Michael E.Wagner, Jr.

Mike offers a unique perspective to the practice of construction and government contracts law. Prior to becoming an attorney, he worked for a general contractor, where he was involved in preconstruction and project and risk management for multiple commercial and government construction projects, with a focus on heavy-civil, highways, utilities, and other public infrastructure work. He also gained substantive experience working for an electrical subcontractor. As a result, Mike has hands-on experience and an intimate knowledge of the industry and the challenges that clients face. He understands the law and speaks the language of construction, so when a client calls, he can hit the ground running.

Mike has participated in all aspects of a construction project—from project conception, design, contract negotiation, and preconstruction—through the stages of project delivery, construction, close-out, and operation. As a result, he has substantial experience in both transactional work and claims and disputes.

Mike regularly drafts and negotiates construction and design contracts on behalf of owners, general contractors, and subcontractors in order to allocate and mitigate risks and avoid disputes and the associated expense. He has drafted customized agreements for clients and also has experience working with form agreements, such as the AIA, DBIA, and ConsensusDocs. Mike’s transactional work spans multiple different project delivery methods, including design-bid-build, design-build, EPC, and public-private partnerships (P3).

When disputes arise, Mike knows how to resolve them. He maintains a diverse practice as a litigator, having represented clients in state and federal courts, before the US Court of Federal Claims and Boards of Contract Appeals, and in multiple alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including mediation and arbitration.

As part of his practice, Mike also assists government contractors with compliance and counseling and in the preparation and handling of Requests for Equitable Adjustment (“REAs”) and claims on government construction projects (local, state, and federal).

Mike enjoys the challenging work, interesting projects, and innovative and collegial work environment at Seyfarth, and is proud to work at a firm that is a trusted advisor to the construction industry.