About John R.
John R. Dingess graduated from Allegheny College in 1973 and earned his J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in 1978. He entered the profession at a time when construction disputes and international arbitration were growing in complexity. Those early years shaped a practice that spans litigation and arbitral work across domestic and international forums.
He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and has appeared in federal and appellate forums, including the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the 3rd, 2nd and 5th Circuits, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Those admissions have allowed him to handle matters that require both trial-level work and appellate advocacy. He combines courtroom experience with the procedural knowledge needed for cross-border disputes.
Dingess is listed as a lawyer at DFL Legal. At the firm he handles a range of matters in construction, energy and commercial litigation. He also serves as an arbitrator and advocate in commercial and construction arbitrations. His practice includes domestic construction claims and disputes that involve international parties, contracts and project delivery issues.
He maintains memberships in several professional associations. He is a member of the Pennsylvania State Bar and the Pennsylvania State Bar Association, where he aligns with the Litigation and Construction Sections. He also belongs to the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Construction Law Section. On the international side, he participates in the International Bar Association through its Arbitration and International Construction Projects committees, and he is active in the American Bar Association’s International, Construction, Litigation and Energy sections.
Dingess is listed on arbitration panels. He serves on the National Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and on the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the ICDR’s international division. Those roles give him repeated exposure to institutional arbitration rules and to the procedural dynamics of both domestic and international proceedings.
Colleagues and opposing counsel see him in both advocacy and neutral roles. He has been involved in disputes that require technical understanding of construction contracts and energy projects, as well as the legal tools used in commercial litigation and appellate work. He combines advocacy in court with case management skills needed in arbitration and administrative proceedings.
He now practices at DFL Legal, where he concentrates his practice on arbitration, construction, energy and complex commercial litigation matters.
