Neil O'Brien focuses practice on representing owners, contractors, subcontractors, construction managers and sureties in all types of construction claims and disputes. He has represented clients in litigation before various state and federal courts and state and private arbitration panels. Neil's litigation practices also encompasses a range of general commercial matters, representing and counseling diverse businesses including commercial lenders, building materials suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, municipalities and individuals in a variety of contractual disputes. Neil was a clerk to Justice Ralph J. Cappy of the Supreme Court and Judge Justin M. Johnson of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Representative Matters · Representing a construction manager at risk in a guaranteed maximum price agreement for the $65 million conversion of a structure into a combination of retail, office and residential space; · Representing a construction manager at risk in a guaranteed maximum price agreement for the construction of a $25 million acute care hospital and long term care facility; · Negotiating a design-build agreement for a $10 million manufacturing facility; · Negotiating a hybrid design-build/design-bid-build $5 million renovation of a school facility utilizing unique terms to protect the owner against the general contractor's financial condition as well as professional liability issues arising both from the termination of the original architect/engineer and the lack of contractual privity with the subcontractors having design responsibility; · Representing an historic church destroyed by fire for its reconstruction on a guaranteed maximum price basis, with current direct cost estimates of about $6 million; · Drafting contract documents for multiple prime contract transportation projects let by a local transit authority on a lump sum basis, with a total value of approximately $600 million. Special Recognition Selected for inclusion as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers - Rising Star Articles/Speeches/Presentations · "United States Supreme Court Emphatically Affirms Federal Policy Favoring Arbitration," Eckert Seamans' Construction Law Update, Fall 2011. · "Alternative Dispute Resolution," co-presented at Eckert Seamans' Continuing Legal Education Seminar, August 2011. · "Recent Developments in Construction Law," co-presented at Eckert Seamans' annual Continuing Legal Education program, August 2010. · "Contract drafting alert: A pay-if-paid clause must clearly state that the subcontractor bears the risk of an owner's non-payment," Eckert Seamans' Construction Law Update, Fall 2009. · "Delay Claims: Owner held responsible for construction delays," Eckert Seamans' Construction Law Update, Winter 2008. |