Lecturer Bios
Ken Cobleigh, Esq.
Ken Cobleigh is a Managing Director and Counsel at the American Institute of Architects. Ken works with a team of lawyers, specialists and support staff, and the AIA Documents Committee, in developing and publishing AIA Contract Documents. Ken also manages the AIA’s risk management program. Ken regularly conducts seminars and workshops, on topics related to design and construction, as well as topics related to the AIA Contract Documents program, and is the author of several articles and other publications on such topics.
Ken is a graduate of the University of Maryland, where he earned both his B.A. and J.D. with honors. Prior to joining the AIA in 2006, Ken practiced for eighteen years as a construction attorney in private practice Maryland law firms. During that time, he represented owners, contractors, subcontractors and design professionals in a number of dispute resolution forums, including State and Federal Courts and administrative agencies, mediation and arbitration. Ken is admitted in state and federal courts in the State of Maryland.
Michael V. Pepe, Esq.
Michael Pepe brings extensive experience representing construction industry professionals to SDV. Prior to joining SDV in February of 2014, he represented general contractors, subcontractors, architects and homeowners in contract disputes, construction defect claims, and surety bond claims. He now focuses his practice on complex insurance coverage issues on behalf of policyholders, and has advocated for his clients at trial, on appeal, and in ADR settings.
Michael routinely handles issues dealing with commercial liability, builders’ risk, additional insured claims, indemnity, and the duty to defend. He also has experience with franchise and distribution issues, and is familiar with related insurance coverage issues. Michael serves as a Content Editor for substantive content produced by SDV attorneys.
He is a five-time contributing author and panelist for the CBA Construction Law Section Annual Update, Arbitration and CUTPA sections.
James M. Doerfler, Esq.
Since joining Reed Smith, Jim has developed a diverse practice involving a broad range of commercial, industrial and energy-related litigation and transactional matters. His practice regularly involves all aspects of project counsel work for private and public commercial and industrial construction projects.
He regularly drafts and negotiates commercial owner-contractor, owner-construction manager and/or owner-architect agreement documents for his clients. His drafting role has included both custom-drafted agreements and adapted or modified versions of industry-standard construction contract forms, including the American Institute of Architects (AIA), ConsensusDOCs and the Engineer Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC) templates. His most recent large-scale transactional project counsel experience has involved a central role in the planning, drafting and negotiation of the program management, design-build construction and equipment supply agreements for a major new “greenfield” automotive manufacturing facility in the Southeastern United States for a European automotive manufacturer.
Jim has also been a presenter on the subject of public-private partnerships (P3) in Pennsylvania under its newly-enacted P3 transportation law and on public procurement compliance issues.
Representative litigation cases in the construction sector have involved construction payment, defect and/or delay claims regarding power plants, steel mills, pharmaceutical plants, wastewater treatment facilities, schools, courthouses and commercial office buildings.
