Robert J MacPherson

Practice Areas

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Construction Law

Career

Robbie MacPherson has been practicing construction law exclusively since 1981 and is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Forum on Construction Law. Robbie acts as construction contract and disputes counsel for contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and owners involved in building and heavy civil construction for public and private work. In addition to his practice counseling clients in construction matters, Robbie regularly serves as an arbitrator and mediator of construction disputes. He is a pro bono mediator for the Southern District of New York and the Supreme Court of New York, New York County and was a pro bono mediator for the Tinton Falls NJ Municipal Court. Robbie is on the Boards of Building For Good (Building for Good (building4good.org)) ACE Mentor (ACE Mentor Program of America :: Home) and the Building Board of Directors of the AGC of New York State (AGC NYS – Associated General Contractors of New York State LLC). Robbie taught ADR and Construction Law at Rutgers Law School between 1998 and 2018.

Professional Memberships

- American Arbitration Association: Arbitrator and Mediator Panel for Construction; Member Construction Mega Project Panel

- American College of Construction Lawyers – Board of Governors 2017-2020

- American Bar Association: Forum on Construction Law-Leadership 2000-2010-Officer 2007-2010

- New Jersey State Bar Association: Dispute Resolution Section- Chair 1994-95; Construction and Public Contract Law Section

- Hon. Marie L. Garabaldi ADR Inn of Court-Original Member 1998-2005

- Appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to the Supreme Court Committee on Complementary Dispute Resolution, 2013-2015; 1994-1996

- Associated General Contractors of New York State- Building Board of Directors

- Associated General Contractors of America-Contract Documents Committee

- Former member, New York City Procurement Policy Board Advisory Council

- Member of the Construction Cost Reduction Team appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg to study and report on New York City’s capital construction program. The report was delivered in July 2008

Publications

Books

- Sticks and Bricks, A Practical Guide to Construction Technology

ABA Publishing

Editor with Christopher C. Whitney and James Duffy O’Connor

2001

- New York Construction Law Manual

West Publishing

Author with members of Postner & Rubin

1998

- 50 State Public Construction Law Source Book- Chapter author

CCH Incorporated

2002

- Partnering in Design and Construction – Alternative Dispute Resolution as a Partnering Tool

McGraw Hill

Chapter author

1996

Articles

- Still Spearin After All These Years

With Buckner Hinkle, JR., James F. Nagel

American College of Construction Lawyers Journal-Winter 2018

- Everybody’s Talking About Design-Assist, the New Kid in Town

New Jersey Law Journal

With Robert C. Brady

April 22, 2019

- Consider the Role of E-Discovery in Preparing for Arbitration

New Jersey Law Journal

With Robert C. Brady Liana R. Abreu

March 20, 2017

- Missed the Starting Gun? Application of the Statute of Repose in Construction and Defective Product Cases

Gibbons Law Alert

With Lisa Lombardo

June 3, 2015

- Drafters Take Note and Consider Revising Arbitration Clause in AIA A201

Under Construction, the Newsletter of the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry

With Calvin K. May

January 2015

- So Far Away from Home, It’s No Longer an American Tune: Fee Shifting in Construction Disputes

JAMS Global Construction Solutions

Fall 2012

- Contract Provisions – Who Reads Them Anyway

ABA Forum on the Construction Industry

With Melissa Beutler, Patrick A. Genzler

April 1, 2012

- Shaking the Arbitration Blues

New Jersey Law Journal

March 28, 2011

- Mandatory Arbitration in Construction Payment Disputes

New York Law Journal

With Neal M. Eiseman

April 20, 2010

- Carefully Drafted Indemnification Clauses Provide Significant Protections to Construction Contract Parties

New Jersey Law Journal

With Damian V. Santomauro

March 22, 2010

- Off the Clock

New Orleans CityBusiness

By: Robert J. MacPherson

May 11, 2009

Periodicals

Interview

- Still Spearin After All of These Years

Construction Law Today Podcast

July 10, 2019