Cassidy Segura Clouse

Land Use & Zoning Approvals

Cassidy is experienced in land use and zoning matters, particularly involving complex development projects that require advocacy in both administrative and judicial forums. She works with clients to navigate the regulatory landscape, assess risks, secure buy-in from local Boards of Zoning Appeals, and pursue or defend judicial review of local zoning decisions. Cassidy has a nuanced understanding of land use procedures and standards, political realities, and the interplay between local boards and the courts.

Representative Experience

• Represented a multinational technology company in connection with multiple large-scale solar farm projects across several jurisdictions and in forums from the local zoning board to the Court of Appeals, ultimately achieving an agreement with remonstrators that allowed the project to move forward.
• Represented a heavy highway contractor before a contentious local board and, after securing partial approval, pursued judicial review of the adverse portion of the board’s finding in the trial court and Court of Appeals.
• Advises renewable energy and carbon capture clients on land use approval processes and standards, vested rights in the project and the impact on construction deadlines, assessing risks, and preparing land use applications made to withstand the scrutiny of judicial review.

Real Estate & Construction Disputes

Cassidy is skilled at managing complex disputes involving multiple parties, overlapping proceedings, and highly technical subject matters. Her work often involves navigating unique contract provisions, fact-intensive claims, working with experts, managing voluminous discovery, and synthesizing stories from large discovery exchanges — all while remaining alert to the broader picture and strategic off-ramps from litigation or arbitration. Whether advising on early case strategy, handling procedural and evidentiary issues, taking and defending depositions, or preparing for evidentiary hearings and trial, Cassidy is involved in every step of the litigation or arbitration process. Cassidy is adept at distilling complicated information into actionable next steps. Her creative, collaborative style and responsiveness make her a trusted partner for clients engaged in high stakes disputes.

Representative Experience

• Defended an engineering firm against nine-figure lawsuit arising out of its program management services provided for a major wastewater infrastructure and management public works project in Louisiana, including handling extensive e-discovery, writing significant legal and fact research memos regarding potentially dispositive issues, coordinating strategy across a large, cross-office litigation team, and preparing then defending client witnesses in depositions.
• Prosecuted on behalf of the owner a multimillion-dollar complex latent construction defect case involving two income-restricted assisted living facilities in Indiana experiencing wide-spread flooring failures, working with dual-purpose engineering experts on litigation support and identifying realistic repair solutions, and managing multi-party, multi-forum procedural and discovery hurdles in parallel-track arbitration and litigation proceedings.
• Prosecuted on behalf of the owner a multimillion-dollar design defect claim in arbitration arising out of the architect’s non-code-compliant elevators installed in a unique mixed-use commercial project in an Georgia, which required novel analysis of questions about design delegation and damages allocation, significant collaboration with the retained expert and co-claimant’s counsel, close review of facts revealed in documents that were (or were not) exchanged, and rapid-fire travel for depositions and mediation. The case involved an early settlement with the general contractor, a late revelation of facts concealed by the contractor, and four-way negotiations that ultimately resulted in the matter settling the week before the final hearing.
• Represented a hospital system in a complex real estate dispute in Indiana involving unrecorded use restrictions, requiring navigation of numerous mechanic’s lien claims and claimants, the application of strict foreclosure statutes, and preparing a key client witness to testify then examining her in court at a critical evidentiary hearing, successfully completing the planned line of questioning over plaintiffs’ overruled objections.
• Defended a civil engineering firm in a transportation terminal construction dispute, gaining valuable first-chair experience taking fact depositions and engaging directly with challenging opposing counsel.

Public Projects & Public-Private Partnerships

Cassidy has helped clients navigate the complex legal framework governing public construction and infrastructure projects and public-private partnerships (P3s). Her ability to identify statutory gaps, assess the risk of bid and contractual disputes, analyze compliance issues, and provide strategic counsel makes her a valuable resource to clients operating in this highly regulated and publicly scrutinized space.

Representative Experience

• Authored a comprehensive memorandum for a large government client and its public project partners analyzing Indiana’s intricate public bidding laws, including the interplay between multiple statutory chapters, the application of Construction Manager as Constructor (CMc) provisions, and key considerations around bond claim requirements. Her analysis also addressed the legal and practical tensions faced by union contractors under public bidding mandates and the limited — but sometimes contradictory — case law interpreting these statutes.
• Advised a client through an INDOT compliance review related to Title VII and EEO policies, leading communications with both the agency and the client, working across practice groups to draft a defensible corrective action plan, and preparing a follow-up desk review response in light of evolving federal affirmative action and EEO requirements.

Prior Experience

Cassidy first joined Faegre Drinker as a summer associate, where she wrote internal guidance memos, policy briefs, and firm blogs on cutting-edge civil practice issues. She has consistently devoted her time to pro bono work and received recognition in 2022 as the recipient of a Norman Lefstein Award of Excellence. As a certified legal intern with the IU McKinney Health and Human Rights Clinic, Cassidy gained early experience working with clients on their worst day, negotiating soft landings for low-income tenants facing eviction.

Cassidy’s experience also includes work as a law clerk with the Indiana Attorney General’s Complex Litigation Division, where she worked on opioid settlement projects and analyzed evidence for pending consumer protection investigations, and an intern with the Legislative Services Agency, where she drafted bills and advised on proposed legislation. As a certified legal intern with an Indianapolis law firm, Cassidy drafted successful federal sentencing and state suppression memos, represented clients in court and acted as second chair attorney at a trial resulting in complete acquittal of multiple white collar felony charges.

Cassidy also served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Senior Judge Sarah Evans Barker in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.

Personal Interests

Cassidy likes to spend her free time exploring state parks with her daughter and husband, growing spicy peppers and colorful flowers in her garden, and creating stained glass artwork. She is marginally conversational in both Toddler and Spanish.