Marilyn Klinger

Marilyn Klinger writes about surety and construction law for IRMI.com.

A partner in Sedgwick's Los Angeles office, Ms. Klinger co-heads the firm’s national Construction Practices Group, and is involved in all aspects of construction and surety law on a state and national level. She represents the full spectrum of the construction industry, from owners, contractors, subcontractors, and sureties. Her practice includes time-related claims and litigation (e.g., delay/impact), legal advice and counsel regarding the contracting and bonding process (e.g., bid and contract disputes/performance bond claims), payment enforcement/defense (e.g. payment bonds/mechanic’s liens/stop notices/insurance claims), administrative and scope claims and litigation (e.g., differing site conditions, change and extra work orders/inadequate plans and specifications), and counseling and transactional services to the contraction and surety industry (e.g., general advice and counsel, including contract and bond preparation and negotiation.

In addition, Ms. Klinger has extensive experience in dispute resolution including litigation, trial, appeals, arbitration, and mediation.

Ms. Klinger is involved in many local and national construction and surety associations and has written extensively in the area. The following is a sampling:

• Active participant, frequent speaker, and immediate past chair of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee (FSLC) of the American Bar Association (ABA) Trial Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS)
• Active participant and previous chair of the Fidelity & Surety Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel
• Speaker and moderator at the Joint Program of the ABA Construction Forum and TIPS/FSLC.
• Member, ABA/Forum on the Construction Industry, Steering Committee, Division 5
• Member, Associated General Contractors of America Contract Documents Committee
• Panel member at the various annual Construction Superconferences
• Co-sponsor of the Western States Surety Conference and speaker at Annual Conference in March 2009
• Speaker at 5th Annual Pacific Builders Safety Expo April 2009
• Active participant and speaker of the Surety Claims Institute and National Bond Claims Association
• Guest lecturer on the subject of contract surety bonds at Stanford University's Graduate School of Engineering beginning in 1993.
• Faculty member of the ABA National Institute on the Law of Suretyship as coauthor of the chapter "The Contract Performance Bond"
• Active participant and former president of the Fidelity & Surety Claims Association of Northern California
• Active participant and speaker at the Surety Claims Association of Los Angeles, the Surety Association of Northern California, and the Surety Underwriters Association of Southern California

Ms. Klinger has been recognized in Who's Who in American Law and Who's Who in American Women.

Ms. Klinger received her bachelor of science degree, cum laude, from the University of Santa Clara in 1975 and her J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1978. While in law school, she was a member of the Thurston Honor Society, the Order of the Coif, and the Hastings Law Journal editorial staff.

Articles on IRMI.com

Surety: Surety Law and Claims

Killer Bond Forms and Contract Provisions (Part 1) (June 2007)

Killer Bond Forms and Contract Provisions (Part 2) (August 2007)

Killer Bond Forms and Contract Provisions (Part 3) (August 2008)

Killer Bond Forms and Contract Provisions (Part 4) (August 2009)

California Curtails Unlicensed Contractors' Recovery for Their Work (April 2006)

Construction Surety Bond Liability for Consequential Damages (March 2006)

Sales and Use Tax Bonds (April 2005)

"What Performance Did the Parties Bargain For?" (January 2005)

Unraveling Letters of Credit (November 2004)

ERISA Preemption and Claims for Employee Benefits (January 2004)

Are Letters of Credit Securing a Surety’s Exposure Safe? (August 2003)

Can a Surety Enforce the Automatic Stay in the Principal’s Bankruptcy? (February 2003)

Corporate Execution of Surety Indemnity Agreements (November 2002)

Exoneration Based on Fraud in the Inducement as a Surety Defense (August 2002)

California Workers Compensation Self-Insured Bonds and the Principal's Bankruptcy (February 2002)

Provisions in the Proposed Bankruptcy Reform Act of 2001 of Interest to Sureties (November 2001)

Surety Bond Penalty Waivers in Takeover Situations (July 2001)

Proactive Surety Claims Handling (April 2001)