AAC Attorneys

The following distinguished attorneys who serve on the Attorney Advisory Council comprise a valuable NASBP “resource team”:

Barron Avery
Baker & Hostetler LLP
1050 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20036
202.861.1705
bavery@bakerlaw.com
www.bakerlaw.com

W. Barron A. Avery is a Partner at Baker & Hostetler LLP in Washington, DC, where he leads the Firm’s national Government Contracts Team, counseling and representing government contractors and subcontractors in a wide range of matters involving all aspects of federal government contracting. With substantial knowledge of the rules and regulations that drive the government contracts industry, Avery provides knowledgeable day-to-day advice and counseling to clients faced with government contracting matters.

In addition to his counseling practice, Avery has extensive experience litigating matters on behalf of government contractors and subcontractors. Avery regularly brings and defends bid protests at the Government Accountability Office and the Court of Federal Claims, representing clients in a wide range of industries, including construction. He also has significant experience litigating contract disputes before the Court of Federal Claims and the boards of contract appeals, particularly the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals and the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, as well as resolving disputes between prime contractors and subcontractors in federal district court and through alternative dispute resolution.

Avery received a BA from Hampden-Sydney College and a JD, cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the Virginia and District of Columbia bars.

Jonathan Bondy
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC
One Boland Drive
West Orange, New Jersey 07052
973.530.2052
212.973.0572 (NY Office)
jbondy@csglaw.com
csglaw.com

A Member of the firm Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC, Jonathan Bondy's practice is concentrated in the field of commercial litigation, with a focus on construction, surety and contract issues in New York and New Jersey. As a member of the firm, Jon represents and advises sureties with respect to performance and payment bond claims, the defense of prevailing wage claims, affirmative surety claims, loss recovery, bankruptcy issues and contractor workouts.

He represents developers, contractors and building material suppliers in litigation matters, such as claims for breach of contract, applications for injunctive relief, delay claims and payment claims.

Prior to joining the firm, Jon served as an assistant district attorney in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York. He is a graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he was a member of the Moot Court Board and the ILSA Journal of International Law.

Todd R. Braggins
Ernstrom & Dreste, LLP
925 Clinton Square
Rochester, New York 14604
585.473.3100
TBraggins@ED-LLP.com
www.ED-LLP.com

Todd R. Braggins, Managing Partner of Ernstrom & Dreste, focuses his practice in the fields of contract and commercial suretyship, fidelity, and construction law. In addition to his trial and appellate practice, he counsels clients in all areas impacting the surety, fidelity, and construction industries.

Braggins has extensive experience with payment and performance bond claim analysis, investigation, and resolution, including complex performance bond claims. He is an advocate for the prompt, aggressive, independent investigation of claims in an effort to mitigate and prevent loss.

Braggins has represented numerous contractor clients in matters involving contract negotiations and disputes, contract documents, and litigation of claims. He has also represented international Brazilian corporations relative to the conversion of oil production platforms located in Brazil.

Braggins has also conducted numerous partnering sessions involving contractors, subcontractors, public agencies, and public owners in an effort to facilitate the timely and efficient completion of projects without resort to litigation.

Jeff Frank
Lipson Neilson, P.C.
3910 Telegraph Rd.
Suite 200
Bloomfield, MI 48302
248.593.5000
jfrank@lipsonneilson.com
www.lipsonneilson.com

Jeffrey M. Frank is a partner of Lipson Neilson P.C. practicing in the Bloomfield Hills, Michigan office where he serves as chair of the firm's Surety and Fidelity Practice Group. Frank is licensed to practice in Michigan and is admitted to the U.S. District Court, Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Frank graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1989 and from the Boston University School of Law in 1992. He concentrates his practice primarily in the areas of fidelity and surety law, specializing in commercial surety, as well as commercial and probate litigation. He is a member of the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry and the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Fidelity and Surety Law Committee (FSLC). Frank is the editor of The Law of Probate Bonds, Second Edition, which was released in 2015. He is the author of the Michigan chapters in the FSLC publications regarding motor vehicle dealer bonds and contractor license bonds as well as the FSLC Surety Underwriter’s Desk Book. Frank is also a member of the Fidelity and Surety Steering Committee of the Defense Research Institute as well as a member of the National Bond Claims Association and the Surety Association of Michigan.


Frank regularly serves as a mediator in the Macomb County (MI) Probate Court and frequently lectures on surety issues.

Timothy E. Heffernan
Watt Tieder
1765 Greensboro Station Place
Suite 1000
McLean, VA 22102
703.749.3064
theffernan@watttieder.com
www.watttieder.com

Tim Heffernan’s practice concentrates on construction, government contracts, compliance, suretyship law, and litigation on a national and international level. He has been a member of Watt Tieder’s Board of Directors since 2011. Heffernan also serves on the management committee for the Global Construction & Infrastructure Legal Alliance (GcilA), a network of member firms headquartered in Paris, France, working together to provide fully integrated legal services for parties in the global market, including government agencies, public and private financiers of construction projects, developers, industrial companies, engineers, contractors, and suppliers.

For over 20 years, Heffernan has assisted government contractors in competing for, profitably performing, and successfully completing supply, services, and construction contracts; in preparing, litigating, and resolving claims; and in facing the potential for audit, procurement integrity, and compliance issues. Heffernan’s broad range of experience in government contracts also includes bid protests, protecting intellectual property rights of government contractors, cost and accounting issues, internal investigations, teaming agreements, prime/subcontractor disputes, small business matters, False Claims Act litigation, as well as suspension and debarment proceedings. Heffernan has extensive experience at the United States Court of Federal Claims, including numerous high profile cases before the court. He has written and lectured extensively on various subjects relating to the federal procurement process. Heffernan also concentrates his practice on the preparation, defense, and litigation of major construction cases, including both national and international projects on behalf of large construction companies and engineering firms in the energy, infrastructure, and transportation industries. He regularly practices before arbitration tribunals including panels constituted by the American Arbitration Association and the International Chamber of Commerce. Heffernan also represents the largest sureties in the country in handling payment and performance bond disputes for both private and public contracts, including defending default terminations and prosecuting affirmative claims.

Heffernan’s international practice is primarily focused on disputes and international arbitrations. In addition, he currently serves as a Project Team member for the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s (UNECE) International PPP Centre of Excellence and its efforts to achieve Zero Tolerance for Corruption in Public-Private Partnerships (PPP). He also serves on the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation’s Region 1 task force and its efforts to develop best practices for PPPs.

Mike Pipkin
Weinstein Radcliff Pipkin LLP
8350 N. Central Expressway
Suite 1550
Dallas, TX 75206
214.865.7012
mpipkin@weinrad.com
www.weinrad.com

Mike F. Pipkin is a Partner at Weinstein Radcliff Pipkin LLP in Dallas, Texas, where he provides all aspects of construction counseling and litigation to sureties, private owners and developers, contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals, including high-rise office buildings and condominiums, heavy and light commercial, industrial, road and bridge, and residential construction. He counsels in the area of commercial real estate development and construction management, including the preparation of traditional lump-sum and guaranteed maximum price contracts, construction management contracts, and agreements with contractors and architects, in addition to claims investigation, resolution of lien disputes, and the pursuit and defense of construction claims in all forums, including federal and state court trials, as well as arbitration.

Pipkin is the 2014-15 Chair of the American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section’s Fidelity and Surety Law Committee. He is also a member of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, the AGC Contract Documents Forum, the Attorney Council of the Texas Association of Builders, and the Order of the Knights of the Pearlman Association. 

Pipkin is a nationally recognized speaker and writer on advanced topics in the surety and construction industries. He is a co-editor of Bond Default Manual, 4th Edition, published in 2015 by the ABA.

Todd Regan
Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani LLP
95 Glastonbury Blvd, Suite 206
Glastonbury, CT 06033
860.494.7494
tregan@grsm.com
www.gordonrees.com

Todd Regan is a partner at the law firm of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP in Glastonbury, Connecticut. His practice is dedicated to the construction and surety industries.  He represents the full range of construction and surety industry stakeholders in claims involving project delays and inefficiencies, defective design and construction, unfair trade practices and bad faith, and mechanic's liens and bond claims. Regan has argued before the First Circuit Court of Appeals and the Connecticut Supreme Court on significant legal issues concerning the construction and surety industries. He also counsels construction industry members in the negotiation and drafting of project-related agreements.

Regan is a member of several national construction and surety industry-related organizations, including the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, the ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section, and the Surety & Fidelity Claims Institute. He also serves as a pro bono attorney with Lawyers for Children America and is a board member with several nonprofit organizations.

David B. Robbins
Jenner & Block LLP
1099 New York Avenue, N.W., Suite 900
Washington, D.C. 20001-4412
202.639.6040
drobbins@jenner.com
jenner.com

David Robbins is a partner in Jenner & Block's Washington, D.C. office. He is co-chair of the firm’s Government Contracts Practice and advises clients as a leader of the Firm’s False Claims Act practice. He has successfully concluded multiple false claims act investigations and related matters for companies in the surety industry involving government construction projects.

Robbins combines 20 years of experience in the government contracts and grants industry as a contractor, government official, and attorney. Clients and their Boards of Directors value Robbins’ unique business perspective and deep knowledge of how to understand and influence the government’s perspective of critical issues, facts, and events.

Robbins’ broad practice includes False Claims Act litigation, complex internal investigations, strategic transactions, mandatory disclosures, claims, trade secrets litigation, ethics/compliance, conflicts of interest, fraud and public corruption defense, bid protests, and suspension and debarment matters.

Scott Walters
Smith, Currie & Hancock, LLP
2700 Marquis One Tower
245 Peachtree Center Ave., NE
Atlanta, GA  30303
404.582.8062
gswalters@smithcurrie.com

www.smithcurrie.com

G. Scott Walters works in the Atlanta office of Smith, Currie & Hancock LLP. He is admitted to the Bars of the State of Georgia and the District of Columbia. Walters’ legal practice focuses on serving clients in the construction and real estate development industries in the areas of general business and corporate matters, procurement, construction claims and disputes, regulatory compliance, litigation and alternative dispute resolution, and federal government contracting advice. In his twenty-year legal career, Walters has represented owners, developers, sureties, contractors, and subcontractors in a variety of construction disputes concerning private projects and local, state, and federal construction and public works projects. Walters has prosecuted and defended performance and payment bond claims for both private and public owners and contractors in numerous state and federal tribunals. Walters also has extensive experience in drafting complex construction documents for heavy industrial construction and maintenance, general commercial construction, and environmental remediation projects throughout the country.

Walters currently serves as legal counsel for the Associated Builders and Contractors of Georgia, Inc. He has also taught classes on Practical Construction Project Documentation, Construction Contracting Issues, and Safety Conscious Work Environment Training, and speaks and writes frequently on a wide range of construction industry legal issues.


Michael Zisa

Peckar & Abramson, P.C.
2055 L Street, NW
Suite 750
Washington, DC 20036
202.293.8815
mzisa@pecklaw.com
www.pecklaw.com

Michael C. Zisa focuses his practice on construction, surety, and government contracts law and is Chair of the Surety and Construction Related Insurance Defense Practice Group. He has successfully represented sureties, general contractors, subcontractors, and owners in litigation before federal and state courts in Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia as well as various contract appeals boards and in alternative dispute resolution forums. Although well-versed in the litigation process, Zisa regularly assists and counsels clients to avoid litigation when possible through planning and preemptive actions including contract review and negotiation, contract administration assistance, and claim analysis and development.

Zisa represents construction clients on public and private projects with regard to a variety of matters ranging from prosecution and defense of breach of contract and request for equitable adjustment claims to payment bond, performance bond, and mechanic’s lien claims. His work for surety clients includes analysis and defense of payment bond and performance bond claims, negotiation and administration of takeover arrangements, and prosecution of subrogation and indemnity actions. In addition to a construction, surety, and government contracts practice, Zisa represents business entities ranging from sole proprietorships to Fortune 500 companies with regard to commercial litigation and transactional matters. Zisa regularly speaks and writes on construction and surety issues and has been recognized by Washington, DC Super Lawyers in the areas of construction litigation, surety, and government contracts since 2014.