Amy@werthermills.com
Direct: 703.547-4694
Fax: 240.912.3031
Amy E. Garber
ATTORNEY
I have litigated disputes for over a decade. As a trial lawyer, I recognize and appreciate the benefits of early resolution and have significant experience mediating, settling, and streamlining disputes. I believe that even the most complicated cases can, and should, fit into clear concepts to utilize for successful outcomes.
My practice focuses on construction law, with cases ranging from straightforward contract disputes to high-stakes, complex claims with multiple parties. I routinely handle, among other issues, cases involving construction defects, federal Miller Act payment bond claims, performance bonds, mechanic’s liens, and delay and impact claims. I try cases in state and federal court in Virginia (including, regularly, the “Rocket Docket” United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia), the District of Columbia , and before arbitration tribunals and the Board of Contract Appeals. I also guide federal contractors through the process of preparing construction claims for submission to the federal government, from the REA stage through appeals.
In addition to litigation, I draft, revise, negotiate, and guide clients through construction contracts in the private sector involving large-scale commercial, residential, and mixed-use projects.
In 2005, I graduated magna cum laude with a BA in International Affairs from the Elliott School of International Affairs at The George Washington University, where I was in the Honors Program and a member of Phi Beta Kappa. I then obtained my JD from Cornell Law School in 2008 with a concentration in public law, where I served as a notes editor for the International Law Journal, and was selected for an Honors Fellowship (teaching assistant role).
I have been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America since its inaugural issue in 2021 and was selected as a Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2015-19.
I live right outside Washington, DC, with my husband and young son.
Experience
Member of the New York, Virginia, and DC Bar Associations
Publications
I have written numerous legal blog articles on construction and government contracts law.
- Co-Author, “New Mothers ‘Making it Happen’: New Federal Laws Support Expectant and Nursing Mothers in the Workplace, The National Law Review, 2023
- Co-Author, “Virginia is for Lovers . . . of Strict Contract Language: New Law Prohibits Pay-if-Paid Clauses in Construction Contracts,” The National Law Review, 2022
- Co-Author, “You’ve Gotta Fight for Your Right To Get Paid: The Right to Stop Work,” The National Law Review, 2021
- Co-Author, Chapter 1: The Construction Industry, “Construction Issues in Bankruptcy,” American Bankruptcy Institute, 2020
- Co-Author, Chapter 10: Payment Rights and Remedies, “State and Local Construction Projects: An Attorney’s Handbook,” ABA Forum on Construction Law, 2017
- Co-Author, “The Miller Act and the Enforceability of Contingent Payment and Disputes Resolution Subcontract Clauses,” The Construction Lawyer, Summer 2016
- Co-author, “Navigating the Buy America Act in Federal Transit Authority Funded Contracts,” Under Construction, American Bar Association, March 2014
- Co-Author, Chapter 26: Termination, Construction Law Handbook (4th Ed.)
Speaking Engagements
- Guest, Episode 29-“Execute the Plan,” Mothers In Construction Podcast, February 3, 2022
- Presenter on contract risk management, Construction Systems Management Club, The Ohio State University, April 7, 2021
- Co-presenter, “Ethically Networking on Social Media for Government Contracts Attorneys,” DC Bar, with Judge C. Scott Maravilla and Judi Fox, June 9, 2021
- Presenter on contract risk management, Turner School of Construction Management, Contract Administration and Risk Sharing Class at Morgan State University, October 7, 2020
- Co-Presenter, “Contracts & Insurance,” Turner School of Construction Management, May 3, 2018
Representative Matters
I have extensive experience and successes representing general contractors and subcontractors in state and federal courts and before arbitration tribunals. Recent highlights include:
- Obtained full award on behalf of general contractor against millwork subcontractor on project involving construction of a mixed-use building in Arlington, Virginia.
- Achieved denial of government’s motion to dismiss after over two years of briefing on behalf of general contractor in consolidated appeal before Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals involving challenge to default termination and delay claim.
- Part of team that negotiated global settlement of over $50 million delay and labor inefficiency claim submitted to United States Army Corps of Engineers; prior to settlement, negotiated liquidation agreements with over twenty subcontractors and assisted in preparation of claim; tried related subcontractor pass-through appeal in week-long trial before Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
- Represented general contractor in quasi-public project in multi-million-dollar, multi-party dispute in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Columbia, which ultimately settled on the eve of trial after two mediations.
- Part of team that settled, after extensive discovery, mechanic’s lien enforcement and breach of contract lawsuit on behalf of general contractor for unpaid amounts on major mixed-use project in Baltimore, MD.
Professional Involvement
- Member of Mothers In Construction Board of Directors (2024)
- Member of DC Bar Government Contracts Steering Committee (2019-22), Co-chair, (2021-22)
- Ad hoc hearing committee member, DC Board on Professional Responsibility