International Dispute Resolution

Capabilities

• Commissioning/Project Handover

  Exponent has extensive experience in analyzing the commissioning of utility, industrial, and commercial systems. From oil and gas to renewable energy (e.g., solar, wind, and hydro) to smelting plants, steel mills, and mining and mineral processing, we leverage our engineering knowledge and expertise to analyze the planning, execution, and closeout of various commissioning phases, starting before mechanical completion and extending through cold and hot commissioning and performance testing.

• Construction Defects

  Exponent assists international clients with comprehensive engineering assessments on technical issues that arise during the construction of many types of projects. Often questions arise about whether an issue is a construction defect attributable to a contractor or an issue not adequately captured through the technical specifications for the project supplied by an owner. Increasingly, however, the nature of the technical issues involved demands that multidisciplinary engineering analyses play a significant role — comparable to the multidisciplinary approach used by these sophisticated clients to design and build the project.

  Exponent's highly experienced team brings clarity to these complex and dynamic technical issues, whether pre-dispute or mid-dispute. Our established testifying experts offer international experience in high-profile matters and high-stakes litigation across a range of large construction and megaprojects for the chemical, oil and gas, construction and infrastructure, transportation, and utilities industries.

• Energy Disputes

  We have expertise in disputes over foreign oil and gas field production involving agreements (PSAs); oil and gas field resources and reserves good operating practices and standard of care; and failures in natural gas storage facilities, offshore pipelines, and offshore platform oil and gas wells. 

• Engineering/Design Standard of Care Throughout the Project Lifecycle

  Our team performs objective, accurate, standard-of-care assessments in all phases — design, construction, commissioning, operations, decommissioning, and demolition. For example, if changes in the design phase led to cost overruns and delays, we can determine whether an acceptable standard of care was followed in making those changes. If there are delays during the construction phase, our experts can find the root cause, such as differing site conditions or field modifications.

• Failure Analysis

  We help clients understand why a failure occurred and assess the severity of the damage from a variety of failures, including electrical and structural in buildings, industrial structures, transmission towers, tunnels, dams, bridges, structures for new energy technologies, and more.

• Fit-for-Purpose/Failure to Meet Performance Expectations

  After installation, there are myriad reasons that equipment may fail to meet production expectations. Whether this is due to incorrect engineering requirements at the outset of the plant design, a misunderstanding of the purpose of the equipment or required specifications, incorrect equipment installation or defects in equipment manufacture, improper testing, or some combination, Exponent can dig deep to identify the contributing factors and determine the root cause and what needs to be done when the stakes are high.

• Intellectual Property Disputes

  Our combined engineering and scientific breadth, coupled with decades of industry experience, provides a unique perspective that helps clients understand whether claimed new technology is old technology, truly novel, or contains others' proprietary information. Our depth of experience includes patents, trade secrets, software copyright, and licensing across a broad range of industries:

  • Automotive
  • Batteries and energy storage
  • Biopharmaceuticals
  • Electronics
  • Materials
  • Mechanical devices
  • Medical devices
  • Oil and gas
  • Software

• Machinery & Equipment Analysis

  From pumps to pistons, pipelines to processing plants, compressors, valves, and more, we can analyze entire systems and specific components, providing a broad range of in-depth technical experience for a huge variety of equipment. We evaluate operational data to analyze trends, determine whether your equipment is meeting performance expectations (fit-for-purpose), and address whether problems stem from operating conditions versus design limitations.

• Quantum & Delay

  From the analysis of material supply chain escalations to extra work and time-related delay costs, we apply our deep understanding of construction processes, in conjunction with our depth of scheduling and quantum expertise, to proactively identify potential project delays and financial damages. In retroactive engagements, we analyze project performance considering engineering and commercial changes to assess commercial risk and allocation of financial damages. Our experience includes the preparation, review, and rebuttal of additional-cost claims, inefficiency claims, and extended and additional overhead claims. 
   

  We also specialize in quantifying and analyzing time-related production inefficiencies and plan disruptions, and we have extensive experience in the preparation and analysis of as-planned and as-built schedules, utilizing court-accepted delay analysis methodologies. Exponent performs schedule delay analyses in both contemporaneous and "after-the-fact" situations for clients seeking recovery of delay-associated costs and relief from an assessment of liquidated damages. Our clients look to Exponent to source multidisciplinary expertise for multifaceted construction projects, risks, claims, and dispute resolution.