Managing the Multiple Personalities of Construction Disputes

9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.

This program will explore the personalities and competing interests often found in construction disputes, including emotional property owners and sellers, construction professionals including architects and contractors, claims professionals, and of course the attorneys representing each. With this diverse tapestry of characters, resolution requires dynamic management of people and interests. In this program, seasoned mediators Bob Hamilton and Judge Paul Bacigalupo (Ret.) will dissect their approach to managing these often competing demands, goals and personalities in construction mediation to untangle complex disputes and finding resolutions all parties can accept.

What Every Construction Lawyer Should Know about Mandatory Mediation Under SB 440

10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.

With the enactment of SB 440, owners, contractors and subcontractors and their counsel must now navigate a mandatory claim dispute process defined by newly-enacted SB 440 (Civ. Code sections 8850 and 8851). The Legislature has made clear that it is in the best interest of the “state and its citizens” to ensure that claims on many private construction projects are “paid in full and in a timely manner”.

This program will provide construction lawyers, their clients, insurers, and neutrals with a practical overview of the mandatory dispute resolution process enacted in SB 440, the strategies for how to best use those procedures, and the opportunities created for resolution of claims during the pendency of a project, without the accumulation of claims and the risk of additional draconian interest charges that will only make them much more difficult to resolve in the future.

Coverage Drives the Deal: Navigating Insurance in Construction Defect Mediation

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Insurance coverage issues often drive construction defect settlements as much as liability and damages themselves. Join construction mediator Brad Bening and coverage specialist Gary Selvin for a practical, hypothetical-driven discussion of how coverage disputes impact real-world mediation strategy in complex CD matters.



Using scenarios drawn from multi-party construction cases, the program will explore additional insured issues, reservation of rights and Cumis conflicts, property damage triggers, exclusions, time-on-risk allocation, and strategic settlement considerations. Designed for active construction practitioners, this program focuses less on abstract coverage theory and more on the practical question: what do attorneys do with these issues in the middle of a real case?

Real Property – Construction Defect Crossover

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

This program will examine the growing blurring of the lines between real property and construction disputes, and how overlapping issues increasingly shape negotiation, litigation, and resolution strategy. Our panel will explore practical considerations arising at the intersection of development, defects, land use, insurance, title, and project-related conflicts, and how to resolve them.

Construction Dispute Resolution AMA (Ask Me Anything)

2:15 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

Join a panel of highly experienced construction neutrals — Bob Friedenberg, Justice Victoria Chaney, Ted Levin, and John Hanover — for an interactive “Ask Me Anything” discussion on the real-world challenges shaping construction disputes today. Drawing from decades of experience mediating, arbitrating, and litigating complex matters, the panel will answer audience questions live while also addressing topics submitted in advance, offering practical insight, war stories, and strategic guidance for construction practitioners.

Have a question for our panel? Submit here >>

Did You Know?

You Can Earn Complimentary Self-Study CLE Credits by viewing programs on our YouTube Channel

1. Go to our YouTube Channel

2. Watch a Self-Study CLE Approved Video

3. Complete the "Self-Study Quiz" link in the video description

4. Download your CLE Certificate from the link provided