The views expressed herein are those of the author and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.

Patrick A McGeehin is a senior managing director and global leader of FTI Consulting’s construction and government contracts group. His primary emphasis over 40 years of experience has been in damages computations on large contract disputes. He has provided expert testimony expert testimony in live hearing and deposition situations on over 200 occasions, including international arbitration appearances. He has assisted in large disputes with governments and private owners, developers, construction companies, sureties and government contractors.

What do you enjoy most about practising as a construction consultant?

The variety of projects that I get involved with and the challenges in dealing with large amounts of data and trying to simplify it for presentations to judges or tribunal members. In addition, in the process of working in this field, you meet a lot of intelligent and talented lawyers and other professionals.

You have published works on construction accounting and lost profits. How does this sort of analysis support your day-to-day practice?

Publishing gives a professional another layer of credibility when testifying, but it is important to make sure that the articles or book chapters are completely thought-out, and that the applicability (or limitations) of the opinions presented in the publications are clear.

What has been your greatest achievement to date?

Seeing construction and government contracts professionals whom I have mentored get the opportunity to testify on cases and do well in an expert capacity.

You joined FTI in 2008 from the firm you co-founded. What are the main differences between practising in your own firm and at FTI?

Fundamentally, it is the breadth of the practice area here at FTI, as compared to the firm I had started and managed for over 28 years. At FTI, we have professionals with construction scheduling and other engineering experience and skills; at my prior firm, we focused exclusively on accounting and damages, and did not provide scheduling/engineering services to our clients.

In addition, at FTI we also can tap into other practice areas that can sometimes be of assistance to our clients on a case. These include technology/data analytics support, investigative services, and trial support/graphics expertise. These types of services were not offered by my prior firm.

As the global leader of construction solutions at the firm, how do you ensure FTI Consulting remains a leader in the market?

We always say that we are as good as our last job. As such, we stress quality and attention to detail. We are also constantly on the lookout for talent in the construction consulting space, seeking to identify professionals we can bring into FTI who have similar objectives for quality and growth.

You have considerable experience providing expert testimony before different courts and board forums. What advice would you give to someone giving expert testimony for the first time?

There are several things that I tell younger professionals testifying early in their careers. Some of them are obvious but should not be taken lightly – things like listening to the question being asked and always being honest and direct with your answers. Others are a bit more subtle, and include developing your own style and method of presenting materials and answering questions. I have observed that some professionals try to imitate the approach and style of someone else, and that is not normally the best approach. It is much better to work within your own personality and demeanour and not try to present like another person – even if you view them as successful and effective.

How do government contracts cases differ from other construction disputes?

The government contracts practice at FTI is primarily a US-focused practice, whereby some of our accounting professionals are expert in the cost accounting standards and FAR cost principles governing US government contracts. In addition, a “government contracts” practice can also be viewed as one that deals with construction disputes that involve a contract with the government of the US; a state or municipality; or a foreign country. In many cases, these construction disputes are very similar to commercial disputes – the key is that you must be aware of unique terms in the contracts that deal with things such as notice, cost limitations and schedule updating requirements.

How do you see the firm’s practice evolving in the next three years?

For FTI, I see continued growth and expansion for the construction practice, and the opening and expansion of offices throughout the world. We have opened offices recently in new parts of the world, including Germany, Spain, Ireland, Canada and Australia, and areas in the US and the Middle East. I see this expansion continuing.

The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc, its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.

Patrick A McGeehin, CPA, is a senior managing director in FTI Consulting’s forensic and litigation consulting segment, and is the company’s global head of the construction solutions practice. He consults and provides expert testimony on construction and government contract matters, and provides contract claims assistance relating to the calculation of and approach to damages, including breach of contract, lost profits, requests for equitable adjustment in delay and disruption cases, and fraud-related issues. He regularly testifies on claim pricing, cost allocation and other damages issues relating to matters performed throughout the world.

What attracted you to a career in the construction field?

As with many career paths, my entrance into the construction field was somewhat by accident. I entered the field of public accounting and was assigned to audit the construction costs on some very large projects on behalf of the State of Maryland. These included the Baltimore Washington International Airport expansion and the Baltimore Region Rapid Transit System. These projects spanned several years and gave me my exposure to the construction industry.

How has your work in the construction and government contract industries informed your consulting work in other sectors?

My main focus is in the construction and government contracts areas. However, I have also been involved with litigation and expert testimony in other sectors, and those cases typically are a fall out of the government contract or construction experience. For example, I have testified on lost profits damages, aircraft-related issues, and losses on real estate developments – all of which are, tangentially, related to past work I have done in the construction or government sectors.

How has your role changed since you started your career?

The projects I get involved with now tend to be much larger, as the large infrastructure/power contracts often lead to disputes due to the underlying risks inherent in these types of projects.

What have the consequences of the very active construction market in the USA been?

There are many more projects being bid and executed with the active US market, leading sometimes to the possibility of incomplete investigations by contractors upfront, and resulting scope issues developed later in the construction cycle. We also have had more opportunities for assistance in project monitoring, audit and close-out with the increase in development programmes generally.

What are the greatest challenges practitioners in the construction market face today?

In terms of providing claim and expert witness services, one of the big challenges is to attract and retain good talent to assist on the review of documents and the analysis of issues that have arisen on a project. Given how large some of the projects are, it is not hard to imagine the extensive documentation that exists on a project. This information must be reviewed and analysed, and an expert necessarily needs to rely on fellow professionals for some of that review. This is especially true today with most of the documentation being produced electronically, so control and management of the data is essential.

You have achieved a great deal in your career so far. Are there any goals you would still like to fulfil?

Personally, I would like to make sure that, when I leave the management of the FTI global construction practice, it is in a stable and growing mode, and that the people that have assisted me and others in the practice are working off a platform that will facilitate their growth and professional development. The FTI construction practice has grown from a handful of people 10 years ago before I joined FTI along with several other key professionals to a formidable practice today of almost 300 professionals across the globe who focus only in this area of practice. I would hope that this growth and the provision of quality services will continue once other have taken on the full leadership of the practice.

What advice would you give to practitioners who hope one day to be in your position?

Treat each job as being important and remember that good news travels fast but bad news a lot faster. Your reputation is all that matters in the long run, so do not take shortcuts or ever misrepresent information or conclusions. Also, make sure you treat your staff with professionalism and courtesy, especially when in high-stress situations. This is sometimes difficult to do, but critical in my view to making sure that you are creating an atmosphere of comradery and professional growth.