BONITA SPRINGS, FL – In an alternate universe, Cozen O’Connor’s Bruce Ficken may have channeled his talents toward jazz drumming instead of firmly establishing himself among the mainstays of construction litigation. The revelation is one of many shared during the Luncheon Panel Keynote: Legendary Careers in Construction Law—on day two of CSC in Bonita Springs. 

Five legends of the construction law profession shared histories and offered sage advice during the 90-minute session moderated by Stephen Charney, chair, Peckar & Abramson. 

For Ficken (pictured), the choice to focus on trials has fueled an enthusiasm that has not dimmed. “My passion is trying cases and I love it,” he said. “This is the perfect industry to try cases. There’s lots to argue about and there are no moral issues because everyone’s a bastard…Other than winning trials, there is nothing that gives me more satisfaction than mentoring. It’s selfish to be a mentor in some ways because it’s so rewarding.” 

With experience working on multi-billion dollar projects, David J. Hatem, partner, MG+M, became an early user of mediation. It was not exactly common at the time, but he confirms that it was a great experience.

“Each of us has developed narrow and deep specialization,” Hatem told the packed house at the Hyatt’s Calusa Ballroom. “One risk in that pursuit is that you believe you know more than you know.

“I say to younger lawyers, and to myself; Listen more to what people have to say, because there will be plenty of opportunity to let clients know how knowledgable you are,” Hatem continued. “If you are considered a trusted advisor of your client, you will be part of a process working constructively and proactively. Listen to people, even if they are younger than you are, and don’t think you know it all.”

Leslie King O’Neal, an attorney with 40-plus years handling complex commercial litigation, credits her success to a willingness to jump into difficult situations. In fact, she was in a courtroom on the same day she was sworn in. 

An economic downturn eventually led to a variety of valuable experiences. “There was a recession with liens filed and it was an opportunity to learn about all the things that could go wrong on projects,” she commented. “In preparing for a jury trial, I learned to talk to people and tell them about my case, and I encourage attorneys to do that. If they give you feedback, listen to them because they are the types of people on the jury.”   

As the elder statesmen on the panel, Phil Bruner graduated law school in 1964 and eventually volunteered with the Air Force at the early stages of the Vietnam War. Bruner defended young men who were being court martialed—successfully contesting a case that involved one of the first uses of the Miranda rule. 

“When I started practicing, no one knew it as construction law,” Bruner remarked. “It was contract law. It was very broad, but construction law is a different animal.” 

Adrian Bastianelli, partner at Peckar & Abramson, explained that he was essentially born into construction, with his father working in the corps of engineers handling claims against the government. “By the time I was five years old, I knew that contractor and son of a bitch were the same word,” he told attendees to considerable laughter. “I went to engineering school at Purdue and got a degree, but after that I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ I remembered that my father said that the dumbest person in the world is a contractor’s lawyer, so I thought I could handle that.” 

On a more serious note, Bastianelli is adamant that mentoring and offering advice is incredibly important to the future of the profession. “When you give back to the industry,” he muses, “you get far more back than you gave.”  

Bob Peckar, founding partner of Peckar & Abramson, was also “raised in the industry” with a professional engineer dad who “ate, slept, and regurgitated construction.” After a detour into the bio sciences, Peckar eventually graduated law school. From there, “There was no question what I would do. I learned how general contractors think.” 

With the help of a mentor, Peckar learned the ropes. “It takes two to mentor,” he said. “If the mentee is really open to learn and communicates that hunger to learn, construction lawyers will step up to the plate to help.”  

These days, Peckar encourages young lawyers to never lose site of the joy in practicing. “I worry about younger lawyers missing out on the enjoyment and the passion of being a construction lawyer,” he said. “It has to do with personal interaction and the people that we mentored and were mentored by. An enjoyable part of life is going to the office. 

“And yet we are seeing people go into the office less frequently,” Peckar continued. “And while the achievement of work/life balance is difficult to criticize, it comes at a price. You are not in the office talking to your colleagues. You are not getting the feedback. It’s difficult to organize a Zoom or a Teams call to get feedback from your friends when you could have just walked down the hall, popped your head in the door, and took five minutes to chat. That was enjoyable.” 

“My view is that we are all advocates and the first rule of advocacy is to be a credible advocate,” added Ficken. “Know the difference between advocacy and argument. As advocates, we all need a way to be authentic and find our own self. We think we are doing a good job and being perfect. The truth is that everyone screws up. No matter how good you are, you will be judged by how you react to screwing up and how you take ownership. That will define you for all time.”