Christopher W. St. Marie

Christopher W. St. Marie focuses his practice on commercial litigation, construction law, and construction litigation. Chris represents businesses, contractors, owners, lenders and material suppliers in a variety of matters, including breach of contract, business tort and negligence claims, insurance coverage issues, real estate, and construction disputes. He also has substantial experience helping clients with commercial disputes, construction claim defense, management and avoidance, competitive bid compliance and protests, lien and bond claims, as well as other commercial and construction-related issues. He has handled disputes in Federal and State Courts throughout the Sixth Circuit and country.

Christopher is also experienced in compliance and claims related to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS). He has represented clients before the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the United States Court of Federal Claims, and Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA) over disputes associated with a variety of commercial and construction claims ranging from bid disputes to software licensing claims against the Federal Government.

First arriving at Hahn Loeser as a summer associate in 2009, Chris has come full circle, now serving as chair of the firm’s summer associate program.

Throughout his career, Chris has received a number of accolades, including recognition from Best Lawyers and Ohio Super Lawyers Rising Stars. In his spare time, Chris is actively involved in the community and has participated in programs with the Cleveland Leadership Institute and Cleveland Bridge Builders. He also serves on the board of BAYarts and volunteers his time coaching youth sports.

Accolades

Commercial and Construction Litigation Experience

• Represented a large construction company in the Midwest on multi-million dollar breach of contract claims related to electrical work in automotive plants.
• Represented contractors making claims against the federal government on construction projects related to delay claims.
• Represented a large mining company related to negligence claims involving the flooding of a mine and damages in excess of $100MM.
• Represented a contractor in bet-the-company litigation over claims of delay and breach of contract.
• Represented developers over construction disputes involving unique tax credit issues and qualified low housing tax credit investors.
• Appeared before a variety of Courts of Appeals in Ohio and experienced with oral arguments and brief writing.

Federal Contracting Experience

• Represented contractors in front of the United States Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals (ASBCA), including disputes with the Ohio National Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on multi-million-dollar federal construction projects.
• Experience with contract negotiation between the United States Army Corps of Engineers and federal construction contractors, including requirements for contract modification and requests for equitable adjustment under the FAR.
• Extensive experience addressing issues and negotiating contract changes with contracting officers, including reservation of rights under the FAR and the CDA.
• Bid disputes with the Government Accountability Office. These disputes typically include analysis of government contracts, including limitations on the government’s ability to award contracts and analysis of bidding requirements under the FAR.
• Represented contractor regarding investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, including potential criminal activity related to contract pay applications.

• Best Lawyers Recognizes 87 Hahn Loeser Attorneys Across 53 Specialties
  August 17, 2023
• Seventy-One Hahn Loeser Attorneys Recognized by Best Lawyers Across Forty-Seven Specialties
  August 19, 2021
• Seventy-Four Hahn Loeser Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers Across Forty-Six Specialties
  August 20, 2020
• 26 Hahn Loeser Attorneys Recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® 2020
  November 27, 2019
• Hahn Loeser Attorneys Elected to Firm Partnership
  January 09, 2019
• 26 Hahn Loeser Attorneys Recognized by Ohio Super Lawyers® 2019
  December 05, 2018
• 30 Hahn Loeser Attorneys Selected as Super Lawyers
  December 02, 2016
• HLP Client Victory, Tesar Industrial Contractors
  March 11, 2016

• Speaker

  AI – The Future is Now: Best Practices for Risk Mitigation (ACG Ohio)

  March 06, 2025
• Author

  Environmental Obligations Hiding in Plain Sight (Properties Magazine)

  June 14, 2024
• Author

  Let’s Settle this in the Octagon – or Not (Properties Magazine)

  December 17, 2021
• Speaker

  Construction Law: Advanced Issues and Answers (National Business Institute)

  December 07, 2018