Construction Consultants & Expert Witnesses

South Florida Construction Expert Witnesses: Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach

Delay, disruption, defect, property insurance and damages opinions for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach matters, including work in the Eleventh, Seventeenth and Fifteenth Judicial Circuits, the Southern District of Florida, and the Third and Fourth District Courts of Appeal.

South Florida locations

Oxley serves these South Florida construction matters from Clearwater. The local pages describe service coverage and technical questions; they do not identify additional offices.

Oxley serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County construction matters from its office at 13830 58th St N, Suite 403, Clearwater, FL 33760. We travel for depositions, mediations, site visits and document reviews in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and the beach towns between them.

The largest share of Oxley's South Florida consulting and expert work is in Miami-Dade County and its beach towns, then Fort Lauderdale and Broward County, then Palm Beach County. When a high-rise, hotel, civic or infrastructure project in this corridor is in dispute, the questions are usually the same. Which events actually moved the completion date? How much time or cost does each one account for? What do the baseline, the updates and the daily record show, as opposed to what each side remembers?

Members of the firm hold Florida Certified General Contractor, Certified Building Contractor and Professional Engineer licenses. The firm is led by Daniel R. Zorrilla, a Florida Certified General Contractor, a member of The Florida Bar and an AACE International Certified Forensic Claims Consultant. Work through Oxley is technical consulting, not legal representation.

Dan Zorrilla also worked in project management for national and regional general contractors on residential and condominium projects throughout South and Central Florida, including projects in North Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and West Palm Beach. This was prior employment experience, not work performed by Oxley.

South Florida courts and forums where delay opinions are tested

State court: the Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade), civil division at the Osvaldo N. Soto Miami-Dade Justice Center, 20 N.W. 1st Ave., Miami; the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit (Broward), Broward County Courthouse, 201 S.E. 6th St., Fort Lauderdale; and the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach), Palm Beach County Courthouse, 205 N. Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach. Each circuit also lists a complex business litigation section or division and coordinates court-ordered civil mediation.

Federal court: Southern District of Florida, with divisions at the Wilkie D. Ferguson, Jr. U.S. Courthouse, 400 N. Miami Ave., Miami; the U.S. Federal Building and Courthouse, 299 E. Broward Blvd., Fort Lauderdale; and the Paul G. Rogers Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse, 701 Clematis St., West Palm Beach.

Appeals: Florida's Third District Court of Appeal, 2001 S.W. 117th Ave., Miami, covering the Eleventh and Sixteenth Circuits (Miami-Dade and Monroe); and Florida's Fourth District Court of Appeal, 110 S. Tamarind Ave., West Palm Beach, covering the Fifteenth, Seventeenth and Nineteenth Circuits (Palm Beach, Broward and the Treasure Coast). Federal appeals go to the Eleventh Circuit.

Arbitration and mediation: many South Florida contracts require mediation first or arbitration, often under the AAA Construction Industry Arbitration Rules. The analysis is the same in each forum; disclosure timing, report format and how testimony is taken change.

The South Florida projects behind these disputes

Miami-Dade work accounts for the largest share of the South Florida list: downtown and Brickell high-rises, Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach condominiums and hotels, civic buildings such as a convention center and a museum, and highway and bridge projects. Broward matters have included civic and condominium work in Fort Lauderdale and elsewhere in the county. Palm Beach County matters have included condominium, residential, civic and marine work from Boca Raton through Jupiter and the Town of Palm Beach.

Public owners that build in this corridor include Miami-Dade County, the City of Miami, the City of Miami Beach, Broward County, the City of Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach County, the City of West Palm Beach, the Miami-Dade Aviation Department, the Broward County Aviation Department, Port Everglades, the Port of Palm Beach District, and the Florida Department of Transportation's Districts Four and Six. They are listed here to describe the local market, not as Oxley clients.

Dan's experience, as an employee and as an expert, includes high-rise condominiums, hotels, civic and convention facilities, infrastructure, highways and bridges, and marine work. Earlier in his career, he managed condominium and residential construction for general contractors in North Beach, Sunny Isles Beach and West Palm Beach. That was prior employment experience, not work performed by Oxley.

What a South Florida delay assignment covers

  • Construction schedule consulting during the project. CPM baseline schedules, updates, recovery schedules and schedule reviews, so a time question is documented while the work is still running. See construction schedule consultant services, TIA review and TIA preparation.
  • Forensic delay analysis. Windows analysis, as-planned versus as-built comparison, retrospective TIA or as-built reconstruction, chosen to fit the contract and the records, as described in AACE International Recommended Practice No. 29R-03.
  • Concurrency. Identifying, period by period, whether delays were concurrent on the critical path. How concurrent delay is treated depends on the contract and applicable law, which are for counsel and the tribunal.
  • Disruption and lost productivity. Separating lost efficiency from lost time, with the productivity records that support each. See disruption.
  • Damages. Time-related cost, extended general conditions and related delay damages, tied to the periods the schedule analysis supports.
  • Testimony and mediation. Expert reports, rebuttal of an opposing delay analysis, deposition and trial or arbitration testimony, and technical support at mediation.

More on method and scope is on the construction delay expert witness page.

Typical matters

What we are retained for

  • Delay and disruption claims on high-rise condominium, mixed-use, hospitality and public projects
  • Construction defects: reported conditions, contributing construction events and repair costs
  • Hurricane, windstorm and water losses under first-party property insurance policies, including appraisal and umpire work
  • Time impact analysis, time-extension requests and liquidated damages disputes
  • Delay damages, completion costs and forensic construction accounting
  • Rebuttal of an opposing expert's schedule or damages analysis

How we work

Oxley considers the assigned technical questions and material evidence, including information contrary to a proposed conclusion.

Services

Services for this market

The team

Who does the work

Daniel R. Zorrilla is Oxley's President and testifying expert. He has worked in construction consulting and expert work since 2008, with a return to project management in 2014–2015. Dan has been with Oxley since 2015, after consulting with Trace Management from 2008. He has testified in more than 40 cases, in litigation, including federal court, and in arbitration. He has been retained as a consultant or expert in more than 100 construction matters. He is a Florida Certified General Contractor (CGC1506197), an AACE International Certified Forensic Claims Consultant, a panelist of the American Arbitration Association, and a Florida Supreme Court Certified County and Circuit Court Mediator (Florida Courts mediator lookup).

Dan earned his J.D. from Stetson University College of Law in 2011. He is a member of The Florida Bar and does not practice law. Work through Oxley is technical consulting, not legal representation or legal advice. Scheduling support comes from David Hengelbrok, P.E., PSP, and Jeremy Easen, CGC.

We act for only one party on a project, and fees do not depend on findings. Conflicts are checked before substantive work begins, and a CV and testimony history are available to counsel on request.

Dan has been retained on behalf of and adverse to owners, general contractors and subcontractors.

Selected project experience

Daniel R. Zorrilla's Florida work includes projects he managed for general contractors and later consulting and expert assignments. Consulting and expert work is described by project and issue type only.

From 1999 to 2005, he worked for Suffolk Construction in its West Palm Beach office, rising from project engineer to project manager on mid-rise and high-rise residential projects in South Florida. After moving into consulting in 2008, he returned to the contractor side from 2014 to 2015 as a senior project manager for West Palm Beach-based KAST Construction on the $145 million Westin Sarasota hotel and Vue Sarasota condominium.

Projects managed.

  • Regatta condominiums, North Beach (Miami-Dade). Project Manager.
  • Porto Bellagio condominiums, Sunny Isles Beach. Assistant Project Manager.
  • The Park at Riverbridge, West Palm Beach. Project Manager.
  • Ventana condominium, Tampa. Senior Project Manager.
  • Westin Sarasota hotel and Vue Sarasota condominium (Senior Project Manager for the general contractor).

South Florida consulting and expert assignments.

  • Miami Beach Convention Center renovation and expansion. Delay and disruption.
  • Museum of Science, Miami. Delay, disruption, and termination.
  • Two high-rise hotels, Miami. Delay.
  • Historic hotel renovation and expansion, Miami Beach. Delay.
  • Two high-rise condominium towers, Sunny Isles Beach. Completion and defects.
  • High-rise multi-use building, Sunny Isles Beach. Delay, delay damages, completion costs.
  • High-rise condominium, Sunny Isles Beach. Construction defects.
  • High-rise condominium, Aventura. Construction defects.
  • SR 826/I-75 Express Lanes. Delay.
  • Highway and bridge, Miami. Delay.
  • 19-story condominium, Doral. Delay and defects.
  • Hotel, Doral. Delay.
  • Mixed-use retail and office building, Miami. Delay.
  • Residential development, Miami. Non-completion liability and damages.
  • Residence, Coconut Grove (Miami). Cost of work, industry standards, delay.
  • Broward County Courthouse. Delay.
  • Condominium, Hallandale Beach. Termination and completion costs.
  • Condominium, Broward County. Scheduling and delay.
  • Ocean Towers condominium renovation, Palm Beach. Recoverable costs pursuant to a GMP contract.
  • Luxury condominium, Palm Beach Gardens. Project costs.
  • New berth and dolphin, Palm Beach County. Delay and disruption.
  • Library, Boca Raton. Delay analysis.
  • Residential development, Jupiter. Construction defects.
  • Residence renovation, Palm Beach. Defects.
  • Condominium, Singer Island. Defect remediation costs.

Questions

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you take matters in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties?

Yes. Oxley serves Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County construction matters from its Clearwater office, with the largest share of this work in Miami and the beach towns, then Fort Lauderdale and Broward, then Palm Beach County. We travel for depositions, mediations, site visits and document reviews in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

Which courts and forums do your experts work in?

The Eleventh Judicial Circuit (Miami-Dade), the Seventeenth Circuit (Broward) and the Fifteenth Circuit (Palm Beach); the Southern District of Florida in its Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach Divisions; Florida's Third District Court of Appeal and Fourth District Court of Appeal; and arbitration (including AAA) and mediation. Federal appeals go to the Eleventh Circuit. CVs and testimony histories are available to counsel on request.

Do you consult on condominium and high-rise defect disputes?

Yes. Our consultants analyze reported conditions, contributing construction events, repair costs and related schedule effects, using the records and scope defined for the assignment.

Do you consult on the construction questions in hurricane and property insurance disputes?

Yes. Brian Moye, CBC, provides opinions on first-party property and insurance claims, property damage estimating, repair scope and appraisal/umpire disputes, and has testified in more than 75 cases in state and federal court on property damage estimating and construction.

Do you work for owners or contractors?

Both: owners, associations, developers, public entities, contractors, subcontractors, insurers and their counsel. The opinion follows the record.

Nearby coverage

County pages: Miami and Miami-Dade County, Fort Lauderdale and Broward County and West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County. Town pages: Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, Hallandale Beach and Aventura, Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter, the Town of Palm Beach and Boca Raton. Just north of Palm Beach County: the Treasure Coast. Statewide: all Florida areas.

To discuss a South Florida project or dispute, call 727-821-9190 or send a message. For conflict review, start with party names and a brief nonconfidential description.

Talk to Oxley

Call 727-821-9190 or email [email protected].

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