Cliff Baker joins the Douglas Law Firm team with more than forty years’ experience in the engineering and construction business as a lawyer, construction contractor, owner’s representative, professional engineer, and U.S. government contracting officer.
Cliff provides legal counsel to the highest level of corporate management on commercial and legal matters. Cliff was a lead attorney for drafting and negotiating a $1.1 billion EPC contract with a confidential mining client and a $500 million contract for construction of computer manufacturing facilities for a confidential electronics component manufacturing client. He also successfully drafted, argued, and won a bid protest with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that resulted in his client earning a $75 million operations facility construction contract.
Cliff’s practice focuses on review, drafting, and negotiating all manner of contracts and legal agreements, including design and construction contracts, vendor agreements, licensing agreements, confidentiality agreements, joint venture and alliance agreements, and real estate agreements.
Cliff enlisted in the U.S. Navy right out of high school and went to the Navy ROTC Unit at the University of California at Berkeley, where he earned B.S. degrees in mechanical and nuclear engineering, and an officer’s commission. During his twenty-two-year career as a Navy officer, he served as a propulsion engineer in destroyers and submarines.
After six years at sea, Cliff transferred into the Navy Civil Engineer Corps and went back to Berkeley, earning a M.S. summa cum laude in civil engineering. Cliff has held professional engineer licenses in Florida and California and was a licensed engineering contractor for many years in California, involved in civil and environmental construction.
After retiring from the Navy, Cliff was employed by a major international construction contractor based in San Francisco, and ultimately went on to law school where he earned his law degree cum laude. Cliff began his practice in the construction law group of a prominent national law firm. After three years, his former client (an ENR Top 100 construction contractor) hired him to be in-house counsel, which he happily enjoyed until moving to Jacksonville to be closer to family.
Cliff lives in Jacksonville, Florida, where he and his wife devote lots of time to their two grandchildren. He enjoys reading, boating, church activities, and hanging out with his family.