Jessica L. Franklin is a member of the firm’s Litigation Department. She focuses her practice on construction, providing dispute resolution/litigation, transactional, and project consultation services to Florida’s construction industry, including national and international general contractors, owners/developers, associations, local builders/trades, and design professionals in the public and private sectors. Jessie is a resident in the firm’s Miami office. She has dealt with a wide range of construction projects throughout the state, including hotels, residential/commercial buildings, restaurants, a major expressway in Miami as well as other road improvements, condominium projects and luxury homes.
Jessie began her legal career at a national law firm in Fort Lauderdale, practicing insurance defense where she became intimately familiar with the role of insurance in construction, recovery, as well as defending claims and lawsuits. From there, she had the opportunity to work on a variety of matters in both the litigation and transactional realm while serving as corporate counsel for a fintech start-up company in Miami Beach.
Following her time in-house, Jessie transitioned to a boutique law firm to gain construction litigation experience representing various construction trades and contractors and sub-contractors in complex commercial litigation. She gained experience drafting and negotiating contracts between the various parties involved in construction projects and had the opportunity to work on a federal court case involving a large highway construction project. Jessie then joined a Miami-based civil/commercial litigation law firm where she co-led the construction practice alongside the firm’s managing partner, and most recently, she litigated a multi-million-dollar dispute on behalf of a developer against a national general contractor.
Jessie’s experience includes advising and counseling contractors regarding contract formation, administration and performance, breaches, defaults, delays, terminations, claims evaluation, lien and bond claims, and litigation strategy. She represents contractors in federal and state courts, as well as before administrative agencies. Jessie’s diverse background has been extremely impactful in her deep understanding of commercial and residential real estate, construction, and business in the South Florida area. In addition, she is able to provide her clients with a forward-looking perspective because of her transactional and litigation experience.
Areas of Practice
- Contract Law
- Construction
- Construction Litigation
- Complex Commercial Litigation
- Construction Arbitration
- Real Estate Litigation
- Administrative Law
- Florida Statute Section 558 Claims
- Defect Claims
- Delay Claims and Claims for Differing Site Conditions
Representative Experience
- Represented Seller of a residential parcel of real property in a breach of contract action based upon the buyer’s breach of the purchase and sale agreement. Prevailed on Summary Judgment.
- Represented Developer in an action against a General Contractor surrounding a dispute that arose during the construction of a Condominium Project prior to the termination of the General Contractor. Obtained a Summary Judgment in Miami-Dade County’s Complex Litigation Division.
- Negotiated contracts on behalf of contractors or owners relating to hotels, commercial build-outs, and custom homes.
- Procured favorable resolutions for a multitude of delay, payment, extra work, and construction/design defect disputes, both pre-suit and in litigation, on behalf of owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals.
- Prevailed in dispositive motions based upon dispute resolution procedures and contingent payment clauses in both prime and subcontract agreements.
Bar Admissions
- Florida
Education
- Florida International University, College of Law, 2014, J.D.
- Queens College, 2009, B.A., Political Science and Government, magna cum laude
Professional Associations
- Florida Licensed Real Estate Broker