Broward Attorney Brian Wolf Brings Hands-On Approach to Construction Law

Given his personal history, it would seem logical to conclude Fort Lauderdale attorney Brian Wolf is a natural fit for construction law.

Long before he ever argued about them in courtrooms, the Smith, Currie & Hancock partner spent much of his childhood learning about physical projects and construction.

“When I grew up in Pennsylvania, my father was always at a workbench in the basement,” Wolf said. The Fort Lauderdale-based attorney’s father earned his living as a family doctor, but as the son of a mechanic, the senior Wolf proved more than capable when working with a toolbox.

“More as an outlet than anything else, he liked to build things,” Wolf said.

As an undergraduate at the University of Florida, Wolf spent several summers working alongside his father and renovating houses across the country. This included properties in Woodstock, Vermont, as well as Boca Raton, the city Wolf grew up in following his family’s move to Florida in 1978.

“It’s never something that I looked at as a career. It was always something that was more of a hobby,” he said of his time spent as a handyman. “How I became a lawyer instead of a carpenter? I guess the intellectual part of both interests me, and I do think that people who work with their hands are to be commended. It’s something that I find to be a challenge, but a challenge I enjoy.”

Even when he wasn’t pursuing construction law as his chosen occupation, Wolf was still weighing a career built around, well, building things.

“When I was at the University of Florida, my major was real-property finance,” he said. “I thought very seriously about becoming a developer, working for a developer, and learning how to approach commercial and residential projects as a developer.”

However, much to his chagrin, Wolf said the real estate and development market “was pretty soft” when he graduated from UF in 1990. Out of necessity, he took his talents to Gulfport, where he began studying the law as a student at the Stetson University College of Law.

Wolf said he initially intended to apply his legal education to development and to business.

“It wasn’t until I graduated from law school that the area of construction law became apparent to me,” he said before calling the practice a “very natural” specialty considering his skill set. “I don’t think anybody pulled me aside when I was in high school, in college, or even in law school and said that construction law was even a specialty or an area of law that was available. It wasn’t on my radar screen. And once I learned what it was and … how broad it was, it was really a natural fit.”

Prior to joining Smith, Currie & Hancock in 2001, Wolf spent nearly a decade working with Miami construction attorney David L. Swimmer. He immersed himself in as many trade organizations as possible in order to learn as much as he could about the industry. He said although he worked with excellent attorneys at Swimmer’s firm, he was attracted by the luster of Smith Currie’s prestige and clientele.

“While I was practicing in South Florida I actually used books that they had written and other books that partners at Smith Currie had contributed to in my practice,” Wolf said. The firm, which started in Atlanta, was looking to expand its reach to include South Florida in 2001. At the time, Smith Currie had no offices in the Sunshine State.

“When I saw that they were looking to hire somebody and establish an office in South Florida, that was an opportunity that I could not pass up,” Wolf said. The attorney pursued a position with the firm doggedly, frequently traveling between South Florida and Atlanta to make the case for why he should be brought onboard.

After being presented with an offer, the time came for Wolf to break the news that he’d be leaving to his employer.

“I’ll never forget the conversation I had with David Swimmer when I told him,” Wolf said. “His exact words were ‘You would be crazy not to take that opportunity.’ And since that time I have been very privileged to grow and manage this office for Smith Currie.”

By 2003, Wolf was made partner with the firm he’d worked so hard to join. The ensuing years have seen the attorney represent a number of high-profile clients and intensive cases. Wolf singled out his representation of several trade organization in litigation against Miami-Dade County as well as his work on behalf of the Museum of Science Inc., the parent company of the newly completed Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science, as particular highlights.

But even with the cachet he commands in construction law, Wolf said he still focuses on the relationships his work cultivates.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a high-profile case, it doesn’t matter if it’s if it’s a mom-and-pop construction company or a large publicly traded construction company, it’s the problem-solving and helping the clients that I really enjoy,” he said. “The ability to solve problems that are important to my clients so that they can get on with doing what they do — building buildings — that’s what I get the most satisfaction out of.”

Wolf doesn’t attribute all of his success in the field to his time devoted to working with his hands, but he concedes it didn’t hurt him either.

“It really helps to be able to understand how things are put together so that from a legal standpoint, you can analyze them piece by piece,” he said. “When I work with experts — architects, engineers and others — it does help that when they explain something to me that I understand where they’re coming from. When there is something on the project that someone alleges should have been built differently, or something that somebody alleges was built incorrectly, being able to look at that specific issue and take it apart and understand it is invaluable. Because if you don’t understand something, then you’re not going to be an effective advocate for your client.”

Brian Wolf 

Born: 1968, Farmington Hills, Michigan

Spouse: Sandy Wolf

Children: Josh, Zach, Sara

Education: Stetson University, J.D., 1993; University of Florida, BSBA Real Property Finance, 1990

Experience: Partner, Smith, Currie & Hancock, 2001-present; Associate, David L. Swimmer P.A., 1994-2001; Associate, Charles C. Powers Attorney at Law, 1993-1994