Build Your Case with a Construction Lawyer
Michalis 'BIG Mike' Kotzakolios


Defined Tag: Construction Lawyer.

What is a construction lawyer?

The construction lawyer is an amalgamation of diverse categories of lawyers. For the most part, the construction lawyer litigates the disputes among developers, contractors, sub-contractors, architects, owners and interior designers. Obviously, the construction lawyer is also required to draft contracts and offer business counsel in response to the customer’s problems on construction sites. The best definition would be that a construction lawyer is the one who resolves construction claims, typically in litigation or adjudication, or before specialized panels formed by the government.

Since 1970, the official dispute resolution of construction disputes has grown at a phenomenal rate. In the last few decades, the number of construction lawsuits heard before the American Arbitration Association's construction industry boards has grown over twenty-five percent per decade. Prior to 1970, the key ABA (American Bar Association) panel that concentrated on construction law was the ABA Section of Public Contract Law. Given the sheer volumes of lawsuits, in August 1976 the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry was founded. Since its creation the membership of the Forum on the Construction Industry has grown impressively.

The construction business is in many ways a small industry; in the sense that a construction lawyer is usually well recognized in his/her specific region of operation, and his triumphs, disappointments or crises are probably known within the industry.

Technology plus Construction Law

Technology has evolved and so has the way we work. Nowadays, a construction lawyer works under tremendous pressure to process large amounts of written material in the least amount of time. The period when a construction lawyer enjoyed the comfort of mulling over a pending contract has elapsed. Today, the stress is not on study, but on velocity and value. That does not imply that customers do not expect first-rate legal analysis. They simply expect brilliance coupled with technologically improved speeds, resulting in reduction of per hour billing rates.

Technology advances such as the Internet have also changed the way a construction lawyer conducts research. Earlier, law school graduates conducted research from books in libraries. To achieve highest efficiency, the construction lawyer needed access to excellent libraries with dedicated materials on construction law, public contract law, safety regulations and laws.

These days law students not only conduct their research through books, they are also well trained and comfortable in the use of the internet for extensive research. Even though some senior lawyers think of computer research as an affront to their profession, other attorneys consider internet research as a breakthrough without equal. The “technology” experience is indeed unique to the concerned attorney and law firm involved.

BIG Mike is a well known author, developer and Adsense expert as well as the owner of Niche Maniacs - a unique Adsense Marketing System designed to build long-term passive income streams from Adsense, YPN, Chitika and other PPC services.