Court Awards Washington DC Condominium $356 Million for Construction Defects
by Cowie Law Group, P.C.
On July 31, 2026, the Superior Court of the District of Columbia entered a $356,085,513.00 judgment in favor of a Washington DC condominium association for the defective construction of a condominium building. The case is Wardman Tower Residential Condominium Unit Owners Association v. JBG Smith Properties, et al., No. 2020 CA 004807 B (D.C. Super. Ct.). In a 148-page Trial Order, the D.C. Superior Court awarded $118,695,171.00 in damages against the condominium developers and then trebled those damages pursuant to the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act (“CPPA”) to reach an ultimate judgment of $356,085,513.00. See Cowie Law Group Article: DC Condominium Construction Defects: Recovering Attorney’s Fees, Litigation Expenses & Treble Damages Under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act. The Court also found the condominium developers negligently constructed and renovated the condominium and negligently misrepresented its condition to the Association’s unit owners.
Cowie Law Group, P.C. filed the lawsuit on behalf of the Association in 2020. The firm represented the Association throughout years of pretrial discovery and ultimately served as trial counsel with Williams & Connolly LLP during a lengthy bench trial before the Honorable Yvonne Williams. The Cowie Law Group team included attorneys, George A. Bealefeld, III, Albert G. McCarraher, Stanford L. Kimmel, III and Nicholas D. Cowie.
The litigation involved allegations that the developer defendants and others were responsible for numerous construction and renovation defects affecting major building systems. The Association also alleged that purchasers were misled through material misrepresentations and omissions concerning the quality, condition, and useful life of the renovations/construction and the nature of the condominium units and common elements being offered for sale.
The D.C. Superior Court’s Trial Order addresses many of the legal issues facing Washington DC condominiums in cases of construction defects and misrepresentations in the sale of newly constructed and converted condominiums. See Cowie Law Group Article Resolving Condominium Construction Defect Claims in Washington DC.
In reaching its decision, the D.C. Superior Court relied on the Maryland case of Milton Co. v. Council of Unit Owners of Bentley Place Condo., a condominium construction defect case in which Nicholas D. Cowie represented the condominium association and served as trial counsel. In the Milton case, a jury awarded $6.6 Million in damages plus attorney’s fees under Maryland’s Consumer Protection Act. See Cowie Law Group Article. Maryland Court Awards Condominium $6.6 Million For Construction Defects And $500,000 In Attorney Fees.
Cowie Law Group, P.C., is known for handling condominium and HOA construction defect cases in Maryland and the District of Columbia and the Trial Order addresses many significant condominium construction defect litigation issues and defenses the firm regularly argues before the courts of Maryland and the District of Columbia.
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