Todd R. Regan

Todd Regan, a partner in Gordon Rees' Construction Group, has a wide range of experience representing all participants in the construction industry in project-related claims and disputes, and in negotiating and drafting of project-related agreements. He also has significant experience representing businesses in complex commercial disputes. He was voted by his peers as 2022 "Lawyer of the Year - Construction Law, Hartford," by Best Lawyers®.

Dispute Resolution

Mr. Regan regularly advises construction managers, trade contractors, owners, and design professionals in disputes concerning project delays and inefficiencies, defective design and construction, unfair trade practices, bad faith, bond claims, and mechanic's liens. He frequently represents parties in construction disputes in the state and federal courts of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York, and he has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and the Connecticut Supreme Court.Mr. Regan has represented parties in disputes in a variety of industries and projects, including subways and public transportation; large infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, and pipelines; university residence halls and dining facilities; military bases; public school construction and renovations; energy projects including power plants and solar farms; and high end residential construction. Notably, he represented a bridge contractor in an appeal before the Connecticut Supreme Court in a case that helped define the scope of the waiver of the State's sovereign immunity for disputed claims on public construction projects. The case resulted in the reinstatement of a $13 million arbitration award in favor of the contractor.

Contract Procurement and Project Delivery

Mr. Regan frequently counsels clients in the negotiation of complex construction agreements, including agreements with construction managers, general contractors, owners, engineers, and subcontractors. He has represented clients in the negotiation of agreements for a wide range of projects, including manufacturing facilities, affordable housing developments, infrastructure, high rise hotels, tenant fit-outs and apartment buildings.Mr. Regan is actively involved in numerous construction industry organizations. In 2016, he was one of just nine honorees to be named to Engineering News Record-New England magazine’s Top Young Professionals in the construction industry. In addition, he is listed in The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of Litigation - Construction since 2017. He was also selected to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list from 2013 to 2019 and as a Rising Star to the Connecticut Super Lawyers list from 2009 to 2012. In 2018 and 2019, Mr. Regan was named to the Top 50: Connecticut Super Lawyer list.

Surety Claims

Mr. Regan has extensive experience representing sureties with respect to payment and performance bond claims, contractor defaults, takeover and completion agreements, and the defense of bad faith claims.He successfully argued on behalf of a surety before the Connecticut Supreme Court in defense of a bad faith claim stemming from the surety’s handling of a payment bond claim. He defeated the claimant’s effort to create an implied judicial default provision into the statute, thereby creating new law on the proper interpretation of the state’s Little Miller Act.Mr. Regan successfully defended a surety against bad faith claims asserted by a bond principal in an effort to extinguish a $100 million indemnity obligation stemming from a contractor default. He also successfully argued on behalf of a surety before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit on a dispute concerning a surety's right to seek an attachment of an indemnitor’s assets under Massachusetts law.Mr. Regan serves as one of just eight members nationally of the Attorney Advisory Council for the National Association of Surety Bond Producers. He has authored articles and presented on a variety of topics concerning the surety industry and is actively involved in numerous industry organizations, such as the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Section Fidelity and Surety Law Committee, and The Surety Claims Institute.

Pro Bono and Community Involvement

Mr. Regan is actively involved with community organizations, having served as a volunteer reader for the Hartford Public Schools, a pro bono attorney with Lawyers for Children America and as a board member for several nonprofit organizations, including Connecticut Landmarks, the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery, and Organized Parents Make a Difference.

Admissions

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

State of Connecticut

State of New York

U.S. Court of Appeals, 1st Circuit

U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut

U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

Memberships

Connecticut Bar Association, Construction Law Section

American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry

Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, Fidelity & Surety Law Committee

Surety Claims Institute

National Association of Surety Bond Producers, Attorney Advisory Council

Associated Builders and Contractors of Connecticut

Associated General Contractors of Connecticut

Community Involvement

Connecticut Landmarks, Board of Trustees

United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, United Way volunteer reader, Clark School, Hartford, Connecticut

Lawyers for Children America, Pro bono lawyer in child neglect cases

Organized Parents Make a Difference, Board of Trustees.