Eric A. Berg

As a litigator, Eric has represented owners, contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, and lenders in trials, arbitrations, and mediations. Specific lawsuits include the following:

• Representing a residential subdivision developer in dismissing cases brought by a performance-bond surety to compel completion of multi-million dollar infrastructure improvements.
• Prosecuting a general contractor’s defects claims against a flooring subcontractor through arbitration.
• Defending a general contractor against a subcontractor’s extras claims through arbitration.
• Prosecuting a general contractor’s claims against a subcontractor for breach of contract through trial in state court.
• Prosecuting an owner’s claims against a design/builder for water-infiltration defects in arbitration.
• Defending an owner/developer on a subcontractor’s personal injury claim in state court.
• Prosecuting a healthcare facility’s design and construction defects claims.
• Lead outside counsel for several ready-mix concrete vendors in payment disputes.
• Lead outside counsel for several national pre-cast concrete manufacturers in various litigation matters.
• Counseling national solar-energy developer in risk management.
• Lead outside accessibility-law counsel for national hotel developer and operator.
• Defending carpentry subcontractor on water infiltration claim in state court.
• Prosecuting international hotel developer’s defective HVAC design and construction claims against architects, engineers and contractors.
• Prosecuting a general contractor’s claim as lead creditor in an involuntary bankruptcy proceeding.
• Successfully pursuing preliminary injunctive relief against a school district on behalf of a lowest responsible bidder.
• Defending an owner at trial of a mechanics lien foreclosure.
• At arbitration, successfully preserving minority-owned business status for multi-million dollar material vendor in baseball-stadium project.

Eric also has extensive experience in other areas of commercial litigation.

Eric’s transactional work includes drafting and negotiating contracts for the design, construction, rehabilitation and construction management of hotels, hospitals, office buildings, apartment buildings, private residences, retail stores, and warehouses. Transactions of particular note include the following:

• Lead outside construction counsel for a national solar-energy developer.
• Lead outside counsel for a national engineering company.
• Lead outside counsel for a national specialty subcontractor.
• Lead outside counsel in contract interpretation, negotiation and drafting for several national pre-cast concrete manufacturers.
• Negotiated and drafted master services agreements for a college’s campus expansion.
• National licensing counsel for ENR-ranked contractor.
• Lead outside contracts counsel for national hotel developer and operator.
• Lead outside construction counsel for global financial and professional services firm specializing in real estate, with $2.9 billion in annual revenue.
• Created standard contractor, designer, consultant and vendor agreements for national developer of over $2 billion in residential construction projects.
• Established master construction contracts for $18 billion international technology company.
• Developed the construction management agreement for a $1.3 billion, 5,000,000 sq. ft. entertainment complex.
• Counseled the construction manager on a $5 million agreement to oversee the $280 million renovation of an air freight distribution facility.
• Acted as lender’s counsel in $99 million apartment, garage, retail, condominium, and townhouse complex.
• Advised owner on design and construction contracts for critically acclaimed, 90,000 sq. ft. corporate headquarters/R&D facility located in suburban Chicago.

Certain of these matters occurred prior to joining Barnes & Thornburg LLP.

• American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law, "More Than Just Checklists,” November 2022
• American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law, "Master Services Agreements,” Fall 2022
• Associated General Contractors of America – Construction Safety, Health and Environmental Conference, "The Workers’ Compensation Bar Bet: How to Lose ‘Exclusive Remedy’ Immunity in Three Easy Steps,” July 2022
• California AGC, "The One Blind Man Where All Others See: Accessibility Laws in Design and Construction,” May 2022
• Associated General Contractors of America – CLC Leadership Development Conference, "Construction Contracts," August 2021
• Half Moon Seminars, "Not as Bad as it Sounds: Current Topics in the AIA A201–2017 General Conditions," October 2019
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education - Construction Litigation Dispute Resolution, "Construction Damages: What Can You Recover?," December 2018
• Firestop Contractors International Association, "Not as Bad as it Sounds: An Overview of the New AIA Contracts," Summer 2018
• Northwestern University School of Law Environmental Law Society, "Green Building & Sustainable Development," Spring 2018
• American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law, "Dispute Resolution in Construction," Fall 2016
• Illinois State Bar Association, "The Story of a Mechanics Lien Claim: From Client Meeting to Trial," April 2016
• American Bar Association Forum on Construction Law, "Payment-Related Agreements And Wagner," Spring 2016
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, "Risk Transfer: Indemnification, Insurance and Personal Injury," November 2015
• Lorman Seminars, "Change Orders: Strategies and Mistakes," May 2014
• Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International, "Managing Construction Risk by Leveraging the Law," March 2014
• American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, "Technical Legal Defenses in Construction Law," September 2011
• DePaul University Real Estate Center, "Construction Law and Contracts," November 2010 - April 2011
• International Council of Shopping Centers Law Conference, "Owners and Construction Claims – Preparing for the Worst," October 2009
• Guest Lecturere, Illinois Institute of Technology Mies van der Rohe School of Architecture, "Construction and Project Management," 2009-2017
• Law Bulletin's Real Estate Law Conference, "Due Diligence in Commercial Real Estate Transactions," November 2008
• Ohio Contractors Association, "Legal Issues Relating to Building Information Modeling ("BIM")," March 2008
• ABA Construction Forum, "Lessons Learned: Accessibility Law - A Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure," April 2007

• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s Mechanics Liens Handbook, "Mechanics Liens on Funds for City, County, and State Projects," Spring 2023
• SHRM Online, "Illinois Governor Signs Bills Expanding Contractors’ Liability for Unpaid Wages," June 22, 2022
• Chicagoland Associated General Contractors, "Business Considerations for General Contractors in the Wake of Munoz v. Bulley & Andrews, LLC," Spring 2022
• American Bar Association - "Construction Checklists: A Guide to Frequently Encountered Construction Issues, Second Edition”, Co-Editor and Contributing Author," January 2022
• American Bar Association, "THE Construction Contracts Book: Annotated Analysis and Comparison of the AIA, ConsensusDocs, and EJCDC Contract Forms, Third Edition," May 2020
• Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, "Mechanics Liens in Illinois,” Co-Author, Chapter Five, “Mechanics Liens on Funds for City, County, and State Projects," 2019
• Construction Checklists: A Guide to Frequently Encountered Construction Issues, "Cost-Plus Contracts – Owner’s Considerations" and "Pursuing ADR," September 2008
• "THE Construction Contracts Book," Chapter, "No Damages for Delay," 2004/2008
• American Bar Association, "Forms & Substance: Specialized Agreements for the Construction Project, " Chapter, "Mechanics’ Liens and Releases," 2007