Aren Kavcioglu

Professional Overview

Aren practices general litigation, focusing on construction and real estate.  

Aren started his legal career as an associate at a large downtown law firm, where he worked on some of the largest employment class actions representing Fortune 500 companies.

Aren then joined a boutique construction firm.  Since then, for over two decades, Aren has practiced as a litigator. 

Aren primarily represents contractors and subcontractors in connection with claims for additional work, delays, disruption, prompt-payment penalties and bid protests.  Aren also handles subcontractor substitution hearings before public entities.  Aren also represents property owners and developers in various types of disputes, including disputes over easements, disclosures, fraud, and other types of breach of contract.   Aren’s represented clients include contractors/subcontractors on large public and private construction projects, including construction at public schools, LAX, roads/freeways, stadium, mixed use, commercial and residential projects.

Representative Matters

Aren has experience first and second chairing jury trials, court trials and arbitrations representing contractors, subcontractors, owners of real estate, and even fellow attorneys. Below are examples of some of his trials/arbitrations:

• Following a 243-day trial, obtaining a multi-million dollar judgment in favor of a general contractor against a public entity, including prompt payment penalties and attorney’s fees. 
• Obtaining a jury verdict in favor of a buyer of a commercial property for non-disclosure of material information and award of attorney’s fees
• Defending owner apartment building against a lawsuit in Santa Monica courthouse by 17 tenants for retaliatory eviction and nuisance; following depositions of plaintiffs and various court rulings, the case was settled with the court awarding Aren’s clients over $200,000 for attorney’s fees. 
• Obtaining a defense judgment and attorney’s fees following a court trial in favor of an owner of commercial real estate in an easement dispute with an adjacent property owner. 
• Obtaining a jury verdict in favor of a general contractor against a physician for failure to pay for the reasonable value of services.
• Obtaining an arbitration award against a law firm for misclassifying attorney as a partner and failing to pay the attorney in full for services, including a finding that the managing member of the law firm was an alter-ego of the firm and thus liable as well. 
• Obtaining a defense arbitration award in favor of a general contractor against claims by a subcontractor. 

Aren has briefed and argued. He has secured four reversals from the Court of Appeal. Below are examples of appellate matters he has handled. 

Argued & Briefed

• Golden State Boring & Pipe Jacking, Inc. v. Astaldi Construction Corp., 110 Cal.App.5th 805 (2025) – affirming summary judgment of dismissal in favor of Aren’s client, holding that the protections provided to bidding subcontractors on a design build project under Public Contract Code section 6826 were subject to the qualifications in Public Contract Code section 4100 et seq; and thus a subcontractor whose bid price was $1,723,620 was not entitled to the protections under section 6926 because its bid was less than one half of one percent of the prime contractor’s $1.2 billion bid to the public entity  
• Pacific Carpets, LLC v. 2525 Main Apartment LP,  2025 WL 3240321 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Fourth District 2025) – affirming $2 million plus summary judgment in favor Aren’s client, a developer, against subcontractor for disgorgement under Business & Professions code section 7031
• XXSYS Technologies v. State of California, 2006 WL 3013025 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Fourth District 2006) – reversing summary judgment entered by trial court against Aren’s client in a multi-million defamation case against Caltrans
• Lo v. JSL Plaza Puente Hills, LLC, No. B294527, 2020 WL 6375499 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Second District 2020) – affirming judgment after trial in favor of Aren’s client
• Kattuah v. Linde L. Firm, 2017 WL 3033763 (Cal. Ct. App. July 18, 2017) – reversing trial court’s denial of anti-SLAPP motion by Aren’s client, directing the trial court to grant the motion in favor of Aren’s client  
• Casonhua et al. v. Washington Mutual Bank, 2010 WL 4193214 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Second District 2010) – reversing trial court’s sustaining of demurrer of the petition filed by Aren’s client
• FTR Int’l, Inc. v. Malek, 2005 WL 984219 (Cal. Ct. Appeal. 2005) – affirming judgment after trial in favor of Aren’s client

Briefed

• East West Bank v. Rio School District, 235 Cal. App. 4th 742 (2015) – following a 243 court-day trial, the trial court awarded Aren’s client, a general contractor, a multi-million dollar judgment against a public entity, including prompt-payment penalties. Aren handled the appeal as well. The Court of Appeal affirmed the prompt payment penalties, holding that a dispute over change orders did not entitle an owner to withhold retention. In doing so, Aren persuaded the court to decline to follow conflicting decision by the Third District Court of Appeal in Martin Brothers Construction, Inc. v. Thompson Pacific Construction, Inc., 179 Cal. App. 4th 1401 (2009).
• City of Hope Nat’l Med. Ctr. v. Genentech, Inc., 43 Cal. 4th 375, 380, 181 P.3d 142, 146 (2008) [prepared amicus brief] 
• Pacific Carpets, LLC v. Shanghai Commercial Bank, Ltd., 2025 WL 3241201 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Fourth District 2025)
• Pacific Carpets, LLC v. Panku, Inc., 2025 WL 3241201 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Fourth District 2025)
• Cesena Co, Inc. v. FTR International, Inc., 2004 WL 1240405 (Cal. Ct. Appeal, Second District 2006) – reversing judgment by trial court entered in a claim by a subcontractor against a general contractor, and directing the trial court to enter judgment in favor of Aren’s client.
• Groundtech, Inc. v. Cuthers, 2009 WL 1585954, at *1 (Cal. Ct. Appeal 2009) – affirming judgment after jury trial in favor of Aren’s client.