Stephen Wichern

In my “pre-law” life I was a structural engineer, with seven years of experience in the design and construction of vertical commercial buildings and transportation structures (with a focus on bridges). Construction law was a natural choice. I was excited by the prospect of developing a practice around my engineering experience, which would allow me to use my technical skills in combination with my legal training to represent industry members.

I’d recommend taking steps to learn and be comfortable with practical, technical aspects of the construction industry, whether in engineering, construction management, estimating, development, etc. This may include spending time on project sites in some capacity (whether assistant PM, project engineer, or other), or taking classes and participating in industry CLEs. A robust construction management program may be a good start. Having a basic background knowledge of the industry and familiarity with the nomenclature is important to quickly and efficiently understanding and addressing our clients’ legal needs.

Before law school, Buck and I worked at the same engineering consultant firm. Among other memorable experiences, we were included in the group that joined the design team for CDOT’s T-REX Project, a $1.2 billion multi-modal design-build expansion of the I-25 corridor. The Project was led by a joint venture between Kiewit and Parsons Brickenhoff. We worked in a separate building in the DTC (very close to our current office) with the other design firms and interacted with them on a daily basis, which was incredibly valuable. We also had regular interactions with Kiewit management, most notably in constructability reviews, which opened our eyes to the necessities of practical considerations in design. We also frequently met with RTD and CDOT leadership. For my part, I had primary design responsibility over 4 bridge structures on the Project (including the University Blvd. interchange) as well as other unique structural components. It was an amazing opportunity to observe and participate in the progress and (ultimately) successful completion of a significant Denver transportation project.

I was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (which is about 4 hours NORTH of Fargo, ND) and attended “university” (as we Canadians call it) at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario (across the lake from Syracuse, NY). My wife Elizabeth is from northern Indiana, where we spend nearly every Fourth of July. We have three great kids, Anderson (16), Stephen (15), and Kate (14), who will all be attending Northfield High School this fall. As a family we enjoy all the Colorado things—hiking, snowboarding, mountain biking. I also spend time on the Crossfit and, when possible, golfing, which is a work in progress to say the least.