Bill Franczek is a partner with Vandeventer Black and is in the Firm’s Norfolk office. Bill was formerly a civil engineer working in construction, and his practice focuses on construction law, public contract law, and alternative dispute resolution. His extensive background in the construction field includes commercial building projects, highway projects, power plants, pulp and paper mills, rail projects, petrochemical facilities, airports, and marine terminals.
Regionally, nationally and internationally, Bill handles claim preparation, negotiation, and litigation/arbitration on behalf of construction industry clients. His experience includes privately-owned projects; federal, state and local public projects; and hybrid developments such as public-private partnership projects. His clients span across the construction industry and include owners and developers of large projects, general contractors, subcontractors, design professionals, and suppliers. Bill has also served in leadership roles in many construction trade associations, including the ABA Forum on Construction Law, The Associated General Contractors of Virginia, Builders and Contractors Exchange of Hampton Roads Virginia, The Associated Builders and Contractors of Virginia, and the Hampton Roads Chapter of the Design Build Institute of America.
Bill is regarded as an expert in mediation, arbitration and conflict management. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s National and International Construction Panel for arbitrators and mediators as well as its Mega Project Panel List, from which he has served across the nation as a neutral in all types of construction disputes. Bill is also a Fellow in the College of Commercial Arbitrators and has served on over 200 ADR matters both privately and for the AAA. He is also currently a member of several Dispute Resolution Boards across the country.
Bill was recently inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Construction Lawyers, a national organization of lawyers who have demonstrated skill, experience and high standards of professional and ethical conduct in the practice of construction law, and who are dedicated to excellence in the specialized practice of construction law.
The Construction Law Practice:
Our Construction attorneys team with our construction clients to help them achieve business vision and goals, solve problems, and resolve disputes. Our mission doing so is to provide our construction clients with excellent, innovative, and cost effective legal services for our clients. In fulfilling that mission, we bring our Construction Practice Group’s wide array of both legal and practical construction project experiences to our clients.
Vandeventer Black’s Construction Law services include:
· Contract negotiations and preparations, including company formations, teaming agreements, joint ventures, and project financing
· Contract and other disputes resolution, including claims analysis, claims preparation, and claims resolution through mechanic’s liens, payment bonds, mediation, arbitration, litigation or other disputes processes
· Safety, environmental and other regulatory compliance, including assessments, action planning, administrative hearings, and appellate proceedings
· Employment contracts, wages and regulatory compliance, including wage determinations, benefits, right-to-work laws, labor agreements, and non-competes
· Procurement fraud compliance, including false claims acts, qui tam actions, whistleblower matters, crimes against corporations, and white collar criminal actions
Our Construction Law experiences include projects of varied sizes, types, and complexity, including vertical, horizontal, heavy civil, and industrial construction projects, and including many types of projects within those sectors such as commercial buildings, multi-family housing projects, airports, marine terminals, shipyards, bridges, highways, schools, hospitals, electric power generation facilities, and wastewater treatment plants. Our clients include Fortune 500 companies, state and local government agencies, architecture and engineering firms, international, regional and local contractors, specialty subcontractors, and suppliers.
While disputes are an unfortunate aspect of construction, we focus on preventive law to help our clients evaluate risks and avoid disputes, but for those that cannot be avoided identify issues early to help develop prompt, effective and cost-efficient solutions. Our training and internal assessments improve our clients’ business processes, and when needed we provide in-the-field assessments and advice to identify issues and formulate solutions for them.
Our Construction Team members include attorneys with field experience, civil and mechanically degreed engineers, a registered professional engineer, and a registered architect with extensive experience in forensic architecture. Our Construction Team attorneys are licensed in a variety of states including Virginia, North Carolina, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Florida, Louisiana, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York, and have handled construction matters nationally and internationally.
Vandeventer Black LLP:
We are a dynamic business and litigation law firm established in 1883. We focus on responsiveness and results while providing internationally recognized services across a wide variety of legal sectors. Headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, our accomplished attorneys assist clients from offices located in Virginia, North Carolina and Germany.
At our firm, you will know that you are important. Our size and collective experience allow us to offer you the best legal advice available with the personal attention and value you might expect from a much smaller firm.
We take an integrative approach to client services. We are a firm that represents clients across a broad spectrum of industries. Our AV® rated attorneys include qualified arbitrators and mediators for the American Arbitration Association, architects, and mechanical, chemical and civil engineers. Others hold MBAs or other advanced degrees in their areas of practice and are recognized by their peers as being among the best in the legal profession.
When you sit down with us, we will bring the highest level of legal talent to the table. Our expertise spans many disciplines, including bankruptcy and collections, commercial transactions, creditors’ rights, criminal defense, director and officer liability, eminent domain and land use, environmental, ERISA, intellectual property, labor and employment, maritime and admiralty, professional liability, regulatory compliance, trust and estate planning, and workers’ compensation. Vandeventer Black routinely represents clients in administrative proceedings, alternative dispute resolution, litigation, and appeals.