Sue E. Yoakum
Of Counsel
Sue E. Yoakum, Of Counsel at Donovan Hatem LLP, is an attorney and a licensed architect with approximately 30 years of domestic and international experience in design and construction. She focuses her practice assisting design professionals by providing claims and risk management assistance, contract reviews, and other related legal services. Sue frequently presents risk management seminars and has spoken at several national conferences, including; AIA, ACEC, DBIA, IRMI, PLI and ABA Construction Forum.
She frequently authors articles and has contributed to following books; Megaprojects: Challenges and Recommended Practices, published August 2010 by American Council of Engineering Companies and has authored a chapter in the AIA’s 15th edition of The Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice. She is a liaison to the AIA Documents Committee.
Prior to pursuing her legal career, Sue practiced architecture for a decade with a focus on sport projects.
Admitted to Practice
- Kansas
- Missouri
Education
- University of Missouri, Kansas City (J.D., with honors 1994)
- “AmJured Award” recipient in Construction Law
- Staff writer for The Urban Lawyer
- Kansas State University (Bachelor of Architecture, with honors, 1983)
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, Sue regularly presents Donovan Hatem Design Professional Roundtables in Boston and New York.
- Speaker, Sue regularly presents in-house risk management seminars to Architects and Engineers.
- Speaker and author, “Understanding Legal Liability concerns for Architects and Engineers” for Practicing Law Institute (December 2018).
- Speaker, “Legal Bootcamp for Practicing Architects” for American Institute of Architects (AIA) National Convention (June 2018).
- Speaker, “Has it Really Been A Decade? The 2017 AIA Contract Documents” for the American Bar Associations (ABA) Construction Forum National meeting (October 2017).
- Speaker, “Building Information Modeling (BIM) Legal Aspects for ACEC Annual Convention (April 2016).
- Speaker, “Achieving Fair and Balanced Subsurface Condition Risk Allocation for DB and P3 Projects” for ACEC Annual Convention (April 2015).
- Speaker, “What will Advances in Technology and Project Delivery methods Look Like in the Years to Come” for CASC ACEC (April 2015).
- Speaker, “Fiduciary Duty and Design Professional Liability for ABX (October 2014).
- Speaker, “Liability on Residential Projects – Focus on California Case and Open Discussion” for AIA Large Firm Roundtable meeting (September 2013).
- Speaker, “I Don’t See It That Way Common Mistakes Lawyer Make in Ready and Interpreting Design Documents” for the American Bar Associations (ABA) Construction Forum National meeting (September 2010).
- Speaker, “Global Design Practices: Risk and Liabilities” and “The Prime Consultant and Subconsultant Relationship” Build Boston (November 2009), Speaker, 25th IRMI Construction Risk Conference – Presented “Design-Build Risk & Professional Liability Insurance: A Disconnect.” (2005).
- Speaker, “Design Build Liabilities from Architect’s perspective for Gillette Stadium” for Design Build Institute of America’s National Convention (October 2001).
- Kansas University and Kansas State University (1995-2018) – Regularly presented legal liability seminars to the students regarding the practice of architecture
- Author, “Building Information Modeling and Risk Management.” ACEC/MA Insights (June 2016)
- Author, “Is Perfection Possible? Managing Uncertainty and Expectations in Building Design and Construction.” Design & Construction Management Professional Reporter (May 2015)
- Contributing author, Chapter 4: “Architect-Engineer Contracting,” Federal Government Construction Contracts, Editors: Adrian L. Bastianelli III, Andrew D. Ness, Joseph D. West, published by American Bar Association, (2010)
Representative Matters
- Sue’s selected international project list includes:
- New Wembley Stadium (London, England)
- Millennium Dome (London, England)
- Algarve Stadium (Faro, Portugal)
- Benfica Stadium (Lisbon, Portugal)
- Suncorp Stadium (Queensland, Brisbane, Australia)
- Her selected United States project list includes:
- Gillette Stadium
- Arizona Cardinals Stadium
- Surprise Recreation Campus
- Great American Ballpark
- Louis Cardinals Baseball Stadium
- In addition, she has served as General Counsel for a real estate development company located in Prague, Czech Republic, where she was responsible for a multi-national legal department.
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