Ethan Johnson focuses his practice on construction and regularly counsels owners, contractors, public utilities, and design professionals throughout public and private commercial construction projects. Ethan's practice involves representing construction industry clients in private arbitrations and in state and federal court concerning complex commercial construction disputes. He also regularly drafts and negotiates construction and design services agreements for his clients, including custom-drafted agreements and modified versions of industry standard forms. Ethan’s practice also includes advising contractors and design professionals on professional licensing issues, pursuing claims against public agencies on behalf of contractors, and reviewing public construction solicitations for compliance with applicable laws.
Ethan's practice is informed by his undergraduate degree in construction engineering and his eight years of experience working in the construction industry prior to practicing law. This experience includes both project management and field operations roles on three healthcare projects and experience at a construction consulting firm where he prepared delay analyses related to subcontractor default claims on large commercial construction projects. His role at the construction consulting firm included quantifying critical path delay and determining the party responsible for delays. Some notable projects included a $1 billion New York City high-rise, a $300 million London mixed-use development, and a $125 million San Francisco residential development.
Ethan's construction industry experience also includes his role as a project scheduler at AECOM Tishman in New York City where he worked full time while earning his law degree in the evenings. In this role, he developed and managed construction schedules for commercial high-rise projects with contract values up to $1.3 billion. While at AECOM Tishman, he also worked in the general counsel's office, where he reviewed owner-proposed construction contracts and identified project risks.
Prior to joining Parker Poe, Ethan practiced law at Peckar & Abramson in New York City, where he represented contractors and developers in construction disputes. Due to his experience as a construction claims consultant and project scheduler, Ethan has a unique ability to pursue and defend against complex delay claims.
Ethan remains involved with the construction industry through Carolinas Associated General Contractors, where he serves on NC Bar Association/CAGC Joint Committee. Ethan is also involved in the North Carolina Bar Association’s Construction Law Section. He previously served as an editor of the 2025 update to the North Carolina Bar Association’s Construction Law Deskbook and was most recently elected to the Construction Law Council.