Jeffrey W. Coleman, FACI, is a licensed professional engineer, Attorney at Law, and Principal Partner of The Coleman Law Firm, LLC, Minneapolis, MN. He is a Fellow of ACI and has been an ACI member for 40 years. Coleman is the author of the book Legal Issues in Concrete Construction, published by ACI in 2004 (second edition published in 2014), and previously authored the “Concrete Legal Notes” section of Concrete International.
Coleman received both his BS in civil engineering in 1976 and MS in structural engineering in 1977 from Iowa State University, Ames, IA. Coleman is licensed as an engineer in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin and as a lawyer in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, and North Dakota; however, he practices regularly in other states through admission “Pro Hac Vice.” His master’s degree thesis work involved research funded by the Iowa Department of Transportation and studied fatigue behavior of air-entrained concrete. This led to his early involvement with ACI Committee 215, Fatigue of Concrete.
Coleman served as a member of the ACI Board of Direction from 2012-2015 and has served as a member of ACI Committee 301, Specifications for Structural Concrete. He has also served as a member of the ACI Construction Liaison Committee, TAC Specifications Committee, Financial Advisory Committee, and Conventions Committee and was Chair of the Responsibility in Concrete Construction Committee (now ACI Committee 132), where he continues as a member.
After receiving his master’s degree in structural engineering, Coleman moved to Minneapolis/St. Paul, where he practiced as a Structural Engineer with Ellerbe Associates, Inc. After completing his law degree in 1984, Coleman served as general counsel for Ellerbe, Inc. (later Ellerbe Becket, Inc. and now part of AECOM). After spending 2 years with a Minneapolis-based boutique construction law firm, he started his own firm in 1991, which was quickly merged and renamed Coleman, Hull & van Vliet, PLLP. In 2013, he founded The Coleman Law Firm, LLC—committed to continuing his representation of engineers, architects, and the concrete construction industry, including concrete contractors and suppliers.
Coleman represents engineers, architects, concrete contractors and suppliers, and building owners in all aspects of construction. He is consistently recognized as a construction “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters publications. He is the Past President of the Minnesota Concrete Council (MCC) and a former Board member. He is also a sustaining member of the American Society of Concrete Contractors (ASCC). Coleman has served five terms on the Board of Directors of the American Council of Engineering Companies, Minnesota, and is one of only two nonpracticing engineers to receive the Tom Roach Award for Outstanding Service and Motivation to the Consulting Engineering Professional Community. Coleman is a past member of the Minnesota Board of Architecture, Engineering, Land Surveying, Landscape Architecture, Geoscience, and Interior Design (the Minnesota Licensing Board), having served from 2000 to 2004. He is a past member of the University of Minnesota Concrete Conference Planning Committee.
Coleman is a frequent lecturer on topics involving construction law but also is a regular practitioner who is involved daily with construction disputes involving concrete. In 2020, he was recognized by Concrete Construction magazine as one of “The Year’s Most Influential People” in the concrete industry.
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