Effect of Ruling Decision on the Outcome of Construction Litigation Cases

Abstract

Parties involved in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) have an interest in understanding litigation trends. The AEC community is eager to find ways to prevent or mitigate litigation. There are multiple ways to resolve such claims, with litigation being the longest and costliest route. The ruling decision factor (RDF) is the key element in a given case that a court takes into consideration in reaching the outcome/judgement. In this research exercise, RDF was represented by evidence, a specific law article, preceding court opinion, or contract. Sixty-two construction and engineering cases from Arizona, California, and New Mexico, dating from 2008 to 2021 in the Court of Appeals were evaluated. These cases were analyzed for interactions of the RDF with different, case-specific variables to capture trends and provide an understanding of what drove the case. For example, if the defendant type was a government agency, or the cause of action (a legal term referring to the main reason behind litigation initiation) was an environmental concern, the RDF was evidence. If the cause of action was a warranty issue, the RDF was a contract.