"Tom has great practical business knowledge, with an attentive, visionary, and forward-looking approach." - Benesch client, Chambers USA
Tom Crist chairs Benesch’s Global Infrastructure Team, leads Benesch’s Middle East Practice, and is Co-Chairman of Benesch’s Construction Law Practice Group. These teams specialize in intervention on and completion of projects that encounter problems and obstacles, including claims and disputes. They also help clients avoid those circumstances.
Tom is an international arbitration and disputes specialist headquartered in the United States and the UAE. He has spent most of his career as a trusted advisor, problem solver, and advocacy partner at an Am Law 200 firm. Tom leads Benesch’s Construction Practice and is founder and Chairman of the firm’s Global Infrastructure Team, MENA (Middle East/North Africa), and Federal Contracting Practices. The overlapping groups share an emphasis on innovation and delivery of essential services to established and developing locales, including those in the energy, chemical, natural resources, transportation, healthcare, manufacturing, and infrastructure sectors.
Tom advises stakeholders and public and closely held company leadership in their planning and execution of a broad range of major projects and initiatives. He lends leadership on site to projects that encounter implementation and technical challenges and which often utilize dynamic controls such as BIM, AI, robotic and autonomous systems, proprietary analytics, and other tools that are on the leading edge in the AEC space. Tom is additive to client teams and assists in spotting issues and managing risk. He helps jumpstart or “fix and finish” projects while preserving claims, defenses, and profit margins. Tom motivates people and leads teams to solutions.
Many client projects are of daunting size and scope and include civil/infrastructure, manufacturing, water/wastewater, solar, tunnels, ports, roads and bridges, fossil fuel, renewable energy, transmission and distribution, high-tech, aerospace, chemical, precision agriculture, mining, pharma, modular and complex mechanical systems, and lesser-tested technologies.
Representative Experience
- Representation of a specialty contractor on $35 Million in claims against a U.S. oil major driven by owner supplied material defects and wrongful termination on a North American oil refinery project.
- Representation of a Fortune 50 global control system manufacturer in $60 Million in disputes driven by technology and operational failures in one of Canada’s largest hydroelectric power facilities.
- Representation of a utility regarding termination and replacement of its EPC contractor on a coal fired power facility in Europe.
- Representation of joint venture partner regarding a financing default and construction delays regarding a nuclear power facility in the Middle East.
- Represented the EPC against a major North American utility on $30 Million in claims for schedule lag and interference caused by a design bust and permitting issues on a combined cycle power facility. Resolved the dispute favorably in advance of ICC Arbitration.
- Represented an EPC team in an adverse site conditions claim stemming from the installation of miles of overhead power lines and relocation underground of previously overhead high power cables to underground facilities. The dispute involved property right issues with two U.S. states, subcontractor defaults, termination and replacement. Resolved $40 Million in claims pre-JAMS Arbitration.
- Representation of one of the largest global suppliers of solar technology in North American on claims against it exceeding $250 million in liquidated damages caused by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
- Representation of an EPC on $60 Million in claims on a multi-phased, fast track electrical peaking plant construction project. Resolution of the thirty (30) party dispute via bespoke ad hoc Dispute Review Board in advance of AAA Arbitration.
- Resolution of claims pre-trial between a public utility and a major equipment supplier regarding catastrophic loss of a municipal electric power facility and manage the reconstruction project.
- Represented a U.S. company specializing in design-build delivery of RNG digester facilities.