James Watson

Coates & Davenport P.C., RichmondMr. Watson is a 25-year member of the Construction Law and Public Contracts Section of the Virginia State Bar. His practice is focused on serving clients in the areas of both public and private procurement and construction. In addition to having tried numerous construction cases before federal and state courts, arbitration panels, and federal boards of contract appeals, he is a frequent speaker before professional and construction industry groups. Mr. Watson recently spoke on design-build issues at the 2016 regional conference of SASHTO. His comprehensive knowledge of the construction process is enhanced by being certified for six years as a project management professional (PMP) by the Project Management Institute. In addition, Mr. Watson worked for over two years with project managers in construction administration with one of the nation’s largest multi-disciplinary engineering firms. There, on a daily basis he worked with engineers to resolve complex construction issues involving all major engineering disciplines. Although not an engineer, Mr. Watson twice served as chair of the Richmond Joint Engineers’ Council. He has served on the board of directors of the Richmond Chapter of the Construction Specifications Institute and was certified by the national CSI as a MasterFormat-2004® instructor.