# 1304392, Crawford Green Gen. Cont. Inc. v. Julio Soares et al. filed 12/11/08

Defendants/Cross-complainants’ Attorney: Christopher P. Haskell

Verdict: $1,087,936.66                                                  Dept. 4, Hon. James W. Brown

In 2005, Plaintiff was hired by Defendants/cross-complainants to build a three-unit condo complex on  Carpinteria beach at an original contract price of $3 million dollars with an 18 month completion date.  The construction budget was later revised to $3.6 million dollars.  In November 2008, disputes arose regarding billing issues, project delays and cost overruns, resulting in the filing of a mechanic’s lien and commencement of litigation.  Plaintiff claimed it was owed $181,494.27 for work performed pursuant to the contract terms, change orders and building specifications, not including interest ($40,835.21) and penalties for failure to pay ($94,377.02).  Defendants/cross-complainants claimed Plaintiff’s lack of  competence and experience resulted in an eighteen-month delay, cost overruns of $1.6 million dollars, and numerous construction defects giving rise to extensive remedial repair costs.  Defendants named the architect in their cross-complaint, alleging errors in the plans, delays, and improper administration of the project.  The court approved good faith settlements of $500,000 with the architect, and $20,000 with a concrete floor subcontractor for defective work.  Jury awarded Defendants/cross-complainants $473,154.  Defendants $50,093.16 in costs and attorney’s fees totaling $564,689.50 were added to the verdict by way of post-trial motions.