Walter J. Sears III

He is a member and past Chairman of Bradley Arant’s Construction and Procurement Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. He has represented general contractors, subcontractors, owners, suppliers, engineers, architects, and sureties in Alabama, throughout the United States, and internationally. He has trial, arbitration, and mediation experience in construction disputes, bid protests, and complex commercial products and construction defects claims.

• Member, American College of Construction Lawyers
• Member, Birmingham Bar Association (past member, Increased Minority Participation Committee; past section chairman, Grievance Committee; past chairman, Ad Hoc Committee to Form Colleagues Program)
• Alabama State Bar (member, Task Force to Study Creation of International Law Section)
• Member, American Bar Association (Member, Forum Committee on the Construction Industry, and Sections of Litigation and Tort and Insurance Practice)

Honors and Awards

• The Best Lawyers in America
• The BTI Client Service All-Star Team (select group of attorneys nationwide cited by clients from Fortune 1000 companies for consistently providing outstanding client service)

• Contributing author: Design-Build Handbook (Wiley, 1992)
• Contributing author: Fifty-State Construction Lien and Bond Law (Wiley, 1992)
• Co-editor and contributing author: Fifty-State Public Construction Contracting (Wiley, 1996)
• “Terminix: Supreme Court Decision Reaffirms The Scope of the Federal Arbitration Act,” Dispute Resolution Journal, American Arbitration Association, 1995

Speeches, Panel Discussions, Seminars

• • “Preparing Your Case for Trial,” Construction Contract Litigation Seminar of the Florida Bar, 1994

• Co-author, “Pursuing Insurance Coverage of Construction Disputes – or – How To Avoid Malpractice Claims,” Construction Litigation Superconference, 1992, 1994
• Can Design-Build Really Work in State Public Procurement? The Construction Superconference, 2001
• Construction Defects – What’s an Owner to Do? The Construction Superconference, 2003;
• When is the Project Really Over? The Second Global Project Superconference, 2003
• Construction Management: Can Anyone Really Manage Construction? The Construction Superconference, 2005
• LNG Facilities – Challenges and Opportunities for the Owner and the Contractor in the International Market, The International Construction Superconference, 2005, 2006
• Liens and Bonds in Alabama Construction Projects, Lorman Education Services, Inc. 1994, 1996
• Construction Contracting for Public Entities in Alabama, Lorman Education Services, Inc., 2000; Construction Management/Design-Build in Alabama, Lorman Education Services, Inc. 2003, 2004
• AIA Contracts in Alabama, Lorman Education Services, Inc. (2004)
• “Risk Management in Design Build,” Handling Construction Risks: Allocate Now or Litigate Later (Practicing Law Institute, 1999, 2000)

• Alabama, 1976
• Northern District of Alabama, 1976
• Southern District of Alabama, 1976
• Middle District of Alabama, 1987
• 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1981
• 3d Circuit Court of Appeals, 1983
• 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1983
• 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1999
• Supreme Court of the United States, 1988

• Past President of the Board, St. Paul’s Parochial School
• Past Board Member, Alabama School of Fine Arts
• Adjunct Professor, University of Alabama Law School (teaches: Construction Law)