Mark C. Friedlander

A founding partner of the Schiff Hardin Construction Law practice group, Mark Charles Friedlander has been at the forefront of construction and design law for more than thirty years. He has been voted by his peers to be the number one construction lawyer in the Chicago area by Leading Lawyers Network of Illinois, an affiliate of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin.

He is widely recognized as one of the country’s leading pioneers in innovative project delivery structures and is one of the profession’s most accomplished and prolific speakers and writers on various construction law topics.

EXPERIENCE:

Over the last ten years, Mark has focused a significant portion of his practice on alternative project delivery methods, particularly design-build and related turnkey-type structures like integrated project delivery. Mark is one of the country’s most frequently sought-after writers and speakers on the law and practice of design-build construction.

• Mark has developed and copyrighted the contract documents for a unique business plan under which architects and engineers can lead their own design-build teams. Architects and engineers from firms of all sizes and specialties have used Mark’s business structure and contract documents with success.
• Mark has participated in the structuring of and/or contract negotiation for most of the major construction projects in the Chicago area.
• Mark is a leading national commentator on the viability of tort claims for professional malpractice that seek recovery of solely economic losses.
• Mark has successfully defended real estate brokers, accountants, attorneys and insurance brokers in professional malpractice actions.
• Mark established an important precedent in the federal courts with regard to the recovery of attorney’s fees in frivolous claims.

EDUCATION:

• Harvard Law School, J.D., 1981
• University of Michigan, B.A., 1978

BAR ADMISSIONS:

• Illinois
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS:

• American Arbitration Association, Construction Arbitration Advisory Panel, Arbitrator, Large Complex Case Panel
• American Bar Association, Forum Committee on Construction Law
• American College of Construction Lawyers
• American Consulting Engineers Council
• Chicago Bar Association, Forum Committee on Construction Law
• Design Build Institute of America, Former Chair of Professional Practices & Contracts Committee
• Illinois State Bar Association
• National Academy of Engineering, Committee on Outsourcing of Design and
• Construction, Management, Services for Federal Facilities, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems
• Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys