Don Boyken, chief executive of Boyken International, a consulting and building project management company, says look for a commercial real estate crisis to follow the residential real estate slump. “We have found that when the residential market moves, the commercial market moves 12 to 18 months later,” says Boyken.”When the economy goes down, commercial litigation increases,” he says. Representatives of his company often are called as commercial real estate expert witnesses, so they have a first-hand sense of how much litigation is going on. DailyReport also writes:
“In a good economy, owners [of projects] and contractors want to move on to the next project, so they come to a settlement” when there is a dispute, Boyken says. “When things turn down, contractors go after every dollar that’s out there.” Positions become more entrenched because there is no next project to move on to, he says, and more suits get filed. Most commonly, contractors sue owners or developers and trades people sue the contractors to get paid. Litigators who specialize in the construction industry will see “the start of a wave of business headed toward them,” Boyken predicted.