BERT ROBINSON

bertrobinson@cdrsllc.com

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Bert K. Robinson has spent almost his entire four decade professional career as an attorney involved with numerous and sundry aspects of the world of construction. In his office practice he drafted legislation that was adopted into law in Louisiana dealing with retainages in public construction contracts, negotiated and reviewed construction contracts and specifications, advised clients during construction when problems arose (although he always viewed his primary task to be to help clients completely avoid legal problems), mediated disputes, and when necessary he served as an advocate in mediation, arbitration and litigation. He has qualified, and has served, as an arbitrator in construction and commercial matters for a quarter of a century from carpentry disputes to multi-million dollar bridge and highway projects. In commercial arbitration his most interesting case was as a member of a tri-partite panel and dealt with a contract for the sale of the New Orleans Saints football team.

EDUCATION

He graduated from the University of Texas, Austin, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, with a minor in accounting, in 1958. Thereafter he spent two years as part owner and corporate officer of a retail chain of stores before entering Louisiana State University where he earned his Juris Doctorate in 1963.

BUSINESS EXPERIENCE

Although he has no personal hands-on experience working in construction itself, he has considerable hands-on commercial experience in addition to his retail chain store work. He was part owner and plant manager of a fiberglass boat building business before entering law school. During the time he practiced law he was also a principal and managing officer of a real estate title insurance agency, owned and taught in a real estate school, and served on the boards of directors of several professional, charitable and philanthropic organizations. Active in real estate investment in commercial, residential and industrial properties.

LEGAL/ARBITRATION/MEDIATION EXPERIENCE

He served as law clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, and he is licensed to practice law in both Louisiana and New Mexico (inactive status). Was also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court

Active litigator from 1964 through 2000, primarily in the areas of construction and commercial law, in state and federal courts and in mediation and arbitration, handling matters that resulted in multi-million dollar judgments. He was heavily involved in negotiating, drafting and litigating contracts, and helped draft construction law legislation. He represented, e.g., general contractors, subcontractors, specialty contractors, suppliers, sureties/insurers, architects, engineers, designers, owners, and developers as well as public entities. Public and private projects include commercial, highway and heavy, utility, bridges, levees, airport runways, industrial, institutional, shopping center, commercial and residential structures. Subject matters widely varied, e.g., initial contract negotiations, change orders, retainage, performance, plans, liens, specifications, contract interpretation, direct and indirect damages, acceleration and delay claims, labor disputes, roofing, waterproofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, drainage, soil suitability, foundations, lighting, laboratory testing, fencing, erosion, grading, painting, trim, dry well, tile, subsurface obstructions, subsurface testing and reporting, home owner warranty claims, termites, building renovation, etc.

He serves as a qualified construction arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, and in that capacity he has presided solo over arbitrations and rendered awards totaling millions of dollars, and has also served as a member of tri-partite arbitrator panels involving disputes with up to 12 parties. He is a qualified construction arbitrator with the National Arbitration Forum. He serves by appointment of the Louisiana State Bar Association arbitrating professional disputes.

FORMAL ADR TRAINING

AAA Construction Industry Arbitrator Training 5/97; AAA Neutrals Retreat 10/98; AAA Arbitrator Update 2001; AAA Construction II Arbitrator Training 6/02; 2d Annual National Forum on Conflict Management in the Construction Industry 11/04; Managing Cases Involving Self-Represented Parties 11/04; AAA Award Writing 11/04; Arbitrator Ethics and Disclosures 12/05; Chairing an Arbitration Panel, Managing Procedures, Process & Dynamics 12/06,AAA Construction Mediation Conference, November 2007. Construction Dispute Resolution Services courses March 2008: Theory, Practice and Rules of Arbitration; Advanced ADR; Dispute Review Boards.

PUBLICATIONS , LECTURING AND TEACHING

Served as Construction Law Lecturer in the Department of Construction of Louisiana State University, and for a number of years he served as an Adjunct Professor at the Louisiana State University Law Center.

“Tension Between Arbitration and Judicial Review” appeared in V.48 of the Louisiana Bar Journal; “Construction Law: Elements of Contractors’ Damages,” in V. 38 of the same publication. “Should We Arbitrate or Litigate Our Clients’ Construction Dispute” appeared in the Baton Rouge Bar Association Journal.

He regularly wrote a feature entitled “Briefly Legal” in the Merit Shop Construction published monthly by the Louisiana Associated Builders and Contractors, and he published numerous articles in the Louisiana Law Review when he served as editor. He has published papers and lectured on the Louisiana New Home Warranty Act. He published a guide to public and private lien law for the members of the Louisiana construction community and their legal counsel.

Has lectured before the Construction Specifications Institute; the Louisiana Law Center; the Lead Abatement Program of LSU’s Occupational and Environmental Health Division; the 1995 Louisiana Transportation Engineering Conference; the Baton Rouge Bar Association on consequential damages; the Louisiana Realtor’s Association; and at numerous private continuing legal education seminars for contractors, suppliers, architects and engineers.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

Past Associate member of Associated General Contractors (served as committee chairman of the Associates committee), Associated Builders and Contractors (wrote regular monthly feature article), and American Subcontractors Association. Past member of the Construction Forum of the American Bar Association. Past president of both the Baton Rouge Bar Association and of the Baton Rouge Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and past member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association. Current member of Louisiana and New Mexico Bar Associations (inactive status in New Mexico). Past member of Sunrise Rotary Club, and Capital City Kiwanis Club of Baton Rouge. The Dispute Resolution Board Foundation.

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL MATTERS

Elected to: Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities; Editor on Louisiana Law Review; received several awards for authorship of articles appearing in the Louisiana Law Review; ODK leadership fraternity; rated “av” in Martindale-Hubbell during his years of active law practice.