G. Andrew Adamek

Bio

Mr. Adamek completed his undergraduate and law school studies in Georgia at the University of Georgia and Walter F. George School of Law, respectively, before first entering private practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Adamek’s first five years of legal work in Georgia focused primarily on workers’ compensation and premises liability defense including food poisoning and slip and fall cases. Mr. Adamek and his wife then relocated to Helena, where he began his legal work with BKBH in 1998. Mr. Adamek is married with two young sons. He enjoys the best offerings of Montana and the Rocky Mountain lifestyle.

Mr. Adamek is seasoned with 14 years of litigation-based legal experience. This solid practice foundation has instilled his pragmatic approach to legal problem solving and creative dispute resolution strategies, based upon mutual client/attorney respect and trust and clear goal setting at the earliest stages of his representation. When client goals cannot be achieved in this manner, Mr. Adamek will adjust his approach and employ all resources, capabilities and skills of his practice and draw upon the team approach of BKBH to seek a favorable and cost-efficient outcome for his client.

Mr. Adamek has acted as lead counsel or provided support to other BKBH lead attorneys in a wide spectrum of litigation settings including wrongful discharge from employment, discrimination in employment and housing, premises liability, Safe Work Place, personal injury defense, FELA defense, medical malpractice defense, workers’ compensation defense and uninsured employer defense, commercial and residential real estate disputes, land use and subdivision disputes adverse to governmental entities, partition, eviction, easement, road and access controversies, construction and design defect, and automobile defense.

The legal market of Montana has provided Mr. Adamek with the opportunity of offering a widened scope of legal services and demonstrated competencies beyond litigation. Mr. Adamek’s proven ability and satisfaction in offering both litigation-based and transactional legal services in the areas of real estate, land use and zoning is one example of this synergy. His employment litigation experience has served his clients well in providing legal services such as employee policy drafting, employment contracts, assessing employee privacy interests, employee benefit reduction and revision, hiring practices, responding to employee complaints, processing employee grievances and employee termination guidance.

Mr. Adamek has also served as general counsel for the Helena Housing Authority since 2008. In this capacity he has spearheaded and supervised a spectrum of legal services in such areas as public housing assistance eligibility, tenant rules compliance, notice and unit inspection, toxic substance assessment and remediation, unit and personal property abandonment, trespass and visitor conduct, general tenant complaints, tenant grievances and related procedural due process compliance, alleged housing discrimination, lease agreement interpretation, lease termination, eviction and collections, redevelopment contracting and procurement.

Additional examples of general legal and corporate counsel advice Mr. Adamek has provided to public housing authorities include public meetings/right to know issues, tenant privacy issues, resident management corporation issues, public health/pool licensing, media relations, corporate structure and board authority, due process, contractual indemnification within service agreements, and a host of commercial and general liability insurance coverage issues. Mr. Adamek is committed to expanding his legal capabilities and services on behalf of public housing authorities across Montana, because he is committed to the fundamental mission they serve of providing clean and safe housing at an affordable price to those most in need of this fundamental human service.

Representative Matters

Mr. Adamek represents plaintiff buyer of land in Montana contaminated by unexploded military ordnance in his tort and breach of duty claims against the sellers and the real estate agents for their alleged failure to disclose the presence of contamination and ongoing environmental remediation activities on the land as the purchase was negotiated and finalized.
Mr. Adamek successfully defended seller’s realtor agent against claims of negligence, fraud and statutory breach of duty in a failed multimillion dollar lease purchase transaction involving the Bozeman Hot Springs.
Mr. Adamek successfully defended public housing authority in claim by evicted tenant of racial discrimination based on Native American descent and secured an early determination of no probable cause to suspect discrimination had occurred from the Montana Human Rights Bureau.
Last living original landowner sought judicial partition of a 20 acre parcel owned jointly by him and several heirs of original deceased purchasers. Mr. Adamek perfected chain of title for all heirs and negotiated stipulated partition resulting in favorable order of partition.
Mr. Adamek successfully obtained judicial partition and negotiated terms of corporate dissolution and partition resulting in a stipulated court order dividing the parcel and conveying the newly created lots and attendant structures to the respective shareholder occupants. The County had previously denied a minor subdivision and family member exemption application.

Uninsured construction worker brought personal injury action against general contractor of residential construction site for injuries resulting from his fall from roof. Mr. Adamek defended general contractor, and favorably settled case on the day before trial only after the trial judge granted plaintiff’s motion disallowing comparative negligence defense, leaving only proximate cause defense.
Uninsured construction worker brought workers’ compensation claim against uninsured out-of-state vacation homeowner in Big Sky for injuries sustained when the worker performed finish work for homeowner after general contractor was terminated from job. Mr. Adamek represents the homeowner before the workers’ compensation court and in dealings with the Uninsured Employers Fund.
Non-resident brought personal injury action against the City of Helena for injuries resulting from his fall at the municipal transfer station. Mr. Adamek co-defended action through first jury trial to obtain a defense verdict that City’s negligence did not cause plaintiff’s fall. Montana Supreme Court granted new trial to plaintiff. At second trial after jury was directed that City was negligent per se for violating the Uniform Building Code with respect to guard rail design and installation, jury awarded plaintiff damages.
Mr. Adamek represented a homeowners association seeking redress for a faulty main access road installation. Through informal discovery, county commission public hearing appearances, and threatened litigation, Mr. Adamek brought the contractor, county commission, public works director and consulting engineer together at one table to devise a resolution resulting in installation of a new access road at half the original quoted price, saving the homeowners association and RID tens of thousands of dollars.
Mr. Adamek represented homeowners association in a through-traffic subdivision road dispute with County. Homeowners contended that subdivision roads as approved by County were not intended for through traffic and such use posed a safety hazard and disproportionate financial burden for increased road repair and maintenance upon homeowners. The suit was settled with County agreement to contribute to cost of emergent road repairs, additional traffic signage and internal road network chip seal resurfacing.
Mr. Adamek represented the buyer of a several hundred acre land purchase where a 13 acre parcel was designated by the seller, to be donated by the buyer, back to the seller’s church, and the buyer realized a tax benefit by donation, that offset future tax liability as income was realized on the development.
Mr. Adamek represented a developer who owned 22 acres, and petitioned state court, seeking abandonment of an unmarketable old town site plat, and then convinced the court to abandon the town site and create six lots. The client was left with his dream retirement lot overlooking Hauser Lake, plus five additional marketable lots.
Mr. Adamek was retained to assess the merit of a state court action appealing the denial by the county commission that had rejected his client’s initial application. The landowner had failed to subdivide a 14 acre parcel, and Mr. Adamek convinced the client to consider placing a perpetual agricultural easement and designated building envelopes upon the property. This successful repackaged subdivision application is now used by landowners and governing officials as a blue print future residential development of smaller parcels in the mainly agricultural area. The landowner ultimately increased the marketability of the adjoining lots by preserving their agricultural characteristics.
A developer failed to subdivide a 12 acre parcel, when the county commission rejected his initial application. Mr. Adamek was retained by the developer and crafted a revised subdivision proposal that was ultimately approved as a model for future residential development in the fragile urban/wild-lands interface zone surrounding Helena. The end result was a unanimous approval by a governing body and a pleased client. The concessions offered for approval actually increased the resale values of the newly divided parcels.

REPORTED APPELLATE CASES

Chambers v. City of Helena, 49 P.3d 587 (Mont. 2002)
Weidow vs. UEF, Howard, 2010MT292

REPORTED WORKERS’ COMPENSATION MATTERS

Mr. Adamek has represented insurers and employers in every facet of workers’ compensation defense, and has provided regulatory and governmental relations services to self-insured entities during the last three legislative sessions. He has appeared as lead counsel in over 45 administrative hearings in Georgia and Montana

Holmes v. Safeway, Inc. 2012
Weidow v. UEF, 2010
Pugh v. Travelers, 2010
Stancil v. MHA Workers' Compensation Trust, 2007
Choi v. Costco, 2005
Kurth v. American Interstate Insurance Company, 2004
Daulton v. MHAWCT, 2001
Shepard v. Borden Incorporated, 2000
Alocco v. Cigna/Montana Refining Company, 1999, 2000
Fjelstad v. Fireman's Fund/North American Energy Services, 1999
McGee v. State Fund/DOT, 1999
Palmer v. Home Insurance Co./North American Van Lines, 1999
Felde v. MHA/Community Medical Center, 1999
Sharp v. MMIA/Town of Terry, 1999

Professional Experience

BROWNING, KALECZYC, BERRY & HOVEN, P.C.
Helena, Montana
Partner 1998-present
Civil litigation and administrative law emphasizing Workers' Compensation Defense,General Liability Litigation, Employment Law, Real Estate Litigation and Transactions, Land Use Planning & Zoning Law and Public Housing Law.

MOORE, INGRAM, JOHNSON & STEELE, L.L.P.
Marietta, Georgia
Associate 1996-1998
Civil litigation and administrative law emphasizing the representation of employer interests before the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation. Secondary emphasis in general liability and insurance defense litigation.

LAW OFFICE OF HAROLD WHITEMAN, JR.
Atlanta, Georgia
Associate 1993-1996
Civil litigation and administrative law emphasizing the representation of employer interests before the Georgia State Board of Workers' Compensation.

PENNINGTON, WILKINSON, DUNLAP, BATEMAN & CAMP, P.A.
Tallahassee, Florida
Law Clerk 1991
General civil practice and regulatory law.

THE COCA-COLA COMPANY
Washington, D.C.
Legislative Intern 1990
Governmental relations and regulatory affairs.