Deconstructing Delay Claims

Yonni Fushman, Associate General Counsel, Aecon Group Inc., Canada

The unavoidable fact is that construction delay claims in any jurisdiction are complex. Complexity leads to unpredictability, both in terms of how parties should conduct themselves during a construction project as well as when lawyers must advise their clients as to the strength of their positions. Volumes have been written about each topic addressed in this paper. This paper attempts to pull together the various strands of Canadian delay claim cases and analyses into a concise (and therefore overly simplified) summary document.

Yonni David Fushman obtained his Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Boston University School of Law in 2001. After four years of practice in the US, he found his way to Toronto, Canada where he joined Aecon in 2005. Mr. Fushman currently holds the position of Vice President, Legal & Business Affairs and Assistant General Counsel. In that role, Mr. Fushman oversees an in-house team of seven lawyers with various areas of specialization, including commercial law, securities law, Public Private Partnerships, labour law, and construction litigation. Since 2010, Mr. Fushman has also had executive responsibility for the Qx Locates business unit. Mr. Fushman is an active participant on the Ontario Bar Association’s Construction Law Executive and a co-founder of the Construction Sector In-House Counsel Forum.

Aecon is Canada’s largest publicly traded construction & infrastructure development company. (ARE/TSX)