ENR’s recent viewpoint, “Lawyer as Constructor,” was a classic example of lawyer bashing—reliably good fun that is as old as Shakespeare. I am not going to argue that it’s never deserved but I would like to point out some of the ways that construction lawyers make a strong positive contribution to our industry.
At the front end of a project, the construction lawyer frequently adds substantial value. Almost every project has at least one key challenge that is not addressed by any form contract. For a manufacturing plant, it might be clarifying the contractor's responsibilities for installing and commissioning owner-supplied production equipment. On a hospital project, it may be the owner's need to severely limit the times when the contractor can do punch-list work to avoid interfering in the owner's intensive commissioning and activation process.
For other projects, it may be the need to work around a problem with bringing permanent power to the site or a particular permit that will not be received for several months.