Welcome to a New Bar Year With the Construction Law Section
By David Senter
Welcome to the Construction Law Section for the new NCBA year!
I am honored and humbled to serve as Chair of the NCBA Construction Law Section for this year. I am thankful for the work of many, many others before me, not the least of whom is Caroline Trautman, the Immediate Past Chair. Through Caroline’s leadership during the past year, our section continued its member services through CLE, disaster relief and pro bono efforts, updates to our Section’s Construction Law Deskbook, blog posts, and many other section activities and bar service opportunities.
During the 2024-2025 year, we had 489 members of our section, so we are strong in numbers! I urge each of you to renew your membership and recruit new members.
As we begin the new bar year, I hope that each one of you will look for opportunities to become involved in the section. Our Section Council manages 16 section committees, liaison roles and task forces ranging from ABA Forum Liaison to Communications, Ethics and Legislative Affairs, Minority Contractors all the way through YLD Liaison. See the list at the end of this article and the attached document, which contains a description of the work of each committee. While we have over 40 construction lawyers as members of the Council and its committees, there’s room for more – write an article for our blog, volunteer to speak at a CLE, join in a pro bono effort to support Helene recovery efforts or provide construction law assistance to non-profits. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved.
Significantly, on September 19 – 20 2025, we will hold our fall CLE meeting in Wilmington. We have not been to Wilmington since pre-Covid, and it will be great to enjoy downtown and the waterfront, along with some amazing CLE. The title of that program is “Planning for the Future / Preparing for Disaster.” It will be timely and educational.
The Section Council looks forward to hosting socials around the state, especially outside the Triangle, the Triad and the Charlotte Metro areas. We are eager to attract and welcome current and new members from Asheville to Boone to Hickory to Fayetteville to Greenville to New Bern to Morehead City, Wilmington and all points in between (or should I just say “from Murphy to Manteo”?). If you are willing to be involved in planning a social gathering of both current and new members in your community, please reach out to me or Sarah Blount, Chair of the Membership Committee.
I look forward to meeting and speaking with you during socials, CLE programs and the actual practice of construction law. Our great construction bar benefits us and our clients by developing competence and fostering professionalism that go a long way toward professionally and efficiently closing a deal or resolving disputes. Get involved and become active in our section so you can take advantage of these benefits.
Thank you in advance for what I know will be your interest, involvement and work on behalf of the section this year. I look forward to seeing you soon.