Mediator Resume

Herbert H. Gray, III, P.C. - Principal

Attorney - Construction Law and Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Real Estate Law and Litigation

Principal, Herbert H. Gray, III, P.C., 2024 - Present; Managing Partner/Partner, Ragsdale Beals Seigler Patterson & Gray LLP, 1999 - 2023; Partner/Associate, Varner Stephens Wingfield & Humphries, LLP, 1980 - 1999; Associate, Powell Goldstein Frazer & Murphy (now Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner), 1978 - 1980.

Construction Law and Litigation: Forty-plus years representing clients and dispute participants include architects, engineers, designers, project owners, construction and program managers, developers, insurers, public agencies, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and materialmen in new and renovated construction projects including public and private commercial, industrial, institutional, governmental and residential projects. Projects include apartments and condominiums, hospitals, office buildings, underground pipeline and utility construction, regional shopping malls, stadiums, public transit authority, schools and universities, dormitories, hotels, electrical generating and power plants, industrial plants and factories, airport, parking decks, automotive and food processing plants, financial institutions, road building, heavy and highway and bridge design and construction and prisons and jails. Experienced in disputes involving construction defects, design matters, all construction trades, project delays, acceleration and inefficiencies. Construction Insurance: General Liability and Professional Errors and Omission coverage and liability issues; OCIP and CCIP policies and coverage. Extensive experience in real estate matters, both from the litigation and business sides. Represented local and multi-state builders, developers, and lending institutions. Experienced in solar, wind, nuclear, hydropower and natural gas energy projects. Versed in various Project delivery systems including traditional, fast track, design/build, design/assist and EPC. Experienced in LEED/Green sustainable design and construction issues and disputes. Experienced with EPA, Georgia EPD and OSHA matters.

Served as a mediator in 500+ construction and general commercial disputes. Construction mediation experience has involved the resolution of disputes at all levels of the construction industry, between owners and general contractors, general contractors and subcontractors, design professionals and owners, and compound disputes involving all of these entities. General commercial mediation experience has involved real estate disputes, landlord-tenant issues, business breakups and dissolutions, acts of alleged conversion of assets, personal injury and run-of-the-mill contract and tort cases. Registered Mediator, Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution.

Typical issues in construction mediations concern delays in performance, scope of work issues, changes and changed work, default and termination issues and supplementation and completion claims, and insurance and insurance coverage. Commercial and real estate mediations have centered around trespass to realty as a result of surface-water retention and discharge, real property title disputes. Division of assets among partners following business breakups and dissolutions, defamation claims, franchisor/franchisee disputes. Personal injury experience in construction-related injuries and premises liability matters.

Mediation is an avenue to settlement at any stage of a dispute. Early mediation, even if unsuccessful to resolve all issues in a particular case, should be used to settle those issues that may be settled, and to frame those that remain between the parties. My role as a mediator is to facilitate settlement discussions; not merely to communicate offers. This requires taking an active role assisting the parties in the evaluation of their positions and cases. Having served as an AAA arbitrator for over 35 years, and having rendered awards in over 300 cases, I bring to mediation an experienced eye in predicting outcomes if no settlement is reached. That experience has proved valuable in helping parties and their counsel evaluate the "real-world" strengths and weaknesses of their positions. As a mediator I discreetly suggest alternative, hopefully creative, solutions that the parties may not raise, whether out of fear of losing a strategic advantage or out of an inability to see the forest for the trees. Examples are partial settlements; deferred or future in-kind compensation; alternate potential sources of recovery; and the like. It is important for a mediator to communicate, especially to parties and counsel with limited experience in litigation and arbitration, what will happen if mediation is unsuccessful. What are the alternatives to settlement, and are they palatable to the parties? As a mediator I try to adapt to the particular styles of the attorneys in advocating for their clients, taking advantage of counsel who have good rapport with each other by encouraging caucuses with counsel only, and minimizing contact between persons with conflicting personalities. A successful mediation is the result of the hard work of all involved, including counsel - who must come to the process well prepared to advise and assist clients in evaluation of settlement proposals.

Virtual Hearings (Zoom, Teams)

Emory University (J.D.); The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (A.B).

Admitted to the Bar: Georgia (1978); U.S. District Court: Northern, Middle and Southern Districts of Georgia; U.S. Court of Appeals: Fifth (1978), Eleventh (1980), and Federal (1984) Circuits; U.S. Court of Federal Claims (1984); U.S. Supreme Court (1982). Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution, Registered as a Mediator and Arbitrator.

American College of Construction Lawyers (Fellow); College of Commercial Arbitrators (Past President, Fellow, Member Board of Directors and Legislation and Judicial Education Committees); Georgia Arbitrators' Forum (Past President, Fellow); American College of Civil Trial Mediators (Fellow); Certified Mediator, International Mediation Institute; Georgia Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators (Fellow); National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (Fellow); Master Mediator Panel of Mediation.org/AAA (Member); State Bar of Georgia (Dispute Resolution Section, Past Chair, Executive Committee, Chair Webpage Committee; Construction Law Section); Atlanta Bar Association (Construction Law Section, Past Chair, Board of Directors; Dispute Resolution Section, Past Chair; Board of Directors); Member, Supreme Court of Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution; American Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section, Arbitration Committee; Forum Committee on Construction Industry); Member, Design Build Institute; Lawyers Club of Atlanta, Inc. (Past President, Past Executive Committee); Atlanta Lawyers Foundation (Past Chair, Past Trustee), Member, The Advocates Club, Ltd. (Vice-President, President-Elect)

Panel Member, “AAA National Panel of Construction Mediators Q and A”, State Bar of Georgia Construction Law and Dispute Resolution Sections, Webinar - June 2025; Lecturer, “Mock Arbitrations”, 35th Annual Conference of American College of Construction Lawyers, Carlsbad, CA - 2024; Lecturer, “Introduction to the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution and the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution”, Conflict Day Resolution Program, State Bar of Georgia Dispute Resolution Section, Atlanta, GA - 2023; Program Moderator and Lecturer, “The Mediator’s Candor in Evaluative Mediation” as part of “Advanced Ethical Considerations in Negotiations and Construction ADR - The Duty of Candor”, 34th Annual Conference American College of Construction Lawyers, Bonita Springs, FL - 2023; Moderator, “Arbitration Update”, 29th Annual Arbitration Institute and Neutrals’ Conference Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution and State Bar of Georgia Dispute Resolution Section, Atlanta, GA - 2022; Lecturer, “Professionalism in Arbitration" with L. Tyrone Holt, Esq., 28th Annual Arbitration Institute and Neutrals’ Conference, Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution and State Bar of Georgia Dispute Resolution Section, Atlanta, GA - 2021; Lecturer , “A Few Current Issues in Arbitration - 2020”, 27th Annual Dispute Resolution Institute and Neutrals’ Conference, Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution and State Bar of Georgia Dispute Resolution Section, Atlanta, GA - 2020; Lecturer, “Best Practices for Virtual Mediations and Arbitrations”, Atlanta Bar Association Construction Law and Dispute Resolution Sections, Atlanta, GA - 2020; Lecturer, “Mediation from Three Viewpoints”, Georgia State University School of Law, Atlanta, Ga - 2020, 2021; Lecturer, “Arbitration in Practice”, Mercer University School of Law, Macon, GA - 2019; Lecturer, “Courtroom vs. Hotel Conference Room - When to Use Mediation - Construction Law and Government Contracting”, The Seminar Group, Atlanta, GA - 2019; Lecturer, “I Know ‘Money Doesn’t Count’ and ‘You Want to Beat the Heck Out of 'Em’...But…Managing Client Expectations in Construction Arbitration”, ABA Spring DR Conference, Minneapolis, MN - 2019; Lecturer, “Handling the Complex Construction Dispute”. ABA Annual Spring DR Conference, Washington, DC - 2018; Lecturer, “Living the ADR Dream: Evolving Experiences in Alternative Dispute Resolution” with Thomas J. Stipanowich, Esq., 24th Annual ADR Institute and Neutrals’ Conference, Atlanta, GA - 2017; Lecturer, “An Insider’s View on Alternative Dispute Resolution from a Career Mediator and Arbitrator”, The Seminar Group, Atlanta, GA - 2017; Program Moderator and Lecturer, “Motion Practice in Arbitration”, Tenth Annual Arbitration Institute, Atlanta, GA - 2016; Lecturer, “Taylor Swift or The Rolling Stones? - The Changing ADR Landscape”, American Arbitration Association Construction Conference, Miami, FL - 2016; Lecturer, “ADR Hybrids: Why Clients Want More Than One Option”, 22nd Dispute Resolution Conference, Atlanta, GA - 2015; Lecturer, "Practical Arbitration", Institute for Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, Columbus, GA, 2013; Moderator, "Ten Things Lawyers Like/Hate about Mediators," Atlanta Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, Atlanta, GA, 2012; Moderator, "What Exactly Is Barbeque Anyway - A Mock Mediation for the Real Estate Practitioner," Atlanta Bar Association Dispute Resolution and Real Estate Sections, Atlanta, GA, 2012; Lecturer and Moderator, "Arbitration - What It Is and What It Ain't: Alternative Dispute Resolution." Georgia State Bar Dispute Resolution Section, Columbus, GA, Augusta, GA, 2011

No charge for expenses for travel within 100 miles of Atlanta, GA.

Hourly Rate: $750.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $750.00/hr Cancellation: Not provided Cancellation Period: Not provided Comment: No additional charges for more than two parties.

English

United States of America

Atlanta, Georgia