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Phone: 301-652-9700
7910 Woodmont Avenue
BiographyWilliam Karl Wilburn is the founding partner of WKWilburn P.C. He specializes in complex commercial litigation, construction law, and international practice. Mr. Wilburn has successfully litigated cases in state and federal courts and administrative boards in California, the District of Columbia, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, New York, Ohio, Virginia, and Texas; and in arbitrations and proceedings before the International Chamber of Commerce and the United Nations. His construction practice includes prosecuting and defending bid protests; and delay, impact, inefficiency, and price escalation claims. In the United States, he assists foreign corporations with their American legal and commercial engagements, and foreign governments with regard to Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and other public international law issues. He counsels U.S. corporations on overseas infrastructure projects and transnational dispute resolution. For many years he taught International Contracting as an adjunct professor at Georgetown Law Center and the University of Baltimore School of Law. Mr. Wilburn speaks fluent German. Mr. Wilburn is a court-certified Mediator and serves on the American Arbitration Association's Large, Complex Case Construction and International Panels; he is also an AAA panel mediator. He has authored professional and op-ed articles in English and German, and is a frequent guest speaker at law conferences. After law school, Mr. Wilburn served as a Law Clerk to Judge Alan M. Wilner, Maryland Court of Special Appeals, and as an Assistant Attorney General for Maryland. Education & HonorsFederal Republic of Germany Law Grant, Tübingen and Düsseldorf, 1980 -1981
“AV-Rated” by Martindale Hubbell ® Bar AdmissionsMaryland
Offices and AffiliationsMr. Wilburn is a Contributing Editor of the Construction Lawyer, a quarterly publication of the American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry. He serves on the U.S. State Department's Advisory Committee on Private International Law and the Advisory Council of the Center for International and Comparative Law, University of Baltimore School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association's Forum on the Construction Industry, Maryland State Bar Association, Bar Association of the District of Columbia, German Arbitration Association (DIS), and the German American Business Council of Washington, D.C. He is a supporter of the American Institute of Contemporary Germany Studies, Johns Hopkins University, Washington, D.C. Significant CasesAdvised Italian sugar producer on its joint venture in Port Sudan with respect to U.S. trade sanctions in Sudan (2010). Defended German glass façade manufacturer in New York liability action (2009 - present). Advised foreign government in Alabama civil action, General Motors bankruptcy (2010). Defended Italian soil-retention systems manufacturer in Montana state court liability action (2009). Defended Italian construction firm in Maryland breach of contract and mechanics lien disputes (2008, 2009). Advised Italian soil-retention systems manufacturer in U.N. Oil-for-Food dispute (2008). Advised Canadian steel supplier on Boston, MA housing project dispute (2008). Advised foreign government on construction and purchase of new embassy in Washington D.C. (2008). Advised U.S. architectural firm on national security contract dispute with U.S. intelligence agency (2008). Appeal of Fru-Con Construction Corporation, Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals, Nos. 55197 and 55248 (2007). Represented overseas contractor in its request for equitable adjustment, alleging delay and other damages arising from installation of eight roller gates at a flood control dam on the Ohio River. Renzi v. Connelly School of the Holy Child, 61 F. Supp. 2d 440 (D. Md. 1999), rev'd, 224 F. 3d 283 (4th Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 531 U.S. 1192 (2001). On First Amendment Establishment Clause grounds, a neighbor sued to enjoin a Catholic private school that sought a county zoning ordinance exemption for religious schools. The U.S. District Court granted the injunction, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed, and the U.S. Supreme Court denied certiorari review. Hess Constr. Co. v. Bd. of Educ. of Prince George's County, 102 Md. App. 736, 651 A. 2d 446 (Md. App. 1995), aff'd 341 Md. 155, 669 A.2d 1352 (Md. 1996). Won protest on behalf of disappointed bidder on school construction contract award. Won summary judgment in federal court in Texas for German government under Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 28 U.S.C.A. §§ 1602 – 1611. Won breach of contract jury verdict in federal court in Virginia for British-owned concrete supplier. Won tort and negligence jury verdict in Maryland state court for overseas plaintiffs. Won judgment and award of attorney's fees in Virginia state court for foreign construction contractor, defending claims of steel supplier. Won protest of disappointed overseas bidder in California Power Authority on fossil fuel power plant contract award. Won court-ordered seizure of assets in United States for foreign government that held foreign judgment against absconding debtor. International Chamber of Commerce arbitrations arising from infrastructure projects in Venezuela, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Professional ActivityAuthor: Mix and Match: Divergent Legal Traditions in International Arbitration; Maryland Bar Journal July/August 2010. Guest Speaker: ABA Section on Dispute Resolution, Spring 2010 conference. Author: International Construction Law, American Arbitration Association; subchapter X.E., Arbitration Spring 2009. Guest Speaker: First International Lawyers' Conference, Damascus, Syria, July 2008, organized by ABA Rule of Law Initiative and Law Society of England and Wales. Topic: International Construction Contracting. Guest Speaker: Forum Vergabe, e.V. annual conference, Berlin, Germany, February 2008. Topic: U.S. Government Contracting (in German). Author: Eine Hose und das amerikanische Rechtssystem [Trousers and the American Legal System], Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, August 30, 2007 at 12 (in German). Author: Germany's New Procurement Law: A Five-Year Assessment, 20 Int'l Constr. L. Rev. 291 (July 2004). Foreign LanguageGerman |