Jim Prichard is Ball Janik LLP's Managing Partner and maintains a broad practice in all aspects of construction law. He is a leader in the firm’s growing regional and national practice, prosecuting and defending design and construction defect claims. As plaintiff’s counsel, he has been instrumental in achieving some of the largest settlements in Oregon. He represents a wide range of clients in the Western states and Florida, including owners of single family residences, townhomes, condominiums, hotels, commercial buildings, manufacturing facilities, schools, and other public buildings.
Mr. Prichard also defends developers, large general contractors, and home builders from design and construction defect claims, and works with these clients to develop and implement risk management practices. He is frequently retained to position such claims for insurance coverage, and to represent client interests when insurers appoint panel defense counsel. Mr. Prichard has successfully triggered insurance coverage on behalf of several policyholder clients, particularly home builders.
Mr. Prichard’s practice extends to cases in the areas of public contract law, insurance recovery, construction cost overruns, bankruptcy, and real estate. He represents owners, design professionals, contractors, and material suppliers in mediations, arbitrations, trials, and appeals, and is often called on to help resolve time-sensitive disputes that arise during the course of construction projects.
Mr. Prichard frequently represents material suppliers, contractors, and owners in prosecuting and defending payment claims, including construction lien and surety bond claims on both public and private projects.
Before joining Ball Janik LLP, Mr. Prichard practiced at a prominent construction law boutique where he represented an international design-build contractor in a multi-million dollar cost overrun dispute arising from the construction of a semiconductor facility in Clark County, Washington.
From 2001 through 2003, Mr. Prichard was the lead attorney in prosecuting approximately 400 avoidance and recovery claims on behalf of the liquidating agent in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case titled In re Great Western Chemical Company. Mr. Prichard supervised the bankruptcy estate’s recovery of more than $5.8 million in value, which resulted in a dividend to unsecured creditors that far exceeded the liquidating agent’s early projections.
Before law school, Mr. Prichard held a graduate fellowship at the Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis, an interdisciplinary program at Indiana University combining research in law, political science, economics, public affairs, and anthropology. During law school, Mr. Prichard was a Lane County Circuit Court mediator and was a co-founder of the alternative dispute resolution student group.
Mr. Prichard has authored numerous articles on construction and surety law, and is a frequent speaker at continuing education seminars, organization meetings, and professional conferences.
Currently, Mr. Prichard serves on the Legal Committee and Associates Council of Associated General Contractors, and is active in Community Association Institute (CAI) state chapters where he practices. He is also a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry, and the Surety and Fidelity Law Committee of the ABA’s Tort and Insurance Practice Section.
Honors
The Best Lawyers in America©, 2017
Recognized by Portland Business Journal's2015 “Forty Under 40”
Oregon Super Lawyers “Rising Stars” list, 2010–2014
Oregon Super Lawyers list, 2016
