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Experienced in construction mediations involving breach of contract claims, project delay, disruption, impact claims, and defective construction. Most recent mediations have concerned multi-party disputes between project owners, general contractors, design professionals and subcontractors as well as their respective insurers and sureties, relating to the construction of estate homes and multi-family condominium projects. The disputes have involved millions of dollars in controversy between the parties’ various competing claims. The parties and their counsel have resided in Dallas as well as Fort Worth, Southlake and outlying lakeside communities.
All of these mediated cases were settled during or shortly after the mediation sessions were concluded to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.
In the foregoing mediations claimants/plaintiffs and respondents/defendants have asserted claims and counterclaims regarding the following:
Over 100 separate cases have been mediated to date as a party advocate for matters in litigation or in arbitration before the AAA. Approximately 5 have concerned residential projects. The balance has concerned substantial commercial construction projects with completed construction values ranging from $100,000 or less to those over $150,000,000. The cases have involved project owners, general contractors, large and medium-sized subcontractors and vendors, design professionals, and the parties’ insurers and sureties. The claim values in dispute have ranged from the low $100,000’s to $90,000,000, and from straightforward single-issue breach of contract claims to disputes with interwoven and competing claims for delay, disruption, scheduling impacts, defective plans and specifications, interference by multi-prime contractors, differing/hidden site conditions and the like.
The disputes have involved new retail developments and large-scale renovations, new hotels and renovations, new commercial class “A” office buildings, regional shopping centers – including new construction and renovations, government facilities including military commissaries, hospitals and army housing, residential subdivision
infrastructure projects, industrial manufacturing plants, pulp/paper processing-production plants, public university student sport and recreation centers, fabric membrane shelters for mass transit projects and decorative installations for various public settings, retractable roofing installations for massive soccer sports arenas and other projects.
Mediation is both a forum and a process in which parties place their trust and temper their misgivings in hopes of amicably resolving often times long-standing and deeply held disputes. The parties select and place their faith in a mediator whom they believe will be capable of guiding a process of understanding, reflection and resolve that will lead to settlement. The mediator must honor the parties’ faith, both in the process and in the individual mediator to fairly, impartially, patiently, respectfully and persuasively guide them to resolution of their differences in a manner deemed acceptable to all concerned. The objective is to reach a settlement which may lead the parties past the current dispute and, possibly, to stronger ties and respect going forward in their professional, business, and/or personal relations.
The mediator’s role is to keep the parties engaged and committed to the mediation process. To encourage them to fairly and honestly reassess not only their own claims or grievances, their objectives and motivations, but also the perspectives of their adversaries. The mediator must encourage the parties to question positions which may seem intractable. The parties must be encouraged to weigh the true costs of winning and of losing, including the investments of money and time and disruption to their businesses and daily lives. If asked, it is my practice to share observations about the disputed issues, drawing from personal experience as a client-advocate in other matters, and address case strengths and weaknesses that may influence case outcomes.
