Robert Beale Thum has 40 years’ experience in construction Alternative Dispute Resolution, serving as Arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association’s Mega-Projects, Large Complex Disputes and National Construction Panels, and the California Office of Administrative Hearings’ Public Works Contract Arbitration Panel. As an Arbitrator or Court-Appointed Neutral, he has heard cases involving high-speed and conventional rail, highways, bridges, dams and reservoirs, power plants, wastewater treatment plants, pumped storage projects, airports, military facilities and base housing, particle accelerators, industrial manufacturing plants, natural disaster recovery projects, hotels and destination resorts, museums, hospitals and long-term nursing facilities, college campuses, shopping centers, mixed-use developments, and product distribution centers. He has also served as Early Neutral Evaluator and Discovery Master in complex litigation matters.
Prior to becoming a full-time neutral, Mr. Thum practiced construction law for 50 years as partner in prominent national and international law firms. He drafted and/or negotiated design and construction contracts for a wide variety of public and private projects, including infrastructure, industrial, energy, health facilities, commercial and residential developments. During his career as an advocate, he prosecuted or defended major claims involving delay, acceleration and complex CPM scheduling; loss of labor, equipment and/or management productivity; abandonment of contract and cardinal change; total cost and jury verdict damages; limit of liability and damage caps; non-payment, interest and prompt pay penalties; defective or incomplete design/specifications; non-conforming work and repair; differing site or changed conditions; additive and deductive scope changes; defective or late owner-furnished property; denial or delay of site access; failures of supervision and management; force majeure; over- and under-manning; failure or refusal to complete work; terminations for default and for convenience; consequential damages and waivers thereof; economic losses; cost audits; bid protests; contractor's license issues; pay-if and pay-when paid clauses; no-damages-for-delay clauses; subcontractor pass-through claims; performance, payment, fidelity and license bonds; surety take-overs upon default; false claims and truth in negotiating; and tort claims for fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, and negligence.
Mr. Thum was admitted as a Fellow in the American College of Construction Lawyers, and recognized for excellence by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, U.S. News and World Report, Super Lawyers and Engineering News Record. He is located in the greater Los Angeles area, but hears cases throughout California and the United States.
As of September 1, 2024, Mr. Thum is hearing cases involving multiple medical centers, psychiatric facility, natural gas production plants, university science complex, multiple bridges, luxury resort renovation, and high speed rail, among others.
