Chair’s Column

Being nominated and elected to serve you as Forum Chair is truly an honor. Given my firm’s legacy within the Forum, some may say that this position was my destiny. But those who know me have heard me say numerous times that things happen for a reason even though we may not understand why yet. Some say destiny is a hidden power that will control what will happen in the future to each of us. I believe that we have power over our destiny through the choices we make when presented with opportunities.

Growing up in a middle-class family in the 1970s, I learned the importance of education. I was the oldest child of a welder/fitter who helped build offshore oil platforms and an administrative assistant to a principal in public elementary schools. My blue-collar upbringing amid many sacrifices provided me with a private school education that eventually allowed me to be the first in my family to graduate from college and some time later law school, becoming my family’s first lawyer. Along the way I worked as an engineer/project manager for one of the major, integrated oil companies and learned the construction industry firsthand. No doubt that these opportunities provided me the chance to join Deutsch Kerrigan, LLP, where I discovered the Forum.

Every Chair who served before me dedicated themselves to achieving certain initiatives to leave the Forum in a better position for its future leaders. Rising through the ranks of the Young Lawyers Division taught me the importance of communications and following through on your promises. A few months ago, Forum leadership attended their annual leadership retreat, where we gathered to plan the upcoming programs, publications, and other initiatives dedicated to building the best construction lawyers. During our retreat we focused on communication skills--things normally brushed over in law school but critical to the success of our volunteer organization. We learned how to lead and the importance of communicating effectively with every style of communicator. We collaborated in large and small groups to listen and learn from each other to better serve you.

The Forum’s mission statement describes us as “Building the best construction lawyers.” Having grown up in movie theaters my entire life and coming of age when trilogies ruled the summer, I use this terminology—our 2024-2025 Fall, Midwinter, and Annual meetings shine a spotlight on the trilogy of participants who must work together to deliver amazing projects on time and budget. Every project requires three main participants working together to be successful—design professionals, owner/developers, and constructors. Make plans to join us and learn from our industry clients about the perspectives and viewpoints they bring to the table.

From October 23-25, 2024, we presented a program entitled, “The Built Environment: Drawing on Design,” at the Wyndham Grand Pittsburgh Downtown in the Steel City for the Forum’s first visit to this industrial mecca with bridges spanning its famous Three Rivers. This program was the first part of the ultimate trilogy for construction lawyers and explored the design process from the design team, what drives their decision-making, and how best to work with them no matter your client’s role on the construction project.

Our infamous Regional Program was to continue December 5, 2024, focused on an important and timely topic for our construction industry partners and well-funded through several federal acts. This program was to present our “Infrastructure: Civil Engineering Projects” program simultaneously in four cities—Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. If you haven’t been involved in an infrastructure project yet, you will. This program was planned to provide you with an in-depth understanding of what it takes to deliver an infrastructure project.

Up next is travel to Tampa, Florida, for our Midwinter Program from January 15-17, 2025, where you can take advantage of the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday weekend to explore this exciting city using the Hilton Tampa Downtown as your home base. Tampa is the best place for our second episode in the trilogy dedicated to owners, developers, and financiers. You won’t want to miss the developers of Water Street, a growing multi-billion-dollar wellness district in the heart of downtown, share how to create such an integrated, world-class community, and achieve a successful return on investment.

From March 12-15, 2025, the Forum’s Trial Academy returns to the federal courthouse in Dallas, Texas. This trial advocacy program is specifically developed to immerse its attendees in preparing for and conducting a construction trial. Both attorney and expert witness participants will learn and practice invaluable trial skills from seasoned construction trial lawyers.

Finally, the trilogy will be completed in Austin, Texas, at the Forum’s Annual Meeting at the Austin Marriott Downtown from April 23-25, 2025. Our Annual Meeting will shine the spotlight on the constructors in a city where the skyline changes almost daily. We’ll hear from contractors and their lawyers sharing insights into productivity claims, subcontractor relationships, liens, cost control, delegated design, and pre-award construction services. Join us in the live music capital of the world for education and networking Texas style.

There is so much more to share with you in future columns here. It is my pleasure to report that the Forum is fiscally sound on a firm footing in large part due to you who have renewedyour memberships, solicited others to join, registered to attend our programs, participated as sponsors and exhibitors, and purchased our publications and webinars. The Forum strives for excellence in everything it does. Your continued membership and participation reinforce that goal.

During an event after my nomination, one of my dear friends in the Forum, Neale Johnson, posed a question that I still think about daily as the 44th Forum Chair. Neale asked, “Why are we a Forum?” Before then, I never gave much thought to our identity as a Forum. But since then and to the detriment of my evenings, I have given much consideration to the query, even researching the ABA’s constitution, its by-laws, and checking out numerous early volumes of this very journal stored in three-ring binders on several shelves in my firm’s library. In reading this information, I learned the documented creation and history of the Forum through the writings of past Chairs and other pioneering leaders within this generous collection of construction attorneys.

Our earliest volumes of The Construction Lawyer provide the answer. That publication provided the voice to the Forum for the sharing of news and views on the laws and court decisions shaping the construction industry. Many of the early volumes published letters to the Editor containing differing views and sometimes the Editor would publish an article with a counter-position to previously conveyed articles and upcoming legislation.

But in the simplest terms and the most convenient definition, a forum is a place where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged. Each of you can continue to participate in sharing your ideas and views by attending programs, working with your division chairs and steering committees, reading The Construction Lawyer and our other periodicals and publications, contributing as authors and editors, maintaining your membership, and giving us your suggestions and feedback. My address, phone number, and e-mail address are on the inside front cover of The Construction Lawyer as well as in other publications and on our website. Please do not hesitate to contact me or any member of the Governing Committee. Please help me continue the hard work and high standards set by our predecessors.