Editor’s Column

I would be remiss without thanking the ABA staff who handle the publications side of things. At the beginning of my term as Editor, Lisa Comforty was the ABA Managing Editor for The Construction Lawyer. Lisa was a wealth of knowledge and great to work with until she retired in May of 2022, at which point Susan Lorimor took over for Lisa. Susan has not missed a beat since she started working with us, and, among other things, she has provided invaluable assistance through our transition from hard copy to digital format. The ABA’s design team is another integral part of getting each issue to publication, and that team has done a lot of work behind the scenes in both the hard copy days and the new digital era. For as long as I can remember, Chad Crowe has been the illustrator for The Construction Lawyer. Chad comes up with several cover art sketches for each issue of this publication, and I am amazed at how he is always able to bring an issue’s theme to life through his illustrations.

I was lucky to work under three superb Forum Chairs during my term as Editor. First up was Arlan Lewis, whose Chair term was extended due to the pandemic. As a result, I think he authored more Chair’s columns in this publication than any prior Chair of the Forum. Arlan managed to come up with thoughtful topics for each of his columns despite the fact that he had to was given the opportunity to write so many of them. Cary Wright was the next Chair. Cary’s office is in the same building as mine, just two floors up. Though I threatened Cary that I would appear at his office door if one of his columns was late, I never had to do that. If you know Cary, this should not surprise you. John Cook followed Cary as Forum Chair, and it has been a pleasure working with John. He always seems to be cool, calm, and collected, and he has a great sense of humor. Thanks to all three of these gentlemen for taking the time to author thoughtful columns for this publication and for tolerating my sometimes multiple emails reminding them of deadlines for those columns.

Onto the content of this issue. In addition to our standing columns, this issue includes three excellent articles related to government construction: “Navigating the Federal Government Claims Process Requirements” by Michelle D. Coleman, David B. Wonderlick, and Andrew D. Ness; “A Journey Through Delay and Disruption Claims Against the Government” by Michael A. Branca and Christopher W. Foux; and “When the Axe Falls: Terminations on Government Construction Projects” by Barbara G. Werther and Judah Lifschitz. Whether you often advise clients in connection with government construction projects or you have only tip-toed into the government construction realm, I promise that you will find each of these articles interesting and informative. Thanks to these authors, as well as the many other authors I have been fortunate to work with while serving on the editorial team for The Construction Lawyer, for their scholarly contributions that allow this publication to further the Forum’s mission of Building the Best Construction Lawyers.