Reza Nikain is the global dispute resolution leader and a senior managing consultant for Marsh Risk Consulting’s Construction Consulting Practice. Based in Princeton, New Jersey, he is responsible for the growth of the practice’s dispute prevention and resolution services throughout the United States and abroad. Reza is engaged in all aspects of the services offered and is often designated as the leader on the more complex engagements for our global clients in a broad range of industries. He is actively involved in developing more innovative solutions to assist clients so they can more effectively manage risks associated their capital improvement projects. The team of experts that he leads is well versed in offering clients services relating to engineering, construction, and project management, including standard of care compliance, best practices and benchmarking audits, forensic analytics such as schedule delay/acceleration analysis and alternate disputes resolution including negotiations and mediations.

For nearly three decades, Reza has gained extensive expertise in dispute resolution, management consulting and risk management through being involved with a broad range of domestic and international engineering and construction projects. Reza has served as an engagement manager and lead expert on large and complex dispute resolution engagements, performing analyses and has testified as an expert on claims of various complexities and sizes including projects and claims in excess of billion U.S. dollars. He has comprehensive experience with, and has managed the performance of construction and engineering analyses including forensic delay/acceleration, productivity/inefficiency, standard of care, differing site conditions, quality/workmanship, scope/change orders, cost and damage quantification. Reza has presented expert witness testimony in arbitrations at domestic and international venues such as the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and other formal legal proceedings and jury trials.

In the areas of management consulting and risk management, Reza has significant expertise in project and overall risk profiling, industry benchmarking and best practices assessments, risk management training, risk auditing and claims prevention/management. He has led engagement teams in detailed analyses of procurement strategy, contracting approaches, cost risk assessments, schedule risk identifications and assistance in development of risk mitigation plans administration and negotiation, feasibility analyses, estimating, bidding/solicitation advice and strategies.

Previously, Reza was the president and principal of The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc. where he provided dispute resolution, management consulting, and risk management services to all stake holding members of a project. Reza joined Marsh Risk Consulting in 2008 with the acquisition of The Nielsen-Wurster Group, Inc., bringing extensive hands-on experience in solving problems and challenges facing organizations and corporations. Reza also has substantial experience as a project manager, gained during his tenure at New Jersey Transit, where he managed repairs, modifications, design, construction coordination, scheduling, invoice/change order approval, and reviewed contractor claims and requests. He also prepared plans, specifications, and cost estimates for a variety of environmental projects such as asbestos abatement, hazardous waste management, and removal, disposal, replacement, and remediation of underground fuel storage tanks.

Reza has authored and presented numerous technical papers on dispute resolution, project management, risk management and other construction-related topics. He is also an adjunct professor for Columbia University’s civil engineering and engineering mechanics department in New York.

• MS in Structural Engineering and BS in Civil Engineering, Rutgers University, New Jersey
• Executive Management Training, Management Essentials, Stern School of Business, New York University
• Executive Education, Managing Conflict and Creating Consensus, Darden School of Business, University of Virginia

• Registered Professional Engineer: Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and well is in the countries of Australia (MIEAust) and Canada in the Province of Alberta.
• AACE International - Certified Forensic Claims Consultant (CFCC)
• AACE International - Planning and Scheduling Professional (PSP)
• PMI - Project Management Professional (PMP)

• American Concrete Institute (ACI) Member
• American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Member
• Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACEi) Member
• Association of Iron and Steel Technology (AIST) Member
• Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) Member
• Expert Witness Institute (EWI) Member
• Institution of Engineers, Australia (IEA) Member
• Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) Member
• National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES) Member
• National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) Member
• Project Management Institute (PMI) Member
• Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE) Member