2026 Innovation Summit: “Contracting Strategies that Actually Reduce Risk”
10:15-11:15 Contracting Strategies That Actually Reduce Risk
Strong contracts start with clear expectations and realistic risk allocation. This session explores how contracting decisions made during preconstruction can clarify responsibilities, address uncertainty, and reduce disputes. Learn practical approaches to aligning project partners and managing cost, schedule, and scope risks before construction begins.
Moderator:
Christy Murphy, Managing Director, Project Advisory, Vertex
Christy has 27 years of experience in the construction industry with extensive institutional and healthcare project portfolios as well as experience managing large, complex multi-use development projects. She has a sophisticated knowledge of planning, design and construction that allows her to apply best practices to each assignment, while at the same time, customize the processes and deliverables to meet unique client needs and expectations. Christy’s leadership and particiaption ensures senior-level leadership in all phases of a specific assignment but especially in planning of deliverables by our team.
Christy brings best practices and extensive experience from other institutional projects that require a specific permitting process including Article 80, ongoing external community engagement and a high level of internal constituent engagement. Clients appreciate her experience from 17 years as a builder and a decade as owner’s project manager, bringing technical expertise as well as well as vetted project management processes to her role as trusted advisor. As a team leader, she fosters an environment of teamwork and ensures that strategy is clearly defined while overseeing performance and maintaining team morale. Her strong communication and client service skills enhance VERTEX’s process-driven management philosophy. As a long time member of the Plymouth School Building Committee (2008-2020), Christy developed a very direct appreciation for successful project delivery from an owner’s point of view which she brings to every project.
Christy is a recognized leader and proponent of diverse voices in the construction industry. She is committed to teaching and mentoring others through the AGC of Massachusetts Emerging Leaders Program and the BWiC Executive Committee, and was recognized by the AGC in 2026 with the “Mentor of the Year” award. Christy is a regular guest speaker at industry programs like the AGC of MA’s “Casual Conversations with Powerful Women in Construction”. She is a co-moderator of the AGC of MA/BWiC ‘Behind the Façade’ podcast. Christy presented at the 2025 Society of College and University Planners Northeast Regional Conference along with executives from Boston University, UMass Building Authority and Bunker Hill Community College. The panel discussion was entitled “P3 Strategies to Deliver on Community Engagement”.
Panelists:
Ken Rubenstein, Chair, Construction Law Practice Group - Preti Flaherty
With more than 20 years of experience in construction law, Ken represents owners, developers, contractors, design professionals, and other industry stakeholders in contract negotiations and dispute resolution. He co-chairs Preti Flaherty’s Construction Law Group, serves as a construction arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association, and teaches as an adjunct professor at Boston University School of Law.
Emily Hassett, Corporate Counsel - BOND Brothers, Inc.
Emily brings extensive experience in construction law, contract negotiation, and risk management. Before joining BOND Brothers in 2025, she served as Assistant General Counsel at Suffolk Construction and as an attorney at Shawmut Design and Construction, where she advised project teams on contracts and dispute resolution. She holds a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
Amanda Forde, Deputy Director, Capital Projects, MSCBA
Amanda has spent over 20 years leading construction operations across complex public sector portfolios.
At MSCBA, she provides executive oversight for capital project operations spanning nine state university campuses with annual portfolios exceeding $50 million. She holds fiduciary responsibility to the Board of Directors and state oversight agencies, which means every decision balances institutional goals, stakeholder interests, and long-term infrastructure needs.
She is a licensed Construction Supervisor in Massachusetts, PMP-certified, and LEED accredited. She currently serves as a member, and past President of YouthBuild Boston's Board of Directors, where she is committed to workforce development in the industry.