Mitchell Taraschi

Expert in these Jurisdictions

New Jersey

New York

United States District Court for the District of New Jersey

United States Supreme Court

United States Tax Court

Practice Areas

Construction

Product Liability and Tort Law

Commercial Litigation

Career

As Co-chair of Connell Foley LLP’s Construction Group, Mitchell Taraschi delivers successful litigation outcomes for a diverse array of construction industry clients. He serves as a zealous advocate in state and federal courts in matters related to construction litigation, product liability and complex commercial litigation. Mitchell’s clients range from small businesses to global and Fortune 500 firms, including private and public works contractors, sub-contractors and owners/developers, manufacturing companies, cosmetics companies and pharmaceutical corporations.

Mitchell brings business acumen and creative solutions to bear for clients facing complex disputes. In construction litigation cases, he advises on contract disputes, defective construction, delay damages, acceleration claims, back charges and public bid disputes. He also drafts and reviews construction contracts, including architect agreements, construction manager agreements, general contractor agreements, subcontractor agreements and vendor/supply agreements, for public and private owners and contractors.

Mitchell's projects include large-scale developments of residential, commercial, industrial and mixed-use projects in New Jersey and New York, including projects in Newark, Jersey City, Hackensack, Manhattan and Queens.

As the former Chair of Connell Foley's Product Liability and Tort Law Group, Mitchell has substantial product liability experience encompassing mass tort, construction and children’s products litigation. A thought leader in product liability law, Mitchell is a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI) and Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA), and was previously the New Jersey representative for the JPMA-DRI Joint State Liaison Program, where he served as a resource for both organizations on developments affecting children’s products liability across the state. Since 2011, he has authored the New Jersey portion of the DRI Children’s Product SLG 50 state compendium.

Professional Memberships

American Bar Association

Defense Research Institute - Children's Product Liability SLG - New Jersey

Juvenile Products Manufacturer’s Association

New Jersey State Bar Association, Construction Law Section

USLAW Product Liability Practice Group

Essex County Bar Association

Publications

Co-author, "Payment Provision Lessons From NJ Construction Ruling"

Law360, 03.28.2024

Author, "NJ's Prompt Payment Act Has Teeth"

New Jersey Business & Industry Association, 12.15.2022

Co-author, "Combating Onerous Pre-Qualification Requirements That Restrict Public Bidding"

New Jersey Law Journal (NJLJ), 04.25.2022

Quoted, "Settlements Abound as Few Look to 'Test the Waters' on Force Majeure Litigation”

New Jersey Law Journal, June 2021

Author, "What New Jersey Contractors Need to Know About the State's New Online Bidding Laws"

Utility & Transportation Contractors Magazine, April 2021

Co-author, "Federal Preemption of State Efforts to Ban Products or Chemicals in Children’s Products"

For the Defense, 04.2021

Co-author, "Manufacturer Can Be Strictly Liable for Products Made and Sold by Others, Says NJ Supreme Court,"

New Jersey Law Journal, 12.14.2020

Co-author, "USLAW NETWORK Force Majeure Law Compendium (during COVID-19 pandemic)"

USLAW Network, 06.11.2020

Co-author, "Does At-Home Online Schooling Actually Mean Less Privacy for Students?"

DRI's Strictly Speaking Newsletter, 05.12.2020

Quoted, "Does Coronavirus Constitute a 'Force Majeure' for Construction Contracts?"

New Jersey Business Today, 04.23.2020

Co-author, "Providing a Total Cost or Modified Total Cost Method Claim"

New Jersey Lawyer Magazine, 12.2017

Co-author, “The Evolving Nature of Parent-Child (Filial) Loss of Consortium Claims"

Strictly Speaking, the newsletter of the DRI Product Liability Committee, 06.2016

Co-author, "Offers Of Judgment In Copyright Cases"

Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 08.04.2015

Contributing Author, "JPMA State Liaison Summary of Child Product Liability Laws for the United States and Canada"

Fall 2013

Contributing Author, New Jersey section of a 50-state survey entitled: “Damages Recoverable in a Minor's Personal Injury or Wrongful Death Action”

DRI Products Liability Conference, 04.2012

Contributing Author, New Jersey section in a 50-State survey entitled: “Damages Recoverable in a Minor's Personal Injury or Wrongful Death Action”

DRI Products Liability, 04.2012

Co-author, "What is the Length of Prohibition for Offending Contributions Under Chapter 51/Executive Order 117?"

New Jersey State Bar Association's Construction Law Section, 03.2012

Co-author, "Owners Who Reject All Bids"

New Jersey Law Journal, 03.2011

Author, "New Jersey Supreme Court Expands Standing to Challenge Public Bid Specifications - Jen Electric, Inc. v. County of Essex"

New Jersey State Bar Association, Construction Law Section, Volume 13, No. 2, 03.2009

Co-author, "Offers Of Judgment In Copyright Cases"

The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, 06.2004

Experience

Representation of national developer in multi-million construction case against construction management firm, including claims of defective work and delay.

Special Construction Counsel to public entities for a variety of public construction projects and in this role attends to preconstruction issues, including bidding issues, as well as attends preconstruction and construction meetings.

Representation of public owner in litigation relating to the construction of a $150,000,000 vocational school, including defense of delay and acceleration claims by contractor.

Representation of numerous public entities and contractors involving public bidding, including challenges to bid specifications, awards at the state and local level and New Jersey’s pay-to-play laws.

Representation of a regional developer in a dispute with its construction manager for the construction of a $40 million 7-story residential building in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Representation of a national developer in a multi-million dollar construction case including claims by a homeowners’ association for a major residential development relating to alleged deficient design and/or defective construction of various buildings, roadways, and irrigation systems. Mitchell also defends claims that the developer made misrepresentations in community public offering statements.

Mitchell successfully obtained a dismissal of many of the homeowner claims pursuant to New Jersey’s statute of repose.

Representation of a national construction management firm in a multi-million dollar construction case against the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (NJSDA), relating to the design and construction of various schools. Mitchell was the architect of the defense of this matter where the construction manager was terminated from more than 20 school projects. The case was successfully settled and the termination set aside as a result of the legal strategy that Mitchell employed.

Representation of a residential development against a contractor relating to the deficient installation of approximately 4,000 windows. Mitchell successfully obtained an arbitration award against the contractor.

Representation of public owner relating to the enforceability of a multi-million dollar settlement agreement as well as the termination of its construction manager overseeing the expansion and renovation of seven schools within the Nutley School District.

Represented a subcontractor who had a contract in excess of $70,000,000 to build a significant portion of the $500 million Tosco Bayway Refinery Polypropylene Plant Project. The subcontractor had filed a construction lien stating that the contract amount, initially, had been $15,110,000 and that amendments to the contract had come to $56,612,700.86, resulting in a total of $71,722,700.86. Mitchell litigated the validity and amount of the lien filed by the subcontractor.

Education

Awards