Carney Badley Spellman, P.S. is a Pacific Northwest law firm located in Seattle, Washington. Our clients will tell you we are known for providing exceptional value in legal services by recognizing case objectives early and obtaining cost-effective results. The Carney firm provides legal services in business, litigation, construction, government affairs and insurance to individuals and to privately-held and publicly-traded companies.

John R. McDowall is a principal and joined the firm in 1995. Mr. McDowall focuses his practice on real estate, construction and commercial transactions and disputes.

In the area of real estate, he has represented owners and developers on all types of real estate projects, including acquisitions and sales of property, financing, entity formation, land use issues, and litigation over real estate developments and leases. He frequently advises both tenants and owners on lease negotiations.

In the area of construction, he has represented owners, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers in all phases of construction projects, including procurement, contract drafting and negotiation and prosecution and defense of delay claims, claims for extra work, and defective construction.

He also acts as general counsel to several closely-held companies in many industries, advising them regarding company formation, acquisitions, sales, mergers, contract negotiations, employee issues, severance and non compete issues, and business planning issues.

He is a member of the firm's Board of Directors and is also the firm's Hiring Partner. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the ARC of King County and the Legal Action Center of CCS in Seattle.

Representative Real Estate Projects

Handled office negotiations for the construction and long-term lease of a 165,000 square foot building in Bellevue for a large developer. He has also handled several other lease negotiations for this developer and its parent company.
Successfully handled a two-phase arbitration for a Seattle property owner/developer that resulted in the eviction of a hold-out tenant so the developer's 54-unit mixed use development could proceed. Mr. McDowall then negotiated the construction contract with the contractor, and handled project financing and closeout issues.
Assisted Nick Scarpelli in securing a successful settlement on a multi-million dollar breach of investment contract case regarding the Koll Business Park in Bothell, Washington
Mr. McDowall and Nick Scarpelli jointly represented a local developer in a two-week arbitration and obtained a verdict exceeding $1 million for project delays by the contractor
Successfully defended the holding company of a large Canadian developer against claims of fraudulent transfer of assets regarding a 60-unit multi-family home development

Representative Construction Projects

Obtained a $1.65 million settlement for a local control systems contractor for claims stemming from extra work performed on the Pierce County Jail
Secured a defense verdict in arbitration for a modular building manufacturer based on defenses under the economic loss rule
Represented a large local hospital system in preparation of the Request for Proposal and the negotiation of contracts for several recently built facilities at the hospital
Secured a million dollar settlement for a Seattle condominium owners association for claims of defective construction

Representative Transactions

Handled merger of an internet search company into database aggregator
Handled management group buyout for a local manufacturer's representative specializing in school construction
Handled corporate reorganization for a local machine manufacturing company
Handled formation and financing of a local hair care products company
Assisted a Seattle-based architecture firm with corporate reorganization issues to facilitate international acquisitions
Assisted in sale of a local tug company to a large Australian private equity group
Assisted with sale of a wholesale division of a local coffee company

Admitted to Practice

State of Washington, 1995; United States District Court, Western District of Washington, 1995; Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 2005.

Professional Associations

Education

Seattle University, BA, Political Science, BA, Humanities, 1992; University of Virginia School of Law, JD, 1995.