Attorneys

Luke Punnakanta is Special Counsel in the Long Beach office and is a member of the Business, Property & Construction and Litigation practice groups. Luke has particular expertise in school district construction and regularly advises clients through all aspects of a project, from procurement and contractor selection, to contract negotiation, and through any claims and disputes that may arise. Luke has experience navigating clients through changing laws regarding lease leaseback, design build, and energy service contracts.

Aside from construction, Luke’s practice also includes various business issues for school and community college districts. Luke drafts and negotiates all varieties of vendor and consultant agreements, and he has particular expertise litigating disputes regarding developer fees and redevelopment area dissolution issues for school districts. Luke has substantial litigation experience on behalf of school districts.

Among other successes, Luke has participated in DWK litigation teams that have defeated a contractor’s $25 million change order claim against a district, obtained a $16 million judgment following trial against a charter school over unpaid special education revenue, and obtained dismissal of a class action alleging systematic failure to provide special education services to students. Luke has particular expertise in class action litigation.

Before joining DWK, Luke was a litigator at a law firm in Los Angeles, where he focused on healthcare and employment litigation in both state and federal courts. There, Luke gained experience litigating complex class and individual actions in highly regulated and developing areas of law. In law school at the University of Southern California, Luke served as Senior Submissions Editor of the Southern California Law Review. He also served as a Law Clerk for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office in the Criminal Division and externed for Justice Judith Ashmann-Gerst at the California Court of Appeal.

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