How do I evaluate a construction attorney in California?

Verify active licensure through the State Bar of California, then test deadline fluency: construction practice runs on preliminary notices, lien and foreclosure windows, and Right to Repair timelines. Ask which side the attorney usually represents, how expert costs are managed in defect cases, and how arbitration clauses change strategy.

Confirm the basics first — active license and clean public record with the State Bar of California (Business and Professions Code section 6125) — then evaluate for the things construction disputes actually turn on. Deadline fluency is the core competency: ask how the attorney calendars the 20-day preliminary notice, the lien recording and 90-day foreclosure windows (Civil Code sections 8412, 8460), Right to Repair pre-litigation steps for newer homes (section 910), and the patent and latent defect limits. Side alignment matters too: owner-side, contractor-side, and subcontractor-side practices see different problems, so ask what share of the attorney's cases sits on your side of the ledger. For defect matters, ask how expert consultants are selected and budgeted, since experts often cost more than attorneys. For payment matters, ask whether lien, stop payment notice, bond, and prompt-payment remedies will be run in parallel. Finally, have the fee basis, the arbitration clause's effect, and the prevailing-party fee exposure under Civil Code section 1717 explained in writing before committing.

Authority: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6125; State Bar of California