Civil lawyer nearby $5 Million Liquidated Damages Award

1. Civil Lawyer Nearby New York | Case Overview and Contractual Dispute

This matter arose from a large scale industrial expansion project commissioned by a privately held manufacturing company operating in upstate New York.The owner retained a general contractor under a fixed price construction agreement to build a new production facility that was critical to maintaining uninterrupted supply chain operations.

Construction Project Background and Delay Timeline

The construction contract required substantial completion by a fixed calendar date coordinated with scheduled equipment delivery, installation milestones, and third party logistics commitments.

Despite repeated progress meetings, written cure notices, and revised recovery schedules, the contractor exceeded the agreed completion deadline by more than three months.

As a result, the owner incurred extended lease expenses, delayed commissioning of production lines, and contractual penalties imposed by downstream commercial partners.

2. Civil Lawyer Nearby New York | Enforceability of the Liquidated Damages Clause

A central issue in the dispute was whether the liquidated damages provision set forth in the contract was enforceable under New York law or constituted an unenforceable penalty.The contractor contended that the daily delay rate was excessive and bore no reasonable relationship to actual harm.

Application of New York Liquidated Damages Standards

The civil lawyer nearby relied on well established New York Court of Appeals precedent holding that liquidated damages provisions are enforceable where actual damages are difficult to quantify at the time of contracting and the agreed amount is not grossly disproportionate to the anticipated loss.

The contract expressly provided for liquidated damages calculated on a daily basis at a rate equivalent to 0.05 percent of the total contract value for each day of unexcused delay.

Based on the length of the delay, the total liquidated damages amounted to approximately $5 million, a figure the court found to be commercially reasonable and consistent with industry practice for time sensitive industrial construction projects.

3. Civil Lawyer Nearby New York | Responsibility for Construction Delay

The contractor argued that design clarifications and alleged delays in progress payments by the owner excused timely performance and barred enforcement of the liquidated damages clause.The court therefore required a detailed causation analysis to determine whether the delay was attributable to the contractor or the owner.

Evidence Based Allocation of Fault

The civil lawyer nearby conducted a comprehensive review of baseline schedules, updated critical path analyses, weekly progress reports, internal correspondence, and subcontractor performance records.

Expert testimony established that chronic understaffing, delayed equipment mobilization, and ineffective site supervision by the contractor were the primary drivers of the delay.

The owner’s limited design clarifications were shown to have minimal impact on the critical path and did not constitute material interference or grounds for excusable delay under New York contract standards.

4. Civil Lawyer Nearby New York | Court Ruling and Legal Significance

Following a bench trial, the court concluded that the contractor failed to establish any legally sufficient excuse for missing the contractual completion deadline.The court further held that the liquidated damages clause was valid, enforceable, and not subject to judicial reduction.

Liquidated Damages As a Valid Contractual Remedy

The court emphasized that liquidated damages are not a penalty but a pre agreed estimate of anticipated loss where actual damages would be difficult to prove with precision.

Because the agreed daily rate was modest, industry consistent, and proportionate to the foreseeable harm resulting from delay, no reduction was warranted.

Judgment was entered ordering the contractor to pay the full $5 million in liquidated damages, reinforcing the enforceability of liquidated damages provisions in New York construction disputes and underscoring the importance of precise contract drafting.

23 Jan, 2026

Civil Lawyer Nearby $5 Million Liquidated Damages Award

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