ASM - Key Persons
Brett L. Antonides is Of Counsel to ASM. His comprehensive business law practice involves all aspects of commercial transactions and litigation on both a regional and national basis. The transactional work encompasses all major elements, including the structure and conduct of business relationships (e.g., corporations, partnerships, LLCs, joint ventures, franchises, consulting and teaming agreements, shareholder agreements, employee relations, and executive compensation), the drafting and negotiation of all types of commercial contracts and related documents, intellectual property and technology licensing, finance and securities (e.g., debt financing - all types; swap transactions; security interests in real/personal property; asset securitization; enforcement/ collection; equity investment, private placements; venture capital; filings/compliance; investor relations), business/tax planning - mergers, acquisitions, reorganizations, divestitures, dissolutions, and tax controversy work, business plans - budgets, financial statement analysis, employment (hiring, firing, discrimination, harassment and wage claims); real estate/equipment leasing, insurance, and debtor-creditor relations.
Mr. Antonides has represented a diverse group of clients operating both domestically and internationally, ranging from high-tech firms in the computer and telecommunications fields to government contractors (including minority and woman-owned businesses) to professional services, manufacturing companies, construction companies, retailers, automotive and food services, and individuals. Mr. Antonides advises all levels of management and acts as outside General Counsel to several companies.
Mr. Antonides' business litigation practice includes all aspects of civil trial and appellate practice in federal and state courts nationwide, as well as AAA/NASD arbitrations and other ADR. He has handled cases involving commercial disputes, shareholder/partner suits, fraud, fiduciary duties, business valuations, 10b-5 and other securities laws violations, debtor-creditor actions, employment claims, government contracts - protests, claims, and terminations, construction disputes, insurance coverage, warranty claims, False Claims Act cases, and international shipping disputes.
Mr. Antonides has worked in large national and mid-sized regional law firms over the course of his 36-year career. Mr. Antonides has been practicing law since 1980. He is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. He also is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, several United States Courts of Appeal (District of Columbia Circuit, Federal Circuit, 4th Circuit), several United States District Courts (District of Columbia, Eastern District of Virginia, Maryland, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, New Jersey), as well as the United States Bankruptcy Court (District of Columbia, Eastern District of Virginia, and Maryland), United States Court of Federal Claims, and the United States Tax Court.
Mr. Antonides graduated, cum laude, from Princeton University in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree. He earned his JD degree from Villanova University School of Law in 1980, and a Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 1984. Mr. Antonides served in the United States Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1981 through 1984. Mr. Antonides has been a member of the American Bar Association Business Law Section, Business and Corporate Litigation committee, the Small Business committee, the Cyberspace Law committee, and the Standing Committee on Law and National Security; the Virginia State Bar Business Law and Litigation sections; and he has served on the Virginia Bar Committee on the Resolution of Fee Disputes.
Job Titles:
- Fellow
- Moderates DCBIA 's Project Delivery Symposium - Trust in Technology? ( December 4, 2017 )
Mr. Asmar counsels clients in construction, government contracts and real estate transactional law. He represents owners (private and public), developers, utility providers, general contractors, subcontractors, architects, engineers, sureties, and suppliers and has been involved in a wide variety of large, complex projects, including commercial and governmental office buildings, embassies, public school systems, rail and light rail, hospitals, airports, large-scale residential buildings, condominiums, water treatment facilities, major utility relocation work, roads, highways and bridges.
Mr. Asmar advises his clients on acquisitions, dispositions, leases (including government leases), bid solicitation, awards, pre-construction services and project delivery. He prepares fully integrated project delivery documentation for the design and construction processes. He advises on the advantages and risks of various project delivery methods including construction management, P3, and design build. His practice includes oversight and advice relating to all contract administration issues, claims development and defenses (including design defects, delay, and labor impacts), mechanic's lien and bond claims and defenses, and government contracts.
Mr. Asmar's alternative dispute resolution and litigation practice includes construction, government contracts, real estate transactions, suretyship and insurance. Mr. Asmar has been lead counsel in multiple complex design, construction, insurance, and surety-related disputes in federal and state courts, state and Federal Boards of Contract Appeals, and in arbitrations and mediations.
Before becoming a lawyer, Mr. Asmar, a native Washingtonian, was a mechanical contractor in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He graduated from the University of Vermont and received his law degree from the Columbus School of Law, the Catholic University of America. Mr. Asmar is a member of the state bars of Maryland and the District of Columbia. He is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Federal Claims, the Federal Boards of Contract Appeals, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, Federal, and Fourth Circuits.
Mr. Asmar serves on the Executive Committee and board of Directors for the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) and was formerly Chair of DCBIA's Construction and Development Committee. He is former Chairman of the Board for the Washington Building Congress (2011). He is a Fellow in the American College of Construction Lawyers (2018). He is an active member of the American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry and the MD State Bar Association's Construction Law Section. Mr. Asmar holds a Martindale-Hubbell Preeminent AV rating of 5.0 (for 20 years), is listed in Chambers and Partners Leading Lawyers as one of the top construction lawyers in the District of Columbia (2008-2021), and is a Washington, DC Super Lawyer in the fields of construction litigation, government contacts and government/cities municipalities (2008-2020). He has been ranked in Who's Who Legal: Construction and Best Lawyers since 2016. He is also a Charter Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America (CLSA). He has prepared numerous articles on construction law and lectured for Federal Publications, Inc. and various design and construction related associations.
Darryl J. Taylor ("DT") has delivered paralegal support to the Firm's lawyers for nearly two decades. DT's core services include (1) Mechanic's lien preparation and filing; (2) Construction contract drafting and finalization using several contract formats including AIA, ConsensusDocs and DBIA; (3) Legal research on construction contract , government contract and corporate law matters using a number of research tools including Westlaw, LexisNexis, Hein Online, and Bloomberg; (4) Federal, state and local government corporate registration and business licensing; (5) Litigation support from pretrial work through post trial close-out; (6) eDiscovery services including liaison with ESI vendors and clients on collection, review and production; and (7) Information management using public and private data systems to accomplish research in support of client matters. DT routinely works with federal, state and local government administrators in support of client matters.
Ancillary services include (1) Administration of the Firm's Law Library material (paper and electronic); (2) Support for the Wolters Kluwer Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law publication; (3) On-site/off-site management of client matter files; (4) Registered agent and notary services; and (5) Deployment of the Firm's computer hardware, software and audio-visual systems for use with client matter reviews, in-house webinars to meet annual CLE requirements and Firm instructional presentations to outside groups and client personnel. Mr. Taylor is a graduate of the Thomas Adams Duckenfield Legal Assistant Program, so named in honor of the Washington Bar Association's Past President and Superior Court Clerk for the District of Columbia.
Dennis Ehlers represents government contractors large and small in disputes, bid protests, and claims before local, state (including the District of Columbia), and Federal contracting authorities and boards of contract appeals, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Court of Federal Claims (COFC), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. He also has extensive experience in commercial construction law. He assists his government contract and commercial construction contractor and subcontractor clients in all phases of their dealings with owners (whether government or private owners) as well as prime contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. His work in the government contracts area is not limited to construction contracting but includes the entire spectrum of government procurement, including IT, base services contracts, other services contracts, manufacturing, architect-engineer contracts, and supply contracts including GSA Schedule contracts. Mr. Ehlers has many small, disadvantaged/minority, SBA 8(a), Alaskan native, woman-owned, veteran-owned, and service disabled veteran-owned small business clients and assists them in navigating the special rules and requirements to obtain and maintain their certification and status and otherwise assisting them to grow their businesses and protect their rights. He has worked collaboratively with SBA on presentations to SBA 8(a) contractors regarding the legal considerations of teaming agreements and joint ventures.
Mr. Ehlers has also been involved in litigating mold cases and, along with Larry Schor, published an article in the magazine of the Construction Specifications Institute, The Construction Specifier, regarding liability for mold and how such risks can be handled in drafting contract specifications. Further, Mr. Ehlers has co-authored the chapter on the Federal Corrupt Practices Act and Multinational Anti-Bribery Initiatives in the Construction Law Handbook. In his prior capacity as an Air Force Reserve contracts attorney, he co-authored a law journal article on the topic of Competition in Contracting Act stay overrides and what the COFC requires before finding the same reasonable and supportable.
Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Ehlers served on active duty with the U.S. Air Force for eight years practicing law under the Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG). He served stateside and overseas as a base-level contracts attorney as well as practicing in several other areas, including government ethics, tort claims, medical malpractice, healthcare, federal employment, administrative, and criminal law. In March of 2008, he retired from the Air Force Reserve after 21 years of total service (both active duty and reserve) in the Army and Air Force. His last Reserve assignment was as a trial attorney assigned to the Air Force's Commercial Litigation Division (Government Contracts), Arlington, Virginia, which defends the Air Force against bid protests and contract claims in the COFC and before the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals.
Mr. Ehlers has an LL.M. (Master of Laws) degree, With Highest Honors, from The George Washington University Law School, with an emphasis in Government Procurement Law. Mr. Ehlers received both a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree (Cum Laude) and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the University of Georgia's School of Law and its graduate business school, the Terry College of Business, respectively, as well as a B.A. degree (Cum Laude) in Biology from Southern College. Mr. Ehlers is licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland. He is a member of the Public Contract Law Section (PCLS) of the American Bar Association, and presently a vice chair to the Contract Claims and Dispute Resolution Committee Board of the PCLS. He is also a member of the Contract Appeals Bar Association and Federal Bar Association.
Since 1999, Mr. Callabresi has represented businesses both as in-house counsel and in a law firm setting as both a litigator and as a counselor. He has successively represented businesses in all sizes of litigation in complex commercial, real estate, construction, insurance coverage, contracts, procurement, and employment matters. His clients included general contractors, subcontractors, developers, homebuilders, business owners, IT companies, insurers, banks, and lenders.
Mr. Callabresi has a diverse legal background in all phases of business and real estate operations. Substantively, Mr. Callabresi's practice areas include construction defect litigation, government contracts, insurance coverage, condominium law, bankruptcy, personal injury, intellectual property, employment law, and alternative dispute resolution. Immediately prior to joining ASM, Mr. Callabresi was in-house counsel for a Fortune-500 national homebuilder where he managed all affirmative and defensive claims, as well as the company's litigation in the Eastern-half of the United States, including construction defect, real estate, condominium, tort, personal injury, procurement, subrogation, insurance, and subrogation matters. Overall, he has been practicing real estate and business law in the D.C. metro area since 2007.
Mr. Callabresi earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, San Diego in 1992. In 1998, he received his Juris Doctorate from Case Western Reserve University, School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Virginia, Maryland, the District of Columbia, and California, as well as in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
Job Titles:
- of Counsel
- Member of the Urban Land Institute
Gene concentrates his practice on real estate acquisitions, financings, development, and dispositions with an emphasis on hospitality and multifamily transactions. He has extensive transactional experience in both portfolio and single asset acquisitions and dispositions of commercial, hospitality and multifamily properties and mortgage loans secured by such properties.
Gene leads our Commercial Real Estate Transactions and Hospitality practice groups and regularly represents a wide variety of clients in single asset and portfolio transactions ranging in size from $2 million to over $500 million.
He has represented many clients in the acquisition, financing, development, ownership, operation, and disposition of hospitality properties. He has represented purchasers in almost two billion dollars of hotel acquisitions and financings and sellers in over eight hundred million dollars of hotel dispositions. He has represented franchisees with respect to all major hotel brands, and has handled transactions involving franchise and management agreements for both single hotels and portfolios of hotels. Gene recently participated in a complex multibillion dollar acquisition and financing of a portfolio of hospitality properties, and a financing of an international beach and golf resort.
Gene's clients have included leading institutional investors, major real estate developers, REITs, financial lending institutions, municipalities, hotel owners and corporations.
Gene is a member of the Urban Land Institute, the District of Columbia Building Industry Association, and the Real Estate Group. Gene regularly attends the NYU Hospitality and Lodging Conference. Gene is past President of the Board of Friends of the Corcoran and is active with numerous pro bono clients.
Gene graduated from Georgetown University prior to earning his JD at Emory University. Following graduation from law school, he received an LLM in Real Property Development from the University of Miami. Gene recently received a Masters of Professional Studies in the Real Estate Program from Georgetown University and is now an instructor in the program.
Jack McKenna maintains a diverse practice representing clients engaged in a variety of construction projects both private and public. As a litigator, Jack advocates for developers, general contractors, subcontractors, and homeowners in a range of construction-related disputes, in both federal and state courts, relating to all manner of construction projects. He also has experience in insurance defense litigation and with the representation of both commercial and residential landlords.
Jack also counsels and assists with drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts, protecting clients' rights throughout the process and tailoring agreements to suit their needs.
Jack is a graduate of the University of Maryland and the Catholic University Columbus School of Law. After graduating from law school, Jack worked as a Judicial Law Clerk for the Honorable Joseph A. Dugan, Jr. in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County Maryland.
The Honorable J. James McKenna currently holds an of counsel position with ASM. Judge McKenna has made invaluable contributions to the legal field over the course of more than forty years practicing in both the public and private sectors. He began his legal career in 1965 serving with the Corporation Counsel in Washington, D.C, before joining the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, where he served as an Assistant United States Attorney. Judge McKenna spent a year practicing privately prior to returning to the public domain as Assistant to the Deputy States Attorney for Montgomery County, Maryland, eventually earning the title of Deputy States Attorney. He then headed the Office of the Public Defender in Montgomery County, Maryland, leading a team of eight attorneys.
From there Judge McKenna moved back to the private sector, where he built and maintained a successful personal injury and criminal law practice until he was appointed to the bench by Maryland governor Harry R. Hughes in 1986. Judge McKenna served as a Circuit Court Judge for Montgomery County, Maryland for the next 13 years before retiring in 1999.
Judge McKenna has served as President of the Maryland Criminal Defense Lawyers and Member of the Board of Trustees for the Office of the Public Defender in Maryland. He is also a founding member of the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice and has memberships to the Executive Board of the Maryland Trial Attorneys Association, the Barristers (DC), and the Lawyers Club (DC). Judge McKenna holds a Bachelor's degree from Seton Hall University and a Law degree from the Georgetown Law Center, where he has since returned to teach as an adjunct professor. He has also served in the United States Marine Corps and the U.S. Army.
Since retiring Judge McKenna has served as both a mediator and arbitrator in a wide array of legal matters. He along with his wife Lois are also part owners of the family owned Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyard, in Dickerson, Maryland, where on any given Saturday you are likely to find him giving a tour of the family's award winning wines.
John McKenna passed away in February of 2022. He had been treated for pancreatic cancer since mid-December. An accomplished Washington… Read more »
Job Titles:
- Member of the Bars of the District of Columbia
Laurence Schor concentrates his practice on all phases of construction and government contracts law and has represented large and small business clients in various courts and forums across the United States. Mr. Schor served as the Assistant General Counsel for NASA Support in the office of the General Counsel, United States Army Corps of Engineers, and as an attorney at the Marshall Space Flight Center for NASA. He has authored articles, book chapters and course manuals on government contracts and construction topics and lectures regularly for professional groups on issues arising in these areas. He is also the Editor of the 50 State Construction Lien and Bond Law book and an active Arbitrator and Mediator.
Mr. Schor is a member of the Bars of the District of Columbia, Texas, and Maryland, as well as the American Bar Association, Public Contract Law Section, where he chaired the Construction Committee and also served as Budget and Finance Officer on the governing Council. He is a member and lecturer for the ABA Forum Committee on the Construction Industry, and is also a member of the Federal Bar Association. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Southern Methodist University, a law degree from the University of Texas at Austin, School of Law, and a Master of Laws degree from George Washington University with an emphasis in Government Procurement. He is a founding member, served on the Board of Governors, and was the President (2001-2002) of the American College of Construction Lawyers. Mr. Schor has been named as one of the top 10 construction lawyers in the Washington, DC metropolitan area by his peers as noted in Chambers USA: America's Best Lawyers for Business and has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America, Who's Who Legal, The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, Super Lawyers for the DC metropolitan area, and is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in the World.
Laurence Schor concentrates his practice on all phases of construction and government contracts law and has represented large and small… Read more »
Scott Boyle maintains a diverse practice both as a litigator and as a client counselor. He has experience in insurance litigation, government contracts, and regulatory enforcement. As a litigator, he has represented property developers, property management firms, construction subcontractors, commercial and residential landlords, and condominium associations. Scott has counseled clients on matters across a wide array of practice areas, including contract disputes, premises liability claims, professional liability claims, disputes with creditors, employment and workers' compensation claims, and landlord and tenant matters. As an advisor, Scott has worked in the general counsel's office of a large federal contractor and has provided subpoena assistance to professionals and corporate entities.
Scott graduated from Northeastern University in 2014. He attended The George Washington University Law School, where he was a member of the International Law Review and earned his JD, with honors, in 2021. He is licensed in the District of Columbia. Prior to attending law school, he worked as a public sector management consultant.
Mr. Gentoso is joining the firm after a seven-year tenure with Plaza Construction, where he worked as a Project Manager while in law school, until he ultimately became Plaza's General Counsel for their New York, New Jersey, Washington DC, Florida, and California markets. As General Counsel, Mr. Gentoso became experienced in drafting and negotiating prime contracts and subcontract agreements, preparing and negotiating delay and insurance related claims (including condo defect claims), dispute resolution processes, and complex construction litigation.
Mr. Gentoso has a degree in Civil & Environmental Engineering from Villanova, along with experience working as an oilfield services drilling engineer in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as a foundation and superstructure concrete subcontractor in New York and New Jersey where he successfully navigated complex construction issues in the WTC Tower 1 and WTC Transportation Hub projects, and as a general contractor in New York where he successfully delivered the 565 Broome SoHo project, a luxury condominium designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop, on time and on budget to its client. Mr. Gentoso is licensed in New York State and the District of Columbia.
Tom Lynch primarily represents construction clients, including owners, general contractors, construction managers, and subcontractors on private and public construction projects. In addition to his construction practice, Tom has represented government contracts clients in claims against the government and bid protests as well as contract reviews. He has also represented clients in a variety of commercial litigation, including lien priority and mortgage-related litigation in federal and state courts. His experience also includes representation of construction clients and corporate creditors in Chapter 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy actions.
Walter represents contractors and project owners in a wide variety of commercial disputes and has experience in construction claims litigation in the Eastern District of Virginia. Walter earned his JD from the George Washington University Law School. During his time at George Washington, Walter participated several oral advocacy competitions, including the Spanogle International Arbitration Competition, in which he was a semi-finalist. Because of his performance in these competitions, Walter was awarded membership on both the Alternative Dispute Resolution Board and the Moot Court Board. Additionally, Walter participated in the Rising for Justice Housing Advocacy and Litigation Clinic where he represented indigent clients in the landlord tenant branch of D.C. Superior Court.
Walter is currently awaiting admission to the DC bar and is being supervised by a licensed DC Bar member.
John McKenna passed away in February of 2022. He had been treated for pancreatic cancer since mid-December. An accomplished Washington attorney, he was perhaps best remembered as a witty loving friend and father whose deep Catholic faith was rooted in action.
John McKenna successfully represented clients in regional and national construction disputes both complex and small, including mold and related personal injury litigation, delay claims, chemical releases, project close-out disputes, liability insurance coverage disputes and lien claims. The litigation matters spanned both residential and commercial projects, and include luxury condominiums and mixed use facilities, hotel towers, commercial buildings, assisted living facilities, hospitals, manufacturing plants and new home communities. Mr. McKenna also regularly counseled clients in implementing integrated risk transfer and avoidance strategies through effective contracting, for both ground-up and large scale renovation construction projects across the United States.
In the construction defect arena, he recovered over $27 million dollars in cost of repair and consequential damages, "dollars in the door," on behalf his commercial clients (including some of the country's largest commercial owners and developers). As defense counsel, he secured numerous defense verdicts for national and regional contractors and builders facing multiple millions of dollars in potential liability. He represented and guided builders facing serial, "bet the company" fraud and products liability lawsuits and associated insurance coverage disputes to highly favorable outcomes.
On the transactional and project delivery side, Mr. McKenna developed an extensive library of custom form construction contracts, tailored for differing jurisdictional requirements, client needs and asset types, which his clients regularly draw upon and benefit from for projects throughout the country. He both counseled his clients in the effective use of such documents and negotiated the contracts on their behalf. Mr. McKenna regularly represented and counseled clients in connection with the array of cost overrun, delay, property insurance, mechanic's lien and other similar issues that crop up during the course of construction and at the time of project close-out. He also represented and counseled clients on the Americans with Disabilities Act, in connection with due diligence efforts, and compliance issues. The project types included multifamily and mixed use, office, condominium, large scale conversions, retail, time shares, hotels and industrial.
Mr. McKenna was a graduate the Columbia School of Law, Catholic University, Washington D.C. He was member of the Bars of the District of Columbia and Maryland as well as the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, and served as law clerk to the Honorable Thomas A. Flannery, US District Court, District of Columbia, from 1992-1994. He was a member of the NAHB's Construction Law Attorney Forum, a select group of attorneys from across the country chosen by the NAHB for their recognized experience representing builders, and has lectured both regionally and nationally on matters such as construction defects, mold, and condominium liability exposures. He authored numerous articles on construction law, including an analysis of the 2009 Federal Stimulus Act's impact on green building activity for the web publication Green Space Today.
He was recognized as a leader in construction law for the Washington Metropolitan Area by both Chambers USA and Super Lawyers, achieved Martindale-Hubbell's highest peer review rating of AV-Preeminent, and had been chosen by his peers for inclusion in the 23 rd Edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his work in the field of construction law.