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Indispensable: Benjamin Cornelius Partner at LERA Consulting Structural Engineers (New York, NY), a firm that has created innovative, yet constructible and economical structural designs since 1923.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
C ornelius has been with LERA since 1994. He leads the firm’s Investigations and Expert Witness Practice and is an experienced expert witness. He has conducted more than 30 forensic investigations in North America, Europe, and Asia in disputes totaling more than $700 million. “Trust is something you build over time,” Cornelius says. “We build trust by answering clients’ calls at any time, by taking steps to make sure they know their needs are at the top of our list of priorities, and by consistently delivering reliable and useful information on time.” A CONVERSATION WITH BENJAMIN CORNELIUS. The Zweig Letter: How has your role changed since you first started working with LERA? What’s been the most significant change for you as a LERA leader? Benjamin Cornelius: I joined the firm right after college and had the good fortune to work for structural engineers
at the top of our profession on projects around the world. From those individuals and experiences, I learned what great design is and how it can be achieved, as well as how to manage others in serving clients. Now I offer those learning experiences to new generations, while continuing my own growth with the benefit of the fresh perspective that new engineers offer. I have come to appreciate the great energy, creativity, and value that our younger generations of engineers bring to the profession, and I have enjoyed discovering how their different perspectives and enthusiasm for new tools can be focused to help our clients achieve and often surpass their goals. One of the greatest changes has been how much more transparent we have become with respect to how we operate the firm. That has been very important for us in retaining key people and inspiring them to grow into our next generation of leaders.
THE ZWEIG LETTER SEPTE
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