Howard W. Ashcraft, Jr., Partner

Practice Areas/Industries
Litigation; Construction

Based in our San Francisco Office
415-995-5073 Direct Phone
415-541-9366 Fax
hashcraft@hansonbridgett.com
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Howard W. Ashcraft, Jr. is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers; an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects California Council and Steering Committee member on its task force for Integrated Project Delivery, a member of the American Arbitration Association panel for Large and Complex Construction Cases for California and Nevada; a former Governing Committee Member of the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry; a participant in Legal Counsel Forum of the American Council of Engineering Companies; and other professional organizations in the construction industry. He has specialized in construction law since 1979, representing designers, owner and contractors in project formation, professional practice matters and construction disputes.

Howard has been lead counsel in numerous delay and impact cases and has tried construction jury and court trials as well as many construction arbitrations. Recent significant matters include representing the State of California in a delay and impact case involving a critical transportation management facility, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in two prison construction delay claims, a structural steel design builder in a nine figure casino delay claim; an international consortium concerning defects in a major industrial facility in Mexico, a major public university in a delay and impact case arising from design and construction of a multi-disciplinary laboratory, and a national engineering firm in an eight figure delay claim. He also serves as general counsel to a risk retention group of 85 environmental and geotechnical engineering firms and consults regarding the use of electronic evidence in construction and other complex litigation.

In addition to his litigation practice, Howard is actively involved in developing new approaches to project delivery that will avoid many of the issues he has seen in his litigation practice. In particular, he has worked as a Steering Committee member and Legal and Risk Chair of the AIACC's interdisciplinary taskforce on Integrated Project Delivery. He was a contributing author to the AIACC's Integrated Project Delivery: A Working Definition and the joint AIA/AIACC Integrated Project Delivery: A Guide. These documents reflect the most current thinking regarding use and implementation of collaborative project delivery methods. Howard recently received the AIACC's President's award for this work. In parallel, Howard has been working with the Congressionally chartered National Institute of Building Sciences to develop the National Building Information Modeling Standard and currently heads the legal and risk sub-group. Building Information Modeling is the use of object oriented, intelligent databases that not only can use 3D design tools to characterize existing architectural and engineering design, but can be used to explore and manage the construction process, energy optimization, sustainable construction, cost and facility management.

Howard has published a variety of book chapters, articles and seminar papers for the American College of Construction Lawyers, American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry, American Bar Association's Fidelity and Surety Committee, American Institute of Architects, California Counsel, American Council of Engineering Companies, American Institute of Architects, ASFE, Structural Engineers Association of California, Coalition of American Structural Engineers, Structural Engineering Congress, California Geotechnical Engineers Association, University of California Project Management Institute, Construction Litigation Superconference and others. He is also a frequent speaker at industry-wide conferences.

Recent Presentations

• BIM – Lean Construction – Integrated Project Delivery, CoreNet Global, Northern California Chapter Meeting, San Francisco (July 16, 2009)
• Implementing IPD: Process, Business Structures and Contracts, Session 3 of The Integrated Project Delivery Seminar Series, San Francisco (April 28, 2009) and Los Angeles (June 4, 2009)
• Introduction to IPD, Session 1 of The Integrated Project Delivery Seminar Series, San Francisco (February 26, 2009) and Los Angeles (April 2, 2009)
• Building Information Modeling: Issues and Implementation, Boston Society of Architects, Build Boston (November 13, 2008)
• Integrated Project Delivery, Construction Management Association of America Annual Conference (October 13, 2008)
• Legal Issues Surrounding the Use of Building Information Modeling For Design and Construction, Society of Construction Law BIM Annual Conference (October 6, 2008)
• Building Information Modeling and Integrated Project Delivery, GeneAcres Panel on Integrated Project Delivery (September 24, 2008)
• Integrated Project Delivery Salon, AIA San Francisco (September 23, 2008)
• AIA and ConsensuDocs: Approaches to Digital Exchange of Construction Documents, ABA Forum Fall Meeting (September 12, 2008)
• Building Information Modeling: A Report from the Field, CNA/Schinnerer Invited Attorneys Meeting (June 5, 2008)
• American Council of Engineering Companies, Legal Counsel Forum, BIM and IPD (April 29, 2008)
• American Institute of Steel Construction, Legal Issues in the Use of BIM (April 1, 2008)
• Building Information Modeling: Framework for Collaboration, Structural Engineer's Association of California (March 13, 2008)
• Building Information Modeling: Issues and Implementation, Boston Society of Architects, Build Boston (November 13, 2007)
• Building Information Modeling and IPD, University of California, Project Management Institute (November 2, 2007)

Academic Distinctions
U.S. Green Building Council LEED^® Accredited Professional

Publications
"Developing Meaningful Contract Terms for Electronic Communications on Construction Projects", The Construction Lawyer (Spring 2009)
"Saving the Trees and Managing the Paper: Developing Meaningful Contract Terms for Construction Project Electronic Communication Protocols", American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry (September 2008)
"Building Information Modeling: A Framework for Collaboration", Construction Lawyer, Vol. 28, No. 3 (Summer 2008)

Memberships
Bar Association of San Francisco
American College of Construction Lawyers (Fellow)
American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry (Governing Committee, 1993-1997)
American Institute of Architects California Counsel (honorary member)
American Council of Engineering Companies, Legal Counsel Forum
Other professional associations

Honors
The Best Lawyers in America, 2009 edition, San Francisco Business Times (Feb. 17, 2009)
Special Achievement Award, American Institute of Architects, San Francisco Chapter (2008)
President's Award, American Institute of Architects, California Counsel (2007)
Chambers and Partners, USA Band 1, Construction
Northern California SuperLawyers, San Francisco Magazine (2008–2009)
Top 10 Northern California SuperLawyers, San Francisco Magazine (2004) Best Lawyers in America
International Who's Who of Construction Lawyers (International Bar Association)
Martindale-Hubbell AV Rating

Education
J.D., University of California, Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall) (1979)
A.B., Stanford University (1974)

Admissions and Courts
State of California
State of Nevada
United States Supreme Court