Thomas F. "Chip" Munro II

Mr. Munro is a litigation attorney who focuses his practice in general commercial litigation with an emphasis on construction matters and product liability issues, both personal injury and commercial products disputes. He has regularly handled complex multiparty arbitration and litigation in both state and federal courts. He has broad experience in the construction arena, including litigating construction defect claims, project delay and impact claims, and payment disputes. He has served as an arbitrator and a mediator for construction industry disputes and lectured on construction–related matters.
 
Prior to entering the legal profession, in addition to serving as an officer/pilot in the United States Air Force and Pennsylvania Air National Guard, he gained several years of experience in the design, engineering, and construction industry in such diverse areas as aviation, mechanical equipment, and power generation.
 

Recognitions

• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• Florida’s Legal Elite by Florida Trend magazine, Construction (2006)
• Florida Super Lawyers in Construction Litigation (2007–2013, 2015)

 

Memberships & Activities

• Member: Florida Bar
• Officer/Pilot: United States Air Force 
• Officer/Pilot: Pennsylvania Air National Guard

Construction

• Defense of Florida municipality against claims exceeding $80 million arising out of alleged unforeseen underground conditions encountered by contractors during expansion of city's underground utility system.
• Defense of national general contractors against defects claimed in the construction of luxury oceanfront condominiums.
• Defense of national construction manager against defects claimed in the construction of numerous hospital expansion projects and retirement communities throughout Florida.
• Provided advice and counsel to contractor in the development of its successful claim for additional time and money resulting from project delays and impacted productivity associated with construction of largest cement plant in North America.
• Represented design/builder joint venture on additional time and money claim arising out of construction of cement plant.
• Obtained jury verdict for owner of commercial building for claims arising out of the failure of the building’s "cut and fill" foundation design and construction. In addition to recovering the cost of repair, the verdict included an award of "stigma" damage, the first of its kind in Oregon.
• Provided advice and counsel to national contractor in the development of its successful claim for additional time and costs incurred in the construction of the elevated track for Miami's Downtown Peoplemover system.
• Represented luxury high–rise condominium associations asserting construction defect claims against developers and contractors.
• Defense of owner/developer of healthcare project against claims of lien foreclosure, breach of contract and fraud asserted by terminated project architect.
• Represented owners of luxury single–family residences asserting construction defect claims, including water infiltration resulting in structural damage, against architects, engineers, general contractors, and subcontractors.
• Performed due diligence review on behalf of acquiring national contractor of regional contractor's construction contracts and ongoing litigation for risk analysis and assessment of potential liability
• Defense of national general contractor and its performance bond surety against defect claims arising out of water infiltration through building exterior envelope. The representation culminated in a successful appeal to the Florida Supreme Court establishing the statute of limitation for claims against a construction performance bond.

 

Commercial/Business Disputes

• Defense of national supplier of health care services and its wholly–owned subsidiaries against claims by insurance company seeking reimbursement of medical benefits paid on behalf of its insureds during period following the enactment of a Florida statute addressing the registration of certain facilities providing health care services, successfully arguing that the defendant entities fell within one of the statutory exemptions from registration.
• Defense of numerous investors in Receiver "claw back" cases arising out of multi–million dollar Ponzi scheme.
• Defense of owner/purchaser of World Champion Arabian Stallion in breach of contract claims asserted by prior owner/seller related to future reproductive rights.
• Defense of national health insurer in arbitration claims for past and future compensation asserted by terminated independent broker.
• Retained by Receiver appointed in lender's foreclosure action to defend against numerous condominium unit purchaser rescission suits against project developer brought about by the decline in Florida's real estate market.
• Obtained summary judgment, affirmed on appeal, on behalf of corporation and its president in an antitrust suit alleging horizontal group boycott in restraint of trade in the automobile parts business.

 

Product Liability

• Defense of supplier of fall protection devices arising out of personal injury claims by construction worker resulting from fall from construction project.
• Defense of national supplier of compressed gas cylinders against claims arising out of fire and explosion at purchaser's warehouse facility.
• Defense of marine engine manufacturer in suit arising out of fire and sinking of vessel.
• Defense of national supplier of propane gas and related services against personal injury claim arising out of fire associated with use of gas grill.
• Defense of contractor arising from personal injury claims alleged to be due to defective installation of mining equipment.
• Defense of equipment manufacturer against personal injury claims by equipment operator.

 

Intellectual Property

• Defense of manufacturer of a composite wall panel system for the construction industry against patent infringement claims by a competing manufacturer, culminating in successful appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
• Representation of start–up manufacturer of financial transaction cards in suit to recover license fee paid in connection with utilizing reaction injection embedding technology that defendant was unsuccessful in bringing to market. Representation included defending counterclaim of patent infringement and theft of trade secrets resulting from client's independent development and patenting of competing commercialized technology.
• Defense of manufacturer of animal traps against claims of patent infringement.
• Served as expert witness on behalf of homebuilder in suit by competing homebuilder alleging copyright infringement of home design.