About

For 34 years, Rick Corona served Construction Industry stakeholders in the preparation, presentation, negotiation, mediation, arbitration & litigation of complex construction contract disputes, involving projects throughout the Country and beyond. As a highly regarded construction lawyer for decades, Rick has extensive firsthand experience in a wide variety of construction disputes. Throughout his career, Rick has been both a tenacious advocate and a tireless defender of all participants in the construction process. There are few with as much "hands on" experience in quickly and comprehensively assessing the strengths and weaknesses of any construction claim and developing an effective, merit based strategy for its resolution.

Rick has prosecuted or defended several thousand complex construction matters. In the process, he acquired proven skills in effectively advocating for his clients in negotiation, mediation and litigation. He has appeared before all variety of dispute resolution tribunals, including:
- State and Federal Administrative Boards
- State and Federal Trial Courts and Juries
- State and Federal Appellate Courts
- Single Arbitrators and Arbitration Panels
- Special Masters and Referees

And, of course, MEDIATORS.
During his career, Rick earned a reputation as a hard working, innovative and effective construction dispute advocate.

Rick's experience has taught him that while the adversarial process of dispute resolution is often necessary to discover the merits of issues and focus the attention of adversaries in the construction process, the best resolution of construction matters is by timely mediated settlement, using the services of a knowledgeable Mediator. During his years as a lawyer, Rick found there to be a direct correlation between the skill, dedication and knowledge of the Mediator and the results obtained.

Although now retired from the practice of law, Rick has chosen to continue serving the Construction Industry, but now as a full time Mediator. Rick has acquired the right level of knowledge, demeanor and temperanent to effectively aid parties in bringing their dispute to a fair and reasonable mediated settlement.

Rick is available to facilitate resolution of disputes at any stage of the Construction process:
- Pre Construction
- During Construction
- At Project Close Out
- Pre-litigation Negotiation between Principals
- Pre Litigation Dispute Resolution with Counsel and Experts
- Mediation of Disputes in Litigation, before, during or after trial.

Rick is based in San Diego, California but available for Mediation in North America, Latin America, or overseas. He is fully fluent in Spanish.

His approach provides each disputant the benefit of his deep experience in service to the construction industry, a sophisticated understanding of the legal, factual and financial issues in play and a well honed ability to quickly identify the key issues in controversy. He provides an issue-oriented, merit-based analysis and resolution approach. Rick discourages the indulgence of power, personality or leverage-based posturing, and the resulting polarization and distraction such can introduce to the mediated settlement process.

Principals, advocates and Litigants who have participated in an unsuccessful Mediation exercise will often express disappointment that their selected Mediator did not adequately comprehend the complex and dynamic intricacies of the factual, legal and contractual issues in play in a construction dispute, could not identify main issues, and thus became an ineffective facilitator for resolution. With Rick, there is no learning curve. His experience has made him thoroughly conversant in all such issues, whether they involve:

- Compensable weather claims
- Contractor/Subcontractor Default/Surety Takeover Issues
- Critical Path Delay analysis
- Custom and Practice in the General and Specialty Construction Industry
- Design Responsibility issues
- Environmental and Regulatory concerns
- Labor and Management Productivity Impact Studies
- Latent Construction Defects
- Meaning of Contract Language
- Notice requirements
- Patent Construction Defects
- Proper and acceptable Quantum calculation standards
- Proper interpretation of applicable law and precedent
- Scope of Warranty Obligations
- Scope of Work
- Surety Payment & Performance Bond Liability and Limitations of Liability Issues

Equipped with this background, Rick is able to quickly get to the central issues in a dispute - without wasting the parties' time and money "educating the mediator"- and effectively assist the parties in making informed, dispassionate, wise and prudent settlement decisions.

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION
• Richard D. Corona, Attorney at Law, 1973–1974
• Founding Partner, The Corona Firm, LLP, Lawyers (and predecessor firms), San Diego, Ca. 1974–2007; AV Rated
• J.D. University of San Diego School of Law, 1973
• B. A. , Political Science/Economics/Finance, San Diego State University, 1970