Brad Nicpon is a Partner in McCarthy Tétrault’s Infrastructure and Projects Group in Toronto. His practice spans infrastructure development, procurement, construction, energy, real property, and P3s. He has led transactions in Asia, the Middle East, UK, Europe and North America and served as Director of Policy to two Ontario Ministers of Infrastructure. Brad brings unmatched insight into governmental risk allocation and P3 delivery models, combining legal expertise with senior public sector experience.

Lawren Green is Executive Vice President and Head of Kiewit Development Company. Based in Los Angeles, Lawren’s responsibilities include origination, project development, financing, and asset management for Kiewit’s investment and alternative procurement pursuits across North America in both the infrastructure and energy markets. Lawren has over 15 years of project finance and development experience delivering projects across asset classes in the United States and Canada, including education, healthcare, transportation, and social housing projects.

Dr. Ali Ashrafi is a Principal at Thornton Tomasetti and is a licensed civil and fire protection engineer. Ali has extensive experience in designing buildings and facilities across the US and internationally. In addition, Ali is called in to investigate when things go wrong: collapse of a building or bridge, failure of a system or material, problems in design or construction, and identifying the cause of an incident. Dr. Ashrafi has been an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, having taught both Structural Fire Engineering and Earthquake and Wind Engineering. Ali is co-chair of the ASCE Fire Protection Committee.

Toyja Kelley is a partner at Troutman Pepper, representing large corporations in complex commercial disputes with deep experience in renewable energy litigation and risk management. He serves as primary outside litigation counsel for offshore wind energy companies, including regular engagement with the Maryland State Attorney General’s office on regulatory and litigation matters involving projects designed to generate more than 750 MW of offshore wind electricity. Toyja has extensive trial experience managing construction and commercial disputes in the evolving energy sector, and his role as outside general counsel provides strategic guidance on risk mitigation. He previously served as President of the Defense Research Institute.

Salvo Vitale is General Counsel at US Wind, Inc., with over 15 years of experience in corporate governance, business law, international commercial law, and renewable energy. He oversees company strategy, commercial development, operations, financial performance, and all legal matters across US and European projects. Appointed in 2023 to the Maryland Clean Energy Center Board by Governor Wes Moore, he joined the Toto Group in 2011 and previously practiced at Bonelli Erede in Rome. He holds a Masters degree in Law and a PhD degree in Commercial Law from LUISS University.

Chad V. Theriot is a partner at Jones Walker LLP, co-leads the firm’s Construction Team, and serves on its board of directors. He advises global clients about complex construction and infrastructure projects across sectors including energy, aviation, defense, and shipping. Chad is ranked in Chambers USA and The Legal 500. He holds a JD from Tulane, an MBA from the University of South Alabama, and a BS from Spring Hill College.

Having successfully litigated more than $2.5 billion in disputes, Chad represents owners and contractors in the construction industry. He is uniquely qualified as a panelist and will offer strategic insight regarding the jurisdictional differences in high-stakes litigation. Chad is a private lawyer whose primary jurisdiction is the United States where he practices litigation and is in his mid-to-late career stage.

Matthew Flax is President and Co-Founder of Flax & Associates, LLC. As a Florida-licensed general contractor, CPA, and LEED AP, he holds an MBA in Finance from Nova Southeastern University and a BS from the University of Maryland. His prior roles include leadership positions at J.S. Held, CBRE, and FTI Consulting. Matt has extensive national and international experience, and he specializes in construction management, claims, estimating, project controls, and expert testimony on projects ranging from $15,000 to over $3 billion.

Combining experience as a CPA and licensed general contractor, Matt provides a data-driven view of how timing and pricing models impact damage assessments across multi-million-dollar projects. This knowledge qualifies Matt as a panelist, as well as his role in the construction industry as a mid-career general contractor in the United States.

William Underwood is a law partner at Jones Walker LLP, member of its Construction Team, and leads the firm’s Atlanta office. He focuses on construction litigation, dispute resolution, and contract negotiation. William advises domestic and international clients on large industrial and infrastructure projects and has represented them in courts and arbitrations. His experience spans high stakes disputes regarding billion-dollar projects to advising clients about issues related to contract drafting, contract negotiation, risk mitigation, and overall project management. He earned his JD, cum laude, from Washington and Lee University School of Law, and his BA, cum laude, from Washington and Lee University.

As a leading construction litigator handling disputes and advising on risk mitigation strategies, William brings practical and legal insight into how appellate decisions influence damage models in major jurisdictions. This experience qualifies William to speak about construction defect damages. He is a mid-career private lawyer practicing in the United States.

David Ehrlich is Vice President & Chief Legal Officer at Coastal Construction. Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar, he is also a licensed General Contractor, Real Estate Broker, and Insurance Agent. David was named a Top Corporate Counsel by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and is a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. He holds a JD from Florida State University School of Law, an MBA from University of Central Florida, and a BS from University of Florida.

With deep experience in Florida’s construction industry, David offers legal and practical insight into how recent appellate rulings reshape repair-cost damages in construction litigation. This insight and skillset qualifies him as a panelist. As an in-house lawyer in his mid-career, David practices in the United States.

Bruce is Partner and Co-Chair of the firm’s International Construction Projects and Surety Group.  He specializes in the resolution of construction and insurance claims.  He advised clients on construction projects in Canada, the United States and overseas.

Joe Guarino’s experience includes all aspects of contract drafting and negotiations, counseling on contract administration, claim preservation and avoidance, and dispute resolution and litigation within the construction industry.

Recognized internationally as a leading quantum and delay expert, Simon has over 25 years of professional experience in the areas of construction consulting, construction and engineering claims, and disputes related to delay, disruption, productivity, and damages.

Steven Kitching is Area Manager and Project Director at Austin Industries based in Dallas, Texas. His experience includes campus development for commercial Class A office buildings as well as large airport expansion projects.

Steven received a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University.

David Funderburk’s practice focuses on civil litigation in a wide variety of areas, including construction law in which he represents contractors and subcontractors, personal injury, products liability, contract disputes, and representation of individuals, partnerships, and companies.  In addition to handling litigation matters, Mr. Funderburk has assisted clients in non-litigated contract related matters and overall risk management for businesses.  The majority of his docket has been in the state and federal courts in the Gulf Coast area of Texas.

Tim Vuong is both a Technical Director within the Houston office and a Regional Design Realization Leader for Gensler’s four Texas offices. Tim has more than 30 years of expertise ranging from large-scale architectural design and renovation to the design of innovative architectural detailing. Tim has also become a trusted and sought-after client relationship leader while continuing to embrace the role of technical leader. Specifically, as Senior Project Architect for the ExxonMobil Campus Project, Tim successfully led the overall quality of the project’s technical documentation, as well as interfacing directly and continuously with the ExxonMobil client team. Tim is a USGBC LEED-Accredited Professional, Registered Architect and Interior Designer and earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Environmental Design and Master of Architecture from Texas A&M University.

Yogi Sheth earned is Master of Applied Science ( Structural Engineering ) from University of Toronto. Mr. Sheith spent 5 years in Consulting Engineering before getting exposed to the Glass and Glazing Industry in 1980. Initially, he worked for a Fortune 500 company as a Project Manager and went on to manage a nationwide Custom Architectural Metals program involving Design, Engineering and Fabrication of Custom Curtainwalls for projects across the US. Eventually Mr. Sheth started his own Glass and Glazing Company in 1989 completing projects in various states. After retiring the company in 2017, he now provides Business Management consulting to Glass and Glazing Contractors.

Amy Peevey is a Managing Director with Secretariat’s Houston office. She has over 25 years of experience assisting owners, contractors, designers, manufacturers, and other construction professionals with the successful implementation of building-related performance requirements during project planning and design, construction, and post-occupancy. She routinely provides consulting services to mitigate project risk, overcome problems, and evaluate building science/enclosure and structural design, construction, and related performance to yield successful project outcomes, as well as provides litigation support.

Sam Barakat, a managing director for GlassRatner (formerly Interface Consulting), is a seasoned engineer, expert, arbitrator, and attorney with over 27 years of engineering, construction, and legal experience around the world. He has successfully managed contracts and claims for international construction projects and possesses a broad technical and commercial background, having worked on a wide range of projects involving owners, contractors, subcontractors, and various governmental entities.

Mr. Barakat has been appointed as an expert witness in several high-profile arbitrations and serves as both a third-party neutral in construction disputes and a member of the AAA construction arbitrator panel

For 40 years, Bill Andrews, a leading construction attorney in Houston, has practiced construction law, focusing on construction-related claims, lawsuits, mediations and arbitrations. He has represented owners, contractors, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers and engineering firms on a wide variety of construction-related projects.

His experience in claims, trials, arbitrations and mediations includes projects such as highways and bridges, public works projects, commercial and retail construction, industrial and warehouse facilities, hospitals and health care facilities, power plants (including simple cycle and cogeneration plants), pipelines, petrochemical plants, refineries, chemical plants, gas processing plants, cryogenic plants, schools, multi-family housing and environmental remediation projects. He has represented several EPC firms in disputes and claims involving large plants. He also has significant experience representing owners, contractors and engineering firms in claims and disputes involving upstream, midstream and downstream facilities.

Bill has tried to verdict and arbitrated to award more than 75 construction cases. Since 1988, he has been a member of the American Arbitration Association’s National Panel of Construction Arbitrators and has served as a construction mediator since 1998. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Large Complex Construction Case Panel of Arbitrators and was recently approved by the AAA’s National Construction Dispute Resolution Committee as a member of its Construction Arbitration Master Panel.

Bill has received a top ranking among construction lawyers and construction alternative dispute resolution attorneys in Texas by the prestigious legal directory, Chambers USA, America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, since 2004.

JEFF MILLER is Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel for The Haskell Company. Jeff has 32 years of legal experience representing insurers, manufacturers, business owners, design and construction professionals, general contractors, construction managers, and subcontractors of all types and sizes. As head of the Legal Department at Haskell, Jeff leads a team of highly competent legal and contract professionals. He serves as the lead negotiator of all Design-Build/EPC contracts for Haskell and its subsidiaries, advises the Board of Directors and company management on all aspects of commercial risk, and leads the company in management of construction litigation, including claims for breach of contract, defective design drawings and specifications, construction defect claims, Miller Act claims and those involving similar state and federal statutes, and mechanic’s lien claims. Jeff is an Oklahoma native and works in Haskell’s Oklahoma City office, traveling frequently to Haskell’s headquarters in Jacksonville, Florida. He earned his Law degree from the University of Oklahoma and his undergraduate degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology from Oklahoma State University.

As Legal Counsel at Graham Construction & Engineering, Tara McCarthy provides strategic legal guidance across all aspects of operations and throughout the lifecycle of projects.  She advises on commercial contracting matters, including project pursuits and subcontracting matters.  She also provides project execution support to resolve claims and disputes of varying complexity. She supports matters through alternative dispute resolution processes, as well as through litigation.  She has experience assisting with a broad range of claims including builders’ lien, delay, insurance and bond claims.

Prior to joining Graham, Tara practiced law at a global law firm focusing on commercial litigation.  She has a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Ottawa and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Jocelyn Turnbull Wallace is a commercial litigation Partner and the Co-Lead of the Calgary Project Disputes Group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Jocelyn maintains a broad practice in corporate commercial litigation and arbitration, both domestic and international. She frequently appears as counsel in trials, appeals, arbitrations, administrative hearings, and quasi-judicial proceedings.

Through her specialized practice in the construction and energy industries, Jocelyn advises clients on complex infrastructure and construction projects, deals with contractual disputes, delay claims, deficiencies, and builders’ lien issues. Additionally, Jocelyn’s experience includes municipal law and planning matters, expropriation disputes, zoning and development permit issues, and subdivision appeals.

Logan has over 20 years of experience in commercial management and construction project management. Logan’s areas of expertise include estimating, project scheduling and forecasting, project controls, operations, financial management and reporting, stakeholder relationship management, process improvement, risk management, claims and litigation, and contract review.

Logan has been appointed as an expert witness and has testified on numerous mandates as both an expert and a fact witness for high-profile projects ranging in value from $1M to over $1B. He has significant experience in construction arbitration, litigation, and dispute resolution, specializing in issues such as delay, disruption, and quantum.

Jordan Bierkos is a partner in the Litigation Group in Calgary with a significant focus on construction disputes. He is a trusted advocate and strategic advisor to owners, contractors, and developers facing complex construction issues, including delay and deficiency claims, contractual disputes, project interruptions, and matters involving significant financial or reputational risk. Jordan is the Co-Author of Prompt Payment, Adjudication, and Construction Liens in Alberta.