Jim Schenck is a native of North Carolina, raised in Greensboro and now living in Raleigh. He has been in private law practice continuously since 1982, when he graduated with degrees in law and government. The focus of his practice is state and local government construction projects. He has wide and varied experience as an advocate in the prosecution and defense of construction claims. The majority of his work involves dispute resolution, including negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation. Throughout his career he has also studied and counseled clients on project delivery systems and procurement. He routinely reviews contracts and insurance plans for contractors and owners. At the corporate level, he has assisted corporate and local government clients with business planning, budgeting, licensing and other types of state regulatory compliance.
EDUCATION
Mr. Schenck received his bachelor of arts degree in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1976. In 1978 he studied for and obtained a North Carolina real estate brokers license. Shortly afterwards, he enrolled in law school at UNC. In 1979, while still in law school, he enrolled in the Institute of Public Policy at Duke University. From then on he pursued degrees at both universities as a joint program. In 1982 he received his Juris Doctor from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Master of Arts in Public Policy from Duke University.
Since graduating from law school, Mr. Schenck has taken a forty-hour mediator training course from the American Arbitration Association to qualify as a North Carolina Superior Court mediator. He has received additional mediator training from the North Carolina Bar Association. His arbitrator training includes the AAA advanced arbitrator training to maintain a place on the AAA Construction Arbitrators Panel.
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
Beginning while he was still in graduate school, Mr. Schenck served as managing editor and later president of the National Institute of Construction Law, Inc. This company was formed to author and present seminars, treatises, articles and newsletters on construction law topics. He did editorial work for the company through the early 1980's, and remained as its president until he left to form Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC in 1999.
In 1983 he went to work for a start up law firm known as Foster Conner in Greensboro. A Raleigh office was opened that year. The firm later became known as Foster Conner Robson & Gumbiner, PA. He became a partner in that firm in 1987.
In 1988 Foster Conner Robson & Gumbiner merged with Patton, Boggs & Blow, a Washington, DC government affairs firm with aspirations to expand geographically and into new practice areas. The firm later changed its name to Patton Boggs, LLP. Mr. Schenck stayed with the firm as partner and Raleigh office managing attorney until he left to start Conner Gwyn Schenck PLLC in 1999.
COURT ADMISSIONS
Mr. Schenck has been admitted to the North Carolina State Bar continuously since 1982. He is admitted to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of North Carolina.
Like all of the attorneys at Conner Gwyn Schenck, Mr. Schenck has always been active in lawyer bar associations, particularly those for the construction law bar. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, where he serves on the Steering Committee for Division 4, Construction Management, Design Build and Related Concepts. From 1987 - 1990 he served as editor of the Change Order, the newsletter of the Construction Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. Then, in 1992, he served as chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Construction Law Section. He is a frequent contributing author and lecturer for the North Carolina Bar Foundation Continuing Legal Education programs. He is currently in a second term as Chair of the Communications Committee of the North Carolina Bar Association. Since 1994, when he moved to Raleigh full time, he has been a member of the Wake County Bar Association. In 1993 he served as a Director of the Greensboro Bar Association. From 1996 to the present Mr. Schenck has been a member of the Wake County Citizens Energy Advisory Commission, appointed by the Wake County Commissioners. He is certified as a Superior Court Mediator by the Dispute Resolution Commission of the State of North Carolina. He is also on the panel of construction mediators and the panel of construction arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association.
The following is a list of some of the books and articles that Mr. Schenck has authored or co-authored over the years. Please contact him if you are interested in receiving more information about any of these publications:
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Author, "Termination for Convenience", Construction Law Adviser, September 1986 |
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Author, "Impossibility, Impracticability and Frustration of Purpose", Construction Law Adviser, August 1985 |
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Author, "Contracts that Violate Law or Public Policy", Construction Law Adviser, July 1985 |
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Co-Author, Construction and Design Law (Michie Co., Charlottesville, Va.) |
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Co-Author, "North Carolina Construction Law Survey", 21 Wake Forest Law Review 633 (1986) |
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Co-Author, "North Carolina Construction Law Survey II", 22 Wake Forest Law Review 481 (1987) |
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Contributing Author, Construction Industry Forms, (Construction Management Section, Wiley 1988) |
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Co-Author, Final Report On Design/Build As An Alternative Construction Delivery Method For Public Owners, Building Futures Council, 1995 (Model Procurement Code Section) |
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Contributing Author, The Design/Build Process: A Guide to Licensing and Procurement Requirements in the 50 States and Canada (Forum on the Construction Industry, American Bar Association 1997) (introduction and North Carolina section) |
Each attorney at Conner Gwyn Schenck is willing to donate time to speak to industry and construction law groups. The following is a list of some of the programs Mr. Schenck has been involved with in the last ten years. Please let him know if you have any questions about these programs.
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North Carolina Bar Association, Annual Meetings, Case Law Update, 1991-2000 |
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Indoor Air Quality, North Carolina Association of Plumbing, Heating & Cooling Contractors, 1993 |
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Structuring the Design Build Project, The Construction Superconference, 1994 |
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Design Build, Making It Work, CM Strategies For America, CMAA, 1993 |
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State Laws Inhibiting the Use of Innovative Project Delivery, Changing Trends in Project Delivery: The Move to Design/Build, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, 1995 |
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The Design/Build Cookbook, Construction Roundup, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, 1996 |
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Panelist, The Law Firm in the Millennium, Construction Lawyering in the 21st Century, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, 1998 |
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Contractor Default: Making the Tough Decisions, Attorney's Workshop on Construction Contracting, University of North Carolina Institute of Government, 1999 |
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Hurdling Design Build's Legislative and Regulatory Obstacles, Stanford/DBIA Professional Design Build, 1995 |
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State Laws Inhibiting the Use Of Innovative Project Delivery, The New Model Design Build Procurement Code From the Building Futures Council, Changing Trends In Project Delivery: The Move To Design/Build, American Bar Association Forum On the Construction Industry, 1995 |