William Alexander ("Sandy") Fead is the managing attorney for Fead Construction Law, PLC, a law firm begun in January, 2006 and focused almost exclusively on the practice of construction and real estate law for owners and contractors on commercial construction projects. Mr. Fead also has an active practice as a mediator and arbitrator of commercial and construction disputes of all types.

Mr. Fead provides contractors with general legal advice on business and corporate matters of the type often provided by in-house lawyers for larger companies. He also advises owners of construction projects on topics related to commercial real estate; construction financing; permitting; zoning; and the construction process generally. He regularly counsels public entities on compliance with the Open Public Meetings Act; the Public Records Act; state school funding, and other aspects of state municipal and school law relating to construction projects.

From September 1995 to January 2006, Mr. Fead was a member of Paul Frank + Collins, P.C., a full-service law firm in Burlington, Vermont. His practice was 75% negotiating construction contracts and prosecuting or defending construction claims; 10% real estate, zoning and planning litigation; 10% commercial real estate transactions and 5% miscellaneous matters.

From April 1987 to August 1995, he served as general counsel to one of the nation’s 100 largest general construction contracting firms, licensed and qualified to do business in more than 20 states and focusing on the East Coast. He also served as general counsel to the company’s affiliates with commercial real estate holdings in five states.

Mr. Fead has been included in the 2014 US News Best Lawyers "Best Law Firms" rankings in the First Tier for Arbitration, Mediation, Construction Law, and Litigation – Construction, and has been in those rankings since their inception. He is also listed in the current Corporate Counsel’s Top Lawyers List.

Mr. Fead is the author of the Vermont chapters in State Public Construction Law Source Book (2002), published by CCH, Inc.; Fifty State Public Construction Contracting (1996), published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (now Aspen Law and Business); 50 State Public Construction Law Source Book published by the American Bar Association Section of Public Contract Law; The Design/Build Process: A Guide to Licensing and Procurement Requirements in the 50 States and Canada and The Design/Build Deskbook (2nd and 3rd ed.) both published by the American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry; and Fifty State Construction Lien and Bond Law (2nd ed., 2000) (co-author) and the State-by-State Guide to Architect, Engineer and Contractor Licensing (1999) published by Aspen Law and Business (formerly Wiley Law Publications).

Mr. Fead was a member of the Vermont Governor’s Commission on Alternate Dispute Resolution and has given lectures on ADR topics for the Vermont Bar Association, the Vermont Association of General Contractors, the Construction Specifications Institute, Vermont Law School and the University of Vermont. He serves as counsel to the Associated General Contractors of Vermont and to the Vermont affiliate of the American Institute of Architects. He has been awarded the Construction Document Technologist designation by the Construction Specifications Institute.

Mr. Fead was born in 1949 in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and has resided in Vermont since 1982. He graduated from Dartmouth College with an A.D. degree in psychology in 1970 and a J.D. degree from Rutgers Law School – Newark in 1973. He was licensed to practice law in New Jersey from 1973 to 1995 and has been licensed to practice law in Vermont since 1983. He is also admitted to the bar of the Federal District Court in Vermont and the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.