Robert L. Vail's Career Highlights

Founder, President & CEO    VN Services Inc., 1982 - Present

Contact Robert L. Vail:
(440) 729-0514   
vail@vn-services.com

Mr. Vail is highly active in all phases of the company's business activities and works closely with staff to ensure quality expertise for all projects and clients.

• Arbitrator and expert witness, advocate and advisor in negotiations, mediations, arbitrations and when necessary litigations.
• Owner's representation services
• Planned maintenance master scheduling
• Delay and claims analysis (both assertive and defensive)
• Project management consulting to assist in improving project processes, reducing the risk of disputes.
• Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling on Primavera products
• Cost control analysis and consulting
• Teaches Graduate Classes, Workshops and Seminars covering topics including project controls, scheduling and claims analysis.
• Senior Lecturer at University of Akron
• Co-authored & published multiple industry articles and curriculums

Dunbar Mechanical      Toledo, Ohio 1981 - 1982
Project Coordinator

• Volume - $12 million/year
• Project Management - all phases, including buying material, writing contracts, field labor management, billings, change order evaluation and scheduling. In charge of all work at the Standard Oil Refinery, Toledo, Ohio and other industrial and commercial projects.
• Responsible for the construction schedules of four other project managers and monitoring progress and profitability of their projects.
• Responsible for setting up a computer cost control system for project management and integrating it into existing estimating and accounting systems.

R.V. Buric Construction Management Consultants      Cleveland, Ohio  1977 - 1980
Vice President

• Responsibilities included CPM scheduling, construction claims, and management of the company.
  
• Personally involved in more than $350 million of construction projects, including the following types of projects ranging from $1 million to $85 million: industrial, medical, waste treatment, and office buildings.

The Cleveland Crane & Engineering Company      Cleveland, Ohio  1973 - 1977
Engineer & Sales

• Experience in overhead crane design, including mechanical, electrical, and systems design.
• Expansion of the Northern Ohio sales office through market research, sales calls and application design.
• Estimating, sales trainee seminars and development of specifications for overhead cranes for the Monorail Manufacturers Association.

Anchor Fasteners      Cleveland, Ohio  1970-1973
Draftsman

• Worked in the maintenance department and in plant engineering
• Worked on plant layout and drafting for machinery components

Education

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio

• Degree: B.B.A. Business
• Minor: Business Management

Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan

• Major: Mechanical Engineering

Continuing Education and Seminars Attended:

• Navigating the Evidence & Discovery Roadmap in Arbitration (AAA 2016)
• Discovery in Arbitration: Practical Advice for Domestic / International Success (AAA 2014)
• Managing Risk: How to Stay in Business and out of the Paper (CES 2012)
• Maximizing Efficiency & Economy in Arbitration: Challenges at the Preliminary Hearing (AAA 2012)
• Ohio Construction Reform Academy, Ohio Construction Reform (2012)
• CDRS Arbitration Training
• Measuring Inefficiencies on a Construction Project
• AIA Contracts
• Realistic Cost Controls in Construction
• Electric Hoist Engineering: Harnischfeger Institute
• Construction Contract Claims: Ohio Contractors Association
• Construction Contract Organization and Financing: University of Denver
• Advanced Course on Construction Claims: Engineering News Record
• Computerized Scheduling: Primavera Systems
• The Growing Use of Alternative Disputes Resolution in Construction
  Disputes: CPR Legal Program
• Calculation in Proof of Damages for Construction Owners & Contractors:
• Construction Education Management Corporation
• Calculating Loss of Efficiency Claims: Federal Publications, Inc
• Mediation: The ADR Section, State Bar of Michigan
• Basic Arbitration Program: American Arbitration Association
• Annual ADR Day: American Arbitration Association
• Annual Construction Seminars: American Arbitration Association
• Construction Industry Arbitrator Training Workshop I:
  American Arbitration Association
• Transformational Leadership System of Management
• Construction Industry Arbitrator Training Workshop II:
  American Arbitration Association
• SAO College Seminar for the Design and Construction Industry in Ohio
• Advanced Case Management Techniques: American Arbitration Association
• National Forum on Conflict Resolution, Chicago: American Arbitration Association

Professional Affiliations

• American Society for Health Care Engineering: Current
• American Arbitration Association, Cleveland, Ohio: Current
• National Business Officers Association: Current
• Construction Panel of Arbitrators: Current
• Project Management Institute, Northeastern Ohio Chapter: Current
• Trustee for a private school in Buffalo, New York: Current
• Chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee: Current
• Construction Advisory Council: 1992 - 2001
• Install Incorporated, Greenville, South Carolina: Board of Directors: 1983 - 1986
• American Institute of Constructors, Northeastern Ohio Chapter: 1994 - 2003

Publications and Speaking Engagements

• Presenter: MAINTENANCE & CAPITAL EXPENDITURE PLANNING, Education Collaborative of Western New York
• Presenter: TOP GUN, Bricker & Eckler
• Senior Lecturer, PREVENTING AND RESOLVING CONSTRUCTION DISPUTES, University of Akron
• Senior Lecturer, PRECONSTRUCTION, THE CONSTRUCTION PROCESS, University of Akron
• Co-author, RISK MANAGEMENT & ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION, The Cambridge Institute, 1994
• Co-author, CONSTRUCTION LAW FOR ATTORNEYS IN OHIO, Lorman Education Service
• CONSTRUCTION CLAIM ANALYSIS, Lorman Education Service
• CLAIM BASICS, BX Magazine
• CONSTRUCTION CLAIMS RELATED TO THE SCHEDULE, BX Magazine
• ADDITIONAL COSTS AND COMPENSATION, BX Magazine

Job Listing Highlights

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