Mary Jo Gilsdorf has been active in all aspects of the Construction Industry since 1997. Her experience with projects ranging from $ 100K to $ 300MM in value includes commercial buildings, hospitals, hotels, offices, residential buildings and condominiums, sports complexes, performing arts centers, garages, retail and warehouse facilities involving both new construction and renovation.
After practicing with a large firm in litigation and environmental law, Mary Jo began in construction as a generalist performing various duties with contract administration, project management and estimating, field supervision and safety in a small firm. Then, she became a cost engineer analyzing and negotiating entitlement and value of change order requests for a large regional construction management company. She was promoted to the lead in-house counsel and handled all legal matters from contracts, claims, third party insurance claims, employment claims, due diligence, compliance and some federal contracting work.
Through this varied industry hands-on exposure, Mary Jo Gilsdorf, Esq. gained significant experience with the preparation, presentation and resolution of claims through informal negotiation processes and alternative dispute resolution proceedings with claims concerning scheduling and delay issues, cost entitlement, concealed conditions, coordination disputes, financing / work-out issues, construction defect, design errors and omissions and disputes involving Building Information Modeling (BIM), ranging from $ 50K to $ 12MM in value.
Mary Jo Gilsdorf has extensive experience with contract drafting and negotiation. Understanding that contracts form the foundation and the structure for the relationship of the parties - a critical component of the construction process - she takes a proactive approach to tailoring each contract to reflect clear roles for the parties and to allocate risk responsibly. Her knowledge of insurance in the construction industry allows her to analyze coverage to protect her clients from the many risks involved.
Additionally, Mary Jo Gilsdorf has experience in managing, mediating and arbitrating construction claims, construction defect claims, professional liability claims, real estate disputes, third party personal injury claims, automobile claims, landlord/tenant disputes, commercial claims, contract claims and employment issues.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Panels
American Arbitration Association Commercial and Construction Arbitration Panel Member, Fixed Time and Cost Panel Member. Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Arbitration Panel Member. Chester County Court of Common Pleas Arbitration Panel Member. Gloucester County, New Jersey Superior Court Arbitration Panel Member. CaseXplorer Arbitration Panel Member.
American Arbitration Association Roster of Mediators; New Jersey Superior Court Roster of Mediators; Chester County Bar Association Roster of Mediators and Fee Dispute Mediators, Delaware County Bar Association Fee Dispute Roster of Mediators; Pennsylvania REALTORS Association Mediation Panel, Suburban West REALTORS Association Mediation Panel Member.
Philadephia Court of Common Pleas, Judge Pro Tem, Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program
Admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania (active), New Jersey (active) and District of Columbia (inactive).
