Michael W. Winfield

Mr. Winfield regularly represents public and private owners (including developers, school districts, universities, municipalities, authorities, and local government entities), contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals in all facets of construction and public contract law. This includes contract document drafting and review; contract negotiations; procurement and public bidding issues; bid protests; project administration; claims review and analysis; and dispute resolution (including mediation, arbitration and litigation).

He prosecutes and defends claims involving defective construction of building systems and structural components; design errors and omissions; defective specifications; delays and impacts; lost productivity; owner interference; multi-prime interference; coordination failures; extra and/or additional work; cardinal change; default termination; differing site conditions; public bidding violations (including bid protest injunction actions); breach of payment obligations; and prompt payment violations, among other matters.

Mr. Winfield also represents local, regional, national, and international business clients in commercial disputes in both federal and state courts. He handles cases involving breach of contract, tortious interference with contractual relations, unfair competition, violation of restrictive covenants, misappropriation of trade secrets, and fraud.

A significant portion of Mr. Winfield’s practice is devoted to the area of dispute resolution. He is a strong advocate of exploring pragmatic and creative business solutions involving alternative processes to the standard litigation model.  He provides counseling to the firm’s clients on the various forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, and early neutral evaluation and is a certified mediator with the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and a member of the American Arbitration Association’s Panel of Construction and Commercial Arbitrators. His formal mediation training comes from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law. He served as Adjunct Professor at Widener University School of Law teaching mediation skills course to upper-level law students from 2012 to 2013.

Mr. Winfield has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2016 - 2025 editions in the Construction Law category and was recognized as a Lawyer of the Year in the Construction Law category in the 2021, 2023 and 2025 editions. He has also been recognized in the Construction Law category by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers since 2014 and Select Lawyers since 2014. He is also a Fellow of the Construction Lawyers Society of America. For information about these selections and an overview of common third-party publications, rankings, and list methodologies, click here.

Mr. Winfield is admitted to practice before all state courts in Pennsylvania and Maryland; the United States District Court for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania; and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.  

MEDIATOR EXPERIENCE

A strong advocate of exploring pragmatic and creative business solutions involving alternative processes to the standard litigation model. Provides counseling on various forms of alternative dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, and early neutral evaluation. Has successfully mediated disputes with claim amounts between $50,000 and $10 million involving:

• Breach of contract
• Defective construction
• Business disputes
• Labor and employment issues
• Products liability
• Personal injury
• Subrogation claims
• Board of Vehicles Act issues