Varela, Lee, Metz & Guarino has once again been recommended by the Legal 500 United States as a leading firm in the Construction practice area for 2020. Moreover, the guide highlighted the firm’s founding partners Paul Varela, Bennett Lee, Todd Metz, and Joe Guarino for their work, as well as up-and-coming stars Chris Burke and Brian Dugdale.

The Legal 500 guide recognizes that Varela, Lee, Metz, & Guarino, LLP acts predominantly for blue-chip construction clients in the industrial and power sectors, most notably in high-stakes contentious cases. San Francisco-based Bennett Lee has extensive experience in disputes involving federal, state, municipal, and private contracts; to this end, Lee led on the $60m arbitration of claims against an EPC contractor responsible for constructing a water treatment plant. Tysons Corner-based Paul Varela specialises in EPC and design-build, P3 and government contracts matters, with a focus on transport or infrastructure. Alongside Brian Dugdale, Varela is representing Parsons Transportation Group, Inc. as primary designer of the $2.7bn Dulles Corridor Metro Rail Phase 2 Project in claims concerning modifications and delays. Other name partners Todd Metz and Joseph Guarino, also in the Tysons Corner office, possess extensive litigation experience before federal and state courts, as well as handling government agreements. Guarino and Christopher Burke will 'dive into the weeds' in order to 'outwork and out think opposing counsel' – both represented HITT Contracting Inc. during a dispute with modern art museum owner Glenstone Foundation, Inc. in Maryland, over delays and missed payments.

The Legal 500 Series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. More than 250,000 corporate counsel have been surveyed and interviewed globally in the past 12 months.  The Legal 500 is an independent guide, and firms and individuals are recommended purely on merit. The Legal 500 Series' analysis of law firm capabilities extends to 107 jurisdictions worldwide. The website www.legal500.com has 4 million unique individual users each year, including 2.5 million corporate counsel. Used by commercial and private clients, corporate counsel, CEOs, CFOs and professional advisers - as well as by other referrers of work both nationally and internationally - the series is widely chosen for its definitive judgement of law firm capabilities.