For Attorneys & Advisors

A safe place to refer a serious real estate dispute

Burnside Property & Project Claims serves as focused owner-side counsel in a narrow class of major real estate insurance, construction defect, construction dispute, loss-of-rents, and hybrid asset-impairment matters. The engagement is usually limited to the claim itself, with a defined scope from the start. For qualifying serious matters, contingency may be available where the claim and economics support it.

Discuss a Matter Refer a Matter

Best First Step

Start with a short, non-confidential summary. If the matter appears large enough to justify focused counsel, you will get a direct initial read and a clear next step.

Best First Step

Start with a short, non-confidential summary. If the matter appears large enough to justify focused counsel, you will get a direct initial read and a clear next step.

Short Summary

Send a short summary

A concise, non-confidential description is usually enough to begin.

Call Directly

Call (503) 208-4356

Useful when timing pressure, deadlines, or claim drift already matter.

Layered referral briefing documents with clear routing and handoff structure

A narrow, claim-specific handoff that fits cleanly alongside the existing team.

Construction + insurance focus

Construction and insurance disputes stay at the center of the work.

Owner-side matters for property owners.

Contingency-fee representation

We work on a contingency-fee basis rather than billing by the hour.

Clients do not pay unless the matter succeeds.

Press

Press includes MoneyGeek, The Mortgage Reports, Construction Dive, and “Avoiding Legal Pitfalls.”

Knowledge Center

Construction and insurance articles give owners, advisors, and referral partners practical guidance on active disputes.

For Referral Counsel

Why referral counsel send serious matters to Burnside.

Referral counsel usually want a narrow role, direct senior attention, and a handoff that is easy to explain to the client.

Narrow special-counsel role

The role stays tied to the claim itself, with a controlled scope around value, timing, and the next commercial step.

Construction-and-insurance focus

The practice stays centered on construction and insurance law, with focused attention on the claim issues moving the asset or project.

Kelly McCann's background helps at handoff

Construction pricing work, a CALI-recognized J.D., and real-estate training add commercial context when a matter needs a clean first read.

Press includes national construction and insurance outlets

Press includes MoneyGeek, The Mortgage Reports, Construction Dive, and “Avoiding Legal Pitfalls.”

Why This Role Is Different

Why referral counsel use focused special counsel here.

Some matters need focused claim strategy, not broader general representation. Referral counsel usually use Burnside when the scope should be clear, commercially coherent, and easy to explain to the client.

Focused special counsel

Focused special counsel handles the dispute itself and helps define the next commercial step.

Broader counsel

The broader ownership, transaction, restructuring, or litigation picture can keep moving with the team already handling it.

The role stays narrow

Burnside is usually brought in for the claim itself, with a defined scope around the dispute and its economics.

Built for serious disputes, not routine files

Referral counsel usually call when timing pressure, repair cost, rent loss, or project economics make the matter too important for routine handling.

Works inside the existing team

The role is designed to coordinate smoothly with broader counsel, consultants, fiduciary counsel, and local trial teams.

Contingency-fee structure matters

For the right matter, the fee structure can make it possible to move before delay makes the claim more expensive.

Why Aligned Economics Matters

Contingency can help serious matters move forward without broad hourly burn.

Fee structure can be part of what makes the referral workable. For the right serious matter, contingency can help the client move without committing to a broad new hourly-burn relationship before the dispute is even framed correctly.

Burnside Law Firm works on a contingency-fee basis. The first question is whether the matter is serious enough and economically coherent enough to support that structure.

Can help serious matters move sooner

For qualifying serious disputes, contingency can reduce the hesitation that often comes with a large new hourly-burn commitment.

Useful when the client needs specialist help without broad staffing

This is often meaningful for subinstitutional owners, fiduciaries, and other claimholders carrying real pressure but limited appetite for diffuse hourly teams.

Keeps the handoff narrow and commercially coherent

The structure fits a defined claim-specific engagement that is easy to explain to the client and the broader team.

Not every matter fits

The seriousness of the dispute, the recovery path, and the economics still need to support focused counsel.

Why Referral Sources Use The Firm

Clear role, direct senior attention, and commercially fluent triage.

Referral partners usually call when the claim is too large, too specialized, or too economically sensitive for routine handling. If a matter is outside the firm's practice, Burnside Property & Project Claims will usually say so quickly.

Narrow role, clear scope

The role is defined: high-value owner-side insurance, defect, delay, and revenue-loss disputes rather than routine real estate, project, or restructuring work.

Fast triage

A concise summary is usually enough for a quick initial view of urgency and whether anything should be preserved immediately.

Commercially fluent

Reserve pressure, rent loss, repair funding, timing pressure, and the economics of the asset are all understood together.

Direct senior attention

You are not sending the matter into a volume model. Each accepted matter gets direct senior handling and dedicated support.

Works alongside existing counsel

The firm can work inside a broader team while keeping the claim scope defined and commercially coherent.

Fiduciary And Restructuring Referrals

These matters also come through fiduciary and restructuring counsel.

The same claim pattern often appears inside bankruptcies, receiverships, liquidations, and distressed-asset situations. By the time those matters surface, the claim may already be losing time, coherence, or economic value.

Bankruptcy lawyers and trustee counsel

Receiver counsel and workout lawyers

Debtor's counsel and restructuring advisors

Consultants who can see that the structure controls a real claim

When To Call

When to call

These are the kinds of owner-side disputes where referral partners often want focused special counsel at the claim level.

Major insurance underpayment or denial

Large repair-scope disputes

Material rent-loss or business interruption issues

Water intrusion, envelope, roofing, waterproofing, or systemic building failures

Contractor or design disputes

Arbitration-driven construction disputes

Project delay and repair-funding pressure

Insurer, contractor, or consultant finger-pointing while the owner is exposed

Representative Referral Scenarios

Illustrative matters that often justify a focused handoff

These scenario cards clarify the kinds of disputes that often justify a focused handoff.

Illustrative Scenario

Illustrative project dispute with defect, delay, and consultant pressure

Asset Type

Real-estate project

Problem Type

Defect + delay + responsibility

Where Value Gets Exposed

Completion pressure, repair sequencing, and financing strain all change leverage.

Where Burnside Helps

Useful when the claim story needs to stay commercially coherent while the project team is still dealing with the facts on the ground.

Why It Matters

The practical inflection point usually arrives before the project record feels complete.

Illustrative Scenario

Illustrative referral scenario where a serious matter needs a narrow handoff

Asset Type

Owner-side claim under active business pressure

Problem Type

Special-counsel handoff

Where Value Gets Exposed

The file is getting harder to frame correctly while the business pressure keeps moving.

Where Burnside Helps

Useful when outside counsel or advisors want a narrower construction-and-insurance specialist rather than a broader new relationship.

Why It Matters

The first gain is often clarity about fit, scope, and what should be preserved immediately.

Illustrative Scenario

Illustrative fiduciary scenario where claim value is at risk of drifting

Asset Type

Property or project in a constrained structure

Problem Type

Claim screening + preservation

Where Value Gets Exposed

A cash-constrained structure may still control a meaningful claim while the record continues to harden.

Where Burnside Helps

Useful when a trustee, receiver, or similar decision-maker needs a narrow read on whether the issue is worth preserving and how to keep it commercially coherent.

Why It Matters

Early claim mapping matters most when nobody has yet taken ownership of the recovery story.

Illustrative scenarios are shown in summary form only. They are not client descriptions and do not guarantee outcomes.

USUALLY NOT THE RIGHT KIND OF MATTER

Matters that are usually too routine, too small, or too diffuse for Burnside

Burnside is brought in for consequential disputes with real recovery, timing, reserve, or asset-level consequences. It is usually not the right choice for routine matters that do not carry that kind of economic weight.

Routine landlord-tenant matters

Leasing disputes

Collections

General outside counsel work

Ordinary project administration issues

Smaller repair disputes without material business consequences

What Happens Next

Three steps keep the handoff clear and controlled.

The first conversation is usually short and practical. Do not send confidential or privileged material until conflicts are cleared.

Send a concise non-confidential summary

Start with the asset, the dispute, the timing pressure, and the core documents or players already in the file.

Receive a direct initial read

The first exchange should clarify whether the matter is worth pursuing and whether claim value is drifting while the record hardens.

Define the next step

If the matter should move forward, the next step is a controlled step that preserves leverage and keeps the scope clear.

Next Step

Keep the first handoff narrow, clear, and commercially coherent.

If the matter is too large, too specialized, or too commercially sensitive for routine handling, start with a concise, non-confidential summary of the asset, dispute, and timing pressure.

Send a short summary Call (503) 208-4356

Discuss a Matter Refer a Matter

Direct intake

Refer a Matter

A concise, non-confidential summary is usually enough for an initial view. Start with the asset, the dispute, the timing pressure, and who is already involved.

Primary Contact

info@burnsidelawgroup.com (503) 208-4356

312 NW 10th Avenue, Suite 200
Portland, Oregon 97209

For urgent matters, send a short, non-confidential summary by email or call directly. A concise first read is usually enough to tell whether the claim should move quickly and whether timing is starting to affect value.

Can Burnside Property & Project Claims work alongside existing counsel and advisors?

Yes. The role is usually confined to the claim itself, with a clear scope from the start. The broader client relationship and the larger matter can continue with the team already handling them.

What types of matters does Burnside handle?

Major property insurance disputes, construction defect, construction disputes, loss-of-rents matters, repair-funding pressure, and hybrid disputes where insurers, contractors, engineers, or consultants are all pointing at each other while the owner is exposed.

How are fees structured?

Burnside Law Firm works exclusively on a contingency-fee basis. Clients do not pay unless the matter succeeds.

What if I am not sure Burnside should be involved?

A concise, non-confidential summary is usually enough for an initial view. If the matter is outside the firm's practice, the firm will usually say so directly.

Should confidential or privileged material be sent right away?

No. It is better to begin with a concise, non-confidential summary until conflicts are cleared and the engagement structure is confirmed.

Does the firm work with trustees or receivers?

Yes. Burnside Law Firm also serves selected trustees, receivers, liquidating fiduciaries, plan administrators, and other special-situations claimholders controlling major insurance, defect, delay, and revenue-loss claims tied to materially exposed real estate assets or projects.