Kevin R. Sido, Esq.
IllinoisNeutral AvailabilityKevin R. Sido, Esq. is a skilled senior mediator and arbitrator at ADR Systems. Mr. Sido focuses his practice in business and commercial disputes. He is an approved mediator for the Circuit Court of Cook County Court-Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program and a former arbitrator in that program.
For more than 40 years, Mr. Sido has practiced in litigation and as transactional counsel for design and construction professionals, condominium directors and officers, lawyers, and real estate professionals. He has practiced in all areas of construction law, including construction defect, contractual issues, professional liability, mechanics lien and construction accident matters. His practice also included insurance coverage analysis, policy drafting and broad aspects of a civil trial practice, such as worker injury lawsuits. Mr. Sido draws upon his many decades of experience as a trial lawyer, coverage lawyer, and transactional attorney in his service as a mediator and arbitrator.
Types of Cases Resolved
- Condominium Board Dispute
- Construction
- Construction Accidents
- Construction Defect
- Contract
- Fee Dispute
- Insurance Coverage
- Mechanics Lien
- Product Liability
- Professional Malpractice
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Since joining ADR Systems in 2012, Mr. Sido has served as a senior mediator and arbitrator
- Legal career spanning more than 40 years, formerly as Partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson, LLP, including 12 years of service on the firm’s executive committee and more than 20 years heading a litigation section in the firm’s Chicago office
- Approved Mediator, Cook County Court-Annexed Major Case Civil Mediation Program
- Member of the Mediator Panel of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- Completed intensive training in mediation from Pepperdine University School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, 2005
- Numerous arbitrations of construction disputes for AAA
Representative Cases
- Construction: arbitrated several issues between developer of wind farm and contractor regarding scheduling delays, liquidated damages and contract change orders
- Construction: disputes including worker injury, design malpractice, construction defect, payment disputes, construction insurance, mechanics lien and excavation statutes
- Construction Defect: claim not-in-suit involving all copper pipe risers in new 40 story condominium, defect found just months before initial closings on condo sales; mediation involved 11 parties plus insurers, with sessions held over several months, to fund immediate repair, then to divide responsibility; case settled
- Construction Defect: design defect resulting in bursting frozen pipe
- Construction and Product Liability: issue with bursting pipe valve, successfully mediated
- Contract: dispute between governmental entity and contractor regarding delays, product-sourcing, liquidated damages and
attorneys’ fees - Contract: arbitrated complex case regarding payment and scope between contractors and subcontractors
- Contract: homeowner and architect involved in design disputes and limitation of liability; resolved in arbitration
- Contract: commission dispute between principal and sales agent; case successfully mediated before suit was filed
- Condominium Board Dispute: mediated and settled disagreement between association and developer over construction defects and fees
- Condominium Board Dispute: issues included developer turnover, unit owner problems, construction defect and insurance
- Insurance Coverage: mediated issues regarding professional liability and commercial general liability (CGL) overages
- Product Liability: disputes including industrial products and recreational products
Professional Activities and Awards
- Named in Leading Lawyers Top Ten for ADR
- Selected by his peers as 2022 “Lawyer of the Year” for Construction Law in Chicago as well as “Best Lawyers in America” since 2016
- Selected by his peers as a Leading Lawyer in the categories of Construction Law and ADR Law: Commercial Real Estate, Environmental & Construction, and was profiled in the Real Estate, Construction & Environmental Edition of Leading Lawyers Network Magazine
- President’s Honor Award, American Institute of Architects-Illinois Council
- Since 2006, named annually to the Super Lawyer list in the area of Construction Litigation by Illinois Super Lawyers magazine, and in 2005 he was included on the Super Lawyer list in Business Litigation
- Affiliate Member, American Society of Civil Engineers
- Affiliate Member, Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
- Member, American Bar Association (ABA), Forum on Construction
- Member, Illinois State Bar Association
- Member, Chicago Committee on High-Rise Buildings
- Member, American Board of Trial Advocates
- Former Member, Appellate Lawyers Association, Illinois Association of Condominium, Townhouse & Homeowners
- Member, Society of Trial Lawyers
- Member, International Association of Defense Trial Counsel
- Member, Defense Research Institute (DRI)
Presentations and Publications
- Presenter, “Statutes & Standards, Risk Management and Licensing Laws,” eight hour continuing education for Northeast Chapter of Illinois Professional Land Surveyors Association
- Presenter, “How Amicus Curiae Briefs Constructed Good Results for Structural Engineers,” Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
- Presenter, numerous lectures on engineering ethics for Illinois Society of Professional Engineers and the Structural Engineers Association of Illinois
- Presenter, numerous Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs for ADR Systems on various topics
- Editor, “Architect and Engineer Liability,” Claims Against Design Professionals
- Editor, “Illinois Design-Build Laws,” The Design-Build Process: A Guide to Licensing and Procurement Requirements in the 50 States and Canada, ABA Forum on Construction
- Author, “Illinois Law,” State-By-State Guide to Construction Contracts and Claims, Aspen
- Author, “Illinois,” Design Build Deskbook, Forum on Construction, ABA
- Author, “Design Better Solutions to Project Disputes,” PE Magazine
- Author, “Mediation Can Help Lawyers, Clients Resolve Condominium Disputes,” Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
- Author, “Workers’ Injuries,” Construction Law
- Author, “Illinois Law,” Admissibility of Expert Testimony, A State-by-State Compendium, DRI
- Author, “For the Client: The Pros and Cons of Waiving Subrogation,” PE Magazine
- Author, “Resolving Condominium Disputes by Mediation: What Property Managers Need to Know,” Hinshaw publication
- Co-Author, “Ownership Transition: Passing the Torch without Getting Burned,” STRUCTURE magazine
- Contributor and Author, chapters with revisions and supplements on pleading, contribution and indemnity and condominium litigation, as well as architectural contracts, Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
Education
- J.D., University of Illinois College of Law
- B.A., University of Illinois, high honors
- Fellow, Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
- Illinois State Bar
- Federal Trial Bar for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
- U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
- U.S. Tax Court
Disclosure
I have practiced law for 46 years and have been a mediator and arbitrator since 2012. I am a former partner at Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. Many attorneys have mediated or arbitrated a case with me.
The disclosures listed above will not affect my neutrality in this dispute.
