Latvian State Real Estate (VNI) hired TGS Baltic LLC, Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz law firms in a procurement for a total of EUR 516 000, according to information from the Procurement Monitoring Bureau.
These law firms were hired to settle a dispute with a US construction firm.
VNI Executive Director Ojārs Valkers explains that the procurement of law services is related to an ongoing more than one year-long dispute with Go Pro Construction. This company was hired to reconstruct and restore property owned by VNI on Massachusetts Avenue 2304 in Washington, USA. The building in question is used by the Latvian embassy in USA, and is located next to the embassy.
Go Pro Construction won the procurement for the building’s restoration and reconstruction in 2021.
At the end of 2021 a dispute appeared between VNI and Go Pro Construction about the volume of construction work, compliance with the project and quality.
For a long time VNI has been trying to agree with Go Pro Construction on continuation of construction work. However, all efforts have been fruitless so far. This is why VNI decided to terminate the contract in May 2022. In response to this, Go Pro Construction sued VNI in June 2022, requesting full compensation for demolition work and all the construction work done in the first stage of the project.
Valkers reported that VNI considers the lawsuit unjustified because the company was paid for demolition work in full, whereas the work listed in the second stage of the project was never started. VNI presented a number of valid counter claims for the return of the money paid for work that was never actually done and compensate the losses caused by the demolition work.
Valkers also said that in accordance with the contract signed by VNI and Go Pro Construction, disputes are to be settled in accordance with US legislation. This country’s law system differs greatly from Latvia’s law system. VNI has no experience in dealing with dispute settling in the US, this is why it was decided to hire lawyers who have this experience.
As for the litigation expenses, Valkers said the aforementioned EUR 500 000 is an estimate and the maximum possible amount for the entire lawsuit. Depending on how the lawsuit goes, the costs may be lower. If the lawsuit goes in VNI’s favour, all costs may be enforced from Go Pro Construction.
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