Kaveh Badiei
Kaveh Badiei
Partner

p: 650-458-4039
University of California, Hastings College
Law Juris Doctor, 2001
University of California, Irvine Bachelor of Science, Civil Engineering, 1997
Project Engineer
1997-1998
Thelen LLP
Associate, 2001-2007
Rutan & Tucker LLP
Senior Counsel, 2007-2017
Super Lawyers, 2020
Super Lawyers “Rising Star”, 2011-2015
The Construction Lawyers Society of America, Fellow
Design-Build Institute of America, Member
ABA Forum on Construction Industry, Member
San Carlos Children’s Theater, Board President
Northern California Chapter of the Iranian-American Bar Association, Past President
General Plan Advisory Committee for the City of San, Appointed Member
California
U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of California
Kaveh Badiei is an experienced construction attorney with a background in both civil engineering and construction management. He is well versed in all aspects of construction litigation, arbitration, and mediation as well as contract drafting, review and negotiation, bonds, mechanic’s liens, false claims, defective construction, and insurance coverage. He has substantial experience advising owners, developers, general contractors and subcontractors on public and private construction projects involving commercial buildings, schools, hospitals, hotels, theaters, wind-energy facilities, nuclear and research laboratories, transportation centers, fiber-optic lines, pipelines, waste-water treatment plants, and high-end homes. His practice also includes advising owners and contractors in public-private partnership projects.
Prior to joining Ralls Gruber & Niece LLP, Kaveh worked at Rutan & Tucker LLP for ten years, and at Thelen LLP for six years. Kaveh was recognized by Northern California Super Lawyers as a Super Lawyer in 2020, and as a “Rising Star” in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. Kaveh is a Fellow at The Construction Lawyers Society of America.
Transactional:
- Draft, review and negotiate numerous general contracts, EPC agreements, subcontracts, joint-venture agreements, and design-build contracts for commercial or residential projects.
- Counsel and advise public agencies and private companies on preparing and responding to requests for proposal, and contract negotiations for design-build or public-private partnership projects.
Dispute Resolution on Select Projects:
- Underground utility: Represented the utility owner in a multi-million dollar claim by the general contractor on the installation of nearly 1,900 miles of underground fiber optics lines.
- BART Extension: Represent the general contractor in a dispute with one of its subcontractors.
- Hospital: Represent a hospital operator in a delayed and deficient construction of new hospital.
- San Francisco Transbay Terminal: Represent various subcontractors in their contractual disputes arising from their work.
- Custom Homes: Represent and counsel owners in contractual disputes and construction defects.
- Historic Building: Trial counsel for the owner of a historic building in an action involving property damage caused by the construction of the neighboring high-rise building; the jury returned a multi-million dollars verdict in favor of a historic-building owner.
- Waste Water Treatment Plant: Trial counsel for a subcontractor on a waste water treatment plant in a California False Claims Act and breach of contract action, which resulted in a 12-0 jury verdict in favor of the subcontractor and recovery all of the subcontractor’s attorneys’ fees.
- Solar Energy: Arbitrated a general contractor’s claim against the owner on a dispute involving the construction of a solar energy facility.
- Research Laboratory: Favorably resolved a subcontractor’s pass-through claims for delay, disruption and cost overruns against a general contractor and Department of Energy/National Nuclear Security Administration.
- Hotel: Defended a construction lender in a mechanic’s lien action brought by over twenty lien claimants, involving over $10 million in lien claims.
- Underground Utility: Prosecuted a general contractor’s claim for improper termination, delay and disruption against a public entity in a project involving underground water pipe installation.
- Residential Development: Represented a developer in a defective-construction claim brought by over 1,000 homeowners.
Moderator and presenter at the Healthcare Project Delivery Conference (San Diego, 2019 and 2020)
Presenter at a roundtable discussion entitled “Developing Your P3 Checklist” delivered at The P3 Federal Conference (Washington D.C., November 2018 and 2019)
Update Author, California Construction Contracts, Defects, and Litigation (CEB Publications), for yearly updates of 2014 to 2019, for chapters entitled “Design-Build” and “Handling Disputes During Construction.”
Co-Author, Public-Private Partnerships: A New Tool For California’s Infrastructure Needs, California Real Property Journal, Volume 31, Number 1 (May 2013).
Co-Author, The Need For P3 – Public Private Partnerships Can Help Bridge America’s Infrastructure Gap, DBIA Newsletter, Spring 2013.
Author, Geothermal Energy: Is It Attractive Enough to Draw Investors for Construction of Geothermal Electric Plants, 7 Hastings W.-NW. J. Envtl. L. & Pol’y 109 (2001).