Terry Lavy is a Florida Bar Board Certified Specialist in Construction Law. Terry Lavy was born and raised in Syracuse, NY. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice with psychology minor from SUNY College at Buffalo. From there, he attended Rutgers School of Law, in Camden NJ, where he was the president of the Francis Deak International Law Society. He earned his Juris Doctor in 1993 with International Law Honors Certificate. He joined Vernis & Bowling in January 2006. Construction-related litigation and first party insurance matters are Terry’s forte’. He has represented developers, general contractors and subcontractors against allegations of construction defects, and litigated lien and financing issues. Many of these cases relate to major condominium development projects and high-end homes. Some examples of his work include: defense verdict following trial for alleged improper performance of mold remediation company in Lee County (Kelly v. Nu Image Claims) summary judgment for general contractor on multimillion dollar claim for defective renovation in Collier County (Beachel v. Bradanna) and trial verdict of 20% of the amount demanded in Charlotte County (Klaus v. Islander). Terry assists our insurer clients in both pre-suit investigations and defense of litigated matters. Pre-suit efforts run the range of informal assistances to include opinion letters, examinations under oath, including SIU matters (sometimes coordinated with law enforcement). Clients include Citizens and it stake-out companies. He finds that a step by step approach often leads to the education of opposing parties and the courts as to policy analysis. Terry has excellent results in disputes ranging from appraisals, duties after loss, exclusions and dollar-value disputes. Some examples of his results are: partial summary judgment leading to concession by plaintiff in Lee County (Daggett v. Citizens), dismissal by plaintiff to avoid sanctions in Lee County (Duncan v. Citizens), dismissal to avoid summary judgment in Lee County (Rucker v. Citizens), and investigation of potential fraud leading to withdrawal of counsel in Collier County, (Little Mermaid v. Citizens).
The legal complexity and challenges of construction defect litigation and the impact on insurance carriers and insurers in Florida.
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