T: (415) 623-7000 vCard San Francisco blee@wthf.com
Bennett Lee is managing partner of the firm's San Francisco office. He represents general contractors, sureties, design engineering firms, construction managers, and owners on a wide variety of issues arising from industrial and commercial construction projects, including water treatment plants, office buildings, hospitals, prisons, schools, dams, mass transit systems, tunnels, pipelines and electrical power systems.
Bennett counsels and advises clients on contract preparation, administration and termination, as well as surety claims and defenses. He has extensive experience in claim preparation, prosecution and dispute resolution on federal, state, municipal and private contracts.
Bennett is a recognized expert in federal government contracting on issues ranging from compliance, bid protests, to claim preparation, pricing, and dispute resolution.
He has significant litigation experience before both federal and state courts, and domestic arbitration associations, on a wide variety of suretyship and construction law issues. Bennett has also arbitrated cases internationally, including before the ICC, DIAC, DIFC, and
ad hoc
arbitrations in Dubai, U.A.E.
Prior to joining Watt, Tieder, Hoffar & Fitzgerald, Bennett was a commissioned officer in the United States Navy where he served as a judge advocate.
Honors
- Chambers USA - list of Top Construction Lawyers in California - 2010-2012
- Legal 500 United States - 2007, 2009, 2010
- Northern California Super Lawyers - 2011
Memberships and Affiliations
- American Bar Association
- Forum on the Construction Industry
- Public Contract Law Section
- Asian-Pacific American Bar Association
Publications and Presentations
- Speaker and Author: "Legal Ethics in the Representation of Joint Ventures," ABA Mid-Winter Construction Forum, Houston, Texas, January 2012.
- Panelist: "Strategic Alliances for Success," Construction SuperConference, San Francisco, California, 2011.
- Chapter Co-Author and Speaker: "Payment Bond Claims Handling and the Law of Bad Faith," (co-authors: Charles Langfitt and Robert Niesley),
The Law of Payment Bonds
, 2 nd Edition, Editors: Kevin L. Lybeck, et. al., 2011.
- Speaker: "Integrated Project Delivery: Changing the Way We Build," Microdesk Event, San Francisco, California, February 2011.
- Speaker: "Determining Acceptable Risk in Today's Hyper-Competitive Marketplace," Construction SuperConference, San Francisco, California, December 2010.
- Speaker and Author: "The New Reality in Getting Paid: Strategies for Managing Receivables From Owners With Thin Wallets," Pearlman Association, Seattle, Washington, 2010.
- Speaker: "The Risks and Rewards of Program Management as a Project Delivery Method," Construction SuperConference, San Francisco, California, December 2009.
- Lecturer: "Federal Government Contracting Course," Federal Publications, Fall 2009.
- Book Chapter Co-Author (along with Charles W. Langfitt, Robert C. Niesley): "Performance Options Available to the Surety," Law of Performance Bond, Second Ed., Editors: Lawrence Moelmann, Matthew Horowitz & Kevin Lybeck, Summer 2009.
- Speaker: "Managing Risk in Today's Marketplace," Construction SuperConference; San Francisco, California, 2008.
- Author: "Recent Developments in Standard Form Construction Agreement," From the Ground Up, Fall 2007
- Speaker/Author: "Why Is Identifying, Capturing And Measuring A Loss Of Labor Productivity So Difficult?" SuperConference; San Francisco, California; 2007.
- Speaker/Author: "How to Enter and Thrive in the Dynamic Gulf Construction Market," McLean, Virginia; 2007.
- Speaker/Author: "Strange Bedfellows: How to Participate in a Public-Private Partnership Without Losing Your Shirt," The Contractor and Construction Manager Issues - SuperConference; San Francisco, California; 2006.
- Author: "Termination Damages," The Law of Construction Contract Terminations, 2004.
- Author: "Sureties and Indemnitors Beware," From the Ground Up, Summer 2000.
