Steve Nelson | A Hard Working Construction ADR Service Provider
Steve Nelson is an ADR professional with close to 50 years of experience in handling high-exposure and complex, often multi-party, construction and construction-related cases.
Steve began his construction law career in 1975 with an eight-lawyer law firm in Dallas, Texas, that grew to over one hundred lawyers by the time he left in 1995. He chaired the firm’s construction and surety practice for most of that time.
Leadership in Construction and Surety Industries
In 1995, Steve accepted a position as CEO of an ENR Top 200 size general contractor in Austin, Texas. While serving in that role, he was also the de facto general counsel for its sister companies involved in mechanical contracting, high purity process piping, clean room construction, bridge and road work, and concrete pumping.
In 2001, Steve left the construction company to help start up a Texas-domiciled surety company. He was its chief claims officer from the time it wrote its first bond, through that company’s acquisition in 2017 by Markel Corp, a Fortune 500 insurance company, until he transitioned his claims duties to his successor in early 2024. He continues to be employed by Markel Corporation and is a one-person ADR practice within a 20,000+ employee global insurance holding company.
Extensive Mediation and ADR Experience
Steve began mediating in 1985, having taken his initial mediation training with U.S. Arbitration & Mediation Services, and advanced courses with the Attorney Mediator Institute, the Dallas Bar Association, the American Arbitration Association, the Association of Attorney Mediators, the Texas Mediators Credentialing Association, and the Dispute Review Board Foundation.
He continued mediating after he left his law firm, while in his CEO capacity at the construction company, and throughout his career in the surety business. For most of the past ten years, Steve has devoted much of his time to mediation and other ADR processes. By early 2025, he had shed most of his claims handling leadership duties and has been mediating nearly 100% of his time since. Steve has conducted well over two thousand mediations in his career. All were civil/commercial construction disputes, construction defect claims, architect/engineer professional liability, or surety-related. He has extensive experience in multi-party cases, having developed a particularly effective technique using double-blind mediation and settlement through escrow to help settle those cases when appropriate.
Professional Recognition and Credentials
Steve’s experience and professionalism have been recognized by his peers, the construction and surety industries, and the State Bar of Texas. He is Board Certified in Construction Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is a Fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers, a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Distinguished Credentialed Mediator by the Texas Mediator Credentialing Association, a Credentialed Distinguished Mediator of the Association of Attorney-Mediators, an Academy Member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, and a Panel Member, American Arbitration Association Mediation Panel. The National Association of Surety Bond Producers honored Steve in 2018 by presenting him with the Bruce T. Wallace award, given to an individual who has distinguished himself or herself through years of exceptional service to that association and to the surety industry.
Steve helped to found, and has chaired, the Construction Law Sections of the Dallas Bar Association, the Austin Bar Association, and the Construction Law Section of the State Bar of Texas.
Teaching and Education
Steve has taught a graduate-level course in Construction Industry Dispute Resolution in the Graduate Engineering School at the University of Texas at Austin every year since 1999 and taught the Level II Claims Course at the National Association of Surety Bond Producers Surety School for ten years.
Steve is a 1972 graduate of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, with a B.A. in Economics. Steve received his Juris Doctor degree in 1976 from the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, where he was on the law review.
Personal Life
Steve and his wife, Betsy, live in Dallas, Texas. They have four grown children, eight wonderful grandchildren, and four dogs. Outside activities include travel, genealogy, and staying in touch with his friends and colleagues in the legal, construction, ADR, and surety communities. Against his better judgment, he is president of his homeowners association.
