Notes from the Editor

Before introducing the articles a bit more, a detour—I’m writing this column the day before the 2025 Academy Awards, which got me thinking about the best legal movies of my lifetime. While I am sure everyone has their own personal favorites, the “Chris Burke Mount Rushmore of Legal Movies” (which I personally believe should serve as the official standard) is as follows:

A Few Good Men (1992). Probably the most quoted movie in the halls of law firms around the country—but forget handling the truth, who hasn’t “strenuously objected” to something or wondered why Lt. Weinberg caught that stray during Col. Jessep’s testimony? Criminally underrated Tom Cruise performance.

The Firm (1993). More Cruise, this time as young Mitch McDeere, a first-year associate at a Memphis law firm with an interesting client list. I loved the ending to this movie, which was so much better than the book upon which it was based. Also, it might have the longest “Tom Cruise running” sequence in any Cruise film.

My Cousin Vinny (1992). What was it about the early ’90s that made it such a feeding ground for legal movie bangers? Probably the second most quoted movie in the halls of law firms, but underneath the absurdity is some truly effective cross examination work and a primer on effective expert testimony.

A Time to Kill (1996). A gut-wrenching premise, but Matthew McConaughey’s closing argument is probably the best ever from a legal film. More solid courtroom work from all involved.

It strikes me that—for folks of my generation and above—the above list rings very familiar and has probably been the subject of multiple viewings. But for our younger readership, if you are not familiar with the above movies, do yourself a favor and check them out. I promise these are not “old person” movie recommendations! I’m still with it—I just watched Anora—and I loved it!

Back to The Construction Lawyer, in this issue we feature three articles. The first article is “Less than Perfection: Demystifying the Standard of Care for Design Professionals,” by Andy Manuel, Luke P. LaRocca, and David L. Zion; in this article the authors tackle the issue of litigating the “standard of care” in design contracts and takes an interesting look at how contract language can impact claims and defenses. The second article, “The Impact of BIM on Design and Construction—Legal and Practical Perspectives,” by Kristine A. Kubes, addresses a still-developing field of construction design and law—BIM Modeling. Kristine does an excellent job covering the challenges presented by a design that remains a work in progress throughout the construction of a project. Finally, this issue’s third article is “Taking Your Construction Case to a Jury: the Adequacy of Jury Instructions in Construction Disputes,” which addresses considerations for construction disputes before juries and, more specifically, the critical import of jury instructions. As always, our contributing editors have Hard Hat Case Notes and Construction Bills columns for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for reading!