Adams and Reese continues to grow its national construction law practice with the addition of Partner Benjamin Rachelson, bringing in 15 years of legal experience representing construction company owners, general contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers throughout Georgia and the Southeast United States.
The lateral hiring of Rachelson follows the news earlier this month of Tampa, Florida-based Cotney Construction Law LLP joining Adams and Reese to expand the construction practice to 75 attorneys, creating one of the largest construction practices in the country and strengthening Adams and Reese’s capabilities in high-stakes commercial disputes and transactions.
“Benjamin’s construction litigation and transactions experience combined with his knowledge of and familiarity with the Atlanta market further bolsters the overall depth, scope, and outreach of our law’s firm national construction practice,” said David Toney, leader of Adams and Reese’s Construction Team and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. “Construction and infrastructure growth are taking place across every major city, and the expansion efforts of our firm are imperative steps we need to take to continue to support our clients’ evolving needs in the markets in which they are rebuilding our cities.”
Practicing law since 2007, Rachelson represents his construction clients in matters ranging from preparation and review of master services and supply agreements to analysis of AIA (American Institute of Architects) construction contracts and related project delivery methods, such as design-build and public-private partnership projects. His practice also encompasses payment dispute work and collections, representing local and national firms through credit collections and secured lending in both Federal Bankruptcy Court and under Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.
In addition to his construction practice, Rachelson practices in real estate, litigation, general business, and contract review, secured lending, and creditor bankruptcy, enabling him to represent clients’ interests through a broad-based service spectrum of risk analysis risk mitigation, and litigation.
With experience in issues facing secured creditors and banks and knowledge of the business operations and legal considerations of major financial and lending institutions, Rachelson serves financial services providers in managing both the risk of litigation and the litigation of matters related to notes and guaranties, negotiated loan workouts, personal and real property foreclosures, and confirmations, receiverships, defense of lender liability claims, fraudulent conveyances and judgment enforcement activities.
Rachelson earned his J.D. at Georgia State University College of Law, where he was an active member of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society and Phi Alpha Delta. He earned his undergraduate degree in business and geography from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Adams and Reese features a construction practice team of 76 attorneys across its national footprint, making it one of the largest construction practices in the country. With these skilled professionals and a team tightly integrated across the firm’s national footprint, Adams and Reese attorneys quickly mobilize people who know the local and state environment, the latest regulatory requirements, and the proper defense, ADR or appellate strategies to bring disputes to resolution. Adams and Reese attorneys represent the full range of actors in the construction industry: contractors, subcontractors, roofing companies, product manufacturers, materials suppliers, private landowners, municipalities and other political subdivisions, public utilities, developers, buyers and sellers, lenders, architects, engineers and trade associations. Adams and Reese is included on the list of The Top 50 Construction Law Firms™ as ranked by Construction Executive (CE) magazine, maintains a national ranking in Construction Law in U.S. News – Best Lawyers Best Law Firms ranking (U.S News & World Report and Best Lawyers® by BL Rankings, LLC), and additional national rankings by Chambers USA, Construction Tech Review, Finance Monthly, and Forbes, among others.