and lawsuits. He then worked at a boutique law firm routinely drafting and revising AIA Construction Agreements in connection with a multitude of construction projects.  Notably, his experience also includes a role as General Counsel and Vice President of Operations for the largest residential roofing contractor in South Florida, where he was responsible for all phases of the business from training, contract negotiations, preconstruction, management, closeout, to dispute resolution efforts with customers, trade partners, suppliers and municipalities. 
 
Following his time in-house, Adam joined a large, Orlando-based law firm where he lead the construction practice for the firm’s Fort Lauderdale, and most recently, he litigated multi-million dollar disputes on behalf of national and international general contractors.

Adam’s complex construction experience includes contract disputes, delays, non-payment, lien/bond claims, defects, insurance/loss events, property damage, catastrophic injury/death, inverse condemnation, subrogation, and risk transfer/indemnity in both the state and federal courts throughout Florida.

 

J.D., cum laude, University of Miami School of Law
B.A. in Philosophy, Politics and Law, cum laude, SUNY at Binghamton

Florida
U.S. District Courts, Southern and Middle Districts of Florida

Dispute Resolution

Appellate
Complex Commercial Litigation
Construction
Construction Litigation
Director/Officer Litigation & Partnership Disputes
Infrastructure Projects
Real Estate Litigation

• Serving as outside general counsel to international general contractor and several local builders/trades.
• Represented national general contractor in several multi-million dollar disputes in both the public and private sector.
• Procured favorable resolution of wrongful death claim on behalf of national general contractor.
• Obtained favorable resolution of $28 Million construction defect claim on behalf of subcontractor.
• Obtained complete defense arbitration award on behalf of local builder.
• Prevailed at trial in dispute between condominium and unit owner.
• Successfully resolved catastrophic injury lawsuit on behalf of condominium association involving renovations to the property.
• Obtained favorable resolution of vibratory damages claims both pre-suit and in litigation.
• Successfully pursued subrogation on behalf of property owner against both general contractor and subcontractor involving commercial build-out.
• Procured favorable resolutions for a multitude of delay, payment, extra work, and construction/design defect disputes, both pre-suit and in litigation, on behalf of owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals.
• Prevailed in dispositive motions based upon dispute resolution procedures and contingent payment clauses in both prime and subcontract agreements.
• Successfully negotiated a variety of construction agreements for residential and commercial projects in both the public and private sectors.
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of $750,000.00 subrogation claim for alleged construction defects filed against property owner by carrier for condominium association.      

• 2021 Construction Editorial Board Member at Law360
• AIA Miami
• Urban Land Institute
• Construction Angels 

• 2019 Rising Star, Attorney At Law Magazine (Miami Edition/Vol. 8, No. 1)

Law360 Quotes Adam Richards in, "Green Concrete Idea From Netflix's Hit 'Unstable' Has Potential"
May 5, 2023

Construction Dive Quotes Adam Richards in, "The Dotted Line: Reviewing construction contracts with recession in mind"
February 28, 2023

Client Alert - Contingent Payment Clauses in Florida Construction Contracts
October 19, 2022

Law360 Quotes Adam Richards in, "3 Tips For Construction Lawyers Amid Rising Inflation"
February 25, 2022

Construction Dive Quotes Adam Richards in, "How Firms Are Preparing for an Influx of Civil Spending"
December 9, 2021

Construction Dive Quotes Adam Richards in, "The Dotted Line: Careful wording of contracts can combat price escalations"
September 29, 2021

Law360 Quotes Adam Richards in, "Builders Face Myriad Cost Pressures, And Issue May Worsen"
May 25, 2021

Berger Singerman Grows Construction Law Practice With Addition of Adam E. Richards
October 1, 2020

Construction Executive "Navigating Construction Company Relationships During a Building Boom"
September 21, 2023

Construction Executive, "Managing Once-in-a-Generation Construction Problems – Part I"
March 7, 2023

Construction Executive "Construction Executives Should Be Dusting Off Employee Handbooks"
December 3, 2021

Law360 "Fla. Construction Defect Law Lacks Teeth, Despite Updates"
March 12, 2021

South Florida Business Journal "Litigation risks high in Florida: Business owners and property managers should be on alert"
February 16, 2021

Construction Claims Magazine, “The Best Indemnity Party Ever”
May 31, 2017

Adam Richards, Presenter, "New AIA Insurance and Bond Exhibit: Owner Financing, Subcontractor Liens, Termination Fees, Notice of Claims"
December 6, 2022

Adam Richards, Moderator, South Florida Construction, Development & Design: Managing Costs, Navigating Population Influx, & Keeping Up with Design Trends, Bisnow
November 30, 2021

Adam E. Richards, Presenter, 'Construction Law Best Practices', Builders Association of South Florida Annual Meeting
September 23, 2021

Adam E. Richards, Speaker, 'DigiBuild Blockchain: The Future of Project Delivery', Shadow Summit 2021
September 22, 2021

Adam E. Richards, Presenter, "No Change Order Agreements in Construction: Mitigating Risks to Contractors and Limiting Costs", Strafford
September 15, 2021

Adam Richards, Speaker, "What You Need to Know About Insurable Interest," Construction & Insurance Law Webinar Series
January 27, 2021

Webinar: How to Resolve Nonpayment Disputes
October 15, 2020

Adam Richards, Panelist, "Covid Best Practices for Employers, FSA"
March 31, 2020

Adam Richards, Panelist, "Technology and Innovation in the Construction Industry, sponsored by The Silver Logic"
January 27, 2020

Adam Richards, Panelist,"Risk Mitigation, Indemnity, and Vibratory Damages Claims, The American Safety Alliance"
December 31, 2017

Looming Infrastructure Bill Spotlights Recent Amendment to Florida's Public Bonding Law for Construction Projects
August 23, 2021

Harsh Weather Defies Construction Industry in Florida
June 23, 2021

No Change Order Jobs: Impossible Sell or Wave of the Future? 
June 11, 2021

• Katz Barron, Coral Gables, Florida
• Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Jones, Miami, Florida
• T&S Roofing Systems, Inc., Miami, Florida
• Robinson Law, P.A., Coral Gables, Florida