Henry J. Donner (vCard)

Henry J. Donner is the Chairman of Jacoby Donner, P.C. He concentrates his practice in construction law, construction and commercial litigation, and multi-employer benefit funds.

Mr. Donner served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association and as Chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Real Property Section. He is a member of the Forum Committee on the Construction Industry of the American Bar Association (ABA). Active throughout his legal career, he has also served as member and officer of the Executive Committee of the Young Lawyers Section, the Executive Committee of the Real Property Section and has chaired the Construction Law Committee of the Real Property Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Mr. Donner is profiled in the current edition of Who's Who in American Law and is a frequent author and lecturer on construction law matters. Since 2004, He has been honored as one of Pennsylvania's Super Lawyers – considered among the best in their profession having been selected by their peers in an extensive nomination and polling (36,000 ballots) process. At the request of West Publishing Company, he authored its publication West's Legal Forms, Specialized Forms, Volume 27, Chapter 8 (Building Agreements). He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from American University, and his J.D. from Villanova Law School.

In addition to serving as counsel to numerous owners, developers, architects, contractors and subcontractors in the commercial and industrial construction industries, he has also served as counsel to their trade associations, participated in collective bargaining, and served as co-counsel to multi-employer collectively bargained pension, annuity, health, apprentice training and vacation funds, the aggregate value of which exceeds one billion dollars.

AV® Peer Review Rated "CV, BV and AV are registered certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies."

Detailed Resumé

Career History

• Jacoby Donner, P.C. (1974- present)
  Partner/Member, since 1974; Chairman, since 1982
• Dilworth, Paxson, Kalish & Levy (1969-1973)
  Associate in commercial and real estate transactions (1973)
  Associate in civil litigation (1969-1972)
• U.S. Senator Joseph S. Clark (1965-1968)
  Part-time staff aide while attending college and law school

• Villanova Law School 1969, Villanova, PA; J.D.
• American University 1964-1966, Washington, D.C.; B.A. Government
• Dickinson College 1962-1964; Carlisle, PA

• American Bar Association (Forum Committee on the Construction Industry)
• Philadelphia Bar Association (Former Chair of Construction Law Committee; Former Chair of Real Property Section; Former Member of Board of Governors)
• General Building Contractors Association (Affiliate Member)
• Construction Financial Management Association, Philadelphia Chapter (Board Member 1990-1993)
• Lecturer, National Home Builders Association, Penn State University, 1989-1990

• Selected as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer since 2004 as a result of balloting by more than 36,000 attorneys across Pennsylvania. Those attorneys were asked to vote for the best lawyers they had personally observed in action, and he was selected as one of the best construction lawyers in the Commonwealth.
• Who's Who in American Law, 1992 to present

• Member, School Committee, Germantown Friends School
  1993 to present; Assistant Clerk, 2000 to 2004
• Former Member, Board of Directors, Germantown Jewish Centre
  1989-1991

Publications

Treatise

"Building Agreements." West's Legal Forms, Specialized Forms, Volume 27, Chapter 8, West Publishing Co., 1998 (Revised 2000, 2002 and 2004).

Publications

Editor, Practice Development Institute Construction Law Briefing

Editor, Lawyers Associated Worldwide Newsletter, 2004-2006

Henry J. Donner contributed to the August 2004 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of the importance of having an owner's representative.

Henry J. Donner contributed to the March 2004 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of the role of a construction manager on a construction project.

Henry J. Donner contributed to the October 2003 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of recovery of interest and legal fees in construction claims.

Henry J. Donner contributed to the May 2003 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of bonds for construction projects.

Henry J. Donner and Elise E. Walthall co-authored an article entitled "Pension Plans: Regulatory Environment" which has been published by the Internation Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in the book entitled Employee Benefit Issues - The Multiemployer Perspective (2000 Volume Forty-Two).

"Limited Liability Companies - An Alternative to Joint Ventures."Building Profits, a publication of Construction Financial Management Association, November/December 1995.

"Lending Institution Liability to Contractors After Foreclosure on a Construction Loan."The Philadelphia Real Estate Lawyer, a publication of the Real Property Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, April 1991.

"Third Circuit Limits Construction Arbitration Rights." The Construction Lawyer, a publication of the Forum Committee in the Construction Industry, April 1987.

Seminars/ Speaking Engagements

Addressed the Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania in November 2008 about the Pension Protection Act and Employer Liability for Collectively Bargained Pension Plans.

Addressed the Sheet Metal Contractors Association of America at the 32nd Annual Pennsylvania State Convention, June 2004.  He spoke about due diligence and measures to assure payment prior to undertaking work as well as the remedies available to contractors and subcontractors under the Pennsylvania Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act.

"Refresher on Pension Plans - Regulatory Environment" before the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans at its Annual Conference conducted in Hawaii in November 2000.

Addressed the Board of Trustees of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation on the establishment of a Planned Giving Program, February 2000.

Addressed the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), Delaware Valley Chapter, on Means of Methods to Assure Prompt Payment, February 2000.

"How to Get the Money" and "How Not to Pay the Money" before the Third Annual Real Estate Institute Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. December 1999.

"Design-Build Pitfalls" before a joint meeting of the Delaware Valley Chapters of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc., May 1999.

"Killer Clauses in Service Agreements" before the Mechanical Service Contractors of America, September 1998.

"Identifying and Quantifying Delay and Disruption Impacts on the Progress of Construction" before the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, August 1998.

"Employment Contracts and Legal Issues for Association Executives" Delaware Valley Society of Association Executives, November 1997.

"Getting Paid--Pre-Construction Due Diligence" Construction Financial Management Association, Philadelphia Chapter, October 1996.

• Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania
• Servicing Contractors Association of Delaware Valley, Inc.
• Delaware Valley Health Care Coalition

• Delaware Valley Insulation and Abatement Contractors Association