Guest Speaker - Thomas Crist

Tom is an international arbitration and disputes specialist headquartered in the United States and the UAE. He has spent most of his career as a trusted advisor, problem solver, and advocacy partner at an Am Law 200 firm. Tom leads Benesch’s Construction Practice and is founder and Chairman of the firm’s Global Infrastructure Team, MENA (Middle East/North Africa), and Federal Contracting Practices. The overlapping groups share an emphasis on innovation and delivery of essential services to established and developing locales, including those in the energy, chemical, natural resources, transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing sectors. Tom advises stakeholders and public and closely held company leadership in their planning and execution of a broad range of major projects and initiatives. He lends leadership on site to projects that encounter implementation and technical challenges and which often utilize dynamic controls such as BIM, AI, robotic and autonomous systems, proprietary analytics, and other tools that are on the leading edge in the AEC space. Tom is additive to client teams and assists in spotting issues and managing risk. He helps jumpstart or “fix and finish” projects while preserving claims, defenses, and profit margins. Tom motivates people and leads teams to solutions.