Matt Beshara / Mediator and Arbitrator / Houston and Dallas
I didn't learn this business from a case file. I learned it from a job trailer.
Mediation and arbitration for the construction and development industries — from a neutral who has built the projects, represented every side of the disputes, and still signs the contracts.
Builder. Lawyer. Neutral.
Three careers, one timeline, where all three are still riding along in sync.
Building / Development1999–2000, then 2011 to today
Construction law 2001 to today, admitted 2003
Serving as a neutral 2019 to today
I still run the construction company. So when a claim lands on my desk, I have been on the paying end of that same argument myself.
B.S. Construction Science, cum laude, Texas A&M. Associate Constructor, American Institute of Constructors.
J.D. cum laude, SMU Dedman School of Law. Admitted to the State Bar of Texas.
Board certified in construction law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization — inaugural class.
Joined the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and arbitrators, following 40-hour certified mediator training in 2013.
How I Can Serve
Mediation
Through AAA appointment or by agreement of the parties. Full-day and half-day sessions in person or virtually, priced per party. The flat rate covers review, preparation, and two hours of settlement assistance after everyone leaves the room — because the deal that seems dead at mediation may survive a good night sleep.
Arbitration
When you need someone who understands the technical aspects, business realities and the law. Through AAA appointment or by agreement of the parties. Hourly for all activity including preparation, administration, hearing, and award, with an estimate provided when I am appointed.
Project Neutral
Contractually pre-select me, or just call me to keep the dispute from derailing the deal or project. I can find creative ways to get involved and be fairly compensated, if showing up keeps the focus where it belongs.
What I've Actually Handled
I went in first with a broom, and then a framer’s tool belt in 1995. Since 1999, from three different chairs — as counsel for every tier in the contracting chain; as the general contractor’s own general counsel; and as the executive whose company carried the risk, with my own money on the line.
- Cost-plus and GMP contract accounting and audit disputes
- Change order and extra work claims
- Schedule delay, interference, and acceleration claims
- Concealed or unknown conditions and the impacts that follow
- Design errors and omissions
- Default, supplementation, and termination disputes
- Lien and bond claims, including perfection, receivership, bankruptcy, and foreclosure
- Residential disputes of all types, including RCLA and DTPA issues
- Land use disputes
- Partnership disputes across contracting and development companies and projects
- Liability and property insurance disputes over coverage, claim responsibility, and subrogation
How I Work
I am not a passive mediator. I will offer perspectives and challenge positions, not just pass numbers. But I am always mindful that I work for counsel and the parties. It is their day and their decision.
I can offer something some neutrals cannot: I have represented parties in your position, and I have had my own money in the outcome of situations just like it. That cuts both ways at a mediation — I know what the argument is worth, and I know what it costs to keep making it.
Even when a case does not settle, the day is not wasted. It forces early case assessment and real investigation of both positions without the cost of formal discovery. It often springboards a more collaborative posture in the litigation that follows, and sets the table for a resolution later. My arbitration work also lets me tell you, candidly, how your position is likely to look to whoever hears it on the merits.
I will invest the time to dig in and understand the specifics of your situation before the session. That is included in the rate, and it is not optional. I know the legal, technical and impact of what you’re facing.
Barbara Smaller / The New Yorker, March 13, 2000. Licensed reproduction.
This ran in The New Yorker in March 2000, when I was doing construction out of college and applying to law school. It has hung in my office ever since. It pretty much sums up what I’m about.