Jonathan David Speigel

Jonathan Speigel, a founding partner of Speigel Nichols Fox LLP, leads the litigation and construction practices.

His legal experience is a bit unusual – at least by today’s instant specialty standards. He initially started practice as a sole practitioner and, gradually, as more partners and associates joined the practice, moved into litigation, where he has been ensconced since about 1987. Accordingly, he has practised in the trenches as a solicitor and understands real estate, leases, commercial issues, and wills and estates; he has extensive experience in drafting documents. This experience gives him an insight that many litigators do not have. It is far easier to advocate for a position when one understands the disputes from a deal maker’s point of view and understands the relevant documents and financial statements.

Jonathan started to accumulate his construction expertise while working as a construction labourer for six summers, which he did to finance his education. He knows construction from the sub-ground up. He has been practising construction law since 1979 and deals with all facets of it. His construction practice is not confined to dispute resolution and litigation; he has negotiated and drafted construction contracts, up to 350M, with owners, subcontractors, consultants, and partners in P3 projects.

In 1996, realizing that the dispute resolution world was “a changin,” moving into arenas other than the courts, he took the Harvard mediation course and started acting as a mediator. He mediated over 200 disputes, but has recently closed his mediation practice.

Jonathan’s greatest asset is his wife, a now-retired Superior Court Justice. Mentioning her (because she likes to be acknowledged) also demonstrates how smart he really is.