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Business focuses on resolving construction disputes

A homeowner gets no response after contacting a mason who installed faulty ceramic tile five years ago. A builder can't get a client to understand why his costs are higher after he switches to top-of-the-line products. A subcontractor can't be reached after leaving a job half finished.

Local consumers and residential building contractors involved in such wrangles might want to call James Vlasicak (pronounced "Vlasic", like the pickle company).

The law-school graduate and former construction-company owner heads up a year-old consulting business in Kalamazoo that specializes in resolving disputes without court intervention and typically for less than it might cost to hire a lawyer.

Vlasicak would not cite his rates but said the smallest residential claim he's helped settle has been worth about $5,000, while the largest is a pending dispute worth about $120,000. He said he offers free initial consultations but severs business relationships with clients who don't present their cases honestly.

He works in southwestern Michigan and said there's a great demand for his services, both because some building contractors leave their customers less than satisfied and because consumers tend to be ignorant about the details in their contracts.

"It astounds me when people sign a contract for a $200,000 house and they don't have the foggiest idea what they're buying," Vlasicak said.

Most builders in the Kalamazoo area are honorable, he said, but misunderstandings are an industrywide problem.

Clear need

"The need is huge, but the majority of problems aren't big enough to hire a lawyer," said Vlasicak, 58. "I don't know of anyone either brave enough or crazy enough to do this work, but I've managed so much conflict and confrontation that this is a no-brainer for me."

Vlasicak said his goal is to hire a support staff and call his business The Center for Construction Contract Dispute Resolution. He said he gets frequent referrals from the Home Builders Association of Greater Kalamazoo and is in the process of establishing a relationship with the Southwestern Michigan HBA via another office he's opening in St. Joseph.

Dale Shugars, executive vice president of the Kalamazoo HBA, said his organization has been contacted with about 20 construction-related complaints during the last year, most of which were referred to Vlasicak.

"Many are getting resolved without going to litigation," he said. "As a consumer myself, I think it's nice to have that option. I'm impressed with his (Vlasicak's) knowledge of construction and construction law and his due diligence when asked a question."

Get them talking

When contacted, Vlasicak meets separately with the parties involved, uses nonconfrontational communication techniques to assess each side of the story and then -- once anger is alleviated -- gets the parties involved in discussing a solution.

The goal is to get each party to agree to an itemized list of actions, timelines and respective responsibilities. The easiest cases can be resolved in four to six hours, he said. Others may go much longer. One pending case is still in play after six weeks, he said.

"I don't guarantee results, but I'm probably batting .900," he said. "I've yet to have parties draft formal agreements. Once the issues have been clarified, I've yet to run into refusals to perform or make good on a restitution pledge."

Broad experience

Vlasicak graduated from high school in Buchanan and served in the U.S. Army before receiving a master's degree in counseling psychology at Western Michigan University in 1977, financing his education through construction work. His subsequent resume includes a law degree from the University of Denver School of Law and a career in management and labor relations with firms like Clark Equipment Co., a South Bend, Ind.-based maker of construction equipment, and Uniroyal Plastics Inc. of Mishawaka, Ind.

In 1988 he bought the Holland-based American Sheet Metal Works and relocated it to Grand Rapids. He sold it in 1996. Later he worked independently as a litigation, employment and small-business consultant before taking a client's suggestion that he focus on mediation in the construction industry.

He said he's lived in nine other states and is ready to settle in Kalamazoo, where his son James Vlasicak II graduated from Kalamazoo Central High School and Western Michigan University.

Vlasicak also mediates and consults in other areas, including commercial contracts, business-entity relationships, labor and employment, personal injury, divorce and family conflict and real estate. More information is available at www.themediator.biz.