Chad V.
Theriot

Position: Partner
Office: Atlanta

Chad Theriot is a partner at Jones Walker and a member of the firm’s board of directors. He also co-leads the firm’s Construction Team. He focuses on major public and commercial construction and infrastructure projects.

Chad advises domestic and international clients across a broad spectrum of construction, contracting, and procurement activities. He represents owners, commercial and government contractors, major subcontractors, and original equipment manufacturers in contract negotiation, construction litigation and construction claims avoidance.

Chad currently represents US, UK, Austrian, German, South African, and Saudi Arabian companies spanning the globe in the energy, construction, aviation, defense, and shipping sectors. He currently is negotiating multiple billion dollar construction contracts and has disputes before the ICC and the LCIA involving international disputes. He also currently represents domestic clients before the AAA and various state and federal courts.

Chad has successfully litigated more than $2.5 billion in disputes. His typical range of projects includes representing owners and contractors in the construction and design of energy projects, including mining, renewable hydrogen energy (blue and green) facilities, petrochemical facilities (producing polyethylene, polypropylene, polymer, and ethylene glycol), airports, military bases, power plants, environmental and closure projects, cogeneration plants, oil refineries, hospitals, high-rises, off-shore platforms, hotels, resorts, and a variety of other commercial and industrial construction projects. He also has extensive experience in the aircraft, locomotive, and shipbuilding industries.

Noteworthy

Experience

Represent a large, civil contractor concerning the demolition of more than 80,000 cubic yards of existing concrete and asphalt surfaces, demolition of more than 13,000 feet of existing utilities, more than 350,000 cubic yards of mass grading, structural excavation and backfill, and the installation of more than 28,000 feet of new domestic and fire water, storm drain, sanitary sewer, and natural gas utilities, along with nearly 3,000 cubic yards of utility structures, including the construction of five pump stations.
Represent a contractor concerning claims involving the design, manufacturing, and installation of the project’s curtain wall system.
Represented a joint venture of two of the country’s largest general contractors before the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, which issued an unprecedented ruling, holding that the client could immediately stop building a $1.75 billion VA hospital project because of the VA's material breach of contract. Following a two-week trial and extensive briefing, the CBCA granted the client this unprecedented relief, stating: “We find that beyond doubt, the VA’s breach of its contract was material” and that “the behavior of the VA has not comported with standards of good faith and fair dealing required by law.” This remarkable ruling generated extensive media coverage in national and industry publications.
Advised an international marine contractor, as project counsel, on contract management, dispute resolution, and contract negotiations for the company’s $1.4 billion construction of sentinel-class fast response cutters for the US Coast Guard.
Represented a mechanical subcontractor specializing in industrial piping fabrication and erection against a multinational general works contractor and a global upstream engineer-procure-construct (EPC) contractor on claims for changed work, acceleration, and wrongful termination of contract arising from the construction of a $1.2 billion, 790 MW coal-fired unit within an existing power plant. Obtained a declaration from the arbitration panel that the mechanical subcontractor's purported termination for default was improper and without cause. Obtained an award against the general and EPC contractors in an amount equaling 95% of the mechanical subcontractor's damages sought in the arbitration, plus amounts for pre-award interest, attorneys' fees, costs, and expenses.
Represented a marine contractor in disputes arising from a contract for the conversion of a fleet of US Coast Guard cutters. Obtained recovery in arbitration of more than $10 million, defeated all of the counterclaims, and recovered attorneys’ fees.
Represented an international EPC contractor/OEM in multiparty disputes arising out of the construction of an $800 million coal-fired power generation facility. All disputes were ultimately settled through two separate structured settlement processes—one for disputes among the employer, the client, and the client's consortium partner; and the other for disputes between the client and its subcontractors.
Represented an environmental remediation design/build contractor in a dispute concerning a remediation system on a site used in the production of nuclear armaments in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. After a two-week bench trial in the US District Court, the judge issued a 174-page decision finding that our client had been damaged and entitled to recover not only its claimed damages, but also its attorneys’ fees.
Represented a hospital owner regarding mechanical, electrical, and piping issues on the construction and design of its $184 million expansion of cardiac facilities to an existing, operating hospital.
Represented an owner of a cold storage warehouse regarding a defective installation of a potassium lactate, wet pipe fire suppression system installed by the construction manager. Successfully resolved dispute in mediation.
Represented a general contractor on the construction of a multimillion-dollar hospital. The disputes involved claims of delay, acceleration, and disruption, as well as additional time as a result of the owner caused delay. The owner of the hospital sought liquidated damages and costs associated with alleged defective construction. The matters were resolved in an alternative disputes forum.
Represented a pipeline contractor in a Texas state court against one of the largest pipeline owners in the United States arising out of a 135-mile pipeline crossing Louisiana.
Represented an international construction manager regarding the alleged construction and design defects on the multimillion-dollar expansion of a university. The owner alleged various mechanical systems were improperly installed and designed by our client. The matter was resolved in an alternative disputes forum.
Represented an international aerospace products and defense parts manufacturer regarding disputes arising from the performance of a maintenance contract for the US Navy's aircraft. Developed a request for equitable adjustment (REA) that was submitted to the Navy, resulting in successful negotiations and an ultimate settlement that increased the price of the contract. The REA sought recovery of added costs due to acceleration, disruption, and the unexpected condition of the delivered aircraft, as well as delay to our client's planned performance.