Untying Knots

In 1999, Ty Laurie, who was then 13 years into his construction-litigation career, was tasked with representing the Chicago Bears in their renovation of Soldier Field, the oldest stadium in the NFL.

Since a lot of stadiums are built in the parking lot adjoining the stadium, Laurie explains, construction doesn’t have to be rushed. “You could miss two years or more. We renovated the stadium in the footprint of the existing stadium. We could only miss one season of play.”

The Bears made a rare playoff appearance in the 2001 season, further shortening the construction window. “There were over 100 bulldozers waiting while fans were leaving the stadium for the [January 2002] home playoff game,” he says. “The project was incredibly challenging, and there were a lot of unknown conditions: We had to lift steel within inches of historic colonnades. We negotiated extensive change orders and prosecuted claims during the job.”

By the time the Bears hosted the Packers for Monday Night Football in September 2003, Soldier Field had 60,000-plus new seats in its shell, as well as a new underground parking structure, sound system, and videoboards. “I am a big fan of Chicago sports,” Laurie says of the Cubs, Bulls, Blackhawks and Bears. “I’m a [Bears] season-ticket holder and am very proud of the stadium. Considering what was there previously, it’s an excellent venue with some of the best sightlines in all the NFL.”

While Soldier Field was Laurie’s first, and most complicated, stadium construction gig, the adaptive-reuse project led to him working on some of the most prominent stadiums and ballparks in the country, including: New Jersey’s Prudential Center; Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field; Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium; Minneapolis’ U.S. Bank Stadium; Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium; Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium; Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium; Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark; and New York’s Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Between being an advocate for one of the contractors on a stadium job, or as a mediator in a stadium dispute, or being the lead lawyer for a stadium owner, I have probably done upwards of a dozen stadiums,” Laurie says. “I’m known in some circles as ‘the stadium guy.’ Whether NFL or MLB or soccer or hockey, I’ve done stadiums all around the country.”

Growing up in Skokie, Laurie loved to argue—and to win, especially with his parents. He took a mock-courtroom elective in junior high that further sparked his legal interest, and by the time Laurie was an undergraduate student at Northwestern in the early 1980s, he knew he wanted to be a lawyer.

After graduating from the University of Michigan Law School in 1986, Laurie headed to Chicago to work at Lurie, Sklar & Simon, a small firm. “I wanted to try cases right away, and they did all kinds of litigation—medical malpractice, commercial, construction,” he says.

Despite knowing nothing about construction, Laurie gravitated toward it. “I liked the clients and the partners that were working on it. I was very lucky to be hired by Paul Lurie, a renowned construction lawyer who was a mentor and provided significant guidance throughout my career. About two years in, I decided to do that full time,” he says. “I thought it was a way I could distinguish myself as a litigator. There were a lot of litigators in Chicago and around the country, but there weren’t necessarily a lot of construction litigators.”

The firm became Neal Gerber Eisenberg & Lurie after a 1987 merger, just as Laurie was finding his footing. “My first big case was representing the owners of Arlington International Racecourse when they reconstructed it after the [1985] fire,” Laurie says. “The case included mediation with one of the best mediators in the country, Eric Green. … I got to see him in action, and it inspired me to become a mediator.”

By the end of the decade, Laurie had moved to Schiff Hardin and became certified as a mediator, mediating construction cases part-time while litigating others. Though he still consults on an as-needed basis at Laurie & Brennan, the firm he co-founded in 2010, mediation makes up the bulk of his practice today. “I love being a mediator,” Laurie says. “That’s really my practice now, CMS Neutrals, which I founded in 2014.”

“When you’re a neutral—be it a mediator or arbitrator,” says Laurie, who’s certified as both, “you’re seeing advocacy from a neutral perspective. It’s different than seeing it from an opponent’s perspective as an advocate. As a result, you see the good, the bad and the ugly as a neutral. That helps as an advocate, because even a guy with long teeth like me can learn every day.”

As for the kid who loved to argue? He’s still there. “I liked being a litigator, but it was obvious to me that you’re doing a better job for your client by settling the case with the cost and risk of litigation—in construction, especially,” Laurie says. “It’s much better to get a good settlement than it is to go to trial.”

“Ty’s superpower is his ability to clarify and identify the key issues of a dispute or contract matter,” says Chad Shifrin, a partner at Laurie & Brennan who’s worked with Laurie for 20 years. “Whatever it is, he is able to home in on the key issues and then identify the strengths and weaknesses of those issues better and quicker than any attorney I’ve ever seen. Because of his ability to hit on those key issues, and evaluate them with detail and … figure out what the facts are—and then apply the law—he’s able to advise or work toward a fair resolution for all the parties. It’s why he’s such a sought-after mediator.”

In addition to his litigation, mediation and arbitration work, Laurie has negotiated transaction matters for Northwestern Memorial Hospital and the multibuilding development in Manhattan to replace the World Trade Center. “What stood out for the World Trade Center was the unique situation in which a governmental entity took over for a private developer—which already had a contract in place, creating a complicated negotiation and modification,” he says.

It’s striking, then, that a career highlight for Laurie doesn’t have anything to do with construction.

“As a young lawyer, I helped two doctors from Ukraine who were married. The wife was about to be deported, and I was able to prevent that,” he says. “When we walked out of the hearing, the husband literally jumped in my arms.”

It’s an impulse others have felt as well. “I remember one day at work I got a call that my son was in the emergency room,” says Ridgely Jackson, a senior counsel at Harris Winick Harris who has known Laurie for 30 years. “He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Ty came to the emergency room, and Ty took my son to chemo over and over again.

“I admire his loyalty to people, which is unwavering,” adds Jackson, a former colleague of Laurie’s who knew him first as a secretary, then as a paralegal, then as an associate. “When I went to work for him, I had a high school diploma and went to Northwestern at night. He cheerleaded me all the way. When he became a partner, he would go to every associate in the morning and say, ‘Hi.’ He makes time for people, no matter what level they’re at. He mentored the Xerox operator to become a paralegal, the associates to become partners, and the partners to become fantastic partners. … He doesn’t make a big thing about being this extraordinary human being.”

In fact, Laurie defers credit to those who mentored him, including Lurie, Rudy Radasevich, Mark Friedlander and Howard Lieberman. “I have tried to pay it forward and mentor younger lawyers as I have been mentored,” he says. “I take particular joy in seeing how many of them have flourished in their careers and how I perhaps have played a small part.”

Shifrin says his admiration for people goes beyond mentees.

“His opposing counsel, they all respect him because he treats everyone fairly and in an honest and direct manner,” he says. “I’ve seen these people come up to Ty and tell him, ‘We’ve had disagreements, but the way you’ve handled yourself has my respect.’ Meanwhile, Ty’s clients trust him implicitly to craft the best legal strategy to accomplish their goals, and his execution resulted in many loyal and appreciative clients.”

Doing the right thing is what initially drew Laurie to mediation.

“It’s a challenge when lawyers and clients can’t settle without a neutral. It isn’t just the substantive issues: There’s personalities involved, there’s timing issues involved, there’s a lot of things that are left unsaid that could be driving a real impediment to settling that you as a mediator have to figure out,” says Laurie. “You have to try to rise to that challenge, try to drive the parties to a bargain. When that happens, even if the parties aren’t happy with the settlement, they’re relieved that it’s settled. And that is always a good feeling—for not only the parties, but for the mediator.”

Over the course of his career, Laurie says mediations have gotten tougher to settle. “And COVID changed things, and made it [even] tougher,” he adds. “There’s a different attitude on all sides of the table. More often than pre-COVID, people are willing to walk away from the table.”

Perhaps Laurie’s toughest mediation test came in 2018 to 2020, after the completion of U.S. Bank Stadium in downtown Minneapolis—the home of the Minnesota Vikings. “My co-mediator John Harens and I worked over two years with numerous parties and insurers to resolve the disputed issues. At every turn we felt we were playing Whac-A-Mole. But in the end, everyone compromised.”

While Laurie thinks arbitration is on its way to becoming the preferred course of action over litigation, “arbitration has also become lengthy and expensive,” he says. “The American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and other organizations have attempted to create cost-effective solutions for seven-figure disputes. But further inroads into a truncated binding-resolution system need to be established that reduce costs, minimize discovery, and maximize the ability of advocates to try their case with minimal risk of surprise. The organizations have done a good job considering how far we have come, but the task is not complete. We have not perfected that system yet, and I hope in the future we can do so.”

As Laurie ponders retirement after nearly 40 years in the profession, he thinks back on other changes he’s seen. “The biggest is the number of construction lawyers, especially over the last 15 or so years,” he says. “In addition, the use of alternative dispute resolution—and specifically mediation—for most construction disputes is almost a given now. Thirty years ago, it was the exception, not the rule. As most construction disputes are so fact-specific, controlling risk through a negotiated settlement is a preferred method of resolving these disputes—assuming all sides can be somewhat reasonable.”

Another change has been working with his wife, Alanna. “My wonderful wife is my partner in the mediation practice. She runs the calendar, and she sets out the agreements, and collects the checks. By controlling the calendar, we’ve been able to travel a bunch already and spend time with our two adult kids—playing golf, going to sporting events, and having fun,” Laurie says. “I’m looking forward to doing more of that. And hopefully seeing the Bears and Cubs get to their next Super Bowl and World Series, respectively.” 

“Ty has had a career of which he can be proud. He strives to be the best at everything he does—best lawyer, best mediator,” says Alanna Laurie. “He has done some awesome things throughout his career, but … we always talk about what we’re going to do next, whether it’s charity work or travel. We’re trying to plan the next phase of our lives so that we can get the best out of it.”