Construction Law and Family Law go together like fries dipped in your milkshake.
Gunning LLC’s focus is based on our attorneys’ experience over ten years: Jane has practiced all over the map, handling civil litigation and family law. When she started Gunning LLC, Jane started marketing in two seemingly disparate areas of law: Construction litigation and Family Law. How do these go together you may ask? Better than you might think!
From a purely procedural basis, all litigation follows approximately the same set of rules. With experience in one area, Jane adapted her practice to another area by following the same pathways she always did. Every area of law has its own special quirks, which Jane picked up quickly as she pivoted her practice throughout her career.
Practically, construction litigation and family law litigation often intersect because both involve complex disputes that require careful management of strong emotions, detailed factual records, and significant financial stakes; for example, a contractor’s business dispute can destabilize family finances, affecting divorce settlements, child support calculations, or estate administration matters, while family conflicts—such as ownership disagreements among relatives in a family-run construction firm—can spill over into contract performance disputes, lien claims, mechanic’s lien enforcement, or partnership dissolution proceedings. Both practice areas demand adept negotiation, meticulous documentation, and strategic use of expert testimony (construction experts, forensic accountants, appraisers, and valuation specialists) to quantify damages, allocate liabilities, trace assets, and protect client interests. Effective counsel therefore blends a technical understanding of construction processes, procurement, and contract terms with sensitivity to family dynamics and psychological realities, ensuring legal strategies that address both the commercial consequences and the personal fallout of disputes while pursuing practical resolutions that preserve value and relationships where possible.
A background practicing in family law gave Jane a different perspective on the client than other civil litigators have. After navigating family dynamics and sometimes playing the role of therapist for her clients, it was easy to approach clients with a gentle touch and a sensitivity to their real concerns, especially smaller contractors whose livelihoods are seriously threatened by pending litigation.
Civil litigation can sometimes involve more rigorous legal practice than family law, partly because of the clients’ legal budgets, and partly because fighting about every detail is not necessarily in a family law client’s best interests. Civil litigation built the backbone of Jane’s litigation strategy in family law because the variety of legal mechanisms is so much broader than in family law. Jane was able to pull that litigation experience and put it to work for her family law clients in a way that strengthens her family law practice.
So construction law and family law may seem like they’re to different to work together. But with Jane’s experience in both areas, they’re a perfect match.
