Contract suit decision wipes out $17 million claim against Dow
Trial Lawyers with Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne PLLC have secured a multimillion-dollar take-nothing judgment for The Dow Chemical Company in a breach of contract dispute with the largest privately owned electrical and instrumentation contractor in the nation.
In December 2020, the Houston First Court of Appeals affirmed a trial court’s summary judgment decision wiping out the $17 million claim brought against Dow by MMR Constructors, Inc.
The original case was filed in 2018 when MMR Constructors sued Dow for breach of contract, claiming Dow owed it an additional $17 million after it had already paid MMR for work on its plant in Freeport, Texas. MMR claimed it was forced to incur increased costs when Dow directed it to accelerate its work.
Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne attorneys representing Dow immediately filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that MMR had failed to notify Dow of the claims during the project and released rights to any additional compensation during contract modifications.
“This is an important case in the area of construction law,” said Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne co-founder Kevin Jordan. “Both the trial court and the court of appeals agreed that a contractor who executes broad-form periodic releases related to extra work cannot later come back and make a claim for additional compensation under the contract.”
“We are pleased at this result,” said firm co-founder Michael Cancienne. “This case is a perfect example of the importance of thinking outside the box to get matters resolved in a quick and cost-effective way for the client – and that’s exactly what this trial team was able to do.”
The case is MMR Constructors, Inc. v. Dow Chem. Co., NO. 01-19-00039-CV (Tex. App. Dec. 3, 2020). The Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne trial team included Mr. Jordan, Mr. Cancienne, Caroline Carter, Kelly Hill, along with Karlene Poll of Kuhn Hobbs PLLC.
Jordan, Lynch & Cancienne PLLC is a Houston-based civil trial law firm whose lawyers have a proven courtroom track record in high-stakes litigation nationwide. They represent clients as both plaintiffs and defendants in commercial disputes, construction matters, products liability, toxic torts, trade secret, and catastrophic personal injury claims. Flexibility in fee structuring is a hallmark of the way the firm does business. To learn more, visit the website at https://jlcfirm.com/.