Marshall Strabala

Gensler

After leaving SOM, Strabala joined the Houston, Texas, office of the architectural firm Gensler in 2006. Xia was also credited as having "helped the firm score the Shanghai Tower contract and led the team's work on it", and as "the design principal for Gensler on the project."

Strabala also has been credited for leading Gensler's efforts in designing Hess Tower (Houston, 2010) and the Houston Ballet Center for Dance (2011). However, Gensler has claimed that "'Gensler, not (Strabala), is the source of the architectural and design services rendered in designing Hess Tower'", and that Strabala was but "'one of many members of that Gensler team'" that designed the Houston Ballet Center for Dance. According to Strabala, as of December 2010, he "continues to be involved in the Shanghai Tower project at the behest of the client". and the Judges from the Court of Appeals(case number（2016）沪02民终2258号). Finally, the third was "a lawsuit brought by Zhou's Chinese architecture firm, Tufan Architects Design Firm, against Strabala." Gensler claimed that Strabala's actions violated the Lanham Act and various state laws. Gensler appealed the dismissal. In April 2015, Gensler dropped the suit.

SOM The day after Gensler sued Strabala, SOM sued Strabala in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that he was "falsely claiming credit for work that originated with the company, including the designs for three of the 10 tallest buildings in the world." Among SOM's allegations was "that most of Strabala's work on Burj Khalifa, for example, "occurred in the construction-document phase" following design completion." Neither party may discuss the lawsuit per the agreement. Strabala lived nearby and was concerned that the high-rise would be "out of scale with the neighborhood". Despite opponents' efforts, and that the project would "flout existing law", the Zoning Committee amended the ordinance allowing the project to proceed.