Brenda Radmacher

LOS ANGELES - Brenda Radmacher has more than 25 years of experience in construction law, both as a litigator and advising clients on risk management best practices, contracts, procedures and effectively resolving disputes.

She enjoys both the complexity and the fact-based nature of the work.

"When you evaluate the measure of damages, you have something hard and fast to evaluate -- building materials, labor, those types of things -- as opposed to what the value of someone's broken arm or their life might be," Radmacher said. "Also, I like being able to walk down the street and say, 'I worked on that project.' I feel like there was value to what I did that served the greater good."

Radmacher was lead construction counsel for the receiver appointed for the Champlain Towers South Condominium. In re Champlain Towers South Collapse Litigation, No. 2021-015089-CA-01, (Fla. 11th Cir. Ct.).

She was a key player in the litigation of the issues surrounding the tragic collapse of the 12-story condominium in a Miami suburb, which recently announced a settlement of $1.1 billion.

The collapse almost instantly destroyed dozens of individual condo units and buried victims under tons of rubble. A total of 98 people were killed. Litigation involved a complex class action, construction and liability issues involving more than 40 parties and nonparties in addition to the class members. Much of the case focused on the 40-year-old building's construction and maintenance, adjacent property construction issues and municipality issues. It involved months of extensive investigation with construction experts.

"I had the privilege and opportunity to work with a tremendous group of people on that matter. My role was working on the construction investigation -- the analysis and legal issues surrounding liability and responsibility for the collapse," Radmacher said.

She is also a noted speaker on issues involving landowners, developers, general contractors and design professionals. In recent speaking engagements, she has focused on three hot topics.

Supply chain and force majeure issues are top of mind, she said, due to the global pandemic and resulting labor shortages and price escalations. Risk management during project development is also a trending topic due to the growing use of design-build project delivery. And as the construction industry begins to adopt more technology, she is increasingly called upon to discuss cybersecurity issues.

"Construction has been a dinosaur with regards to the implementation of innovation. In the last decade, that's changed, and the construction industry is playing catch-up," Radmacher said. "But that's also opening folks up to liability and risk in cyberattacks."