Charles B. Lewis concentrates his practice in the area of construction law and litigation and is a member of Duane Morris' national Construction Practice Group. Mr. Lewis represents general contractors, construction managers, owners, architects and engineers, design builders, subcontractors, and material suppliers in matters involving contract drafting, contract negotiation, breach of contract claims, claims for extras, delay, disruption, loss of productivity, excessive change orders, out-of-scope work, and claims involving mechanic's liens.

Mr. Lewis is an arbitrator and mediator for the American Arbitration Association, having acted as a mediator in over 300 construction disputes, is an arbitrator for the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, and is a mediator for the Circuit Court of Cook County, Court Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program, run by the Circuit Court of Cook County. Mr. Lewis is an active member of the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys, a fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, and a member of the Design/Build Task Force of the Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association. He has written articles for Construction Executive, President & CEO Magazine, Chicago Building Congress, Edifice, Chicago Bar Journal, Construction Law News and Illinois Law Journal. Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business cites Mr. Lewis as a leader in the area of construction law.

Mr. Lewis is a 1976 graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law and a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Areas Of Practice

Construction Law and Litigation
Alternate Dispute Resolution
Commercial Litigation

Representative Matters

Representing an "at risk" construction manager on two separate projects - the first with a contract value of $7 billion, and the second with a contract value of $1.5 billion.
Representing several continuing care retirement communities in construction contract drafting, construction contract negotiation and the construction of new facilities across the United States.
Representing the Government of Greece in responding to and defending against $200,000,000 in claims submitted by a consortium of 23 European contractors during construction of Lines 2 and 3 of the Athens Metro Rail System.
Representing the contractor in its claim against the owner arising out of the construction of a prominent restaurant and retail development in Moscow.
Representing a Taiwanese owner of a luxury hotel in Guam in two separate arbitrations against the designer and contractor arising out of the need to retrofit the building because of structural deficiencies discovered shortly before the hotel was opened.
Representing several large international engineering and construction firms in matters before the International Chamber of Commerce in Switzerland.
Representing the net lessee/landlord in the demolition, remediation, and reconstruction of the interior of a landmark building located next to Ground Zero in New York City.
Representing the surety in the default of a large general contractor with projects in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia, and the bidding and reletting of those contracts as well as the prosecution of the many claims, both affirmative and defensive, which arose as a result thereof.
Acting as construction counsel to a Chicago hospital during the design and the construction of a $600,000,000 new facility, including the representation of its interests in an arbitration brought by a prime contractor. Subsequent representation of the same hospital during the current design and construction of a new $400,000,000 women's facility.
Representing the electrical contractor in a dispute with the design builder with respect to the replacement and modernization of approximately 74,000 streetlights for the City of Kansas City.
Representing the electrical and mechanical contractors in a dispute with the EPC contractor arising out of the construction of a 265 megawatt gas turbine combined cycle power production facility in Tiverton, Rhode Island.
Representing the contractor in a dispute involving the design and construction of a luxury hotel on South Beach in Miami.
Representing a large national contractor with respect to a major telecom construction project.

Professional Activities

American Bar Association
Illinois Bar Association
Chicago Bar Association
DuPage County Bar Association
American Arbitration Association
Forum on the Construction Industry
International Centre for Dispute Resolution
College of Commercial Arbitrators
Circuit Court of Cook County, Court Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program
Illinois Road and Transportation Builders Association, Design/Build Task Force
Chicago Building Congress
Associated General Contractors of America
Trial Lawyers Club of Chicago
- Former President
Chicago Construction and Real Estate Council
- Former Director

Admissions

Illinois
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, including Trial Bar
U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

Education

University of San Francisco Law School, J.D., 1976
University of Michigan, B.A., 1972