I am a Partner in the firm's Construction and Procurement Practice Group and the Managing Partner of the Firm’s office in Charlotte, North Carolina. My practice consists entirely of representing clients in the construction industry on projects throughout the United States and internationally, including extensive experience with utility-scale energy developers and contractors.
I provide my clients with essentially two aspects of representation: (a) risk management, including contract negotiation, contract/project administration assistance, and claim avoidance/mitigation; and (b) when necessary, dispute resolution, including claim preparation, negotiation, mediation, arbitration and/or litigation. It is my opinion that the risk management aspect of my practice is the best option for clients, with the dispute resolution aspect only coming into play when necessary, i.e., when all opportunities to avoid arbitration/litigation have failed.
Every piece of legal advice I provide to a client is given in the context of understanding their business. “Legal solutions” are only part of the greater “business solution” to any particular problem, and if an attorney doesn’t understand how his/her client succeeds in their business, that attorney cannot provide effective legal advice. The fact that the law may entitle you to do (or prevent you from doing) something is not the end of the inquiry, but must be read in light of the client’s commercial realities, including preserving important commercial relationships, recognizing impact to cash flow, resource limitations, and protecting the specific nature of that client’s reputation. My goal is to support my clients’ business and help them thrive, avoiding and mitigating disputes where possible, while protecting clients’ interests through dispute resolution where necessary.
I believe a good attorney is a “value add” by helping his/her client determine the best overall business solution (in the context of relevant legal parameters), and is not merely an “unrecoverable cost” incurred in prosecuting or defending a claim. I bring this philosophy to all of my dealings with clients, including a recent 12 month secondment as interim general counsel for an international EPC contractor client constructing utility-scale solar energy plants around the world.