The Construction Lawyers Society of America is pleased to announce that Charter Fellow Ernest C. Brown, Esq., PE, is CEO of Project Neutral, Inc. is the 2024 President of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. His background includes practicing as a Civil Engineer, Corporate Counsel at Fluor, starting his own multi-state construction law firm, and eventually acting as Managing Partner and member of the Executive Committee at Smith Currie & Hancock in San Francisco. This experience has made him uniquely qualified to quickly understand, analyze, and act to resolve project disputes. He has a remarkable breadth and depth to serve large construction and real estate clients and advise ongoing global projects.
Ernie has successfully resolved more than 3,000 disputes through complex mediations, arbitrations, jury trials, court trials, Dispute Resolution Boards, and Project Neutral appointments. For more than 30 years, he has developed a nationally recognized dispute resolution practice focused on the construction, government contracts and public infrastructure, aviation, insurance coverage, engineering and manufacturing, and real estate industries and the variety of legal issues facing those in that industry. He has extensive experience and in-depth knowledge of infrastructure, energy, environmental, and international projects. Ernie acts as a Mediator, Arbitrator, and Project Neutral for private and public clients working or located across the US, as well as Mexico, Canada, Central and South America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. He was named US News & World Report Construction Lawyer of the Year for the San Francisco Bay Area in 2019. He is a highly-rated construction mediator with Chambers.