Firm Profile

The firm was founded in 1995 by William Huddles and Roger Jones. Their vision was to build a practice that was dedicated exclusively to serving clients in the construction industry.

Mr. Huddles had been involved in construction law since 1972, when he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland. From 1975 to 1977 he was General Counsel to the Maryland State Aviation Administration. It was during this time that the State of Maryland undertook its initial expansion of the Baltimore-Washington International Airport. In 1977, Mr. Huddles was named General Counsel for the entire Maryland State Department of Transportation and in that capacity advised the State of Maryland during its construction of the Baltimore area subway system. Mr. Huddles began private practice in 1979 and in 1981 he became a principal with the law firm of Braude & Margulies, where he represented construction industry clients from the Baltimore metropolitan area, and where he remained until 1995 when he and Mr. Jones began their own firm.

Mr. Jones had a degree in architecture, a post-graduate concentration in construction management and, prior to attending law school, had worked for several architectural and engineering firms. After attaining his law degree, Mr. Jones was associated with and then a principal and managing director at the law firm of Braude & Margulies. There, from 1985 to 1995, Mr. Jones represented many construction industry clients from Northern Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area. During that time, he developed a keen ability to prepare and prosecute “construction claims” and gained extensive experience litigating construction claims before State and Federal Courts, Government Administrative Appeal Boards and Arbitration Tribunals. He and Mr. Huddles chose Columbia Maryland for their new offices so that they could conveniently serve their Baltimore, Washington and Northern Virginia clients.

Their vision for a practice that was dedicated exclusively to serving clients in the construction industry began with their recognition that the construction process itself was often quite complex, both technically and in its business relationships. They also recognized that “construction law” was multi-faceted, involving: many different general bodies of law applied to industry specific problems; many different particular laws that specifically govern the construction process; and the various laws and legal principles that apply to and in connection with the many types of businesses and professions that are part of and serve the construction industry. Finally, they recognized that their clients’ primary need was the ability to resolve their legal issues successfully, efficiently and cost effectively so that they could get back to business as usual. As Mr. Huddles and Mr. Jones saw it, the best way to enable the firm and the firm’s attorneys to provide construction industry clients with high quality and efficient service at a reasonable price, was to dedicate their practice exclusively to serving that industry.

As part of their vision, Mr. Huddles and Mr. Jones were determined that the firm would only hire attorneys who had also developed expertise in the field. Their first recruit was Kenneth Sorteberg, who came aboard at the firm’s inception. Although a “young attorney” at the time, Mr. Sorteberg’s construction industry experience was extensive. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Mr. Sorteberg had been a civil engineer and he had gained extensive construction management experience, including his tenure with The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company from 1985 to 1991. Mr. Sorteberg had also wasted no time applying his technical background as a “construction lawyer,” having begun his legal career as a law clerk with the Maryland Stadium Authority in 1991 and 1992, during the construction of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and having the spent two years as an associate practicing construction law at Braude & Margulies.

Mark Dachille came to the firm in 2000. He too had an extensive construction law background. First, as an associate at the Baltimore law firm of Gordon Feinblatt Rothman Hoffberger & Hollander from 1986 to 1989, Mr. Dachille gained extensive experience representing construction contractors involved in Federal, State and Local Government projects. Then, from 1990 to 1997, he served as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Maryland Contract Litigation Unit representing state agencies in connection with their construction projects, construction contract claims, and procurement disputes. Finally, while with Barry L. Steelman P.A. in 1998 and 1999, Mr. Dachille’s practice was construction defect litigation, particularly large and complex claims arising out of condominium projects.

Today, the firm is known as Huddles Jones Sorteberg & Dachille and has grown to eight construction lawyers. John Michel has been practicing construction law with the firm since 2002; Nicole Campbell and Lucas Webster since 2005; and Joseph Katz since 2007.

True to the vision of its founders, the firm dedicates its practice exclusively to construction law, the representation of clients involved in the construction industry, and the handling of legal matters that arise for those clients in connection with their construction businesses. The firm handles hundreds of matters each year for and against general contractors, construction managers, design builders, subcontractors, suppliers, architects, engineers, owners, lenders, sureties, and insurance carriers. The firm can handle virtually any matter that arises in connection with any type of construction project – public or private. And, the firm provides all types of services to its construction clients, such as: providing advice and counsel on construction law and construction related legal issues; drafting, negotiating and reviewing the many different types of contracts that govern the various business relationships that arise as a part the construction process; analysis, preparation, prosecution and/or defense of the many different types of claims that can arise in connection with the construction process and its many business relationships; the negotiation and resolution of such claims and other construction related disputes; mediations; arbitrations; litigation in both federal and state courts, and at both the trial and appellate levels; and bid protests arising out of federal, state and local government procurements.

Most importantly, however, the firm’s mission remains the same today as when the firm was founded in 1995 – apply the expertise developed through many years of a specifically focused practice to guide clients through their legal matters successfully, efficiently and economically.

Knowledge   |   Experience   |   Judgment   |   Commitment