Presentations

The US construction economy continues to flourish as we enter 2018, but this bull run will eventually come to an end. In addition, the current bull market is causing performance issues on construction projects due to the extreme shortage of skilled craftworkers and inflationary headwinds. Moreover, despite the significant increase in put-in-place construction revenue over the past decade, there has not been an associated increase in premium to the contract surety industry. Bill McConnell will address these issues and many others in his presentation.   

William J. McConnell, PE, JD, MSCE, CDT, is the co-founder and CEO of The Vertex Companies, Inc. Bill has a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Maine, a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver, a Master of Science degree from Columbia University, and he is working towards his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Colorado. Bill also completed a part-time three-year business program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bill has worked in the construction industry for nearly his entire life. He rose through the ranks from a union construction worker during high school and college summers, to a project engineer at a top 50 construction company, to a senior executive at Vertex. In addition, Bill is a top expert witness for construction disputes as he has testified over 150 times, most notably for cost and/or standard of care opinions. Many construction, engineering, and law organizations have published his articles and reports over the past two decades.

Michael L. Markushewski, BSMET, Chief Technical Officer for ARCCA, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Philadelphia’s Spring Garden College and attended Pennsylvania State University for graduate courses in Engineering Science. He has established a distinctive career in the field of accident reconstruction, crashworthiness, occupant crash protection, emergency escape, crash safety and survival, and life support engineering. His extensive experience focuses on research, design, test and evaluation of aircraft and vehicular seating systems, restraint systems, ejection seat design, crashworthy seating systems, seat belts and inflatable restraints and protective devices. Mike has held the positions of project engineer, team leader, systems engineer and project manager of significant occupant protection system design, development and test programs responsible for project progress from inception through completion. He has prepared and established program and hardware technical and performance specifications and manuals for many programs and vehicle platforms including aircraft and ground vehicles. Mike acts as a lead investigator and mishap reconstructionist for military and civilian aircraft and automotive mishaps to evaluate occupant protection system performance and the evaluation of mechanisms of injury. He is also currently consulting with the National Hockey League on impacts and the performance of athletic equipment.   

Phillip G. Alber will discuss the 6^th Circuit’s recent opinion in Great American v. Bailey. This opinion has caused a lot of discussion and a number of articles as to whether there is a new measure for bad faith for a surety in connection with its ability to settle claims.

Phillip graduated Cum Laude from the University of Michigan with a B.A. in Economics and Cum Laude from Wayne State University Law School. He is a shareholder at Alber Crafton, PSC in Troy, Michigan where his practice concentrates primarily in the area of Fidelity and Surety Law and construction disputes. He is a member of the Forum Committee on Construction Law and is a member and a former Vice Chair of the Fidelity and Surety Committee of the Torts & Insurance Practice Section, and the Construction Litigation Committee of the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association. He is also a member of the National Bond Claims Association where he was Program Chairperson for 20 years. 

Phillip frequently writes and lectures on surety and construction issues. His publications and presentations include “Making Sense Out of Performance and Payment Bonds”; “Does The Typical Unfair Settlement Practice Act Create Private Rights For Litigants Against Sureties”; “The Effect on the Surety of a Default Judgment Against the Principal”; “The Discharge of the Surety by the Release of the Principal”; “Negotiating Skills and Claims Handling”; and “The Surety Indemnity Agreement- Law & Practice.”