Ashley Buono, ESQ

Counsel, Construction Dept.
Parker McCay P.A.
Every time Ashley Buono passes by a construction project she’s had a hand in getting off the ground, she smiles. It’s a good feeling to know her expertise is having such an impact in South Jersey.

“Infrastructure affects everybody’s lives,” says Buono, an attorney with Parker McCay’s construction department in Mount Laurel. “I love being able to drive around with my kids and point out buildings or bridges I’ve worked on.”

Buono, who joined the firm in 2018, represents public and private sector clients. She focuses on reviewing bids, contract negotiation as well as litigation derived from construction projects. She has represented clients at all levels of courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, as well as the Federal courts. Drawing from her extensive experience in litigation and knowledge of the industry, she counsels clients in all aspects of construction law.

As a woman in a male-dominated industry and legal practice, Buono says she’s grateful to have had a female mentor early in her career who exposed her to contract law and encouraged her to consider specializing in construction.

“I want to get the message out there that this doesn’t have to be an all-male specialty,” says Buono. “It’s an area of practice that’s really diverse and works with raising a family.”

“One day I may be analyzing architectural plans for a project and the next I could be negotiating a contract with a museum exhibit designer,” she adds. “It takes an analytical mind and application of the law to know what will work for each client. This simply doesn’t feel like work to me.”

Having seen a notable absence of construction law attorneys, she started the Burlington County Bar Association’s construction law subcommittee, and annually presents educational construction-law related seminars to her peers. She is also active with the New Jersey State Bar Association as co-secretary of the construction law committee and is a member of the Southern New Jersey Development Council working towards developing their annual Construction Forecast event.

Outside of professional organizations, Buono sits on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Burlington County and Greater Trenton-Princeton and is active on their construction committee using her legal talent to ensure that families within the community have decent and affordable housing. She lives in Marlton with her husband and two children.

Originally from Bucks County, Buono is the first member of her family to go to law school. She first crossed the bridge for an internship with the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office while attending Widener University School of Law. After completing a judicial clerkship, she focused on criminal law in South Jersey for two years before making the switch to construction law.

She previously worked as counsel for a small South Jersey law firm representing subcontractors and mechanical engineers in insurance defense, primarily in product defect and construction-related matters. Buono was also a shareholder at a boutique law firm where she specialized in representing design professionals in construction litigation in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

These diverse work experiences, she says, have been the ultimate training ground for her current practice. Criminal law gave her invaluable seasoning as a litigator, while her previous positions in construction law provided insight into the building industry.

“My clients were always the experts at what they did,” Buono adds. “They taught me how construction works in the real world and not just through abstract case law. It’s through these relationships that I fortified my own knowledge and experience.”

While she has always found construction law fascinating, she says working at Parker McCay has been a game changer. The big advantage of practicing at a regional firm with a stellar reputation and offices throughout South Jersey is the ability to call on specialists in all areas of the law. She collaborates with top-notch attorneys with vast experience getting complicated projects done in a timely manner.

“I’m so impressed by how integrated the firm is,” she says. “No one works in silos. We all work together and manage to move mountains in a small amount of time.”

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