The American Arbitration Association (AAA), with its long history and experience in the field of alternative dispute resolution, provides services to individuals and organizations who wish to resolve conflicts out of court. The AAA, with a caseload of over 200,000 disputes administered, is the nation's largest full-service ADR provider.
Contributors:
Chapter 1: Michael C. Loulakis
Michael C. Loulakis is President of Capital Project Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm that specializes in advising clients on procurement and contracting strategies, particularly on projects delivered through design-build. With over 30 years of experience of construction industry experience, Mr. Loulakis received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Tufts University and a J.D. from Boston University School of Law. He is widely published in the area of design-build, and has written several books on the subject, including DESIGN-BUILD: PLANNING THROUGH DEVELOPMENT, (McGraw-Hill Publishers 2001).
Chapter 2: Luc Picard
Luc Picard is a senior contract claims manager under contract to a Fortune 500 company in the power generation industry. He is a member of the Ordre des Ingenieurs du Quebec.
Chapter 4: Ava J. Abramowitz
Ava J. Abramowitz is a teacher of negotiations at the George Washington University Law School and the Catholic University School of Architecture and Planning. She serves as a Mediator in the federal courts of the District of Columbia. Formerly an assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, deputy general counsel of the American Institute of Architects, and a vice president of Victor O. Schinnerer & Co., she is also a founding fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Ms. Abramowitz is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and is serving as the first public member of the National Council of Architecture Registration Boards. A graduate of Brandeis University and the George Washington University National Law Center, she is the author of NEGOTIATION ARCHITECT’S ESSENTIALS OF NEGOTIATION (John Wiley & Sons, 2009). This chapter was adopted from a paper presented before the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry.
Chapter 5: Charles M. Sink and David K. Ismay
Charles M. Sink is a partner in San Francisco’s Farella Braun + Martel LLP, and has been recognized as one of the leading construction attorneys in California in each issue of the Chambers USA Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers. Mr. Sink received his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Hastings College of Law, University of California. He is the author of several books and chapters on construction agreements and ADR.
David K. Ismay is a litigation associate in Farella Braun + Martel LLP’s Construction Counseling and Dispute Resolution practice group. Mr. Ismay received his B.S., with Honors, from the U.S. Naval Academy and his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. He is co-author of Consequential and Punitive Damages, chapter 31 in the CONSTRUCTION LAW HANDBOOK (2d ed. 2009).
Chapter 6: Michael Evan Jaffe and Ronan J. McHugh
Michael Evan Jaffe is a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
Ronan J. McHugh is a counsel in the Washington, D.C., office of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
Chapter 7: Richard Fullerton
Richard Fullerton has provided dispute resolution services to the construction/real estate industries since 1998. A contractor for more than 22 years, he was executive vice-president of a Colorado commercial building contractor where he managed operations and contract negotiations. He now serves as a Mediator and Arbitrator on the construction panel of the American Arbitration Association.
Chapter 8: Richard D. Rhyne
Richard D. Rhyne is a Partner at Lathrop & Gage, LLP in Kansas City. Mr. Rhyne’s practice focuses on construction litigation, commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Rhyne received a JD, with distinction from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law in 1974. He has participated in over 100 arbitrations as either counsel or Arbitrator and over 100 mediations as Mediator. He is listed on the American Arbitration Association Panels of Arbitrators and Mediators, is on the roster of neutrals for Missouri Supreme Court Rule 17 and is a Certified Neutral with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. He is the author of numerous articles and a frequent lecturer on ADR matters.
Chapter 9: James P. Groton
James P. Groton is a retired senior partner of Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan. His principal areas of law practice involved ADR, problem solving and litigation, especially in the construction industry. He is a long-time panelist and a member of the board of directors of the American Arbitration Association and is a past recipient of the Whitney North Seymour Medal for outstanding contributions to the responsible use of ADR.
Chapter 10: James H. Keil
James H. Keil is an experienced Mediator and Arbitrator. He is a former policy-making official of Maine state government, having directed a 260-person bureau, and has been instrumental in leading the state of Maine into development of a total quality management (TQM) program. He is on the AAA’s commercial mediation and arbitration panels and is a member of the AAA's Construction Advisory Council.
Chapter 11: Gregory R. Begg
Gregory R. Begg is a partner in the River Edge, N.J., office of Peckar & Abramson, PC.
Chapter 12: Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp, a member of the American Institute of Architects, is one of three Principals in Charge at Weir/Andrewson Associates, Inc. in San Rafael, California. He serves on the roster of neutrals for complex construction cases for the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Kemp was the neutral architect on the projects described in this article.
Chapter 13: Michael J. Altschuler
Michael J. Altschuler is a practicing architect and principal of his firm since 1969. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s construction roster as a Construction Panel Mediator and mediates for the New York City School Construction Authority.
Chapter 15: John P. Madden, Esq.
John P. Madden, Esq., BSCE, MSCE, FCIArb, a 30-year veteran of the construction industry, first as a structural engineer and later as a construction Attorney, conducts a national mediation practice specializing in resolving substantial, technically complex, multi-party design and construction disputes.
Chapter 16: James Acret
James Acret is an Arbitrator and Mediator in Los Angeles. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s roster of neutrals and is a member of its National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee.
Chapter 17: Roger J. Peters and Deborah Bovarnick Mastin
Roger J. Peters is Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Dick Corporation, a national firm headquartered in Pittsburgh that provides general contracting, EPC, design-build services, construction management, project design review, value engineering, document control, cost control, inspection, and materials testing.
Deborah Bovarnick Mastin is assistant county Attorney for the Miami Dade County Attorney’s Office.
Chapter 18: Paul M. Lurie
Paul M. Lurie is the senior member of the Construction Law Group at Chicago’s Schiff Hardin LLP. He serves on the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee and is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Mr. Lurie earned a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Michigan.
Chapter 19: Howard D. Venzie, Jr
Howard D. Venzie, Jr. is a principal of Venzie, Phillips & Warshawer, Philadelphia, where his practice focuses on construction litigation and alternative dispute resolution. His experience in construction litigation includes all types of contract claims and disputes involving the construction of public and private projects. He is the former Co-Chair of the Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on the Construction Industry, the Construction Committee of the Litigation Section and the Committee on Fidelity and Surety Law of the Section of Tort and Insurance Practice. He is a former member of the AAA’s Board of Directors and the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee. He is a member of the AAA commercial/construction panel of arbitrators and the AAA’s Large Complex Case panel of arbitrators, the Construction Arbitrator Master Panel, and the National Construction Arbitrator Training Faculty.
Chapter 20: Howard D. Venzie, Jr.
Howard D. Venzie, Jr. is a principal of Venzie, Phillips & Warshawer, Philadelphia, where his practice focuses on construction litigation and alternative dispute resolution. His experience in construction litigation includes all types of contract claims and disputes involving the construction of public and private projects. He is the former Co-Chair of the Commercial Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is a member of the American Bar Association’s Forum Committee on the Construction Industry, the Construction Committee of the Litigation Section and the Committee on Fidelity and Surety Law of the Section of Tort and Insurance Practice. He is a former member of the AAA’s Board of Directors and the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee. He is a member of the AAA commercial/construction panel of arbitrators and the AAA’s Large Complex Case panel of arbitrators, the Construction Arbitrator Master Panel, and the National Construction Arbitrator Training Faculty.
Chapter 21: Robert Korn
Robert Korn is a principal in the law firm of Korn & Cohn, P.C., in Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania. He specializes in construction law and surety law. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s Regional Construction Advisory Committee and on the AAA’s Large, Complex Case Panel.
Chapter 22: Richard W. Lamb
Richard W. Lamb, served as a senior vice president of Hill International, Inc., an international construction consulting firm from August 1997 through June 2009. Currently Mr. Lamb serves the construction industry as an independent consultant providing construction management and claims services.
Chapter 23: Dean B. Thomson
Dean B. Thomson is a shareholder in Fabyanske, Westra, Hart & Thomson, P.A., in Minneapolis. He conducted the survey through the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry. Helen Hawkinson and Michael Roller helped tabulate the survey results. This chapter is adapted from a longer article, which appeared in 21 THE CONSTRUCTION LAWYER, NO. 4, 17 (2001).
Chapter 24: Robert S. Peckar
A founding partner of Peckar & Abramson, P.C., a law firm representing major construction contractors world-wide, Robert S. Peckar has long been an advocate of using ADR to resolve construction disputes. He previously served on the Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Task Force of the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee, and as chairman of the Private Dispute Resolution Committee of the American College of Construction Lawyers.
Chapter 25: Richard P. Flake and Susan G. Perin
Richard P. Flake is a shareholder of Cokinos, Bosien & Young, in Houston. A former general counsel of Spaw-Glass Construction, Mr. Flake is an active Mediator and Arbitrator of construction, commercial and employment disputes. Mr. Flake is also a municipal judge for the City of Friendswood, Texas. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Susan G. Perin has a full-time mediation and arbitration practice in Houston, Texas. She has 20 years of previous litigation experience with an emphasis on construction cases and has mediated and arbitrated numerous complex, multi-party construction cases. Susan was one of the founding members of the Construction Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and now serves as a Council Member on the State Bar of Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Section. She has taught mediation to hundreds of attorneys and for six years, was an Adjunct Professor in Mediation at the University of Houston Law Center.
Chapter 26: Jeffrey S. Busch and Nicole Hantusch
Jeffrey S. Busch is a principal of Pinnell, Busch Inc., and has been instrumental in developing its partnering program which promotes the use of ADR processes. He is an active panel member of the American Arbitration Association.
Nicole Hantusch is on a business exchange with Pinnell, Busch Inc., where she conducts research in the field of organizational development, focusing on partnering dynamics of construction projects.
Chapter 27: James H. Keil
James H. Keil is an experienced Mediator and Arbitrator. He is a former policy-making official of Maine state government, having directed a 260-person bureau, and has been instrumental in leading the state of Maine into development of a total quality management (TQM) program. He is on the AAA’s commercial mediation and arbitration panels and is a member of the AAA’s Construction Advisory Council.
Chapter 28: Steve Pinnell
Steve Pinnell is a construction and project management consultant in Portland, Oregon with Pinnell Busch, Inc. This chapter is adapted from his book, HOW TO GET PAID FOR CONSTRUCTION CHANGES: PREPARATION AND TECHNIQUES (1998), which was published recently by McGraw-Hill.
Chapter 29: Bruce Johnsen
Bruce Johnsen is a Monterey, California-based management consultant. He is a founding member of the AAA’s partnering panel and a member of the Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Task Force (DART) national commission.
Chapter 30: Robert S. Peckar, Esq
Robert S. Peckar, Esq., is the co-managing partner in the national construction law firm of Peckar & Abramson.
Chapter 31: Allen L. Overcash
Allen L. Overcash is a partner at Woods & Aitken in Lincoln, Nebraska. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s roster of neutrals.
Chapter 32: Gerald S. Clay, Ann L. MacNaughton and John F. Farnan Jr.
Gerald S. (Jerry) Clay is a partner in the law firm of Clay Chapman Iwamura Pulice & Nervell where he emphasizes the practice of mediation and arbitration. Since 1975, Mr. Clay has presided over 500 mediation matters, particularly focusing on commercial and property disputes. Mr. Clay is author of Before You Sue—How to Get Justice without Going to Court, an introduction to mediation. Mr. Clay is listed in Best Lawyers in America; Best Lawyers in Hawaii; and Super Lawyers in categories of alternative dispute resolution and construction law. He taught Negotiation and Conflict Resolution at Hawaii Pacific University from 1989 to 2004 and was an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Hawaii Law School in 2005. Mr. Clay has lectured and trained arbitrators and mediators for professional and dispute resolution organizations world-wide.
Ann L. MacNaughton represented the American Bar Association as a Delegate to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa. Co-author and lead editor of Environmental Dispute Resolution: An Anthology of Practical Solutions, she was appointed in 2003 to serve a three-year term on the ABA Standing Committee on Environmental Law. A consulting attorney-mediator, facilitator and conflict management coach with more than 25 years of experience advising multinational energy companies, governmental organizations, and NGOs, she is a founding member of Stakeholder Solutions LLC, headquartered in Houston, Tex.
John F. Farnan, Jr. is a principal with the Pittsburgh office of Navigant Consulting, Inc. He has over 20 years of public accounting, auditing and consulting experience, and has served as a Mediator.
Chapter 33: Jorge R. Cibran
Jorge R. Cibran, Architect, is vice president of The Architectural Partnership in Miami. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s Roster of Arbitrators.
Chapter 34: James R. Holbrook
James R. Holbrook, an experienced Arbitrator, serves on the AAA’s roster of neutrals and teaches ADR at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah.
Chapter 35: Robert J. MacPherson, Richard F. Smith and Roy S. Mitchell
Robert J. MacPherson is a Director of Gibbons, P.C. Newark, New Jersey. His law practice is limited to construction matters. He has been a court-appointed Mediator for state and federal trial courts in New Jersey and New York and serves on the American Arbitration Association’s roster of construction arbitrators and mediators. He is former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on the Construction Industry and a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers. The New Jersey Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section named him the 2001 James B. Boskey ADR Practitioner of the Year.
Richard F. Smith is senior counsel to Smith Pachter McWhorter P.L.C. of Vienna, Virginia, specializing in the resolution of construction and government contract disputes. He is on the American Arbitration Association Panels of Arbitrators and Mediators. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and a Fellow in the College of Commercial Arbitrators. Mr. Smith is active in the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, and the Virginia Bar Association and Virginia State Bar Sections of Construction Law and Public Contracts.
Roy S. Mitchell is a full time Mediator and Arbitrator. He is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers, a Fellow and former National Chairman of the Public Contract Law Section of the American Bar Association and has served as a faculty member for the Construction Executive Programs at Stanford and Texas A&M Universities.
Chapter 36: William R. Joyce
William R. Joyce is a partner in Faegre & Benson’s Minneapolis office. He heads the firm’s construction law practice.
Chapter 37: Susan Zuckerman
Susan Zuckerman, an Attorney, is the editor of ADR CURRENTS and author of numerous articles on Alternate Dispute Resolution topics, including SDNY Declines Enforcement of NY Convention Award, DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL, 2/1/04; Construction: Who may serve as Arbitrator, DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL, 5/1/02; Employment: Modified standard of review, DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL, 5/1/02; Oil and gas: Removal jurisdiction and the New York convention, DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL, 5/1/02; and Health care: Equitable estoppel, DISPUTE RESOLUTION JOURNAL, 5/1/02.
Chapter 38: Steven A. Arbittier
Steven A. Arbittier is Senior Counsel (retired) with the Ballard Spahr firm in Philadelphia. Since January, 2008 he has been a full-time Mediator and Arbitrator. He may be reached at www.arbittier-adr.com
Chapter 39: Ed Gluklick
Ed Gluklick is president of the Gluck Group Inc. A longtime general contractor, he is on the AAA’s arbitration roster and a member of the Arbitration and Mediation Institutes of Ontario and Canada. He also serves as a consultant and claims analyst for sureties in bond defaults and provides litigation support and expert witness testimony in construction disputes in the United States and overseas.
Chapter 40: Neil Carmichael
Neil Carmichael is Vice President of U.S. and International Mediation Services, of the American Arbitration Association. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
Chapter 41: Jeffrey R. Cruz
Jeffrey R. Cruz is a partner in Postner & Rubin in New York City. A member of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry (ABAFCI), the Construction Law Committee of the ABA Section of Litigation, and the New Jersey Bar Association Construction Law Committee, he currently serves on the Construction Advisory Committee of the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Cruz is an Adjunct Professor at Pratt Institute School of Architecture, and a co-author of the New York Construction Law Manual (Shepard’s/McGraw-Hill 1992, West 1998 and 2004 Supplement). He has also written chapters in the State Public Construction Law Source Book (CCH 2002) and the Construction Business Handbook (Aspen, 2004). He edits the Postner & Rubin newsletter, Construction and the Law, and is co-editor of the “Hard Hat Case Notes” in The Construction Lawyer (ABAFCI).
Chapter 42: Anthony E. Battelle
Anthony E. Battelle is an Attorney at Construction Law Services in Boston, Massachusetts. He has lectured extensively on ADR in the construction industry and has produced several papers on the topic.
Chapter 43: Anthony E. Battelle
Anthony E. Battelle is an Attorney at Construction Law Services in Boston, Massachusetts. He has lectured extensively on ADR in the construction industry and has produced several papers on the topic.
Chapter 44: Allen L. Overcash
Allen L. Overcash is a partner at Woods & Aitken in Lincoln, Nebraska. He served as a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Construction ADR Task Force.
Chapter 45: Joseph C. Malpasuto
Joseph C. Malpasuto is currently a full time Mediator and Arbitrator. He has been a construction Attorney since 1975. He is also an Arbitrator and Mediator on the AAA’s roster of construction neutrals. In addition, he has served on mediation panels of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the state of California. Mr. Malpasuto also spent 16 years in the construction materials manufacturing business.
Chapter 46: Anthony E. Battelle
Anthony E. Battelle is an Attorney at Construction Law Services in Boston, Massachusetts. He has lectured extensively on ADR in the construction industry and has produced several papers on the topic.
Chapter 47: C. Allen Gibson Jr.
C. Allen Gibson Jr. is a partner in the Charleston, S.C., law firm of Buist, Moore, Smythe & McGee, P.A. He serves on the American Arbitration Association’s roster of mediators and arbitrators. He is a past chair of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry.
Chapter 48: Albert Bates, Jr. and L. Tyrone Holt
Albert Bates Jr. is a partner in the Construction Group of Duane Morris, LLP, focusing on construction dispute resolution and domestic and international arbitration. Also an Arbitrator and Mediator, Mr. Bates serves on the Board of Directors of the American Arbitration Association and serves as the Chairman of the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee.
L. Tyrone Holt is the managing principal of The Holt Group LLC, in Denver, Colorado. Mr. Holt provides professional construction arbitration and mediation services throughout the United States through his company, Western Neutral Services, LLC. He is a Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He currently serves on the governing committee of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry. He is a co-editor and a chapter author of the book, Design Professional and Construction Manager Liability. He also serves on the AAA’s National Construction Arbitrator Master Panel.
Chapter 49: Robert J. Smith and Robert A. Rubin
Robert J. Smith and Robert A. Rubin are civil engineers, attorneys, experienced DRB members, and members of the AAA’s roster of neutrals. They both participated in drafting the original American Society of Civil Engineers’ DRB specifications. Mr. Smith co-authored the CONSTRUCTION DISPUTE REVIEW BOARD MANUAL. He is a partner in Wickwire Gavin, P.C. Mr. Rubin is a senior partner in Postner & Rubin.
Chapter 50: Robert J. Smith
Robert J. Smith, a civil engineer and an Attorney, practices with the firm of Wickwire Gavin, P.C., in Madison, Wisconsin. An active construction dispute Mediator and Arbitrator, he serves on the AAA’s roster of neutrals and on its National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee. He is vice chair of the Construction Industry Dispute Avoidance and Resolution Task Force and serves as contract documents counsel to the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)/American Consulting Engineers Council/National Society of Professional Engineers. Mr. Smith is a fellow in the ASCE and the American College of Construction Lawyers. He is also a co-author of the Construction Dispute Review Board Manual.
Chapter 51: Steven B. Lesser and Belinda A. Bacon
Steven B. Lesser is a shareholder in Becker & Poliakoff, P.A., in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Belinda A. Bacon is an associate at the firm and a professional engineer. They are both board certified in construction law by the Florida Bar Association and practice exclusively in the field of construction law and litigation. Mr. Lesser serves as special construction litigation counsel to the School Board of Broward County. He is also on the construction panel of the American Arbitration Association and is a Certified Mediator by the Florida Supreme Court.
Chapter 52: Kathleen M.J. Harmon
Kathleen M.J. Harmon holds a Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University. She is president of Harmon/York Associates, a 27-year old construction consulting firm located in Ridgefield Park, N.J.
Chapter 54: James P. Groton, Robert A. Rubin and Bettina Quintas
James P. Groton and Robert A. Rubin are, respectively, president and immediate past president of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Bettina Quintas is an Attorney with the New York City Transit Authority. This chapter is adapted from lectures presented at the Forbes Infrastructure 2000 Conference, the DRB Foundation Annual Conference, and the International Construction Law 2000 Conference.
