Joshua W. Mermis is a board-certified construction lawyer and co-founder of West Mermis, PLLC, a full-service construction law firm based in Houston. He provides legal advice and counsel to hospitals, schools, colleges, property owners, contractors, and manufacturers prior to, during, and after construction.
He also has an active commercial litigation practice that includes business and partnership dissolution, shareholder disputes, fiduciary litigation, and real estate litigation.
Joshua has extensive trial experience, having conducted jury and bench trials, as well as arbitrations involving significant multi-million-dollar commercial projects throughout Texas. He has also participated in more than 200 mediations.
He has been selected as a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America, is a current member of the Texas State Bar Construction Law Council, and is the past Chair of the Houston Bar Association Construction Law Section. He is a frequent speaker and author on construction law topics. Joshua is a proud graduate of the University of Kansas and the University of Texas School of Law.
Representative Experience
- Successfully represented a physician’s group in a ground-up construction dispute wherein the physician group’s general contractor abandoned the project before completion, demanded additional payment for unapproved change orders, rescinded an agreed-upon mediated settlement, and filed liens delaying the completion of the project. After two years of litigation, the physician’s group recovered on its counterclaims against the contractor and the surety who had refused to accept the performance bond claim. The general contractor recovered nothing.
- Represented a mid-sized manufacturing company in a contentious commercial litigation dispute with a private equity shareholder that resulted in an equity buyout.
- Successfully represented a construction material supplier in a dispute with their former employer regarding trade secrets misappropriation allegation and breach of fiduciary duty allegation.
- Represented the largest hospital system in Southeast Texas in a construction-defect dispute against a general contractor and architect related to a wall collapse at a clinic. The hospital recouped all of its damages and attorney’s fees.
- Obtained a $544,000 arbitration award for a gas station owner and operator based on counterclaims against the general contractor.
- Successfully represented a leading supplier of engines and propulsion systems in an $11 million property damage lawsuit in South Texas.
- Represented a multifamily apartment developer in a lawsuit against a framer subcontractor for construction defects.
- Obtained a favorable jury verdict and final judgment for a real estate developer against the Harris County Appraisal District in an appraised value review lawsuit concerning multiple properties.
- Represented the large health care company/hospital in a dispute with its general contractor and architect related to health clinics that had construction defects.
- Successfully represented a Korean helmet manufacturer in personal injury trial in Beaumont, Texas.
- Negotiated a multimillion-dollar EPC contract for billion-dollar, privately held commodity and logistics company.
Affiliations
- Texas Bar College
- Member: Life Fellow Texas Bar Foundation
- Member: Construction Law – TADC
- Member: Construction Law Group – ABA
- Member: Construction Practice Group – DRI
- Member: Construction Law Section – State Bar of Texas
- Member: Construction Law Section – Houston Bar Association
- Fellow: Construction Lawyers Society of America
Thought Leadership
- Speech: “Catch it While You Can: Pre-Judgement Remedies for the Construction Lawyer,” 36th Annual Texas Construction Law Conference, 2023
- Speech: “Cumulative Impact Claims: Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?” North American Construction Law Symposium IV, 2022
- Speech: “Best Practices for Owners to Mitigate Risks and Liability,” Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) Fall Workshop, 2022
- Speech: “Case Law Update,” DRI, 2021
- Speech: “Trust Fund Act: All Hat and No Cattle?” HBA Construction Law Section, 2020
- Author: “Using the Rules to Your Favor – Evidentiary Techniques That Won a Fracking Fire Trial,” 2019
- Author: “Old Habits: It’s time to rethink the boilerplate arbitration provision in construction contracts.” Construction Today, 2019
- Speech: “AIA 201: General Conditions,” HalfMoon Education Seminar, 2019
- Speech: “The Good, The Bad & The Ugly: Construction Contract Provisions That Can Make or Break Your Construction Defect Lawsuit,” TADC, 2019
- Author: “Evidentiary Techniques That Won a Fracking Fire Trial,” DRI – For the Defense, 2019
- Author: “Condominium Construction-Defect Litigation Looks to Cool Off Following Mosaic Residential Appellate Decision,” Texas Construction Law Journal, 2019
- Speech: “War Stories from Deep in the Heart of Texas: Tales of a Fracking Fire Trial,” DRI Product Liability Conference, 2019
- Speech: “A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words: Persuading a South Texas Jury with Old School Demonstratives and 21st Century Animation,” San Antonio Bar Association Construction Law Section, 2019
- Speech: “Harvey’s Aftermath: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know about Texas Lien and Bond Claims in Our Post-Harvey World,” Houston Bar Association, 2018
- Speech: “Contract Termination,” The Basics Course in Texas Construction Law, 2018
- Speech: “Managing Experts,” Forensic Expert Witness Association, 2017
- Speech: “Expert Checklist,” Forensic Expert Witness Association, 2015
- Author: “Shale Gas Boom: Hydraulic Fracturing and Potential Legal Claims,” RigZone, 2014
- Co-Author: “Compendium of Texas Construction Law,” USLAW, 2013
Load More
Recognitions
