Trained in the legal trenches of Philadelphia, Mr. Burkholder has represented sureties, owners, contractors, and subcontractors in highly complex multi-million-dollar construction and contract disputes involving claims for delay, poor workmanship, design errors, liquidated damages, mechanics’ liens, change orders, lost productivity, performance bond claims, payment bond claims, and indemnity claims.

Mr. Burkholder also routinely handles a wide array of sophisticated commercial disputes, including the dissolution of companies/partnerships, breach of fiduciary duty actions, fraud claims, failed or misrepresented acquisitions or sales, misappropriation of confidential or trade secret information, the enforceability of non-compete, non-solicitation, and exclusivity provisions, certain regulatory enforcement proceedings, payment claims, and contract interpretation, performance, and breach.

Mr. Burkholder regularly counsels clients on eminent domain or unlawful taking of real property by government entities, many other areas of consumer and business protection statutes, and the practical application of the law to clients’ lives and businesses.

From 1992 to 1997, Mr. Burkholder served in the United States Navy as a Persian-Farsi linguist, deploying to national and international military units operating in the Persian Gulf in support of maritime interdiction operations.

Representative Matters

• Arbitrated and tried to verdict successful claims for violations of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Act (securing attorneys’ fees recovery for clients in each case).
• Favorably resolved $20 million performance bond claims by owner against surety, where surety’s principal was alleged to have failed to design an explosive detection baggage handling system for a major metropolitan airport.
• Secured summary judgment for surety on performance bond claim by owner for more than $8 million.
• Representing private landowners in their efforts to protect their real property from unlawful takings or overreaching condemnations by municipal or governmental agencies.
• Successfully resolving business divorces, ownership disputes, and related business-to-business and business-to-consumer disputes.

Representative Decisions

• Donald M. Durkin Contracting, Inc. v. City of Newark, 2006 WL 2724882 (D. Del. Sept. 22, 2006) (dismissing owner’s multi-million dollar claim on performance bond for failure to satisfy condition precedent under performance bond)
• Danco, Inc. v. Arch Insurance Co., 2007 WL 1342190 (N.J. Super. App. Div. May 9, 2007) (claimant’s payment bond claim denied because claimant was paid in full when it financed the same receivables it claimed under the payment bond)
• SBW, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Civ. No. 07–4199(MLC) (D.N.J. March 17, 2009) (court granted surety’s motion to dismiss claim of bad faith against payment bond surety under New Jersey law)
• Leaman v. Wolfe, 629 Fed. Appx. 280 (3d Cir. 2015) (vacating trial court’s grant of summary judgment against client, remanding case to trial court and finding client was entitled to damages and attorneys’ fees under parties’ agreement)
• In Re Frank G. Schaffer, 597 B.R. 777 (E.D.Pa. Bankr. 2019) (court granted client’s motion for relief from automatic bankruptcy stay because of debtor’s bad faith filings and conduct), aff’d by 606 B.R. 228 (E.D. Pa. 2019), aff’d by Third Circuit