Frederic Z. Samelian, PMP is President of Hill's Construction Claims Group. Mr. Samelian has more than 30 years of experience in construction management consulting, project management, business planning, marketing, and corporate management. He has directed or participated in numerous consulting engagements for both the public and private sectors in the United States and abroad. He is experienced as a speaker and lecturer, and was an Instructor in the Project Management Certification program, for the University of California, Irvine.
Before joining Hill, Mr. Samelian co-founded CONEX International, a claims consulting firm with clients primarily located in California and Nevada. Most recently, he was the expert on a large value dispute concerning the design management of a light rail program in Los Angeles and was also responsible for drafting the environmental claim on a major pipeline project in Southern California.
Mr. Samelian served in various capacities with Hill International, Inc. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Samelian was responsible for managing all day-to-day operations of the corporation. He was also a founding member of the Board of Directors of Gerens Hill, Madrid, Spain, an affiliated company performing project management services in Europe and Latin America. He also served as Senior Vice President of International Claims Operations, headquartered in Hill's London, UK offices.
Mr. Samelian also served as President of Hill's Western Region responsible for the firm's overall operations in the western United States and internationally. He was instrumental in Hill's initial entry into the project and construction management fields and helped forge the project management oversight concept for the Federal Transit Administration. Based in Hill's Newport Beach, California office, he provided management and oversight to Hill staff based in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, and San Diego, as well as all international offices.
Samelian earned a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University, and a M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University.
Frank J. Giunta P.E. Senior Vice President and Managing Director (Americas)
Frank J. Giunta is Senior Vice President and Managing Director in charge of Hill's Construction Claims operations throughout the U.S. and Canada. He has more than 25 years of extensive experience in engineering and construction consulting. He has been actively involved in the evaluation, presentation, resolution and management of construction claims, as well as project management oversight.
Mr. Giunta has managed complex consulting assignments on behalf of public and private owners, engineers, contractors, insurance and financial institutions. These assignments have involved a wide range of projects which include highways and bridges, dams, power related facilities, water and wastewater treatment, landfills and building construction. He has been engaged in the design of civil structures, including roads, highways, railroads, hydraulic structures, underground piping systems and has prepared engineer's estimates and technical specifications.
Mr. Giunta is a Professional Engineer with memberships in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Mr. Giunta earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering & Construction Technology and a B.S., Cum Laude, in Civil Engineering from Temple University. Mr. Giunta earned an M.B.A. in Financial Management from Drexel University.
Renny Borhan Senior Vice President and Managing Director (Europe/Middle East/Africa)
Renny Borhan is Senior Vice President and Managing Director in charge of Hill's Construction Claims operations throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Borhan has over 20 years of project management, oversight and control experience in the planning, design and construction of infrastructure projects, entertainment facilities, real estate developments, transportation systems, utility systems, energy plants, highly integrated systems, specialized facilities and management. He has worked in both the public and private sectors and is familiar with a broad spectrum of projects, including infrastructure and utility systems, power generation and distribution, onshore and offshore oil and gas facilities, resort and theme park developments, hospitals, airports and production facilities, as well as commercial and residential developments.
Mr. Borhan's expertise has been developed through the management of all aspects of project controls, including project/program management, project financing, economic modeling, purchasing and contracting, design, construction management, field supervision, project close-out and dispute settlement. His project experience includes a number of large United States and international projects, including the Southern California Disneyland Resort; EuroDisneyland in Paris, France; the Petronas Twin Towers, Kuala Lumpur; the Hrasdan 300MW Power Station, Armenia; and extensive infrastructure development projects in eastern Europe.
Mr. Borhan is fluent in six languages, including English, Russian, French, Armenian, Greek and Farsi.
Mr. Borhan holds two MBAs in Global Management from Columbia University and London Business School and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.
John R. Brells Senior Vice President and Managing Director (Asia/Pacific)
John R. Brells is Senior Vice President and Managing Director in charge of Hill's Construction Claims and Consultancy operations throughout the Asia Pacific Region. Mr. Brells has over 23 years of experience in many aspects of construction claims and consultancy services focusing primarily on project controls systems. He has extensive experience in development, implementation, and monitoring of project controls systems, which include programme, cost and documentation. From this background he has developed extensive expertise in forensic programme analysis to establish causation utilizing various critical path methodologies. He has worked in both the public and private sectors covering a wide range of industries including power, petrochemical, aerospace, transportation, infrastructure and utility systems, government, and environmental projects, as well as commercial, leisure and residential developments.
Mr. Brells earned a B.S. in Industrial Construction Management from Colorado State University.
David A. Price Senior Vice President of Business Development
David A. Price is Senior Vice President of Business Development with Hill International. Mr. Price's business development efforts are focused on Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Price has over thirty years of experience in the construction and engineering industry and has spent over twenty years providing contractual advice and resolving disputes since joining Knowles Limited, now a Hill International company, in 1986.
He is experienced in the strategic management and planning of resources necessary for the procurement of major projects and the resolution of major international claims and disputes. In his role within the company he is also involved in working closely with fellow directors in the Middle East, Asia/Pacific, Australia and the Americas to manage client business.
Price is particularly involved in directing the resolution of claims and disputes for international building and civil engineering contractors and also works regularly in the UK and international oil and gas sector for operators, contractors and specialist subcontractors. He is skilled in the drafting of contract documentation, procurement, provision of engineering and construction legal advice and preparation of claims for extensions of time and additional cost. He is also an experienced speaker on construction law matters, presenting many public and in-house seminars.
Mr. Price is a Chartered Quantity Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator and Barrister.
Tobias I. Hunt Senior Vice President of Business Development and Administration
Toby Hunt is Senior Vice President of Business Development and Administration for Hill's Construction Claims and Consulting Group based out of London, UK.
With over 15 years of experience in business development, operations and management, Mr. Hunt is responsible for the management and strategic business development of the claims and consulting business. He also provides oversight of quality assurance, financial and resource control, and is responsible for the promotion of the company's public image and direct marketing.
Prior to joining Hill, Mr. Hunt was responsible for the management of a group of companies with offices in London and Hong Kong, and has also developed, executed and maintained business strategies for financial, time, resource and remuneration control; company restructure; quality assurance; marketing and publications.
His experience includes working with clients in every continent across the globe and across all sectors of the construction industry.
Mr. Hunt earned an M.B.A from Warwick Business Scholl and also has a B.A. with honors in Economics and Geography from the University of Portsmouth, and a Higher National Certification in Building Studies from the Buckinghamshire College of Higher Education.
Dennis L. Allen CPA, CFE, CCIFP Senior Vice President
Dennis L. Allen, CPA, CFE, CCIFP, is Senior Vice President with Hill International. Mr. Allen is in charge of Hill's construction claims operations in Washington, DC.
Mr. Allen has spent over 30 years working with contractors, owners and developers in overall project development, preparing and monitoring project cost controls and helping to manage risk throughout the construction and operational processes. As a litigation consultant, he has served as an expert witness on some of the largest construction and real estate claims in the U.S. and overseas, analyzing issues such as labor and equipment costs, acceleration costs, lost profits, cumulative costs of changes, insurance claims, and delay costs.
Prior to joining Hill, Mr. Allen was a Senior Manager in the Construction Consulting Practice of Exponent, Inc. Mr. Allen is a certified public accountant, a certified fraud examiner, and a certified construction industry financial professional. Mr. Allen earned his B.B.A. in accounting from Texas Tech University.
Craig W. Johnson is Senior Vice President with Hill International. Mr. Johnson has over 27 years of national experience in project development, operations, owners' representative, and marketing of construction and construction management services for companies serving the hospitality, commercial, and healthcare industries. Mr. Johnson has proven capabilities in all phases of real estate development, including pre-construction, construction, development, FF&E procurement, financing, acquisition, partnership arrangements, and joint ventures. He has demonstrated capabilities in all phases of corporate management, including sales and marketing, project development, executive project management, project acquisitions and dispositions, and strategic alliances.
Mr. Johnson has had management responsibility for strategic planning, policy development, financial reporting, contract negotiations with solid leadership, communication, and problem solving skills and abilities.
As Vice President at Hill International, Mr. Johnson assists with the financing of major projects in the healthcare and hospitality/resort/casino marketplace. He also serves as Project Executive for major healthcare, resort, casino or mixed-use projects.
Mr. Johnson earned his B.S. in Business Administration from Marquette University and his M.B.A. in Finance from the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania.
Maurice R. Masucci, P.E. is Senior Vice President in charge of Hill's construction claims operations in the company's Marlton, New Jersey office.
Mr. Masucci has over 33 years of progressively responsible experience in civil, geotechnical, and environmental engineering, specialty consulting services, engineering and design services, building design, renovation and modification services, construction, project and engineering management and forensic and claims consulting services. Mr. Masucci has performed in various capacities from principal-in-charge, overall program manager, project engineer, responsible task manager; responsible engineer-of-record, consultant or technical specialist; and construction/field liaison engineer. As a construction claims consultant, Mr. Masucci participates in a broad range of dispute resolution consulting services, claims preparation and analysis, and claims defense, and has testified as an expert witness.
Mr. Masucci has managed building renovation and repair projects for government and industrial clients, building alteration and new facilities for the wireless industry, and the engineering, design and construction of commercial/industrial and residential buildings, including the entire architectural, structural electrical, i/c and mechanical aspects of the projects.
Mr. Masucci earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and his M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a licensed professional engineer in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Florida and Alaska.
Keith A. Pickavance is Senior Vice President with Hill International. Mr. Pickavance is a Registered Architect in the United Kingdom with over 35 years of experience in construction management, project planning, risk management, critical path method of retrospective delay analysis, and delay and disruption claims for buildings, civil engineering, and oil and gas engineering contracts. United Kingdom and International experience includes hotels, public and private swimming pools, commercial offices, multi-storey tower blocks, libraries, industrial buildings and process plants, health and hospital buildings, railway and bus stations, power stations, airports, roadways and tunnels, oil and gas pipelines, oil terminals, steel storage tanks, liquefied natural gas docks, fertilizer plants, and shipping facilities. Mr. Pickavance has advised on projects situated in Argentina, British West Indies, Cyprus, Eire, England, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Kenya, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Oman, Mexico Peru, St Lucia, Scotland, Sudan, Thailand, The Channel Islands, The Isle of Man, Trinidad and Tobago, UAE and Wales.
Mr. Pickavance studied architecture at Brighton and was admitted as an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1970. In 1972 he became a partner in his first practice. After reading for an honours degree in law at the University of London, Mr. Pickavance set up his own multi-disciplinary practice in partnership with his brother, a quantity surveyor. His practice turned to computers in 1982; and as a result of development work carried out by the practice in computer programs for the construction industry, he developed a suite of management software for architects. His experience over the following 21 years produced an unusual mixture of experience in construction management, design and build, and traditional methods of contracting which, when combined with his studies in law and computers and the integrated multi-disciplinary practice, produced an abundance of experience in construction management and the problems of analysis of delay and disruption.
Mr Pickavance's honorary appointments include service on the Architects Registration Council of the UK, membership of the drafting committee of the SCL Delay and Disruption Protocol and is currently President of the Chartered Institute of building.
Mr. Pickavance earned a Diploma in Architecture from the Brighton College of Art and a Bachelor of Law from the University of London.
Alann M. Ramirez is Senior Vice President with Hill International. Mr. Ramirez is responsible for performing contractual and technical analysis of engineering and construction disputes. His experience includes the evaluation, preparation, and defense of construction claims. He is an expert in claim strategy, contract administration and construction business practices. He has developed claim strategy, assisted in settlement negotiations, performed schedule and delay analyses, and examined issues such as: differing site conditions, constructive acceleration, design errors and omissions, third party interferences, suspensions, change order impacts, terminations and wrongful terminations, productivity analyses, and numerous other issues. He has resolved construction disputes for projects such as: high-rise buildings, office buildings, wastewater treatment plants, airport runways, railways, rail car manufacturing, power and cogeneration plants, shipyards, hazardous waste remediation, pharmaceutical, petrochemical, and other commercial and industrial facilities.
Mr. Ramirez is a Construction Mediator and has been involved in a variety of Alternative Dispute Resolution programs including mediation, arbitration, and settlement negotiations, as well as acting as a fact-finding independent neutral. Mr. Ramirez has successfully managed several significant Project Neutral assignments, each with disputes ranging from $15 to $24 million, and with one smaller project having a $2 million dispute, which resulted in early negotiated settlements in all cases. Mr. Ramirez recently managed, and testified, on various analyses and issues representing the owner of two 3-unit, 1100 MW combined cycle power plants.
Mr. Ramirez is an attorney and Professional Engineer. He received a B.S., with honors, in Marine Engineering from the United States Merchant Marine Academy and a J.D. from the Delaware Law School of Widener University. Mr. Ramirez is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Construction Specifications Institute and the Association of General Contractors of California.
Simon E. McKenny is Senior Vice President of the Northern UK Region of Knowles Ltd, a Hill International company. McKenny has over 20 years experience in the construction and engineering industry working on a wide range of projects advising contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and employers on contractual issues and dispute resolution.
Originally trained as a quantity surveyor, McKenny developed an interest in legal aspects of the building and civil engineering industry and, after studying law, provided contractual advice in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters arising from construction and engineering contracts. McKenny has undertaken a wide range of appointments as adjudicator regarding construction and engineering disputes in the United Kingdom. He has extensive experience advising public bodies in respect to the procurement of major building and civil engineering projects. In the role of overall legal advisor and advocate, McKenny has experience in the field of arbitration, both domestic and international, and was involved in advising in relation to numerous adjudication references and acting as adjudicator. In addition to the United Kingdom, McKenny's projects have been located in Ireland, France, Spain, Holland, Dubai, and Singapore.
McKenny earned his law degree from the University of London, his B.Sc. in quantity surveying from Liverpool University and was called to the bar in 1991.
Andrew P. Rainsberry is Senior Vice President in charge of the Southern UK Region of Knowles Ltd, a Hill International company. Rainsberry, a chartered civil engineer and barrister, has more than 25 years of experience in the construction industry including design, contracting and claims on a wide range of building and civil engineering projects including industrial units, offices, retail schemes, roads, water treatment works and petrochemical plants. These projects have included responsibility for the design and construction of reinforced concrete and structural steel frames, roads, drainage systems, earthworks, piling operations and temporary works.
As a consultant, Rainsberry has expertise in preparation/defence of time and disruption claims, negotiations, adjudications, arbitrations and matters which have subsequently proceeded to litigation including private housing, leisure centers, commercial properties, process plants and various subcontracts. He has dealt as client or opponent of the following clients: private individuals, subcontractors, main contractors and employers such as local authorities, government departments, educational establishments, property developers, industrial, retail and commercial companies.
Rainsberry earned his barrister qualification from the Inns of Court School of Law, his M.Sc. in construction law and arbitration from King's College University of London and his B.Eng. from Kingston University.
William Kennedy is Senior Vice President with Hill's Construction Claims Group. Kennedy, the head of Hill's Dubai Claims office, has over 37 years of experience in the building and civil engineering industries, the last 25 years of which have predominantly been in the Middle East and Far East.
He earned his M.S. in project management at the National University of Singapore, his LL.B. in law at Leeds Metropolitan University and his Diploma in arbitration at the College of Estate Management.
Kennedy is a registered Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a registered Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Kenneth R. Baker, P.E., is Senior Vice President of Hill's Construction Claims Group. Baker is based out of the company's San Diego, California office.
Mr. Baker has over 30 years experience working in the areas of construction claims, dispute resolution, expert witness testimony, litigation support services, construction management, CPM scheduling, innovative procurement procedures, document development, and training. Mr. Baker has provided expert testimony in arbitrations and litigations for complex construction claims related to delay, lost productivity, acceleration, disputed extra work and claims damages. Prior to joining Hill, Mr. Baker was a Principal with Exponent. Prior to that, he was Vice President in charge of the western region for Trauner Consulting Services.
Mr. Baker earned his B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his M.B.A in real estate and construction management from the University of Denver. He is a licensed professional engineer in Colorado and a licensed general contractor in California.
Timothy R. Chitester, P.E. is Senior Vice President in charge of Hill's construction claims operations in the company's Tampa, Florida office.
Mr. Chitester has over 30 years of experience in the engineering, design and construction industry. His wide breadth of experience includes the resolution of construction disputes, construction claims, property loss and business interruption claims, as well as project management. Mr. Chitester has been directly engaged in design/build projects for commercial, institutional, and utility customers as both an Engineering Manager and Project Manager.
Mr. Chitester has been responsible for the technical development, engineering and design, hiring and management of subcontractors, and operation of construction and utility/energy performance projects in 12 countries including the U.S. and Canada.
Mr. Chitester's knowledge implementing power-related projects includes distributed generation, cogeneration, combined cycle and simple cycle systems, biofuel and district energy projects.
An expert on construction claims, Mr. Chitester has participated in mediation, arbitration and litigation. He has been admitted as an expert in state court, AAA arbitration, and international arbitration where he testified on construction practices including trade use of construction contracts, construction cost analysis, schedule delay and productivity, and standard of care of contractors.
Mr. Chitester earned his
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.
Franco Mastrandrea is Senior Vice President and Head of Expert Witness Services for the Europe, Middle East and Africa Region. Mr. Mastrandrea has 35 years of construction experience and has acted as an expert on many substantial construction disputes involving cost, scheduling and project management issues.
As a nonpractising Barrister-at-Law, Mr. Mastrandrea is a Chartered Surveyor, Chartered Arbitrator, and Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) Accredited Mediator. As a Principal in a private quantity surveying practice, Mr. Mastrandrea formulated, pursued, and defended construction claims, acting as a Lay Advocate and Expert Witness in arbitration and litigation of disputes. He has developed tendering procedures and contractual arrangements and provided expert advise. As Chairman of a management services division, Mr. Mastrandrea acted as an Arbitrator, Expert Witness, and Advocate for construction disputes.
Mr. Mastrandrea's dispute projects have ranged from hospitals to redevelopment of banking headquarters in Hong Kong to redevelopment of national exhibition halls and a national sports stadium in the United Kingdom. He has also arbitrated disputes in Holland, Nigeria, the Middle East, Singapore, Malaysia, India, and Thailand.
He earned his LL.B. degree from the University of London and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in project and construction management, respectively, from the University of Reading.
Derek Nelson is Senior Vice President in charge of Hill's Continental Europe Region. Mr. Nelson has nearly 25 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries. He specializes in the preparation, negotiation and settlement of construction claims, as well as dispute mitigation and avoidance.
Mr. Nelson's expertise includes commercial management, procurement, construction cost control, extension of time, loss and expense and quantum. Mr. Nelson has frequently prepared Expert Witness Reports in disputes both for litigation and arbitration. He has successfully acted on behalf of both Referring and Responding parties in a number of adjudication referrals under statutory provisions in the UK and internationally in connection with Dispute Adjudication and Dispute Review Boards.
As a consultant, Mr. Nelson has acted in arbitrations relating to construction, civil engineering and process engineering disputes and acted as Claim Team Manager in major disputes. His overseas works includes projects in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Taiwan, Belize, Denmark, Ireland, Italy and Sweden.
Mr. Nelson's qualifications coupled with his extensive experience of the construction process has lead him to be appointed as an Independent Expert Witness in Litigation and Arbitration both in the UK and in Asia and he is often called upon to undertake independent reviews of projects in the role of Project Neutral.
Mr. Nelson earned a B.S. in quantity surveying from Edinburgh Napier University, and a Master of Laws in construction law from the University of Strathclyde.
David Carrick is Senior Vice President of Hill's Scotland and UK North Region. Mr. Carrick has more than 35 years experience in claims analysis and resolution, as an arbitrator, adjudicator, mediator, conciliator, expert witness and claims assessor. He is a Chartered Arbitrator, Chartered Surveyor and Accredited Adjudicator.
Mr Carrick has acted as Arbitrator on UK and international disputes concerning civil engineering, building and offshore matters both as sole arbitrator and as chairman of tribunals. He frequently acts as expert witness on matters cost, scheduling, delays and disruption. These appointments have involved high value complex projects mainly of an engineering nature. He provides strategic advice on matters of private and public procurement and dispute resolution. Mr. Carrick chaired several influential Institutional committees that addressed dispute resolution in Civil Engineering. He also lectures on matters of engineering law at Masters level.
Mr. Carrick's experience has spanned major infrastructure projects such as roads, rail, marine and maritime, stadiums, water and process engineering throughout UK, Germany, Turkey, Italy, Thailand and Gibraltar.
He earned his Masters of Laws from the University of Strathclyde.
William Cook is Senior Vice President with Hill's Construction Claims Group based out of the company's Los Angeles, CA office. Mr. Cook has more than 34 years of program, project, construction and operations management experience.
Mr. Cook's expertise spans a broad variety of project types including airports, casinos, concert halls, courthouses, highways, hospitals, hotels, libraries, nuclear power plants, office buildings, parking structures, petrochemical, pipelines, ports and harbors, rail, education, sports stadiums, theme parks, water and wastewater facilities. Mr. Cook's operating management background includes strategic and business planning, new business development contract negotiations, budget preparation and forecasting, training and development, start-up location development, team building and management, real estate development and management audits.
Mr. Cook has testified in a variety of dispute resolution forums including jury trials, arbitrations, and mediations and has testified and analyzed claims involving the areas of schedule/delay analysis, CM standard of care, contractor performance, extra work, errors and omissions and damages. Specific claims and dispute resolution experience includes healthcare projects, performing arts centers, courthouses, sports stadiums, hotels and casinos, water/wastewater projects.
Mr. Cook is a Professional Engineer in California. He earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Rutgers University College of Engineering. He is a past member of the Board of Directors of the Construction Management Association of America as well as a past Los Angeles Chapter President.
Thomas J. Driscoll is Senior Vice President with Hill's Construction Claims Group based out of the company's Denver, Colorado office.
Mr. Driscoll has over 45 years of program, project, construction management and claims experience, specializing in large-scale construction projects. He has also served as an expert witness in the areas of construction management, construction claims and scheduling and delay analysis. Prior to joining Hill, Driscoll was a Senior Vice President with URS Corp. for nearly 20 years and prior to that he was a Senior Vice President with Hill for more than ten years. He is a Fellow and a former President of the Construction Management Association of America.
Mr. Driscoll earned his B.S. in civil engineering from Widener University.