Construction Law Today

ConsensusDocs are one of the commonly used set of construction documentation forms.  Brian Perlberg, the executive director of ConsensusDocs, joins us for an episode to discuss the history of form documents in the construction contracting world, in general, and more specifically, some of the philosophies that support some of the thinking behind the language and format of ConsensusDocs.

This is part one of a two-part podcast on the important issue of insurance in construction litigation. Our guest David Suchar, from the Maslon Law Firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, reviews with us some of the basics of insurance law as it applies to construction, and then moves into some of the more complex issues that are typically seen in a construction dispute.  This is a very interesting subject and a great guest.

Please join us in an interesting discussion with Stephen Hess of Sherman & Howard from Colorado Springs, Colorado about the “care and feeding” of shop drawings.  Stephen raises a number of interesting points with regard to these documents which are commonly found in a number of construction contracting transactions.  Is a shop drawing a contract itself?  Which parties assume obligations and responsibilities under shop drawings?  Tune in to find out.

Our podcast, in this episode, focuses on the Spearin Doctrine announced by the United States Supreme Court in 1919.  This is the 100th Anniversary of the Doctrine and it is still relevant in current issues in construction law.  Our guest is Robbie MacPherson from the Gibbons law firm in Newark, New Jersey.  Robbie offers significant insight into the applicability of the Spearin Doctrine and the limitations on the doctrine that have arisen over the years.

Our guest for this episode is Dan Brennan, an experienced construction lawyer from the law firm of Laurie & Brennan, LLP in Chicago, Illinois.  Dan speaks about project delivery methods.  We talk about how to select the right project delivery method and the pros and cons of various ways to contract for a project.

In our inaugural episode, host Buzz Tarlow interviews George Meyer of the law firm of Carlton Fields in Tampa, Florida.  George is an expert in large scale construction projects including stadiums, arenas, ballparks, convention centers, airports, hospitals, and hotels.  In the podcast, George speaks about the key issues presented to owners in connection with these large projects.  Many of these issues that owners worry about on large projects, also are concerns on smaller projects as well.