Overview
Board certified construction law counselor and advocate, Aaron Reichelson, prosecutes and defends construction-related claims in state and federal courts across Florida and beyond. He also advises on construction-related contractual arrangements and risk mitigation strategies. Aaron’s clients include property owners, contractors, subcontractors, design professionals and other parties involved in personal and commercial construction endeavors of many kinds.
Aaron advises on private and government issues such as delay claims, design and construction defects, terminations for convenience, mediation, arbitration, advocacy before dispute resolution boards and federal and state qui tam whistleblower suits. Equally as important, Aaron provides ongoing legal support and advice throughout the lifecycle of the construction initiative. Aaron strives to provide a realistic and clear assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of his client’s position and actionable paths to resolution.
Prior to the law, Aaron had a 15-year career in the construction industry, including 13 years as a Project Engineer/Contract Administrator for Kiewit, and two years as a consulting engineer on scheduling and dispute resolution matters for many of the industry's largest contractors. Aaron’s front-line experience provided him with a foundational understanding of both the technical and business considerations his client’s face daily. This experience supports his understanding of his client’s “bigger picture” objectives. Aaron is personally committed to identifying potential problems and recognizing obstacles to progress so that such issues do not snowball into roadblocks down the line. Having worked on the business side for more than a decade, Aaron still enjoys getting his boots dirty on a jobsite and it makes his day when his clients recognize that he “speaks their same language.”
Aaron currently serves as an adjunct professor of construction law at Stetson Law School. He joined the ABA Forum on Construction Law in 2015 and was selected to the Division 5 steering committee in 2019. Aaron is also active in the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation, both as a DB member on a large airport project as well as supporting clients on other projects with DBs. Other industry participation includes the Florida Transportation Builder’s Association, where Aaron has provided consultation on proposed FDOT specification changes and other construction law topics.
Experience
- Member of arbitration trial team for one of the largest heavy-civil builders in the United States in a $30 million, six-week arbitration for a complex transportation project at Tampa International Airport.
- Represented developer in a $9 million suit involving design defects, roofing defects, stucco defects, water intrusion damage, insurance coverage disputes and related matters.
- Claims counsel for a major international design and construction firm in a $6 million claim in the United States Board of Contract Appeals.
- Dispute Review Board neutral for a $500 million expansion project at Tampa International Airport.
- Represented modular home manufacturer in $2 million construction defect and delay litigation.
- Represented design engineer in a $1 million design defect suit arising out of the renovation of a parking garage.
- Represented multiple government contractors with successful Terminations for Convenience claims against the Department of the Air Force and Special Operations Command.
- Assisted Florida construction counsel for a Bolivian corporation in an ICDR arbitration claim of over $10 million; assisted New York arbitration counsel in obtaining settlement.
- Represents contractors, subcontractors, design professionals and owners/developers in matters of payment disputes and construction lien and bond claims.
- Drafts and negotiates multiple public and private construction agreements for complex and multi-phased construction and development projects.
Honors
- Florida Super Lawyers, “Rising Star,” 2022-24
- The Best Lawyers in America®, Construction Law, 2023-25
News & Insights
- Speaker: Dispute Board Legal Issues, Transportation Research Board (National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine), September 2021
- Publication: "Stuck with an Unfinished Construction Project? Don't End Up Paying Contractors Twice," Tampa Bay Business Journal, May 2021
- Speaker, "Dispute Resolution Boards: What an Attorney Needs to Know," HCBA, March 2021
- Speaker: Federal Government Contracting, Forum on the Construction Industry: Division 5, March 2020
- Speaker: Dispute Resolution Boards, Forum on the Construction Industry: Division 5, July 2019
- Speaker: Government Receivables and the Miller Act, National Association of Credit Management, October 2018
- Speaker: What is a Dispute Review Board, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry: Division 5, October 2018
- Speaker: Dispute Avoidance, American Society of Civil Engineers, July 2018
- Co-Author: 50 State Lien and Bond Law - Florida Chapter, 2016-2021
Involvement
Professional Associations & Memberships
- Dispute Review Board Foundation, 2014-present
- Committee chair/trainer, 2019-present
- American Bar Association, Forum on the Construction Industry, 2016-present
- Steering Committee, Division 5, 2019-present
- The Florida Bar, RPPTL, 2016-present
- Hillsborough County Bar Association, Construction Law Section, 2016-present
- Florida Transportation Builder's Association, 2014-present
Practices
Education
- Stetson University College of Law, Gulfport, FL, J.D., magna cum laude, 2016
- McGill University, Montreal, PQ, B.S., Civil Engineering, 1998
Admissions
- Florida Bar
- Board certified, construction law, 2022
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 2016
