In With the New

Apparently time still flies by, even during a pandemic. It has been such an honor serving the Construction Law Section and its incredible members as Chair this past bar year, and it’s hard to fathom that the year is at its end. The section is in terrific hands as we move into the 2021-2022 bar year on July 1, with Parker Moore ([email protected]) taking the reins as Chair, ably assisted by Carl Burchette ([email protected]) as Vice-Chair, Sandy Mitterling Schilder ([email protected]) as Secretary, and Caroline Trautman ([email protected]) as Treasurer. Please reach out to them and let them know how the section can better serve you — as well as how you can serve the section.

By way of year-end wrap-up, I am pleased to report that despite the challenges the pandemic has presented, our section has continued to provide the high-level programing that its members have come to expect, albeit in a virtual setting. The section’s 2020-2021 accomplishments include the following:

We published the Eighth Edition of the Construction Law Deskbook, a vital resource for our membership for nearly three decades, now available free to all dues-paying members of the section through the NCBA Communities portal.
We offered two high-quality CLE programs, a “Sticks-and-Bricks” presentation last September and a program highlighting the relaunch of the Construction Law Deskbook this past February.
Our Communications Committee has coordinated the publication of fresh content on our section blog to keep us apprised of key legal and industry developments affecting our practices.
Our Membership and Diversity Committee hosted a virtual trivia night that provided section members with an opportunity to gather socially and to experience, at least remotely, the camaraderie that is a hallmark of our section.
The section Council approved a new ADR Committee, formed among other reasons to maintain lists of those prepared to serve as mediators and arbitrators for our members’ construction law cases, to contribute to CLE programming on alternative dispute resolution, and to liaise with the Dispute Resolution Section on matters of reciprocal interest to both sections.
Our Young Lawyers Committee, in collaboration with the NCBA’s Young Lawyers Division, successfully launched a new Lunch and Learn series in April with a presentation focused on claims of lien on real property. Quarterly presentations are being planned going forward.

I would like to thank my fellow members of the section’s Executive Committee, all of the section’s current Council members, and all of the Committee co-chairs for all of their hard work in making the section’s accomplishments possible. Many thanks as well to Julianne Dambro, Kristin Tart, and the entire NCBA staff, whose contributions to the section’s efforts have been critical to its success.

Stay safe and have a great summer, everyone.

Best,

Matt

June 30, 2021/by Construction