Lisa Glahn is a partner and construction attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP, and vice chair of the firm’s Litigation Department and Construction Practice. Her practice focuses on claims counselling, dispute resolution, contracting, real estate and project development. She advises a range of public and private clients on strategic deal structuring, contract formation, complex litigation and claims resolution. She has successfully represented contractors, developers, lenders and owners through all project phases.
Lisa has handled a broad range of construction disputes related to waste-to-energy and EPC projects, design-build ventures, commercial development and hospital, university and transportation projects. She has also drafted and negotiated hundreds of general contracts, subcontracts, consultant agreements, construction management agreements, development agreements and other project related documents. She has extensive experience with all of the commercial families of construction-related forms, including AIA, ConsensusDOCS and EJCDC, and is extremely effective in reaching consensus on critical contract language to mitigate risk for her clients.
From 2004 to 2005, Lisa worked as a special assistant district attorney with the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, where she tried more than 30 cases. She is also committed to pro bono legal services and has advocated for social justice and human rights on behalf of underrepresented and marginalized constituencies through the handling of numerous asylum and domestic violence cases. She serves on the board of the non-profit organization Women in Construction, and is a former board member of the National Association of Women in Construction – Boston Chapter. Lisa is also a member of the American Bar Association, Massachusetts Bar Association, the Boston Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association.
Representative Experience
- Serves as outside construction counsel to one of the country’s largest privately held companies in the sports and entertainment industry and provides transactional assistance for all aspects of the company’s capital programs throughout its diverse portfolio of interests
- Navigated a Major League Baseball franchise through scope changes, schedule revisions and critical path issues that threatened to delay opening of its state-of-the-art Spring Training and player development complex
- Successfully litigated an equitable adjustment claim on behalf of a major maritime contractor against the Army Corps of Engineers during a two-week, multimillion dollar trial in the US Court of Federal Claims
- Wrote, negotiated and helped to implement design-build and related sub-contractual agreements for manufacturing facilities throughout New England that involved issues related to complex equipment installation
- Arbitrated and successfully resolved a complicated design defect case involving Combined Sewer Overflows on behalf of a public authority
- Drafted and negotiated a multimillion dollar design/build contract for a waste-to-energy project at a brewery in Milton, Delaware
- Reviewed and negotiated development, construction and design contracts for the construction of a 142-unit senior living facility in Cumming, Georgia
- Served as purchasers’ counsel for bondholder groups on development projects throughout the country and advised on infusion of lender rights into contracts, engagement of construction monitor, claims workout and project close out
Awards and Recognitions
- Recognized in Best Lawyers in America – Construction Law; Litigation – Construction (2024)
- Recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business – Construction (2023 and 2024)
- Selected for inclusion in Boston magazine’s “The Top Lawyers of 2021”
- Recommended in Massachusetts by The Construction Lawyers (2021)
- Selected for inclusion in Massachusetts Super Lawyers list in the field of Construction Litigation (2017-2023)
- Selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers Rising Stars list in the field of Construction Litigation (2008-2010, 2015)
Presentations and Publications
- Speaker, “Negotiating a Construction Contract,” MCLE New England, Boston, MA (June 4, 2024)
- Speaker, “Will COVID Be the Tipping Point in the P3 Revolution?” Construction Leader Risk Management (CLRM) Conference (March 17, 2021)
- Speaker, “Where do we go from here? Less In-Person Collaboration? Learning Curve on Tech in Business and Dispute Resolution,” webinar, ABA Forum on Construction Law Leadership Roundtable (May 19, 2020)
- Co-author, “Reviewing Construction Contracts: A Brief Guide for Lenders,” Construction Lenders Risk Management (2020)
- Quoted, “7 Tips for Keeping Your Construction Projects Going During COVID-19,” GlobeSt.com™ (April 20, 2020)
- Quoted, “Strategies for Developers Enduring COVID-19 Shutdowns,” Partner Engineering and Science, Inc. (April 16, 2020)
- Speaker, “COVID and Force Majeure,” webinar, Lenders Risk Management Roundtable (April 2020)
- Co-author, “The Hidden Perils of Non-Essential Construction Work,” Construction Executive (April 1, 2020)
- Presenter, “Construction Management Agreements: Key Provisions, Common Areas of Dispute, and Minimizing Performance Risks,” Strafford Webinars (June 17, 2019)
- Panel Facilitator, “Risk Mitigation Through Proper Deal Structuring: A Proactive View of Owner/Contractor Relations” Construction SuperConference 2018, Las Vegas, Nevada (December 10, 2018)
- Panelist, “Avoiding a Mess: What Litigators Want In-House Counsel to Know When Drafting Contracts,” New England Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), Boston, Massachusetts (December 5, 2018)
- Speaker, “Construction Contracting 101,” Women in Construction Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. (October 19, 2018)
- Speaker, “Understanding Lender Risks in Construction Contracting,” Construction Lenders Risk Management Roundtable Annual Conference, New Orleans, Louisiana (March 2018)
- Chapter co-author, “New AIA Contract Documents” Construction Law Update 2018, Wolters Kluwer
- Speaker, “Identifying and Modifying Key Provisions in Construction Contracts,” Construction Lenders Risk Management National Forum Webinar (October 18, 2017)
- Speaker, “The Tuesday Strategy: Due Diligence for Construction Lenders,” Construction Lenders Risk Management Roundtable, Boston, MA (September 27, 2017)
- Speaker, “The History of Dredging at the Port of Houston: Ditching High and Low to Build a Port, Dredging Summit & Expo 2015,” Western Dredging Association & Texas A&M University Center for Dredging Studies, Houston, TX (June 22, 2015)
- Panelist, “Understanding the Different Elements of Construction Risk,” Boston Municipal Analysts Forum, Boston, MA (May 7, 2015)
- Co-author, “Practical Claims Avoidance Techniques: How to Prevent Excess Costs and Unnecessary Delay on Dredging Projects,” Terra et Aqua (March 2014)
- Speaker, “Practical Claims Avoidance Techniques: How to Prevent Excess Costs and Unnecessary Delay on Dredging Projects,” 33rd Annual Technical Conference, Western Dredging Association (WEDA), Honolulu, HI (August 25, 2013)
- Speaker, “Show Me the Money: Payment Issues in a Tight Economy,” National Association of Women in Construction – Boston Chapter, Cambridge, MA (October 23, 2012)
- Co-author, ”Major New Change In Law Takes Effect November 8 – ‘Prompt Pay’ Is Here,” NAWIC Newsletter (October 1, 2010)