Background
Marilyn Klinger writes about surety for
IRMI.com.
Ms. Klinger serves as the managing partner of Salamirad, Morrow, Timpane,
& Dunn's Los Angeles office. She is involved in all aspects of
construction law on a state and national level, representing the full spectrum
of the construction industry for owners, contractors, subcontractors, and
sureties. Ms. Klinger's practice includes time-related claims and
litigation (e.g., delay/impact); legal advice and counsel regarding the
contracting process (e.g., bidding and contract disputes/performance bond
claims); payment enforcement/defense (e.g., payment bonds/mechanics liens/stop
payment notices); administrative, scope claims, and litigation (e.g., differing
site conditions, change and extra work orders/inadequate plans, specifications,
and subcontractor substitutions); and counseling and transactional services to
the construction industry (e.g., general advice and counsel, including contract
preparation, evaluation, and negotiation). In addition, she has extensive
experience in dispute resolution including litigation, trial, appeals,
arbitration, and mediation.
Ms. Klinger is a hard-working "straight shooter." Early in her
career, she became a pioneer in construction law, being one of the first women
attorneys to practice in the primarily male field. Through her passion and
unique intelligence, she has established a vital, nationwide practice involved
in all aspects of construction law and a career marked by increasingly
prominent leadership positions. She is recognized as an innovator in legal
problem-solving and as a thought leader who is a frequently published author
and sought-after speaker for professional legal, construction, and educational
publications and organizations. Ms. Klinger loves humor and thinks everyone is
way too serious.
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
- Cosponsor 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 juris doctor 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.