Davis & Kuelthau | Attorneys at Law

James E. Braza

Jim represented the public owner of a major league baseball stadium in a circuit court lawsuit involving over $100,000,000 of damages claimed by a retractable roof contractor. After obtaining partial summary judgment, dismissing substantial portions of the contractor’s claims, he negotiated a settlement resulting in payments of more than $30 million to owner.

Kevin J. Lyons

Kevin has represented Mortenson Construction in matters stemming from a construction accident involving subcontractors, OSHA, and local government agencies.  He also represented the principal engineering firm during the Milwaukee Water Pollution Abatement Program.

Susan G. Schellinger

Sue defended a project owner against claims brought by a general contractor arising out of a large multi-family residential housing project. Claims included misrepresentation of existing site conditions, delay, and failure to adequately administer the project.

Susan G. Schellinger

Sue defended the Miller Park District against a multi-million dollar claim brought by one of its neighbors, who claimed damages for the District’s alleged failure to construct roadway improvements around Miller Park in compliance with plans and specifications. Sue obtained a dismissal of the case in favor of the District on summary judgment.

In another failure to construct case, she represented the owner in a multi-million dollar dispute against an architect for defective design of a large building project. After an arbitration before the American Arbitration Association, she obtained an award in favor of the owner for the full amount of damages sought for remediation of the building, including lost profits.

James E. Braza

After an eight week jury trial, Jim obtained a no liability jury verdict on behalf of a subcontractor who provided the prefabricated curtain wall panels for a twenty-two story residential condominium project, which involved claims for water infiltration arising from defective design and construction.

Matthew McClean

Matt represented a homeowner who purchased property on Lake Okauchee in 2004. He planned to build a house, but at the start of construction substantial errors were discovered in the survey that he received from the seller prior to purchase. The case was tried, and both the seller and the surveyor were found responsible. The buyer recovered over $50,000 in damages.

Tara M. Mathison

Tara regularly counsels both public and private sector clients in various construction defect disputes.

She worked with a team of attorneys on several matters involving Miller Park. Davis & Kuelthau represented Southeast Wisconsin Professional Baseball Park District in various pieces of litigation arising out of the construction of the park and the collapse of the Big Blue crane. 

When the plumbing subcontractor brought a claim against the District for $8 million in claimed extra work, Tara and a team of D&K attorneys were successful in obtaining a dismissal of plaintiff’s claim in its entirety along with obtaining a judgment against the plaintiff for attorneys’ fees. The decision in favor of the District was sustained on appeal. 

Tara also assisted in the District’s defense of the counterclaims brought against it by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of America, the builder of the stadium’s retractable roof. She also worked with the team which successfully obtained insurance coverage for counterclaims brought against the District, ultimately obtaining a ruling by the circuit court that one of  the insurers had breached its duty to defend. That ruling was instrumental in obtaining a very favorable settlement under which the District was paid for all costs to remediate construction defects, and payments made to Mitsubishi were funded primarily by insurance dollars.

James E. Braza

While representing a hotel developer in AAA arbitration hearing, Jim obtained a $1.5 million award against an architect for defective design of a parking ramp.

Kevin J. Lyons

In the area of building defects, Kevin now represents a public institution and individuals in building defect cases.