Features Construction

Aileen Schwartz was in kindergarten in Maryland when her teacher said she’d make “a good Philadelphia lawyer.” The comment was unexpected, and Schwartz recalls her parents didn’t know what to make of it. However, it was meant as a compliment, as Philadelphia lawyers had a long tradition as the best trained in law and rhetoric […]

Lowell Plotkin knew he wanted to work in real estate law even before graduating from Harvard Law School in 2003. “I’ve always wanted to be a member of a team,” he says.  “I didn’t see law as being competitive. That’s why I chose transactional law and not litigation, because everyone can win.” Now general counsel […]

Passing through a road construction site can sometimes be painstaking, noisy and frustrating—and in the Southeast, where Construction Partners Inc. operates in five states, it can go on year-round. Ryan Brooks knows CPI may not be the favorite company of anyone stuck in traffic—especially now that work is sure to increase with the recent passage […]

While many private practice attorneys manage many clients at once, Catherine Bragg has always preferred a more monogamous approach. As an in-house lawyer, Bragg likes focusing on a single client, with an eye on truly understanding the business and adding value—and she has the resume to prove it. Since graduating from law school almost two […]

Brazilian legal operations can be a challenging for attorneys, says Mariangela Bartz. Fast-changing business conditions, complex regulations and taxes, and a high number of lawsuits—especially related to labor disputes—can come on suddenly, like a tropical downpour. Given than context, Bartz wasn’t surprised to find a heavy caseload of lawsuits awaiting her on her first day […]

He’ll leave it to others to make the lightweight wallboard and other USG Corp. products for many of the world’s 10 tallest buildings, starting with the 2,717-foot Burj Khalifa in the United Arab Emirates and ending with the 1,667-foot Taipei 101 in Taiwan. Instead, Philip Petti will keep busy making, defending and leveraging his employer’s […]

The $20 million contract awarded this past spring for The Dutra Group to dredge a channel in the Columbia River shows the depth of the company’s capabilities. Joy (Bily) Bender digs nearly as deep. General counsel of operations for the past three years and a member of Dutra’s legal team since 2012, she oversaw the […]

Construction has begun for an 82-bed facility to be run by the Sarasota Memorial Health Care System on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The 95,000-square-foot facility will replace a smaller, 1960s-era building that’s seen better days. It’s one of many projects Naples-based DeAngelis Diamond Construction LLC oversees in the Sunshine State and other locales. Throughout the Southeast, […]

In 1963, John Cannistraro had $1,500 in his pocket and his wife Rita’s support. He needed both to open a small plumbing shop in Boston, Massachusetts. More than a half a century later, his family-owned business has become one of the state’s largest providers of industrial mechanical construction solutions, from plumbing and construction to 3D […]

The Collin Creek Mall had seen better days, though its demise in 2019 was hardly unique. Across the United States and Canada, once-thriving shopping centers gasp for economic breath as anchor tenants plunge into Chapter 11 and online shoppers bypass brick and mortar. So, deep in the heart of Plano, Texas, the once hustling and […]