Joyce K. Hackenbrach

Joyce K. Hackenbrach is a partner in the Philadelphia office of Pepper Hamilton LLP and, since 1986, has concentrated her practice in matters relating to the design, construction and renovation of commercial and industrial facilities. She also is a member of the firm’s Sustainability, CleanTech and Climate Change Team.

Ms. Hackenbrach has represented owners, engineers, construction managers and contractors in dealing with a wide variety of disputes arising from the design, construction, maintenance and operation of process plants and other industrial facilities, commercial buildings and institutional facilities. The types of projects with which she has experience include high-rise and mid-rise commercial buildings, power plants, other process plants (pharmaceutical, chemical, food products), manufacturing facilities, wastewater treatment plants, landfill construction, laboratory facilities, libraries, college residence and teaching facilities, Superfund soil and water remediation (thermal and chemical), and highway bridges.

Ms. Hackenbrach’s dispute resolution experience extends to the entire range of matters that arise in complex construction projects, including design and construction defects, warranty issues (performance-based and prescriptive), differing soils, subsurface and other site conditions, scope of work disputes, delay, disruption and loss of efficiency, and terminations for convenience or for default. Her experience also includes the full range of dispute resolution services, including “real time” claims and dispute minimization advice during projects, negotiation of claims and disputes, mediation, domestic and international arbitration, and jury and non-jury trials in state and federal courts.

Ms. Hackenbrach’s representative engagements include:

• defending an engineering firm against claims of defective design of indirect thermal desorption equipment used in a federal hazardous waste remediation project, and prosecuting the engineer’s claims for cardinal change in the nature of the hazardous materials to be remediated (Jacksonville, FL)
• defending an EPC contractor against claims of defective design and construction of a circulating fluidized bed cogeneration power plant, and prosecuting the contractor’s claims against the owner for changed work and differing site conditions (Mahanoy City, PA)
• prosecuting design error and omission claims by a principal designer against a subconsultant on a major international hospital project (Doha, Qatar)
• defending a steel supplier against claims of premature corrosion of bridge steel for a major highway project (Route 476, PA)
• prosecuting a building owner’s claims against a designer, contractor and glass manufacturer for defective spandrel units in a commercial high-rise (Chicago, IL)
• defending a petroleum-producing consortium in ICC arbitration of $800 million in delay, disruption and scope of work claims arising from a heavy-crude upgrader project (Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela)
• prosecuting a major pharmaceutical manufacturer’s claims against a design-builder for defects, protracted delays, serious budget overruns and ultimate failure to complete a pilot-scale plant (Bridgewater, NJ)
• real-time claims management and dispute avoidance advice to a major pharmaceutical company concerning an EPCM project to construct a biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility, valued at nearly $2 billion (Dublin, Ireland area)
• counseling a state university concerning contractor claims, and its own claims against the designer and multiple contractors, arising from delay to and unanticipated scope growth in a project to construct facilities for the 2002 Winter Olympics (Salt Lake City, UT)
• prosecuting a developer’s claims against a contractor for construction defects in over 400 residences in an active seniors development, resulting in water infiltration and risk of mold and mildew (Mays Landing, NJ).

Ms. Hackenbrach’s publications, speaking and teaching engagements include:

• “Recognizing and Controlling the Allocation of Design Risk: Traditional and Evolving ‘Integrated’ Project Delivery Methods,” Shared and Delegated Design (forthcoming book to be published by Wolters Kluwer Law & Business)
• “Mandates and Available Incentives for Building Green Healthcare Facilities,” Healthcare Design (2008)
• “Building Green: Project Delivery Issues in Building ‘Green’ Facilities,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Building Green seminar (course planner, speaker, and author of chapter for textbook)(Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, 2008)
• “Changes to the Healthcare Campus: Design and Construction Issues,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Health Law Institute (speaker and author of chapter for textbook)(Philadelphia, 2007)
• “Controlling the Contractor’s Risk and Exposure on International Projects,” panel presentation, International Construction Superconference (London, 2005)
• “Real-Time Alternative Dispute Resolution in Construction Disputes,” Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s ADR Institute Course Manual (2005)
• “Insurance and Bonding for Design-Build Projects,” Design-Build Contracting Handbook (2d ed., Wiley 2001) (co-author)
• “Design-Build: What Every Underwriter and Surety Should Know,” seminar presentation for International Risk Management, Inc.’s 21st Construction Risk Conference (New Orleans, 2001).

Ms. Hackenbrach also served for six years as an instructor for the Construction Management Certificate Program at the Temple University School of Business and Management.

Ms. Hackenbrach is admitted to practice in the courts of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Western and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Michigan, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third and Sixth Circuits, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and the U.S. Tax Court.

Education
B.S. 1977, magna cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School
J.D. 1981 University of Pennsylvania Law School

Bar Admissions
Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania