Cornelius (“Neil”) J. O’Brien is a Member in the firm’s Litigation Division, where he focuses on construction law. Mr. O’Brien’s practice includes representing owners, contractors, subcontractors, construction managers and sureties in all types of construction claims and disputes, including defective specifications, extra work, terminations, delay and impact claims, differing site conditions, construction defects, payment issues, and bond claims. Mr. O’Brien has represented clients in litigation before various state and federal courts and state and private arbitration panels. Mr. O’Brien’s litigation practices also encompasses a range of general commercial matters, representing and counseling diverse businesses including commercial lenders, building materials suppliers, pharmaceutical companies, municipalities and individuals in a variety of contractual disputes.
Representative cases include:
- Representing a construction manager at risk in a guaranteed maximum price agreement for the $65 million conversion of a structure into a combination of retail, office and residential space.
- Representing a construction manager at risk in a guaranteed maximum price agreement for the construction of a $25 million acute care hospital and long term care facility.
- Negotiating a design-build agreement for a $10 million manufacturing facility.
- Negotiating a hybrid design-build/design-bid-build $5 million renovation of a school facility utilizing unique terms to protect the owner against the general contractor’s financial condition as well as professional liability issues arising both from the termination of the original architect/engineer and the lack of contractual privity with the subcontractors having design responsibility.
- Representing an historic church destroyed by fire for its reconstruction on a guaranteed maximum price basis, with current direct cost estimates of about $6 million.
- Drafting contract documents for multiple prime contract transportation projects let by a local transit authority on a lump sum basis, with a total value of approximately $600 million.
Mr. O’Brien graduated in the top five of his Duquesne Law School class and served as an editor on the Duquesne Law Review. Prior to joining Eckert Seamans, Mr. O’Brien served as Clerk to Justice Ralph J. Cappy of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and as Clerk to Judge Justin M. Johnson of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degree in History from the University of Pittsburgh.
Mr. O’Brien was recognized by Pennsylvania SuperLawyers in 2006 and 2007 as a Rising Star.
J.D., Duquesne University School of Law, 1997 (Cum Laude)
B.A., University of Pittsburgh, 1992
Pennsylvania
