Experience
Mr. Dettman was the law clerk to Justice William G. Callow of the Wisconsin Supreme Court from 1983 to 1984. Mr. Dettman was a commercial litigator at two leading Boston, Massachusetts law firms from 1984 to 1992, providing legal advice in the areas of complex commercial and business disputes, lender liability litigation and associated workouts, insurance coverage disputes, construction disputes, arbitration and litigation, products liability litigation, trademark and copyright, and appellate tax board appeals.
Central Artery/Tunnel Project (Boston, MA)
Mr. Dettman was involved with this $15B project from 1992 to 2005, advancing from Senior Counsel, to Chief Counsel, to Associate Project Director for Claims Resolution. As the project’s lead attorney, he managed all legal matters on the project, including construction claims, design claims, Owner Controlled Insurance Program, alternative dispute resolution, cost recovery, procurement, contract negotiation and administration, inter-governmental relations and agreements, conflicts of interest, ethics, regulatory oversight, labor, employment, building issues, DBE regulations, environmental and right of way litigation, civil and criminal investigations, and legislation.
ADR Qualifications And Training
Mr. Dettman has received training for and has been accepted on the following panels:
§ Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Contractors Association on the ODOT Dispute Resolution Process
§ Construction Dispute Resolution Services LLC on Arbitration and Dispute Review Board Practice
§ Idaho Transportation Department on Dispute Review Board Practice
§ Dispute Resolution Board Foundation on DRB Administration and Practice
§ Chartered Institute of Arbitrators on Dispute Review Board Practice
§ Ohio Department of Transportation on Dispute Review Board Administration and Practice
§ West Virginia Department of Highways on Dispute Review Board Practice
Professional Activities
Mr. Dettman has spoken about the use of ADR in the construction industry, including:
§ American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law Annual Federal Procurement Institute: “Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Central Artery/ Tunnel Project”
§ Construction Management Association of America Annual Conference: “Contrasting ADR Methods”
§ Transportation Research Board Annual Legal Workshop and Annual Conference: “The Partnering and Dispute Resolution Process on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project” and “Using Dispute Review Boards To Prevent And Resolve Disputes”
§ San Francisco and London Superconferences: “The Partnering and Dispute Resolution Process on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project”
§ American Road and Transit Builders Annual Conference: “Alternative Dispute Resolution”
§ Connecticut Bar Association and the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers: “The Tool Box For Effective Dispute Resolution: ‘Lessons Learned’ From Boston’s Big Dig Project”
§ Federal ADR Working Group: “The Partnering and Dispute Resolution Process on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project”
§ Ohio Transportation and Engineering Conference: “The Ohio Department of Transportation’s Innovative Use of Alternative Dispute Resolution Techniques”
§ Construction Specifications Institute (NH Chapter): “The Toolbox For Effective Dispute Prevention And Resolution On Construction Projects”
§ National Contract Management Association (Boston Chapter): “Managing Claims on Mega-Projects: Lessons Learned From The ‘Big Dig’ Project”
§ Caltrans Contract Law Workshop: “The ‘ADR Tool Box’ for Effective Dispute Avoidance and Resolution”
§ Association For Conflict Resolution Advanced Commercial Mediation Institute: “Mega-Project Mediation: Lessons From Boston’s Big Dig Project”
§ Association For Conflict Resolution Annual Conference: “Taking Consumer Disputes to the Next Level”; “Innovative and Unique Consumer Dispute Resolution Processes”; and “New and Emerging ADR Processes”
§ American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Annual Conference: “The Arbitrator Disclosure Conundrum: Establishing Practical Guidelines For Meeting Disclosure Requirements Under The RUAA And Similar Standards”
§ Association For Conflict Resolution Teleseminar: “Report From the Mediation Trenches: Tips From Boston’s “Big Dig” Project Mediation Program”
§ Engineering Society of Detroit ADR Conference: “ADR Lessons From The Trenches: Real-Time Dispute Resolution On The “Big Dig”
§ Transportation Research Board Legal Conference (Moderator): “Protecting the Public Owner in Public Private Partnerships”
§ Dispute Resolution Board Foundation Annual Conference: “Dispute Avoidance and Prevention, Not Just Resolution”
§ Northeast Chapter of the Energy Bar Association Conference: “Reducing Conflict and Bringing Better Decision-Making Processes to New England’s Energy Field”
§ American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Annual Conference: ‘“A New Frontier”: Using Innovative Construction ADR Techniques In Other Commercial Fields”
§ Transportation Research Board Annual Legal Workshop and Annual Conference: “Design Build—Where Are We, Where Are We Going?”
§ American Bar Association DR Section Annual Conference: “Got Game? Using Game Theory to Understand, Manage and Resolve Disputes”
§ Willis Construction Risk Management Conference: “Designing Dispute Prevention and Resolution Strategies into Your Project Delivery Approach, Including Design Build and Public Private Partnerships”
§ American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry: “Project Neutrals to the Rescue! A New Tool to Avoid and Resolve Disputes on Construction Projects” and “Effective Dispute Avoidance in Vertical Construction”
§ Energy Bar Association: “Riding the Wave: Exploring the Use of ADR in the New Wave of Renewable, Transmission and Nuclear Construction Projects”
§ American Arbitration Association: “On Site Neutrals—Real Time Resolution”
§ International Society of Pharmaceutical Engineers: “Construction Partnering”
Mr. Dettman also published articles in the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, The Construction Lawyer, entitled “Resolving Megaproject Claims: Lessons from Boston’s “Big Dig”’ and The Michigan State Bar ADR Quarterly entitled: “Mediators as Settlement Process Chaperones: A New Approach to Resolving Complex, Multi-Party Disputes”.
Mr. Dettman has published articles on Dispute Review Board practice in the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation Forum, including “What Role Should Lawyers Play in the DRB Process?”; “’End of the Contract Claims’: Tips for Handling Complex Claims Before the DRB”; “The Use Of ‘Adjudication DRBs’
Where Parties Are Subject To Adjudication Or Arbitration Processes”; “The Role of Dispute Review Boards in Dispute Prevention”; “The Potential Use of Dispute Review Boards (DRBs) Outside the Construction Industry”; “The Use of DRBs in the Energy Industry”; and “To Admit or Not to Admit DRB Recommendations—That is the Question”.
