Deborah S. Griffin

• Boston University Law Review
• Massachusetts Super Lawyers magazine
• OSHA 10-Hour Safety Program Certified
• American Bar Association’s Cornerstone Award, 2009
• Best Lawyers in America

Partner and Associate, Peabody & Arnold LLP, Boston, MA 28 years

Partner (and Senior Counsel), Holland & Knight LLP, Boston, MA 2002-2022

Undergraduate: Bryn Mawr College 1971  AB
Graduate:
Law School: Boston University School of Law 1974
JD
ABA Forum Cornerstone Award 2009

ABA Forum on Construction, American Arbitration Association Panel of Arbitrators, Assoicated General Contractors

Deborah S. Griffin is a Partner in the Construction Industry Practice Group at Holland and Knight and concentrates her practice in the area of construction, commercial litigation and bankruptcy. She regularly advises contractors, owners and sureties on construction contract, administration and claim matters and handles construction disputes from start to finish.

Ms. Griffin’s experience includes the representation of contractors, construction managers, owners, sureties, banks and bank regulators in loan and contract default situations, both before and during litigation or bankruptcy proceedings. She has helped draft a contract addendum for the use of building information modeling (BIM) on construction projects which has been published as ConsensusDOCS form 301.

Her practice includes: structuring project delivery methods and reviewing, structuring and negotiating construction, design and construction management contracts; advising clients on contract interpretation and contract and project administration for commercial, institutional, and public building projects and public works projects; claim avoidance counseling; public procurement laws and bid protests; construction industry labor and employment issues; OSHA and building code matters; change order management; project close-out management; assessment, preparation and defense of claims; litigation and arbitration of construction related disputes; contract default management and providing general business advice to construction industry clients.

Memberships

• Associated General Contractors of America
• American College of Construction Lawyers, Fellow, 1990-94; 2006-present
• Boston Bar Association
• National Construction Panel of Arbitrators for the American Arbitration Association
• American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, Chair 1990-91; Governing Committee 1986-91
• American Bar Association Fidelity & Surety Law Committee, Vice Chair 15 years
• United States Arbitration and Mediation Trained Mediator

Publications

• ConsensusDocs Bond Forms: More Choices/Less Cost, ConsensusDocs Construction Law Newsletter, August 2015
• Governor Signs Bill Regulating Retainage on Private Construction Projects, Holland & Knight Alert, August 12, 2014
• Criteria for Choosing Between ConsensusDOCS and AIA Bond Forms, Co-Author, Presented at PLI’s Building Better Construction Contracts Seminar, September 18, 2012
• 50-State Survey of State Retainage Statutes for Private Construction, Holland & Knight Alert, January 20, 2012
• OSHA’s Multi-Employer Worksite Liability Doctrine Upheld Yet Again, Holland & Knight Alert, January 18, 2012
• Legislative Hearing Set on Subcontractors’ Bill Regulating Retainage on Private Projects, Holland & Knight Alert, November 9, 2011
• Subcontractors in Massachusetts File Legislation Regulating Retainage on Private Projects, Holland & Knight Alert, April 4, 2011
• Massachusetts Extends Mechanic’s Lien Rights to Design Professionals: Effective July 1, 2011, Holland & Knight Alert, March 11, 2011
• OSHA Issues New Cranes and Derricks in Construction Rule Effective November 8, 2010, Holland & Knight Alert, November 9, 2010
• Massachusetts Adopts Landmark Subcontractor Payment Legislation, Holland & Knight Alert, August 12, 2010
• The Annotated Construction Law Glossary, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, August 2010
• Intersections of Bankruptcy and Construction: Treatment of Executory Construction Contracts and Mechanics’ Liens in Bankruptcy, Journal of the American College of Construction Lawyers, Summer 2010
• Chapter on Insurance and Bonding, Construction Law Casebook, American Bar Association, 2009
• Does Withholding Privileged Mediation Materials From Builder’s Risk Insurer Jeopardize Coverage?, Holland & Knight Newsletter, November 2006
• Potential Relief from Material Price Squeeze?, Holland & Knight Alert, June 28, 2004
• The Most Important Questions a Surety Can Ask About Bankruptcy, Second Edition, American Bar Association, January 2003
• Managing and Litigating the Complex Surety Case Program: Organizing and Controlling the Massive Document/Deposition Case, American Bar Association, Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of Tort and Insurance Practice Section, 1998
• Post-Termination Bankruptcy Considerations for the Defaulted Contractor, 17 Construction Lawyer, 1, January 1997
• Chapter, Bond Default Manual: Completion by the Owner, American Bar Association, 1995 and 2005
• Column entitled “Legal Angles” in quarterly magazine, National Association of Women in Construction, Boston Chapter 15, January 1994 – 1997
• Chapter, Payment Bonds, Construction Defaults, 1989
• Unfair Inducement of Surety to Issue Bonds: An Expansion of the Surety’s Salvage Option, 5 Construction Lawyer 1, Spring 1984
• General Contractor in Wonderland: Selected Problems in Reorganization Under the Bankruptcy Code, 4 Construction Lawyer, 1, Summer and Fall 1983

Speaking Engagements

• The New ConsensusDocs BIM Addendum – How BIM has Evolved, ABA Forum on Construction Law Program, November 19, 2015
• Changes the Construction Industry Would Like to See the American Institute of Architects Make to its Standard Form of General Conditions of Contract (A201) When it is Revised in 2017, Annual Meeting of the American College of Construction Lawyers, February 20, 2015
• Firm Foundations: Insurance Coverage for Construction Technology Risks – Is Your Client Covered?, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry 2014 Midwinter Meeting, January 30-31, 2014
• AGC Conference on Surety Bonding and Construction Risk Management, Unruffling the Feathers: Recent Experience with the Surety Bond Claim Process, Including Practical Recommendations for Improving It, and What Happens When the Subcontractor Declares Bankruptcy, February 4-6, 2013
• Managing Risk through Insurance Bonding: New Developments, PLI’s Building Better Construction Contracts Seminar, September 18, 2012
• Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts Course, BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk Allocation in Construction, 2012
• BIM Contract Negotiation and Risk Allocation, AGC Construction SuperConference, December 14, 2011
• Performance Bonds, ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, September 22, 2011
• Meeting at the Crossroads: What Business Lawyers Need to Know About the Intersection of Finance, Real Estate and Bankruptcy Law, ABA Business Law Section Spring Meeting, Boston, MA, April 14, 2011
• Landmark Massachusetts Construction Payment Legislation Breakfast Briefing, September 17, 2010
• Intersections of Bankruptcy and Construction: Not Your Average Overview, American College of Construction Lawyers Annual Meeting, February 2010
• Which Bond Form is Right for Me?, American Bar Association Continuing Legal Education Teleconference, November 11, 2009
• Fundamentals of Construction Law: Learn the Basics from the Pros, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, November 5, 2009
• Getting Paid in Construction – Strategies and Tactics, Speaker, Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts, October 2, 2008
• Criteria for Choosing Between Consensus Docs and AIA Bond Forms, Speaker, American Bar Association, September 2008
• Builders, Construction Contractors and Developers in Bankruptcy: Keeping the Work Going and the Payments Flowing, ABA Tips Teleconference, February 20, 2008
• Builders, Contractors and Developers in Bankruptcy: Keeping the Work Going and the Payments Flowing, Panelist, Sponsored by Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association, February 2008
• Comparison of ConsensusDOCS and AIA Bond Forms, American College of Construction Lawyers, February 2008
• Program on ConsensusDOCS and A201, Speaker, Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts, February 2008
• Enforcement of the Collateral Security Provisions in the General Indemnity Agreement: Tactics and Procedures, ABA, San Francisco, January 2007
• Massachusetts Building Code, Lorman Seminar, Fall 2005
• Managing the Contract Bond Default, ABA, Baltimore and San Antonio, 2005
• Twenty-Five Years Under the Bankruptcy Code: Sureties’ Lessons in Coping Survival and Success, ABA, New York, January 2003
• Surety Claim Workshop, Program Co-Chair, ABA, Hilton Head, May 1999
• Massachusetts Mechanics Lien and Bond Law, Lorman Seminar, Spring 1999-2002
• Managing and Litigating the Complex Surety Case Program: Organizing and Controlling the Massive Document/Deposition Case, ABA, San Diego and Philadelphia, 1998 and 2000
• Termination Program: “Post-Termination Bankruptcy Considerations for the Defaulted Contractor”, ABA, New York, October 1996
• Bond Default Program: “Completion by the Owner”, ABA, New York, Chicago, Atlanta and Los Angeles, 1995-97
• Dispute Resolution Alternatives in Construction, National Association of Women in Construction, June 1993
• Program on Construction Financing, Co-Chair , ABA, New York, January 1993
• Subdivision Bonds, New England Bond Claims Association, October 1992
• Construction Surety’s Exposure to Bankruptcy Preference Liability, New England Bond Claims Association, June 1991
• Documenting and Presenting Construction Claims, National Association of Women in Construction, September 1990
• Program on Problems Relating to Bankruptcy Problems in the Construction Field, Chair , ABA, New York, January 1989
• Teaching Massachusetts State Court Judges Rules of Damages in Construction Litigation, Mock Trial Demonstration, Flaschner Institute, 1988-89
• Bankruptcy Code and the Construction Industry, ABA, New York, January 1983

• U.S. District Court for Massachusetts
• U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
• U.S. Appeals Court, First Circuit
• All State Courts in Massachusetts
• All State Courts in New York
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit