Sarah Biser

Ranked by Chambers USA as a leader in construction law for eight consecutive years, Sarah  B. Biser represents owners, contractors, developers, architects and engineers, both in the United States and abroad, in all stages of the construction process.

She focuses her practice on large, capital-intensive construction projects, with a particular emphasis on drafting and negotiating contracts for complex and unique construction and infrastructure, as well as litigating disputes involving such projects both in the courtroom and in domestic and international arbitration.

In a project expected to be the largest development of the decade in New York City, Sarah, who co-chairs the firm’s Israel Practice, represented Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in connection with the Technion-Cornell joint venture, in the construction of a new applied science university and related facilities on Roosevelt Island.

She was involved in the construction of InterActive Corporation’s futuristic headquarters and AOL’s headquarters, including the CNN newsroom, in the Time Warner building.

Internationally, she represents one of the joint venture partners constructing the expansion of the Panama Canal, and represented the EPC contractor who designed and constructed the construction of a 220-megawatt hydroelectric plant in Changuinola, Panama.

Sarah has also been involved in the construction of industrial smelters, waste ammonia recovery systems, solar power installations and health care facilities.

She is currently defending a European construction company in connection with Defense Base Act claims arising out of the 1968 crash of a B-52 bomber carrying nuclear warheads at an airbase in Greenland.

Representative Matters :

• Constructora Urbana, S.A. – Represented a joint venture partner with French-based VINCI Construction for the construction of a four-lane concrete cable-stayed bridge north of the Panama Canal Gatun Locks, owned by the Panama Canal Authority, an autonomous entity of the Government of Panama. The construction of the three-kilometer bridge is part of the Panama Canal Expansion Program.
• Technion University – Drafted and negotiated joint venture agreement with Cornell University to develop and construct a premier, state-of-the-art applied science graduate school and research facility and campus on land provided by the City of New York on Roosevelt Island for Mayor Bloomberg’s signature economic development and infrastructure project.
• Palace Electric v. Constructamax, Locust Valley Central School District et al – Successfully negotiated and settled on behalf of school district multiparty litigation involving multimillion-dollar claims against the school district and one of prime contracts.
• NYMEX v. Forest Electric Corporation – Successfully negotiated and settled lien foreclosure case involving disaster recovery trading facility maintained outside New York by NYMEX in event of catastrophe.
• Heller v. Marvin Windows – Successfully negotiated and settled case involving mold and defective window design against major national window manufacturer.
• Petersen Geller & Spurge – Structured and negotiated settlement on behalf of millwork designer in multimillion-dollar litigation involving construction of new federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
• Verizon Communications, Inc. – Drafted and negotiated contracts for construction management, design professional, trade contractor and consultant for national leader in telecommunications industry.

Sarah is co-author of the leading treatise on New York construction law, the New York Construction Law Manual. She also authors the chapter on New York law in Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law (3rd Edition) and the New York chapter in State-by-State Guide to Architect, Engineer and Contractor Licensing. Sarah also co-authored the chapter on “Legal Relationships” in Temporary Structures in Construction (3rd Edition).

Sarah is a frequent lecturer on construction issues. She serves as an adjunct professor, teaching a course on high-growth corporate transactions in Cornell Law School’s Technology Law L.L.M. program. She is a member of the New Jersey Israel Commission, by appointment of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, and is fluent in conversational Hebrew.

EDUCATION :

• New York University School of Law (J.D., 1983)
• Columbia University School of International Affairs (M.I.A., 1979)
• Rutgers University (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, 1977)

MEMBERSHIPS :

• American College of Real Estate Lawyers
• American Council of Engineering Companies, Legal Counsel Forum
• New York County Lawyers’ Association
• International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR)
• New Jersey Israel Commission
• American Friends of Technion Society

COURT ADMISSIONS :

• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit
• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York
• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey

BAR ADMISSIONS : New York, New Jersey