R. Lee Mann III is the leader of the Construction & Infrastructure Projects Team. The team is ranked Tier 1 for 2018 by Chambers, Best Lawyers and Legal 500, was the 2015 and 2016 Construction “USA Team of the Year” by Chambers, and was the 2012 “USA Team of the Year” by U.S. News – Best Lawyers. Lee focuses his practice almost exclusively on construction and government contracting law, including mechanic’s liens and bond claims. He has mediated, arbitrated, and litigated a wide variety of construction disputes for owners, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers on public and private projects throughout the United States and internationally, including gas pipelines, hydroelectric facilities, road and bridge projects, pulp and paper projects, large dams, drinking water and wastewater treatment plants, hospitals, manufacturing facilities, commercial projects, condominiums, schools, casinos, military installations, and convention centers.
For instance, Lee has represented:
- An EPC contractor in the prosecution of claims in an ICC arbitration arising from a $2 billion pulp project in South America;
- The contractor in the successful defense of lawsuits and the prosecution of counterclaims against the owners of large gas pipeline project in Louisiana, Texas, Illinois, and Indiana;
- The contractor in recovering $40 million from the Corps of Engineers on the Seven Oaks Dam project in Southern California;
- The construction manager in successfully defending more than $50 million in claims from contractors on the Phase IV Expansion of the Georgia World Congress Center;
- The owner in defeating more than $40 million in claims on the $3.5 billion Boston Harbor Project;
- The contractor in the successful defense of five lawsuits seeking more than $40 million in damages arising from hospital projects in Florida, Georgia, and Texas;
- A hydroelectric supplier in litigation in the successful defense of lawsuits and arbitrations in California, Arkansas, and Connecticut;
- Highway contractors in litigation against the Georgia Department of Transportation and Caltrans; and
- A heavy civil contractor in the defense of $200 million in claims brought by a qui tam plaintiff under the False Claims Act.
- Lee is especially familiar with mechanic’s lien law and bond law, having prosecuted or defended more than 100 mechanic’s lien and payment bond claims. He is also very familiar with the False Claims Act and was a member of the defense team that obtained summary judgment for the contractor on more than $200 million in claims brought by a qui tam plaintiff.
- Lee was recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Construction Law in 2019 and the six years immediately preceding. He is listed in the 2017 and 2018 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business in the area of Construction. Lee was recognized as a 2015 “Legal Elite” in the area of Real Estate & Construction Law by Georgia Trend magazine. He was also recognized in the 2010, 2012, 2016, 2017 and 2018 Legal 500 US and is AV® rated by Martindale-Hubbell.*
Education:
- University of Georgia School of Law, J.D. (1995)magna cum laude, Managing Editor of Georgia Law Review, Order of the Coif, Woodruff Scholar
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Bachelor of Industrial Engineering (1985) with highest honors
Admissions:
- Georgia (1995)
- Florida (1996)
Court Admissions:
- Georgia Supreme Court (1995)
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia (1995)
- Florida Supreme Court (1996)
- U.S. Court of Federal Claims (1997)
- U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (1997)
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida (2008)
- U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of Arkansas (2009)
Cost
Rate : $$$