8:55 Welcome and Introductions
9:00 Economic Loss Rule
David S. Coats, Bailey & Dixon LLP, Raleigh
John I. Mabe Jr., Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Raleigh
Jonathan W. Massell, Nexsen Pruet PLLC, Raleigh
The recent Crescent decision has caused construction lawyers to (re)consider current implications of this old rule, including its definition, scope and exceptions. Walk through what this decision means for claims against subcontractors and the design professional exception. Then discuss how it impacts insurance for subcontractors.
10:00 Break
10:10 Case Law and Legislative Update
Jay M. Wilkerson, Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC, Raleigh
Review recent key North Carolina court opinions and legislation from the past year and how they affect you and your clients.
11:10 Break
11:20 Advocacy in the Digital Age‡
Judge Richard D. Dietz, North Carolina Court of Appeals, Raleigh
Judge Paul C. Ridgeway, North Carolina Superior Court, Raleigh
In this session, an appellate judge and a trial judge delve into lessons learned, pitfalls, future trends and best practices for hearings conducted on video platforms, and the advent of widespread digital case management in North Carolina courts.
12:20 Adjourn
‡ Indicates portion providing Technology Training credit
Thank you for joining us for The Construction Lawyer's Swiss Army Knife: Tools for the Modern 21st Century (2021 Construction Law Section Fall Program).
Join the Construction Law Section as we explore some of the most useful tools to have at your disposal — including case law and legislative updates, mediation training, and recent appellate court decisions pertaining to the economic loss rule — all folded into one essential program.
Robert A. "Bob" Beason is with Beason & Trehy Conflict Resolution LLC in Durham.
After practicing law for twenty years with a concentration in representing individuals in civil, criminal and family disputes, Bob began a mediation practice and has handled a variety of disputes in almost three-thousand cases. He has facilitated multi-party and complex cases but continues to enjoy some personal injury, product liability, construction and commercial litigation matters.
Bob's mediation focus follows a twenty-year litigation practice with the Durham firm of Maxwell Freeman and Beason PA (now Maxwell Freeman and Bowman PA). His vast experience as a mediator has covered litigation in a wide variety of fields including construction, business disputes, product liability, personal liability, insurance coverage, employment disputes and discrimination, wrongful death, and medical malpractice.
In addition to his service as a fulltime mediator, Bob is a Senior Lecturing Fellow at Duke University School of Law where he has taught Negotiation and Mediation since 1995. He and Rene Trehy (Ellis) have trained more than two thousand lawyers in the North Carolina Certification Mediation Training for Superior Court Mediation.
Click here for more information about Bob.
David S. Coats is the co-managing partner and senior litigation partner for Bailey & Dixon LLP in Raleigh. In 2022, (as well as in 2019, 2020, and 2021), North Carolina Super Lawyers named David as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in North Carolina. They also named him in 2022 (and in 2021) as one of the Top 25 Lawyers in Raleigh. He has been recognized and peer selected for each of the past 15 years for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America; Business North Carolina Magazine's Legal Elite; and North Carolina Super Lawyers – and in a variety of areas including litigation, construction law, and insurance law. Since 1997, Martindale Hubbell has recognized David with its highest "AV" peer rating and has also recognized him with the highest rating as voted on by the Judiciary. In 2015, Best Lawyers in America selected David as Lawyer of the Year and the best lawyer in insurance law in the Raleigh metropolitan market.
David focuses his practice on commercial litigation, construction defect litigation, and insurance coverage litigation. He is the attorney of record in over 35 published opinions from the North Carolina Court of Appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court, Federal District Courts in North Carolina and South Carolina, and the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and he has tried a large number of cases to verdict both in state and federal court. David is also a certified mediator and has mediated and arbitrated a variety of cases.
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Judge Ashleigh D. Parker is a District Court Judge in the 10th Judicial District, which encompasses Wake County. Prior to her appointment by Governor Roy Cooper in 2017, she served the citizens of North Carolina as an Assistant Attorney General at the North Carolina Department of Justice and as an Assistant District Attorney at the Wake County District Attorney's Office.
Judge Parker is passionate about increasing equity within the criminal justice system and educating our youth. She has written for multiple publications, including the North Carolina State Bar Journal, on topics related to racism, sexism, and natural hair within the legal profession. Additionally, she has held numerous leadership positions in her profession and is currently Vice Chair of the NC State Bar CLE Committee and Immediate Past-President of the 10th Judicial District Bar and Wake County Bar Association where she is the first African American female to be President of both bars and the youngest ever. She previously served as President of the NCCU Law Alumni Association.
Judge Parker serves as the lead Child Support Judge in Wake County and one of two Abuse, Neglect, and Dependency Judges. Most recently, she is also the Co-Founder of the Wake County Legal Support Center which opened on January 9, 2023. This Center provides free legal information for individuals who wish to represent themselves with domestic and housing issues.
Judge Parker earned her B.A. in Psychology from Wake Forest University and her J.D., cum laude, from North Carolina Central University School of Law.
Daniel J. Knight is an associate attorney with Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP in Raleigh. He is a litigator who focuses on construction law. He has represented owners, general contractors, and subcontractors in a broad range of construction litigation claims, including over breaches of contract, defective construction, delay, enforcement of lien claims, and bond claims. He has also represented insurance companies in litigation over property and casualty (P&C) insurance related to product liability, automobile negligence, and defective work claims.
Daniel has experience in state and federal court, as well as in arbitration.
Daniel earned his B.A., cum laude, in History and Political Science from North Carolina State University and his J.D. from Campbell University School of Law. In law school, he was a member and officer of the Delta Theta Phi law fraternity, which was actively involved with the Food Bank of Central, and Eastern North Carolina, the Campbell Law Innocence Project and the Military Law Student Association.
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M. Aaron Lay is a litigation partner and member of Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC. Aaron has a broad range of experience in civil litigation matters, but his practice primarily focuses on complex construction litigation, business litigation, and litigation alternative resolutions.
Aaron loves to travel the world in search of his next adventure – even while practicing law. His travels have taken him to 50 countries across 5 continents and vary from diving with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa (important legal training) to Snowshoeing and sleeping in a yurt in the high Rockies and everywhere in between. Aaron has traveled to 50 countries and 5 continents all while building and maintaining a successful litigation practice. Aaron generally travels 6-10 weeks per year, most of which consist of "workcations" where he practices remotely from one of his bucket list destinations.
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John I. Mabe Jr. is of counsel at Maynard Nexsen PC in Raleigh. He has practiced in Raleigh for his entire career, resolving construction problems for owners, design professionals, general contractors, and subcontractors across the Triangle region and state. He resolves disputes involving real estate, development, land use, and commercial law.
John has tried bet-the-farm cases in commercial matters and construction claims. He has arbitrated and tried construction claims and professional negligence matters, land use entitlements, and title claims. He has experience with public-private partnership projects. He knows the way through administrative reviews and appeals, having helped many contractors and design professionals with issues before their regulatory boards. Lease negotiation and litigation is a natural adjunct to John's work in land use, development, and construction fields. He has extensive experience in lien law. His representative experience includes business break-ups, insurance, and suretyship, wholesale/retail finance, distribution agreements including ABC laws and regulations, and bankruptcy litigation.
John is a NCDRC Certified Superior Court Mediator and accepts assignments to serve as arbitrator.
John earned his A.B. in Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as a Morehead Scholar and his J.D. from the University of North Carolina Law School.
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Jonathan W. Massell is a shareholder at Maynard Nexsen PC in Raleigh. He practices in the areas of construction law and business litigation. He frequently represents owners, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers on the front end by assisting in contract drafting and negotiations. When disputes arise, he has experience representing clients in a wide array of construction issues, including, but not limited to contractual disputes, defects, delays, and lien and bond claims. He also represents clients in land use and zoning matters, both at the early development and planning stage and in litigation.
Outside of the construction industry Jonathan has broad experience representing clients in various commercial, collection and insurance coverage disputes, with a particular focus on trucking industry defense work. He has helped resolve many disputes at mediation, has argued numerous motions in state court and has federal trial experience.
Jonathan earned his J.D., with high honors, from the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he was a member of the North Carolina Law Review and the Graduate Student Attorney General's Staff. He graduated with a B.A. in History and Spanish from the University of Virginia.
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Carmela E. Mastrianni is an attorney in the Hamilton Stephens Steele + Martin PLLC's Commercial Construction Litigation Group. She primarily represents subcontractors, and design professionals, general contractors and more in lawsuits alleging construction defects, delay claims, accounts collection, and other work or project issues. In addition to her construction work, Carmela represents landlords in summary ejectment actions, unconventional tenancies, and related litigation matters.
Carmela is licensed in both North Carolina and South Carolina and splits her practice between the two states. Most recently, she was recognized for her legal work by Chambers USA as one of the Construction "Associates to Watch" in North Carolina (2020, 2021); was invited to join the 2024 Class of the NC Construction Council, a division of the North Carolina Bar Construction Section; and was selected as one of the 2020 Diversity Fellows for the ABA Forum on Construction.
Carmela is a "double-heel", having earned both her undergraduate and law degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
When outside the office, Carmela enjoys hiking and adventuring with Harvey, her Pitbull Boxer and competing in her local kickball league on Sunday afternoons.
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Judge Paul C. Ridgeway is Senior Resident Superior Court Judge of the 10th Judicial District (Wake County), North Carolina. He has served as a Superior Court Judge since 2007.
Judge Ridgeway received his B.S. and M.P.A. from North Carolina State University, and his J.D. from Campbell School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the law review. Following law school, Judge Ridgeway received a post-graduate degree from the University of Amsterdam in the law of the European Community.
Prior to becoming a judge in 2007, Judge Ridgeway was engaged in the private practice of law for 20 years, primarily in the fields of commercial litigation and transactions. Judge Ridgeway has served as President of the Wake County Bar Association and as a Vice President of the NCBA.
For 25 years, Judge Ridgeway has also been an adjunct professor of law at Campbell School of Law, where he teaches seminars in International Litigation and Law & Public Policy.
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Brian J. Schoolman is an attorney with Safran Law Offices in Raleigh. He has been with Safran Law Offices since 2003, and has represented clients in all roles in the construction industry, including commercial, residential, and public owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, design professionals, and trade associations. His practice includes construction law and litigation, commercial litigation, contracts, corporate organization and governance, administrative hearings, and appellate practice, both in state and federal courts. He has also served as a lobbyist and advocate on several pieces of construction legislation before the North Carolina General Assembly, including bills on public construction delivery methods and on prequalification.
Brian is admitted to the North Carolina and California State Bars, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals, and all three Federal District Courts in North Carolina. Brian is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Construction Law Section, and the American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law. He is also certified as a Superior Court Mediator by the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission (NCDRC).
Brian earned his J.D. from the Duke University School of Law, and graduated, magna cum laude, from Claremont McKenna College, earning his B.A., with honors, in Government.
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David A. Senter is a Partner in the Raleigh office of Maynard Nexsen PC and is widely respected for his background in construction law, commercial litigation, and commercial collections. He has 35 years of experience delivering legal strategies and solutions on a wide range of issues impacting the construction industry and a wide range of large, complex construction projects.
Since David joined the firm in 1984, clients have trusted him to handle routine and complex cases. David has been recognized in Construction law by Best Lawyers in America (Lawyer of the Year for Litigation-Construction/Greensboro), named Legal Elite by Business North Carolina, and as a North Carolina Super Lawyer. He frequently speaks before national and local audiences on topics related to construction law.
David has authored many articles in bar and trade publications and has served in leadership positions for several professional associations. He is an Adjunct Professor of Construction Law at Wake Forest University School of Law. He is also a certified North Carolina mediator and a member of AAA's Large Complex Case Panel.
Click here for more information about David. David may be reached at 336.387.5126 or by email.
René Stemple Trehy is with Beason & Trehy Conflict Resolution LLC in Durham. René has devoted her professional career to alternative dispute resolution. She has served as a mediator, arbitrator, and special master in diverse subject areas of the law for lawyers and judges throughout the Southeast and principally in North Carolina. René has long been a member of the North Carolina Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Section, and she just completed two years as the Section's Chairperson (2012-2014).
René graduated cum laude from West Virginia University in 1983 and in 1986 from Duke University Law School. From 1990- 2002, René served as Executive Director of the Duke University School of Law's Private Adjudication Center. In that position, she designed, implemented and directed the administration of ADR programs for settlement of class actions and mass torts, led the Center's mediation training, and administered the Center's dispute resolution programs. In 2002, René co-founded Beason & Ellis Conflict Resolution, LLC.
René has mediated extensively in these and other areas of litigation: medical malpractice, construction, business disputes, products liability, insurance coverage, employment, consumer, eminent domain, environmental disputes, nursing home negligence, wrongful death and other catastrophic personal injury cases. These mediations frequently arise in difficult or complex circumstances involving multiple parties, class actions, and insurance coverage disputes.
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Jay M. Wilkerson is a partner with the firm of Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC in Raleigh. He has been in private practice continuously since 1992. He has a wide experience with the legal issues surrounding both private and public construction projects. The majority of his practice involves construction litigation, arbitration and mediation. He also has a specialty practice in defending contractors against citations issued by the North Carolina Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Jay earned his B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his J.D., with honors, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Law.
Click here for more information about Jay.