Foley & Lardner LLP

Jeffrey R. Blease

Partner

Jeffrey R. Blease is a partner with Foley & Lardner LLP and has practiced law for more than 24 years. He is chair of Foley’s national Construction Practice and a member of the Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution Practice. He is also the former chair of the Litigation Department in the San Diego and Del Mar offices. Mr. Blease is a resident partner in the San Diego and Boston offices. He was selected as an American Lawyer 2012 Top Rated Lawyer® in Construction based on his Martindale-Hubbell peer review rating of AV® Preeminent™ (highest performance rating). He was also recognized as a Leading Lawyer in construction by the Legal 500 (2010 and 2011) and recommended in 2012. Mr. Blease was also selected for inclusion in the 2011 San Diego Super Lawyers® list for his work in the area of construction litigation.

Throughout his career, Mr. Blease has represented clients in a broad range of industries, including construction, land development, education, financial services, biotechnology, insurance, surety, real estate investment, manufacturing, franchising, and publishing. He has represented municipalities, school districts and other governmental entities. He has been lead counsel in litigation pending in many Federal jurisdictions as well as state courts in California, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Washington, Massachusetts, District of Columbia, Oregon, New York, Maryland, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois. He has handled arbitrations in many different forums and mediated more than one hundred cases under the rules of several different organizations. He estimates he has tried more than 50 cases to verdict. Clients describe Mr. Blease as "responsive and ethical" in the Legal 500.

Construction Overview:

Mr. Blease represents owners, developers, lenders, contractors, subcontractors and consultants throughout all phases of a project. He provides "shovel to gavel"® representation, handling all legal aspects of a construction project, including permitting, zoning, licensing, environmental, bid protests, contract, financing, insurance and performance issues, including litigating disputes with owners, contractors, consultants, subcontractors, suppliers and others.

Construction-Litigation:
He has extensive jury trial, court trial and arbitration experience in complex matters. Mr. Blease believes in a team approach to litigation and has a team of dedicated associates and paralegals knowledgeable in the nuances of the industry and skilled in the use of technology in document-intensive cases. He has successfully handled complex construction litigation cases involving commercial and residential subdivisions, office buildings, high-rise office structures, high-rise and mid-rise medical laboratories, garden apartment complexes with athletic and commercial components, mixed-use commercial and residential mid-rise and high-rise buildings, hotels, schools, dams, highways, bridges, canals and many other projects.

A representative sample of his construction litigation results include:

    • Summary judgment victory for an engineering client on a major San Diego historic hotel renovation project in a multi-party complex litigation case, avoiding a 70-day jury trial for the client and recovering the client’s costs;
    • Successful resolution of all claims for an owner on a $205 million dollar Boston high-rise medical facility without litigation, liens or claims being filed, despite design issues, significant delays and dozens of unresolved change orders and tens of millions in dollars in damages;
    • Successful resolution of significant delay claims on a $70 million dollar New York office facility;
    • Defense verdict after trial in a San Diego public works bid dispute between a general contractor and a subcontractor;
    • Dismissal of a $5 million dollar delay claim between a general contractor and a San Francisco framing subcontractor after discovery;
    • Successful resolution of claims relating to the development of a major solar energy project;
    • Successful rejection of all bids in a public works dispute involving a bid protest by a general contractor;
    • Settlement of millions of dollars in claims after a default by a concrete contractor on a Los Angeles multi story apartment project;
    • Representation of surety after default on an Orange County public works project involving multiple prime contractors and resolution of all claims;
    • Trial verdict against a surety following a contractor default on a Minnesota public works project;
    • Innovative resolution of school district claims against a prime concrete contractor in Minnesota requiring a 50-year pre-paid coating maintenance and replacement bonded warranty following re-coating for aesthetically unsuitable exterior concrete panels which could not be remanufactured without severely impacting the schedule and delaying a critical school opening;
    • Seven-figure settlement obtained for a general contractor against a defaulted sub on a public works project and collection of the settlement funds from an insurance carrier despite major coverage hurdles; and
    • Favorable settlement for owner after multi-building dry fire sprinkler system failure and tenant disruption involving 400 units in Colorado.

Construction Transactional:
Mr. Blease drafts and negotiates general contracts, subcontracts, consultant agreements, construction management agreements, development agreements and other project related documents. He has negotiated contracts on individual projects ranging in size from 10 million to several hundred million dollars.

A representative sample of his construction transactional projects include:

    • Development of tailored national general contract and subcontract forms used to successfully develop and construct more than 300,000 units of multi-family housing for a national developer;
    • Development of hard and soft cost contracts for construction of high rise condominiums; for owners and contractors;
    • Negotiation of general contracts and construction management agreements for manufacturing facilities, life science facilities, research facilities, office towers and shopping centers;
    • Negotiation of general contracts and subcontracts for schools, water treatment plants and city administration buildings for public owners and contractors;
    • Negotiation of highway contracts, bridge contracts, sewer, water and storm drain contracts and other infrastructure contracts for both owners and contractors;
    • Negotiation of endorsements and exceptions to title policies;
    • Representation of owners and developers before County and City Boards and Commissions to secure project permits; and
    • Representation of owners and developers to obtain variances, re-zoning and conditional use permits for large commercial, industrial and residential projects.

Business Litigation & Dispute Resolution:

Mr. Blease has handled a wide range of general business litigation matters. He has successfully resolved cases involving unfair competition, lender liability, officer and director liability, trade secrets, shareholder disputes, consumer class actions, partnership disputes, property tax appeals, real estate ownership and title issues, franchise disputes, financial fraud and embezzlement, insurance coverage disputes, employment litigation, hedge fund litigation, secured transactions cases and other substantive areas. Through this broad exposure to complex, high stakes litigation, Mr. Blease developed a unique ability to manage cases and ensure thoughtful client communication on risks and strategies. He is mindful of the business interests of each client, striving to understand goals and internal strategies to focus litigation efforts. He has extensive court and jury trial experience in commercial cases.

A representative sample of his commercial litigation results include:

  • Defense judgment in a breach of fiduciary duty case after a two week trial;
  • Settlement of claims by minority shareholder in corporate dissolution action involving a successful race track;
  • $6.2 million dollar verdict for the landowner after six week trial in an eminent domain case;
  • Settlement in a confidential sum after obtaining the highest known verdict in an eminent domain case in County history;
  • Dismissal of all claims in Federal Court against a financial institution resulting from an alleged fraud and embezzlement scheme;
  • Settlement of a bad faith insurance case for a business client that recovered an amount well in excess of the policy limits;
  • Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of all claims against a bank in a lender liability claim;
  • Rule 12(b)(6) dismissal of all claims against the chairman of a banking corporation in a breach of fiduciary duty case;
  • Representation of owners and lenders in complex title insurance coverage matters;
  • Successful defense of investor claims;
  • Successful defense of officers and directors in complex investor litigation; and
  • Settlement of claims arising out of complex secured transaction litigation involving off-shore entities.

Prior to joining Foley, Mr. Blease was founder and managing partner of Blease & Zuccaro, LLP, with offices in Minnesota and California. Mr. Blease received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the California Western School of Law in 1987, where he was an editor of the California Western Law Review. He received his B.A. from Colgate University in 1982. Mr. Blease is admitted to practice in California, Minnesota and Massachusetts. He is a member of the American Bar Association (including the Forum on the Construction Industry), the Minnesota State Bar Association, the Massachusetts Bar Association, the State Bar of California, the San Diego County Bar Association, the John E. Simonett Inn of Court and a member of the Associated General Contractors of America (San Diego Chapter).

Mr. Blease served on the Sartell, Minnesota City Council for 10 years, served as acting mayor, chaired the Sartell Public Works Commission, served on the Sartell Economic Development Commission and the St. Cloud Area Planning Organization.

Publications:

  • "Changed Site Conditions Claims: A Roadmap for Success," co-author, Pile Driver Magazine, Q2, 2011
  • "How Attorneys Can Help Cut Costs: What Every CFO Needs to Know About Managing Today’s Legal Expenses," Constructor Magazine, September/October 2009
  • "Buy American Provision in Stimulus Legislation Poses Serious Compliance Challenges for Public Works Contractors and DHS Supplies," Foley Legal News Alert: Litigation, February 17, 2009

Presentations:

  • "Changed Conditions Claims: A Roadmap for Success," PDCA 15th Annual International Conference, Savannah, GA, April, 2011

Related