John Pipkin - Houston, TX

Board Certified in Construction Law, by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization with over 30 years of experience as a civil trial lawyer managing an active litigation docket Statewide. Frequently represents contractors, subcontractors, owners, lenders and manufacturers. Currently serving as Texas counsel for several clients and has extensive arbitration and trial experience throughout the State. Construction law practice focuses on claims; disputes; arbitration and litigation. Some litigated projects include schools, churches, jails, high-rise residential and office buildings, hospitals, assisted-living facilities, multi-family and single-family residential construction. Employed by the American Arbitration Association to serve as an Arbitrator and Mediator in construction and commercial litigation matters.

Additionally, extensive experience in handling and litigating complex mass tort, commercial, and construction related claims. Served as a joint - neutral approved litigator in mass toxic tort cases representing numerous parties with agreed upon collective interests in the same litigation. These collective defense groups have included premise owners, contractors in industrial settings, suppliers and manufacturers of various products. Numerous mediated and litigated toxic tort cases throughout the State involving disputes pertaining to product defects, chemical exposures, premise liability and general personal injury litigation.

EXAMPLE OF LITIGATION EXPERIENCE:

• Successful litigation of claims involving mass exposure to chemical fumes released by neighboring plant.
• Successfully negotiated and resolved claims of exposure resulting in adverse health effects to a manufacture’s products purchased throughout multiple Southern States.
• Resolved through negotiations and litigation hundreds of claims alleging personalinjury and business-related claims resulting from exposure to airborne chemicals withina public building as well as “co-located” premises.
• Successful defense of General Contractors in Design/Build projects, involving litigation, Arbitration and Mediation of allegations concerning both design and construction issues, of County Jails, Justice Centers and Schools throughout the State.
• Successful prosecution of claim on behalf of owner of multimillion dollar cold storagefacility due to faulty instillation of specialized slab.
• Successful resolution ofconstruction defect claims prior to litigation, through utilizingcreative ADR methods such as expert mediations to resolve construction related issuesfor Public Projects.
• Successful defense and litigation on behalf of subcontractors involving claims made by contractors alleging defects in construction as well as non-payment disputes.

PRESENTATIONS:

Guest speaker for Texas State Bar, Defense Research Institute, Insurance Companies across the U.S. and ADR conferences in Texas. Some of the presentations involved:

• The Duty To Defend Beyond the AI
• Third Party Practice in Multiparty Disputes
• Digging Out of Construction Defect Claims in Texas
• Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA)
• Methods of Case Resolution Through ADR
• Guide to Mass Tort Litigation in Texas
• Concrete Dust Litigation in Texas

ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPERIENCE:

• Serves as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, on both the commercial and construction panels.
• Arbitrated numerous cases involving commercial matters as well as constructiondisputes pertaining to school construction, public works projects and industrialprojects.
• Served on AAA panel for the proposed changes to the Construction Defect rules of procedure.
• Also serves as a mediator for the American Arbitration Association.