Stanley B. Edelstein (vCard)

Stanley B. Edelstein is a member of Jacoby Donner, P.C., with a practice concentrated in the areas of construction litigation and construction law, business and real estate litigation and employment law. He also serves as a mediator of construction and employment disputes.

Mr. Edelstein is a member of the Forum Committee on the Construction Industry and the Litigation, Labor and Employment, and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections of the American Bar Association, and has served as chair of the State Civil Judicial Procedures Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He is also a member of that association's Federal Courts Committee, Construction Law Committee, and Real Property Section.

Mr. Edelstein earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from Carnegie-Mellon University, and his J.D. from George Washington University's National Law Center, where he graduated with honors and served on the George Washington Law Review. Immediately after law school, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Joseph F. Weis, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In 1993, Mr. Edelstein became one of the first attorneys in Philadelphia to complete the intensive course in Construction Mediation sponsored jointly by the American Bar Association's Forum Committee on the Construction Industry and the Atlanta Regional Office of the American Arbitration Association.

In 2010, Mr. Edelstein was certified as a Green Advantage® Practitioner. Green Advantage is the longest standing green certification for builders and building related practitioners.

Detailed Resumé

Education

• The George Washington University National Law Center Washington, D.C.
  J.D., with Honors - 1977
  George Washington Law Review (1975-77)
• Carnegie-Mellon University Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  B.S. in Economics - 1974

• Jacoby Donner, P.C.
  Shareholder, 1984-Present
  Associate, 1981-1984
• Wolf, Block, Schorr & Solis-Cohen
  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  Associate, 1978-1981
  Associate in litigation department of large law firm, with primary experience in complex commercial litigation, antitrust and construction litigation.
• Law Clerk to the Honorable Joseph F. Weis, Jr. United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 1977-78

• Philadelphia Bar Association
  State Civil Committee, Chair (1993)
  Motion Court Subcommittee, Chair (1987-1992)
  Federal Courts Committee
  Construction Law Committee
  Real Property Section
  ADR Committee
• American Bar Association
  Forum Committee on the Construction Industry Litigation Section
  Construction Litigation Committee
  Section of Employment and Labor Law
  Section on Dispute Resolution
• Judge Pro Tempore
  Commerce Program, Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County

Representative Cases

Construction

• Representation of construction manager in dispute over sufficiency of performance of exterior wall panel subcontractor on two projects. After 25 days of hearing, arbitration panel found against subcontractor on its seven million dollar claim, and awarded construction manager $1.58 million on its counterclaim. Representation also involved proceedings in state court in Alabama and federal court in Philadelphia on arbitrabilty issues, as well as proceedings to defeat subcontractor's motion to vacate arbitration award, and successful confirmation of arbitration award in its entirety.
• Representation of mechanical and electrical prime contractors asserting impact claims for acceleration and delay against a county arising out of construction of a prison facility. At the conclusion of 64 days of arbitration hearings, arbitrators awarded damages in favor of contractors in an amount sufficiently high to require the County to float a bond issue to pay the award.
• Representation of general contractor handling numerous issues involving construction of a mental health crisis stabilization center in Florida. Representation included persuading owner's Board of Trustees of Center to rescind what had been an attempt by the Architect to improperly terminate Contractor, and representation in subsequent litigation involving claims for extra work and delay damages, leading to favorable settlement for Contractor.
• Defense of general contractor against claim by joint venture alleging that general contractor had breached an oral agreement to award a subcontract to the joint venture for work on what at the time, was one of the largest public works projects in the City of Philadelphia. After five days of trial, negotiated settlement of joint venture's claim (which had been for an amount in excess of $1,000,000) for payment by general contractor of $45,000.
• Representation of mechanical contractor in multifaceted, multi-jurisdictional litigation involving construction of research facility for pharmaceutical company. Although lawsuit commenced with claim against a single defendant for constructive acceleration and failure to pay for extra work, case eventually involved seven parties in parallel actions in federal and state courts based on owner's counterclaim for alleged design deficiencies and installation deficiencies. Litigation resolved with settlement in excess of $900,000 paid to client.
• Representation of general contractor in arbitration prosecuting client's claims for final payment and defending against owner's claims of defective workmanship. Project at issue was a truck maintenance facility, and primary deficiency alleged by owner involved sinking conditions of access roadways and parking lot under weight of trucks. Contractor's defense was it had built according to design furnished by owner's design professionals. After six days of hearing, panel denied owner's claim and awarded contractor payment in full, plus interest.
• Representation of general contractor for work at Philadelphia International Airport defending claim in which subcontractor alleged contractor had settled a claim with Owner for extra work for an insufficient amount. After four and one-half days of trial and submission of post-trial briefs, court entered judgment in favor of client.
• Representation of electrical subcontractor prosecuting claim against construction manager for acceleration and extra work on project involving phased renovation and new construction for hospital. Successfully settled for an amount more than $100,000 in excess of amount settlement judge advised was the highest amount that construction manager would pay.
• Representation of sheet metal subcontractor on large office tower complex project where Owner ran out of funds. Structured satisfactory settlement for client, which resulted in immediate payment and avoided entanglement in protracted litigation with numerous other parties.
• Represented owner at trial and on appeal in case of first impression involving service of mechanic's lien claim, and won order vacating lien against client's property.
• Over a four-year period represented mechanical contractor on large, multiphase project involving construction of new hospital building and renovation of existing hospital buildings where client incurred significant extra costs because of deficiencies in design documents and lack of coordination of other contractors. Representation included establishing and monitoring record-keeping system to capture information needed to prosecute claim, preparation of claim and federal court Complaint and negotiation of favorable settlement. Lawsuit was filed on day contractor removed job trailer, and case was settled within eight weeks.
• Representation of general contractor for construction of palace in Saudi Arabia defending against action by terminated supplier in the United States. After trial court dismissed subcontractor's claims, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed dismissal and issued what, for several years, was the leading case in the Third Circuit regarding discovery sanctions.
• Representation of contractor for water treatment plant in connection with allegations by municipal water authority concerning pump failures. Reached favorable settlement after a two-day mediation.
• Representation of architect in nineteen-party case brought by condominium association alleging defects in design and construction. Settlement for architect was significantly less than contributions by construction and permanent lenders, which had taken over construction from developer.
• Representation of general contractor in seven-party case involving allegations by owner of parking garage that parking decks had been constructed with defective concrete.
• Representation of ductwork contractor in obtaining dismissal of federal court action alleging interference with contract and related claims on multi-prime school construction.
• Representation of general construction contractor in dispute involving roof over large high school building. After sixty-nine depositions case was settled for approximately one million dollars, involving a payment by client towards settlement of only $5,000.
• Representation of Developer of condominium complex successfully defeating injunction actions by terminated contractor.
• Numerous filings of mechanic's liens and construction lien claims.
• Numerous prosecutions and defenses of bid protests involving public construction at municipal, state and federal level.
• Representation of construction manager in claims arising out of construction of manufacturing facility. Construction manager alleged that owner improperly withheld approximately $950,000 for "deficiencies" which were either nonexistent or grossly exaggerated. There were three major phases of representation. The first phase involved negotiation of release of payment by owner to resolve numerous construction lien claims that had resulted from owner's withholding of payment. The second phase included a mediation in which the parties negotiated a settlement of the largest component of claimed deficiencies, which resulted in a framework under which corrective work was performed subject to review by parties' designated experts. The final stage involved arbitration of various issues involving contractor's claim for early completion bonus and owner's claim for late completion. After seven days of arbitration, arbitrators rendered award in favor of client, including denial of owner's late completion claim and award of early completion bonus to client.

• Successful defense of manufacturer against lawsuit alleging misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition and tortuous interference with contract. Defeated motion by plaintiff-competitor for preliminary injunction which would have effectively closed client's business, and after initial discovery, settled claim for monetary damages for payment of nominal amount.
• Representation owner of 240 acre parcel in suburban Philadelphia in action by defaulted purchaser to compel specific performance. Successfully defeated purchaser's claims at trial and appellate levels, through denial of allocatur by Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
• Successfully prosecuted preliminary injunction action requiring software vendor to provide source code to institutional customer after vendor was unable to properly implement specially designed software.
• Defense of contractor in lawsuit by competitor alleging violation of Lanham Act by misappropriation of trade name and logo, and misappropriation of confidential customer information.
• Successfully represented contractor's association in obtaining dismissal of lawsuit by another contractor's association alleging "diversion" of approximately $900,000 in employer contributions. Obtained dismissal at trial level, and obtained affirmance on appeal.
• Representation of shareholder of professional practice in dispute concerning transfer of that practice, involving action in equity, mediation and settlement.
• Represented action of landlord defending against claim by commercial tenant concerning rent overcharges for office space; after several depositions, client voluntarily dismissed lawsuit.
• Representations of buyers and sellers in various actions involving breaches of contracts to sell goods and real estate.

• Counseling of numerous contractors and subcontractors concerning establishment and proper implementation of reserved gates in response to secondary picketing on construction jobsites.
• Numerous representations of contractors and subcontractors in obtaining injunctions against mass picketing involving construction jobsites.
• Numerous representations of clients in the construction industry involving counseling on and dealing with OSHA inspections and in handling OSHA citations, involving "informal" conferences and, where necessary, handling contested proceedings.
• Representation of mechanical contractor in contested OSHA matter in which Secretary of Labor alleged seven Serious Violations and four Willful Violations with proposed penalties totaling $168,000. After trial, Administrative Law Judge held that none of the violations were Willful, vacated several of the Serious Violations and reduced penalties to approximately $13,000.
• Representation of contractor in OSHA proceeding defense of alleged Willful Violation resulting from fatal trench cave in. Negotiated reduction to Serious Violation and reduced penalty.
• Representation of various contractors' associations as Intervenors in proceedings commenced by the State Building Trades Council of the Pennsylvania AFL-CIO. Successfully challenging modifications by Secretary of Labor of mechanism for determining prevailing wages under Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Law. Proceedings included two en banc hearings before the Commonwealth Court, and nine days of hearings before the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Appeals Board and a hearing officer for that Board.
• Representation of contractor in NLRB action pursuant to Section 10(k) of the National Labor Relations Act arising out of jurisdictional dispute.
• Representation of contractors in numerous NLRB actions under Section 10(j) of National Labor Relations Act where pickets refused to honor reserved gates.
• Representation of employer in action by terminated corporate officer alleging age discrimination. Successfully resolved at mediation.
• Representation of multi-employer pension fund in several lawsuits alleging improper denial of benefits based on application of "break-in service" rules.
• Representation of multi-employer pension fund defending against ERISA claim by participant after Trustees refused to grant a disability pension to participant. Successfully prepared and prosecuted motion for summary judgment, resulting in dismissal of participant's lawsuit.
• Representation of apprenticeship training program in defense of investigation by Equal Employment Opportunity Commission concerning alleged disparate impact of apprentice selection procedures.
• Representation of employers in numerous proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and various state and municipal EEO agencies.
• Representation of various employers in connection with audits by Office of Federal Contract Compliance Policies.
• Regular and ongoing counseling of employers regarding compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, Family Medical Leave Act and Title VII.

• Representation of former asbestos distributor in action against insurance carrier seeking payment into settlement fund of all available insurance. Negotiated settlement resulting in payment by carrier of approximately 92% of available coverage, a result which would not be obtainable today given subsequent appellate court rulings.
• Representation of contractors' association in obtaining declaratory judgment from Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, sitting en banc, that Pennsylvania's Education Empowerment Act does not allow Secretary of Education to waive the requirements of Pennsylvania statutory requirements of multiple prime contracts for public construction work.
• Representation of Design Engineer on redecking project of a major suspension bridge in wrongful death action by construction worker. Obtained summary judgment dismissing engineer from case.
• Representation of contractors' association challenging use by SEPTA of design/build procurement in manner which would violate Pennsylvania's public contracting requirements concerning issuance of multi-prime contracts. Obtained ruling from and en banc panel of the Commonwealth Court ruling that design build was in violation of those requirements, and requiring SEPTA to seek bids for multi-prime contracts.
• Defense of various actions involving property damage, personal injury and wrongful death where client is either uninsured or where claims are below a self-insured retention of the client.

Publications

Seminars/Speaking Engagements

A First Look at the New AIA Documents and Consensus Documents
CFMA
Speaker (New Jersey, March 2008)

The 2007 Revisions to the AIA Contract Forms -- A Further Look
Jacoby Donner Breakfast Briefing conducted jointly with the construction insurance specialists of The Graham Company
Speaker, with B. Christopher Lee (Philadelphia, February 28, 2008)

A First Look at the New AIA Documents and Consensus Documents
November Full Membership Meeting of the Building Contractors Association of South Jersey
Speaker (New Jersey, November 2007)

Mechanics' Liens in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Pittsburgh
Speaker (Pittsburgh, November 1, 2007) and (Philadelphia, November 8, 2007 with a live video conference to Mechanicsburg)

Avoiding Lawyers - Ten tips for reducing legal entanglements on construction projects... What you can do now!"
Jacoby Donner Breakfast Briefing
Speaker (Philadelphia, September 2006)

Pennsylvania Mechanics' Liens
Pennsylvania Bar Institute
Speaker (Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, 2001 and 2005, 2006, 2007)

Pennsylvania Construction Law Start to Finish–Creative Strategies for Project Completion and Litigation Avoidance
Lorman Education Services
Course Planner and Speaker (Philadelphia, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004)

The Americans with Disabilities Act
Lorman Education Services
Speaker (Philadelphia, 2002)

Public Construction Contracting in Pennsylvania
Lorman Education Services
Course Planner and Speaker (Philadelphia, 1998 and 1999)

The 1997 Revisions to the Standard Forms of the American Institute of Architects
Construction Financial Management Association, Philadelphia Chapter
Speaker (Philadelphia, 1998)

Pennsylvania Construction Law: What Do You Do When?
National Business Institute, Inc.
Course Planner and Speaker (Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Allentown, 1996)

Mediation of Construction Disputes
Construction Financial Management Association, Philadelphia Chapter
Panel Member (Philadelphia, 1995)

Ethical Quandaries Facing the Trial Lawyer Some Nuts-and-Bolts Guidance for Some Real World Situations
Plenary Session, Philadelphia Bar Association Annual Conference and Exposition
Course Planner and Panel Moderator (Washington, D.C., 1992)

Extraordinary Collection Remedies in the Construction Industry as part of seminar entitled "Extraordinary Collection Remedies in Pennsylvania"
National Business Institute, Inc.
Speaker (Philadelphia, 1991)

How to Survive a Federal Compliance Audit
Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania
(Philadelphia, 1989)

Critical Subcontract Clauses
Mechanical Contractors Association of Eastern Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, 1984)

Avoiding Legal Entanglements
George Washington University Alumni, Philadelphia Chapter (Philadelphia, 1982)

Remedies for Nonpayment in the Construction Industry
Philadelphia Bar Association, Real Property Section (Philadelphia, 1982)

Various custom-tailored presentations to clients' staff involving administration of construction contracts and minimizing potential for litigation on construction projects.

Publications

The Legal Intelligencer – "Pennsylvania Supreme Court Allows Action for Negligent Misrepresentation by Contractor Against Design Professional" (April 2005)

Stanley B. Edelstein contributed to the January 2005 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of contract documents.

Stanley B. Edelstein contributed to the September 2004 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of requests for change orders relating to price increases for materials during the course of a construction project.

Stanley B. Edelstein contributed to the April 2004 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of project risk analysis and how experienced construction counsel can help.

The Legal Intelligencer – "Superior Court Enforces Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing in Contract Implementation" (November 2003)

Stanley B. Edelstein contributed to the November 2003 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of chief causes of construction disputes.

Stanley B. Edelstein contributed to the June 2003 edition of The Philadelphia Business Journal on the topic of standard construction form contracts.

The Enforceability of "No Damages for Delay" Clauses in Pennsylvania, Fifty State Monograph on the Enforceability of "No Damages for Delay Clauses," American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Committee on Construction Litigation (1998)

The Legal Intelligencer – "The New Pennsylvania Contractor and Subcontractor Payment Act" (May 1994)

Beyond Liens and Bond Claims–Some Non-Statutory Remedies for Non-Payment to Subcontractors. Shepard's/McGraw-Hill Construction Litigation Reporter (August 1987)