John R. Lockard
Practice Focus:
Construction
Public Contracts
Commercial Litigation
Contact Information
Norfolk Office
500 World Trade Center
Norfolk, Virginia 23510
(757) 446-8622
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John is a partner of Vandeventer Black and concentrates his law practice in public contracts, construction and commercial litigation. In the construction field, he has extensive experience including contract drafting and negotiation, mechanic’s lien and payment bond claims, and litigation and arbitration of claims involving large and complex construction projects. John is an experienced litigator in both state and federal court that includes all stages of litigation: discovery, motions, trial and appeal. He has tried numerous cases to judges and juries and argued before appellate courts.
John’s public contracts practice focuses on state and federal bid protests and requests for equitable adjustment to contracts. His Commercial practice concentrates on drafting commercial leases, representing landlords and tenants in commercial real estate disputes and creditor’s rights.
John received a B.A. from the University of Virginia and a J.D. from The College of William & Mary School of Law. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1986-1991, completing his active duty at the rank of Lieutenant.
John has been involved in claims and disputes ranging from several thousand to several million dollars. He has litigated a wide variety of construction disputes in both state and federal court and in arbitrations. He has prepared, negotiated and litigated requests for equitable adjustment to construction and service contracts on private, state and federal projects. He is widely experienced in all aspects of securing and collecting debts for contractors and landlords. He has also prepared and defended bid protests on both Virginia state and federal projects.
John recently revised the AGC Contractors’ Introduction to Virginia Mechanic’s Lien Laws & Payment Bonds pamphlet and authored an article in the VBA Journal on subcontractor claims. He is a frequent columnist in the Builders & Contractors Exchange Weekly Bulletin. John has taught several seminars on collection of construction debts, mechanic’s lien and payment bond claims, construction change orders and construction defects.