Mark C. Friedlander is the Chair and a founding partner of the Construction Law Group of the law firm of Schiff Hardin LLP. He obtained his B.A. from the University of Michigan in 1978 and his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1981. Since 1985 he has been an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Architecture and since 1995 a lecturer at Northwestern University’s Engineering School.
Mr. Friedlander is a member of the Design Build Institute of America and the former Chairman of its Professional Practices and Contracts Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers and the Chair of its Project Delivery Systems Committee from 2000-2005, and is currently President-Elect of the Society of Illinois Construction Attorneys. He also served as the legal advisor to the Testimony Review Subcommittee of the American Consulting Engineers Council from 1988-92 and was a member of the Committee on Outsourcing of Design and the Construction Management Services for Federal Facilities of the National Research Council, Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems, Board of Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment, National Academy of Science and Engineering. Mr. Friedlander serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Construction Accounting and Taxation. He has served on the Construction Arbitration Advisory Panel of the American Arbitration Association and is a member of the American, Illinois and Chicago Bar Associations, as well as of the Forum Committee on Construction Law.
Mr. Friedlander writes and speaks frequently on various issues of construction law and litigation. Recently, he has concentrated his practice in alternative project delivery methods, particularly design-build, and is credited with having developed and popularized a new business structure for design-build construction projects that allows architects to lead the design-build team.