Dehe Talk Episode 4: Analyzing the Difficulties and Risk Boundaries in the Legal Defense of Actual Construction Workers' "Overstep" Litigation
Regarding "Dehe Talk"
"DeheTalk" is an important part of the 20th anniversary series of activities of DHHT Law Firm. The event mainly takes the form of discussions and sharing by lawyers from multiple offices, senior experts in the field, and industry guests, and focuses on in-depth exchanges on cutting-edge theories and practical issues.
In the field of construction projects, the protection of the rights of actual construction workers and the settlement of project payments have always been the focus and difficulty points in practice. Especially when it comes to "overstep" legal actions, bankruptcy of the affiliated units, and other special circumstances, the legal relationships become even more complex. To deeply analyze the relevant litigation strategies and risk response plans, on April 16, 2026, the Shanghai Construction and Infrastructure Business Committee of DHHT Law Firm (hereinafter referred to as the "Construction Committee") held the "Practical Sharing on Overstep Legal Actions of Actual Construction Workers" Dehe TALK salon event, focusing on the frontiers and difficulties in construction project disputes, aiming to enhance the professional service capabilities of lawyers in this field through experience sharing and thinking exchange.
01 Event Opening: Establishing Professional Standards and Initiating Collaborative Efforts
Cao Xiong, the deputy secretary of the committee of Shanghai DHHT Law Firm, a partner of the Shanghai office ofDHHT Law Firm, and the director of the Construction Industry Committee, delivered the opening speech. On behalf of the Construction Industry Committee, he welcomed the fellow professionals present and mentioned that the committee has always integrated party building with business operations and strengthened development synergy through professional construction. He introduced the "Compilation of DHHT Law Firm Construction Project Cases", which gathers the wisdom of all offices and promotes cross-regional knowledge sharing. He stated that the Construction Industry Committee, relying on high-quality professional activities, has made the construction engineering field a prominent symbol of DHHT Law Firm's professional strength.
02 Topic Sharing: Reviewing Relevant Practical Challenges
Lawyer Wang Siyao, the secretary of the Third Branch Committee and the member of the Construction Committee of the Shanghai DHHT Law Firmof the Communist Party of China, delivered a presentation titled "Practical Sharing on the 'Overstep' Rights Protection Litigation of Actual Construction Workers and Special Handling in the Case of the Bankruptness of the Entrusted Unit". He analyzed the concept of actual construction workers based on the policy origin for clearing outstanding debts and the practical trends of the draft of judicial interpretations, deconstructed the requirements of Article 43 of the Construction Industry Judicial Interpretation (I), compared it with the creditor's subrogation lawsuit from multiple aspects, and clearly defined the preferred strategies. He also analyzed the risk response framework when the subcontractor or the entrusted unit goes bankrupt, providing practical guidance for complex construction industry disputes.
03 Multi-Dimensional Perspective: Guests Share Explosive Practical Insights
Several lawyers from different offices, with rich first-hand experience, combined their own case handling experiences to deepen and supplement the topic from multiple perspectives.
Zhang Wencan, the director of the DHHT Law Firm Office in Taizhou, a lawyer, based on his personal handling of the "Zhongchengjian Thirteenth Engineering Bureau v. Anhui Caike Co." case, which involved a support amount of several hundred million yuan, explained other approaches to determining the project cost in construction contract disputes. In the face of the deadlock where the project was not completed and the price was undetermined, the team actively guided both parties to initiate a third-party audit for the completed work volume, quickly identifying the core of the dispute and laying a solid foundation for advancing the case. He also, by referring to another case, pointed out the complexity of tax compliance issues for large sums of engineering payments and the intersection with bankruptcy procedures when dealing with the realization of the rights of actual construction workers.
Sheng Gaoya, the director of the Zhengzhou office of DHHT Law Firm, shared two cases that experienced reversals from the first instance, the second instance to the retrial. She mentioned that in the "empty construction site refund" case, the team meticulously sorted out the information and combined modern engineering practices to present effective evidence; in the "actual construction person" identity case, the team verified the paper materials and witness testimonies one by one to identify the core facts. She emphasized that as a lawyer, the job responsibility lies in the ultimate commitment to the case, and thorough preparation is necessary to reveal the original appearance of the facts, ultimately achieving the expression of the truth.
Li Li, the director of the Management Committee of DHHT Law Firm's Kunming Office, shared her practical experience and insights from construction cases. Li mentioned the specific characteristics of construction cases in a certain region, looking forward to more exchanges and cooperation in the field of construction projects. She also pointed out that the team had noticed that the counterparties in contract signing had a large amount of executed information. By pointing out the actual responsible entity for the contract, they were able to safeguard the client's property. Li pointed out that in the face of a large number of cases involving subsidiaries of group companies, one can focus on the related self-media information of the group to find solutions.
During the free discussion, the participating lawyers also had in-depth exchanges on cutting-edge issues such as the response to the construction industry's judicial practice of substituting expert testimony for court trials, and the subjective initiative of lawyers. The on-site debate atmosphere was very intense.
04 Activity Summary: Uniting Efforts to Consolidate Professional Development
Zhang Yao, the managing partner of DHHT Law Firm's Shanghai office, delivered the closing remarks. She stated that this seminar closely followed the industry trends and judicial frontiers. The diverse perspectives and practical case sharing from the guests from various local offices greatly enriched the discussion scope, fully demonstrating the value of knowledge sharing and professional collaboration under the integrated platform of DHHT Law Firm. Such cross-regional sharing can be extended to different professional activities.
This event reflects the practical trend of DHHT Law Firm in establishing and strengthening a regular internal substantive collaboration platform. In the future, DHHT Law Firm will continue to uphold the concepts of "diligence, craftsmanship, and excellence", relying on series of professional activities such as "Dehe TALK", to build a high-level practical exchange platform. It will closely follow the industry development trends, continuously deepen its professional capabilities in various business fields, and provide practical support and help to customers to achieve stability and long-term success.
