Recent Articles
A Recent Colorado Court Case Serves to Remind Washington State Contractors of the Importance of Indemnity Provisions and RCW 4.24.115
City of Seattle Temporarily Shuts Down Public Works to Enforce Health and Safety Plans
Want to Use Drones in Your Construction Project? FAA Has Just Made It Easier.
A Recent Colorado Court Case Serves to Remind Washington State Contractors of the Importance of Indemnity Provisions and RCW 4.24.115
City of Seattle Temporarily Shuts Down Public Works to Enforce Health and Safety Plans
Want to Use Drones in Your Construction Project? FAA Has Just Made It Easier.
Masaki (“Saki”) James Yamada, a distinguished partner at Ahlers
Cressman & Sleight PLLC, has nearly 20 years of expertise in construction
law. He provides comprehensive legal counsel throughout all phases of
construction projects, from bid submission to project completion. Mr. Yamada
excels in drafting and negotiating contracts and effectively resolving
disputes—both in court and through alternative methods—for private contractors
on commercial ventures and public contractors working on municipal, county, state,
and federal projects. Mr. Yamada’s practice also includes appealing
L&I/WISHA violations, prosecuting and defending construction defect claims,
handling construction related insurance matters, and negotiating or resolving
disputes involving commercial leases (including cell towers). In addition to general
contractors and subcontractors, Mr. Yamada represents developers, business and
property owners, suppliers and design professionals.
With a proven track record, Mr. Yamada has successfully
litigated and mediated Mr. Yamada started his legal career at King County,
where he worked full-time as a paralegal while attending and completing the
night program at the Seattle University School of Law. After passing the bar,
Mr. Yamada quickly gained extensive courtroom experience when he was hired as a
Civil Deputy Prosecutor. In this role, he represented and advised King County
council members, corrections officers, sheriff’s deputies, and prosecutors in
civil rights and tort cases in hearings and trials conducted in district, superior
and federal district courts. Mr. Yamada was also tasked with drafting agency
policies and county codes during his short tenure.
Mr. Yamada is also a sought-after speaker, regularly presenting
seminars on construction law, contracts, claims, insurance, and public works at
events hosted by non-profit organizations, government agencies, and
construction companies throughout Washington and Oregon. Recognized by his
peers, he has been named a “Rising Star” by Washington Law and Politics / Super
Lawyers Magazine from 2013 to 2015 and a “Super Lawyer” since 2021.
numerous multi-million-dollar construction claims across various venues, including state and federal courts, private arbitration, federal claims, and Washington’s court of appeals. He has also defended contractors against L&I violations in the Labor & Industries Board of Industrial Appeals.
Personal Awards
Education
- J.D., Seattle University School of Law, 2004
- B.A., Political Science, Seattle University, 1997
Professional Associations
- Member, Washington State Bar Association
- Member, American Bar Association
- Vice Chair, WSBA Construction Law Section Executive Committee, 2024-2026
- WSBA Construction Law Section Executive Committee, 2022-2024
- Member, Associated General Contractors of Washington (AGC)
- Affiliate, Washington APEX Accelerator (formerly PTAC) since 2017
- Sponsor and Speaker at Alliance Northwest since 2019
Publications & Speeches
- “State Supreme Court overturns law protecting general contractors from trust fund liens on public works projects,” April 2014, AGC Works, AGC of Washington
- “Top 10 Provisions for Contractors in Public Works Contracts,” March 2016, Government Contracting Marketplace magazine, a Publication for Washington PTAC
- “Getting Paid on Construction Contracts,” March 2017, Government Contracting Marketplace magazine, a Publication for Washington PTAC
Representative Work
- Counsel for national general contractor client in complex litigation on the premier high-rise condominium project in Downtown Seattle. ACS brought claims against the Owner for foreclosure of its construction lien, breach of contract, breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing, and quantum meruit. Contractor’s claims were in excess of $20M, including compensation for 187 unresolved change issues, time extensions and compensation for excusable delays, recovery of additional and expanded general conditions and general requirements, and pass through of discrete subcontractor claims. Owner withheld compensation of contract balance and brought numerous counterclaims seeking recovery of liquidated damages in excess of $4M, as well as other contract and tort-based damages. After a seven-week jury trial, the jury awarded our general contractor client 97% of its claimed damages and rejected 93% of the Owner’s damages. Post-trial, we obtained judgment on the jury verdict, foreclosed the lien, and obtained an award for our client’s attorneys’ fees, costs and expert expenses culminating in a final judgment against the Owner that exceeded $30M.
- Successfully litigated claims on numerous Sound Transit and WSDOT projects on behalf of multiple general contractors, heavy civil contractors and subcontractors, including a favorable settlement on the East Link Rail project on behalf of a joint venture between an ENR Top 400 construction company and ENR Top 100 professional services firm.
- Successfully litigated and settled multiple claims on behalf of multiple general contractors and subcontractors against different school districts, including millions of dollars’ worth of claims against the Seattle School District, and the University of Washington.
- Successfully litigated a general contractor’s multi-million dollar claims for breach of contract and general extended conditions while defending multi-million-dollar counterclaims of alleged construction defects and liquidated damages claims by the owner over a dispute arising from the $52 million “Ballard Blocks” commercial project in Ballard, Washington.
- Successfully obtained $4.0 million judgment, plus attorney’s fees and costs, after a one-month lien foreclosure trial on behalf of international general contractor over disputes arising from a Whole Foods construction project in West Seattle.
- Successfully defended a general contractor in federal court action against a national title company’s claim for fraud that resulted in a no payment settlement.
- Successfully defended a national leader in heavy civil and specialty geotechnical construction in multiple lawsuits by home owners who alleged vibrations created by adjacent construction activities caused damage to their homes. Summary judgment motions in all cases ultimately resulted in no damages owed by the contractor and dismissal of the actions.
- Successfully litigated and settled claims on behalf of general contractors and subcontractors for work performed on JBLM.
- Successfully defended a construction site injury claim for $3.6 million in a one-month jury trial.
- Represented multiple building owners in disputes with AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile.
Admitted to Practice
- Washington, Oregon
- Federal District Courts and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Presentations & Seminars
- “Advanced Governmental Contracting on Public Projects and Insurance Coverage and Bonds – What YOU Should Know” at the Seattle Contractor Training Day, hosted by Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries (2015)
- “Legal Considerations for Construction Contracts” at the Legal Considerations for Construction Contracts, hosted by Washington PTAC (2015)
- “Contracting on Public Projects” at the Regional Contracting Forum Workshop, hosted by King County Regional Contracting Forum (2015)
- “Advanced Government Contracting on Public Projects and Insurance Coverage and Bonds – What YOU Should Know” at the Lynnwood Contractor Training Day, hosted by Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries (2015 + 2016)
- “Advanced Government Contracting on Public Projects and Insurance Coverage and Bonds – What YOU Should Know” at the Renton Contractor Training Day, hosted by Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries (2015 + 2016)
- “Contract Terms for Indemnity and Insurance” at the Worksite Accident Claims course, hosted by The Seminar Group, Worksite Accident Claims CLE (2016)
- “Advanced Government Contracting on Public Projects and Insurance Coverage and Bonds – What YOU Should Know” at the Seattle Contractor Training Day, hosted by Washington State Dept. of Labor & Industries (2016)
- “Construction Law: Top 10 Washington Public Contract Provisions” at Alliance NW 2016, Construction Law: Contracts, Dispute Resolution, and Bonds, hosted by Washington PTAC (2016)“Construction Law: Top 10 Washington Public Contract Provisions” at PTAC GoToWebinar: Government Contracting Weekly, hosted by Washington PTAC (2016)
- “Construction Law: Top 10 Contract Clauses” at Green River College Training Day, hosted by Washington PTAC (2017)
- “Top Contract Provisions to Ensure Timely Payments” at Alliance NW 2017, hosted by Washington PTAC (2017)
- “Subcontractor Default Insurance in Construction: Avoid Pitfalls” at Strafford Live CLE, hosted by Strafford (2017)
- “Insurance in Construction” at a Lunch and Learn, hosted by Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties (2017)
- “Indemnity and Insurance”at the Clark Construction’s Strategic Partnership Program, hosted by Clark Construction (2017)
- “Construction Bonds” at Clark Construction’s Strategic Partnership Program, hosted by Clark Construction (2017)