Gene Commander
Arbitrator, Mediator; Executive-Level Business and ADR Advisor to the Legal and Construction Industries at Gene Commander, Inc.
Experience
Specializes in resolving complex commercial disputes on construction and real estate development projects. Uses ADR best practices learned during 30+ year construction law career representing hundreds of clients in civil litigation, AAA and private arbitration and mediation, public/private DRB, and other customized dispute resolution proceedings. One client recovered nearly $30 million in a combined commercial arbitration and mechanic’s lien foreclosure dispute that arose from abandoned hotel/convention center project. ADR experience includes serving as sole arbitrator, panel member, and chairperson; DRB panel member; and mediator in 200+ multiparty disputes from construction, real estate, insurance, and other commercial transactions between companies ranging in size from family-owned businesses to publicly traded companies acting as public/private project owners and developers, design professionals, general contractors, EPC contractors, design-builders, specialty subcontractors, insurance companies, sureties, lenders, borrowers, guarantors, receivers, trustees, fiduciaries, limited partners, investors, landlords, and tenants. Since 2021, he has helped provide proactive business counsel to law firm leaders and C-suite executives to implement successful business growth strategies. Gene’s real estate experience includes claims from development agreements, purchase agreements, promissory notes, deeds of trust, personal guarantees, property management agreements, listing agreements, commercial leases, HUD audits, appraisals, irrevocable family trusts, jointly owned property separation agreements, contested wills and probate, limited partnership agreements, private offerings, historic preservation tax incentives, surface and storage water rights, reservoir/ditch company agreements, and the Comprehensive Environmental Compensation Liability Act (CERCLA). His law firm experience includes M&A transactions and law firm/partner/shareholder disputes based on decades of leadership/ownership roles and responsibilities in local, regional, and national firms. Served on management team for mid-sized litigation firm. Held leadership positions in rapidly growing construction law practice group in regional firm. Served as managing shareholder in Denver office of Polsinelli PC, an Am Law 100 firm, from 2011-2015, during rapid growth in number of attorneys, breadth of services, revenue, and facilities via successful nontraditional staffing, organic growth, lateral hires, and mergers. His insurance experience includes disputes with London-based syndicates, domestic surplus lines, sureties, and home warranty companies involving claim handling/duty to defend obligations and coverage issues arising under commercial liability, product liability, excess liability, professional liability, and builder\"s risk insurance policies, and claims under reinsurance treaties, homeowner warranty agreements, and performance, payment, bid, and completion bonds involving contractor and developer defaults.
Work History
President, Gene Commander, Inc., 2015 - Present; Shareholder, Polsinelli PC (formerly known as Polsinelli Shughart PC, 2009-2013, and Shughart Thomson & Kilroy PC, 2000-2009), 2000-2015; Member, Hall & Evans LLC, 1981-2000; Associate, Smith Petersen Beckman & Willson, 1977-1981.
License(s)
Admitted to the Bar: Colorado (1981), Iowa (1977); U.S. District Court: District of Colorado (1981); U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit (1981).
Education
University of Iowa (JD, with distinction-1977) Iowa State University (BA, Architecture-1975)
Publications
Has written articles for construction and legal industry publications over the years, including Engineering News-Record; Colorado Construction; Colorado Real Estate Journal; Colorado Lawyer; Law Week Colorado; and GeneCommanderInc.com/Blog, including:• Succession Planning: Time is of the Essence, Law Week Colorado (November 25, 2022). • Protecting Law Firm Investments in Human Capital, Law Week Colorado (August 8, 2022). • Staying Ahead of the Succession Planning Curve, Colorado Lawyer, 51-APR Colo. Law. 8 (Apr 2022). • The Commander Blog (2021 – present). • SCOTUS Decision Applies FAA to Empower Businesses and Arbitrators, The Colorado Lawyer, 48-SEP Colo. Law. 30 (Aug/Sept 2019). • Proactive Dispute Resolution Strategies Can Save Time, Money, Colorado Real Estate Journal (June 2018). • Making the Economic Case for Mandatory Binding Arbitration, The Colorado Lawyer, 7-May Colo. Law. 30 (May 2018). • Satisfying the Need for Qualified E-Neutrals, Law Week Colorado, https://lawweekcolorado.com/2017/04/satisfying-need-qualified-e-neutrals/ (April 14, 2017).
Awards
In 2019, Gene was recognized by Best Lawyers®, the oldest and most respected guide to the legal profession, as Denver’s Lawyer of the Year in the field of arbitration. Best Lawyers also recognized Gene as Denver’s Lawyer of the Year in the field of construction law in 2016.
Associations
College of Commercial Arbitrators (Fellow and Subcommittee Co-Chair, Associates Mentorship Program, Standing Committee on Diversity); Dispute Resolution Board Foundation; Associated General Contractors of Colorado; Construction Education Foundation of Colorado (Board of Directors); American and Colorado Bar Associations.